Usually, when a company like Canon or Nikon has a new camera to put on the market, a huge advertising campaign is normally making us know what they have for us, but not this time, at least not so far.

The Nikon D40 has been announced, and as expected, it will make nice budget digital SLR for those who does not quite have the funds for a Nikon D50/70 or a Canon 350D/400D. The price for the camera together with the newly announced AF-S DX 18-55 mm F3.5-F5.6 G II lens is set to be $599, $499 without the lens.

The Nikon D40 is not only one of the cheaper dSLR's out there, it's also fairly easily to get started with, with the AUTO ISO program on the camera, you can now set a maximum ISO to use with the program, as well as a minimum shutter speed - which allows new users to focus more on the photograph itself, than on the camera settings.

For those interested in more technical details, here's the complete list of features:

• 6 megapixel DX format CCD (1.5x FOV crop, as D50)


• Nikon Image processing engine (as D80 / D200)


• 3D Color Matrix Metering II, 420 pixel sensor (as D80 / D50)


• New Multi-CAM530 three area AF sensor


• ISO sensitivity range 200 - 1600 plus HI 1 (3200 equiv.)


• Custom Auto ISO (selectable maximum ISO, minimum shutter speed)


• 2.5 fps continuous shooting (as D50), unlimited in JPEG


• No status LCD, new LCD monitor based status / settings screens


• Help suggestions on LCD monitor (eg. scene too dark, try using flash)


• Large 2.5" 230,000 pixel LCD monitor


• Bigger viewfinder view (x0.8 magnification, 95% coverage)


• Short shutter lag and viewfinder blackout


• Support for SDHC (SD cards over 2 GB in capacity)


• In-camera retouching


D-Lighting (shadow / highlight enhancement)
Red-eye reduction
Trimming
Monochrome
Filter effects
Small picture


• Image overlay


• USB 2.0 with PTP and Mass Storage device support


• Very compact, light body (smaller, lighter than D50)


• Improved menu user interface (as D80 / D200)


• New EN-EL9 Lithium-Ion battery (7.2V, 1000 mAh)


• New 'Version II' AF-S DX 18-55 mm kit lens

_{Source: dpreview.com}

All in all, this is a Nikon D50 with some improvements, and some downgrades. For more information and analysis, click the link below. Also below you will find links for details on the new lens coming with the D40 kit version, as well as the new Nikon SB-400 flash released together with the camera and the lens.

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Links
- Nikon D40 Preview
- Nikon SB-400 Speedlight
- Nikkor AF-S DX 18-55 mm F3.5-5.6G ED II lens