Unsurprising in the light of
the similarities between the D40 and the D40x, most of the
observations that we made about the Nikon D40 when we reviewed
it remain applicable to the D40x. The major improvements of
the D40x are its greater resolution of 10 megapixels, the
fact that the new CCD has a sensitivity range that starts
at 100 ISO, and the increase in buffer memory required by
the increase in the image size.
Aside from this, however, the D40x
benefits from the same excellent metering, in particular the
legendary i-TTL flash metering that operates just as efficiently
with the built-in pop-up flash as it does with Nikon’s
external flash units. The i-TTL system is able to produce flash
exposures that show perfect balance between the ambient light
and the light supplied by the flash, and which in combination
with the Auto white balance yield superb and accurate colours.
Aperture: f8, shutter speed: 1/250
sec., 400 ISO.
On the auto focus side, it
can be regretted that Nikon did not see fit to increase the
number of AF points — there are only three on the D40
and D40x — which might have allowed for greater flexibility
when framing shots.
Similarly, just like the D40, the D40x is not equipped with
a built-in AF motor. This means that the AF system is dependent
on the lens, and that auto focusing is only available when
the camera is mated to AF-S and AF-I series lenses which have
their own internal AF motors.
While the D40x can be purchased
in a kit with a very good AF-S DX Nikkor 18-135 mm
f3.5-5.6G IF-ED zoom lens, other offerings from Nikon
can provide some interesting alternatives such as the AF-S
DX Nikkor 18-200mm f3.5-5.6G IF-ED VR. This lens
offers a longer focal length range — equivalent to a
27 to 300 mm — and has the advantage of being optically
stabilized.
The AF-S DX Nikkor 18-200 mm is a lens that
has, overall, very good optical characteristics. Sharpness
is good over the entire focal length range, and the slight
corner softness that can be seen in shots captured at the
widest angle of the zoom disappears rapidly as the focal length
moves past the wide angle, or when the aperture is narrower.
Similarly, while there is a slight chromatic aberration at
the wide end, it is minimal and also vanishes when the lens
is past the wide angle end.
Aperture: f8, shutter speed: 1/100
sec., 100 ISO.
Distortion is also well controlled:
there is a slight amount of barrel distortion at the wide
angle end and a bit of pincushion at the telephoto end; but
that is not surprising in view of the large focal length range
of the zoom.
Aperture: f10, shutter speed: 1/60
sec., 800 ISO.
The D40x offers a small increase
in the speed of its burst mode, in addition to its larger
buffer memory.
But, on the other hand, the D40x offers strictly the same
image formats as the D40: RAW, JPEG with a choice of three
compression levels (Fine, Normal and Basic) and a combination
of RAW with the addition of a Basic quality JPEG. Regrettably,
the opportunity to offer a selectable JPEG compression for
the RAW+JPEG format was missed.
Images captured using the JPEG
Fine image quality are excellent, and the fact that this image
format makes it possible to use the images instantly makes
it the best option in most cases. Indeed, unless the user
has access to Photoshop or some other program that allows
working with RAW image files, the full version of PictureProject
that accompanies the camera, albeit worthwhile, does not allow
editing RAW images, making the acquisition of Nikon
Capture NX necessary.
One of the side benefits of
the new 10-megapixel CCD of the D40x is that it has a starting
sensitivity of 100 ISO and is little sensitive to noise. At
low sensitivities — 100 through 400 ISO — the
D40x’s images are effectively free of noise, and in
fact even 30-second exposures can be captured without having
recourse to noise reduction processing. Beyond 400 ISO, better
results are achieved if noise processing is turned on, allowing
the entire sensitivity range of the camera — up to HI
(3200 ISO) — to be used when shooting outdoors in daylight.
Noise starts to appear in shadow
areas as of 400 ISO, but it is minimal and up to 1600 ISO
it can be polished out using a good image processing program.
At 3200 ISO, noise is clearly more pronounced, but images
remain fully useable.
In view of the few differences
between the D40x and the D40, one wonders why Nikon did not
release the D40x in the first place. While there is little
doubt that purchasers of the D40x will appreciate the increase
in resolution, when images captured with the D40 and D40x
are compared, it is difficult to detect any qualitative differences.
Clearly, any serious amateur photographer searching for a
general-purpose camera that is both compact and economical
should inspect the D40x. Barely more expensive than a number
of bridge cameras, it offers greater flexibility and is only
marginally bigger.
Image Quality
