…entering from the red corner we have the new Nikon D40x, introduced in March of this year, a radically updated version of a camera
which was only launched five months previously. The D40x is quite clearly designed to take on the EOS 400D, in fact it is all but identical to its rival. Is this parallel evolution, or the sincerest form of flattery? Comparing the two cameras side-by-side shows that they are within a couple of millimetres of being exactly the same size (126 x 94 x 64mm for the D40x, 126.5 x 94.2 x 65mm for the 400D) and within a few grams of being the same weight (495g for the D40x, 510g for the 400D). In price as well there’s almost nothing to choose between them. The D40x is available with an 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G ED II lens for £498 or body-only for £419, while the EOS 400D is £478 with an 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 lens or £437 body-only, although to be fair I wouldn’t want to pay more than £31 for the lens supplied with the 400D.
In terms of specification the match is even closer. The D40x is a 10.0-megapixel camera sporting a 23.6 x 15.8 mm DX-sized Sony CCD sensor, quite likely the same CCD found in the D80 and D200, generating a final image size of 3,872 x 2,592 pixels, compared to the 400D’s 3,888 x 2,592 from its CMOS sensor. Both cameras have a 2.5-in TFT LCD monitor with 230,000 pixels, a mirror-type viewfinder with 95 percent frame coverage, and a simple control interface utilising an on-screen menu system and a single data entry wheel, although the Nikon’s wheel is on the back. Like the 400D the D40x has no top-panel LCD data display, instead displaying shooting data on the monitor screen; however this is off most of the time and has to be activated with a button press. One difference is the choice of memory card. The 400D uses the CompactFlash format favoured by professionals, while the D40x uses SD cards including the new SDHC format.