What can one say about a camera that you haven't had long enough to shoot any photos?
For starters, we'll note that the D40x, Nikon's new budget SLR, is a pleasure to hold and schlep, lightweight and nicely balanced.
It's also clearly aimed at least partly at those making the transition from point-and-shoot, as seen by options such as on-screen graphics that visually depict aperture and shutter speed, an aid to those who haven't memorized the inverse relationship between f-stop and aperture size.
We wonder how those newcomers will feel about the novel control layout on the D40x, however. No adjustment seems to be fewer than two clicks away, except for turning the flash on and off, which is curiously relegated to the main shooting mode dial.
We're also puzzled by the awkward diopter adjustment, a stiff slider next to the viewfinder that prompts the following warning in the user manual: "When operating the diopter adjustment control with your eye to the viewfinder, be careful not to put your fingers or fingernails in your eye."
Gotcha. Eye poking = bad.
Stay tuned for a full review once we have time to squeeze off some photos.
