Nikon Reportedly Planning D40 Digital SLR

Rumors have been flying round the Internet recently that Nikon is about to introduce a new D40 digital SLR aimed at the low end of the consumer market, and two French photo publications now have the details.

LesNumeriques.com and Chasseur d’images both report that the D40 will be a 6.1 megapixel camera sold as a kit with a new AF-X DX ED 18-55 f/3.5-5.6 GII zoom lens for about 599 Euros, or about $760 in U.S. dollars. That compares with about $650 for the D50 with AF-S DX 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G ED Zoom-Nikkor, so the price is unclear at this point.

The D40 would be about 3.5x5x2.5 inches, or about a third of an inch smaller in each dimension than the D50. It weighs about a pound, or five ounces less than a D50.

The new camera would save images in jpg or RAW on SD memory cards. ISO would range up to 1600 in normal mode and 3200 in “push” mode. Flash sync would go to 1/500. The LCD is 2.5 inches diagonally.

Reports indicate that older Nikon autofocus lenses without built-in focusing motors will not autofocus on the D40 and could only be used for manual focusing. The camera appears to have only three autofocus points, although the automatic French-English translations available on the web are unclear.

Nikon reportedly showed the camera to major distributors and photo retailers behind closed doors at Photokina while pushing the D80 for photo show attendees and the news media. Those who saw it weren’t supposed to talk before December, but a German store prematurely showed specs and photos on its web site before quickly withdrawing the pages. An official announcement could come as early as November 16 in Japan.

Details are available in the following reports:

--LesNumeriques.com
--Chasseur d’images

Copyright 2006