When you have your choice of which DSLR to buy whittled down to a short list, it is often very useful to find reviews like this one from DigitalReview.ca Side by side comparisons are great for making that final decision. They tested the Nikon D40 against the Nikon D50 and the Pentax K110D digital SLR. To see how well these cameras would respond to the challenge, they tested the Nikon D40, Nikon D50 and Pentax K110D under mainly difficult lighting conditions. Here’s a sample-

"Out of the three cameras we found the menu display on the Nikon D40 to be the most user friendly with camera information presented in a clear language. A handy help menu and ‘Assist Images’ guide novice users on how to select appropriate settings on the Nikon D40 by showing a sample image on the monitor typical of the selected setting.

The Nikon D40 does not have an Auto Focus motor built-in to the camera body like the Nikon D50 or Pentax K110D. This allows the D40 to take on a smaller form factor although limits the cameras Auto Focus compatibility to Nikon’s AF-S series of lenses which feature a built-in AF-S motor. The advantage for the Nikon D40 compared to the Pentax K110D is considerably quieter operation and faster focus tracking.

The Nikon D50 also features quieter operation with the AF-S DX 18-55mm kit lens compared to the fairly loud focus sound coming from the Pentax K110D coupled with the SMC Pentax 18-55mm kit zoom lens. Pentax Corp. has announced plans for a new line up of lenses to be released next year which will feature quieter operation with built-in lens motors.

The advantage with the Nikon D50 compared to the Nikon D40 is that you can use the older AF Nikkor lenses and still maintain Auto Focus (AF) capability. When using one of the non AF-S type of Nikkor lenses on the Nikon D40 you loose the AF ability, the metering and automatic exposure modes will still work, so if you don’t mind using manual focus you will be fine. The Pentax K110D is fully compatible with all of the Pentax AF lenses and can also be used with older manual focus Pentax lenses (no AF)."