$1,388 with an 18-55mm lens
Buy it at authorised dealers or visit www.nikon.com.sg

The Nikon D40x is the latest in the current wave of entry-level digital SLRs (DSLRs) with rapidly plunging prices. Many photography enthusiasts who would have been content with compacts are now looking at DSLRs, lured by value for money features and extras like an unbelievably wide range of lenses.

There is also the speed, wider dynamic range and lower noise. The down side, besides cost? The size. And shutter noise. No exotic materials went into the composition of the entry-level D40x, but it doesn't feel or behave in a "budget" fashion.

The right-hand side grip is comfortably deep despite the overall smallness of the camera. The D40x?s hair-trigger shutter release is a light baritone compared to some whiny sopranos that I have heard.

Nikon made no compromises with the D40x's speed. It snapped into focus and was usually ready before I was. I could fire off three Jpeg shots per second - even for shots in the Raw format.

After hundreds of photos taken throughout my entire review, the battery capacity still read full, with just one charge in the beginning.

The photos I took didn't have the sear-your-eyeball vibrancy you get with some compacts, but they were accurate. Of course, you can tweak the settings to your taste and even do in-camera editing on the D40x. I got lovely flesh tones in the photos of my highly kinetic children.

At ISO3200, the photos do get noisy, but the results weren't as distracting as those of some other cameras and the photos were still very useable.

The benefit of getting an SLR is the tremendous range of lenses available.For the ultimate go-anywhere lens, consider Nikon's 18-200mm, which gives you an optically stabilised range of 27-300mm. It does cost more than theD40x itself, but its practicality is envied by users of other DSLR brands.

FINAL SAY

The competition among entry-level DSLRs is intense, but the D40x stands out as a choice that handles very well and gives up little in terms of performance.