CamerasOnly - Digital Photography Blog: Pre-order the Nikon D40X SLR Digital Camera

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March 29, 2007 is the official release date of the new Nikon D40X digital camera, but you can preorder this latest DSLR right now at Ritz Camera online.

The Nikon D40X sits halfway between the popular and inexpensive Nikon D40 and the more powerful Nikon D80, both in features and in price. With a body-only price of $730 (est. $800 with a Nikkor 18-55mm lens), the D40X is plenty of camera for a very reasonable price. Its most obvious advantage over its little brother is the 10.2 megapixel CCD - the same as the Nikon D80 - for those who like to blow up their photos to poster size.

Since the number of megapixels is not the most important factor in creating quality digital images (which any experienced photographer knows), Nikon has also migrated many more features down from their higher-end cameras to make both the D40 and the D40X outstanding values:

A bright, sharp, 230,000-dot, 2.5-inch, TFT LCD with brightness adjustment and 170-degree viewing angle
Nikon's 3D Color Matrix Metering II, with 420-pixel RGB sensor, delivers automatic, dependable and consistent exposure adjustment for almost any lighting condition
An advanced, 3-area AutoFocus system that gives fast & precise autofocus
An AutoFocus-assist illuminator ensures accurate autofocus even in dark conditions
Eight program settings (Auto, Auto w/Flash Off, Portrait, Landscape, Child, Sports, Close Up, and Night Portrait) that automatically optimize and adjust tone, color, saturation, hue, white balance and sharpening to match the type of photo being taken
Near-instantaneous, 0.18-second power-up gives the ability to capture fleeting moments, even when the digital camera is off
Fast bursts, up to 100 JPEG images in a row, at speeds of 2.5 to 3 frames per second
Shutter speed control from 30 seconds to 1/4000 second
A large, bright viewfinder with 0.8x magnification
Fast image data transfer and recording to (SDHC compliant) SD memory cards up to 4GB
Rechargeable, long-life Li-ion battery that gives from 450-550 single-frame images before recharging is necessary
Built-in Flash, plus full support for Nikon's advanced Creative Lighting System