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Nikon (www.nikondigital.com), the world leader in high quality digital imaging, precision optics and photo imaging technology, today announced its new D40 digital SLR camera will be Nikon’s first camera certified to deliver the highest quality images and photo sharing capabilities with the new Windows Vista. Using the Nikon D40 along with Windows Vista will make it easier and more fun to capture, organize and share beautiful pictures with family and friends. 

Nikon’s (www.nikondigital.com) highly acclaimed Capture NX™ software will be updated and boast several new improvements, including full support for Intel-based Mac OS X computers. A demonstration of Capture NX, in Beta format, will take place at Nikons booth during the MacWorld Conference & Expo in San Francisco, January 9-12. 

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The D40 is Nikon’s entry level digital SLR, replacing the D50. It is one of the most economical dSLRs currently on the market, either as “body-only” or as a kit with a lens. It is also the first digital SLR camera to compete head-on with a number of bridge cameras thanks to its size and weight. Compact and light, the D40 integrates all of Nikon’s newest technologies, but omits a few features found on other Nikon dSLRs to keep costs down.

In everyday use the D40 is just what it set out to be, a very capable, compact, lightweight and easy to use camera which makes a perfect first step for anyone wanting to get into digital SLR photography. It provides enough control and a large enough range of manual settings to enable you to experiment and learn but also helps you to take great pictures in the process. It’s one of those cameras you can just pick up and start shooting without fuss, that you can hand to a friend who’s never used an SLR and know they’ll be able to do the same. All of this and a pretty decent kit lens for $600, I’d say it’s a bit of a bargain. 

The selling points of this camera are the flexibility of the design and the powerful zoom. Neither of these will let prospective purchasers down, but anyone looking for a more general camera will be disappointed by the image quality overall and the problematic flash. The VR system is something that a big zoom really needs if in poor lighting condition, but it is hardly infallible so a few shots are generally required, rather than assuming it will have worked.