D40 is 6MP, not 5. Aside from that, you would get pictures about 1.3x as wide and high with the D40x as with the D40, but high ISO noise may be a bit lower with the D40. (I have the D40 and am quite happy with it.)..

Unless you are going to make huge enlargements regularly (poster size) you really aren't going to notice the difference between 6MP and 10MP. The quality of the lens is more important: a decent lens on a 6MP camera will give sharper images than a cheap one on a 10MP camera..

I have a 6MP camera (Pentax K100D) and it gives pin-sharp A4 enlargements in which you cannot see the pixels by starting at it close up because 6MP delivers a resultion finer than the human eye can resolve at that size print. If you look at a bigger print, say on a wall, from a couple of feet away, you can't resolve more than 180 pixels per inch even with brilliant eyesight... which will give you about 18 x 12 inch prints.Mike..

A lot of people will tell you that you need the 10MP to do poster sized prints. Not so. I often do 16x20 prints from 6MP images and have a couple of 20x30's that are simply stunning. So that is not a valid reason to "need" the higher pixel count..

What I would like about a larger pixel count is the extra room for cropping. Rather than trying to fill the frame I'd prefer to leave some extra space out there to make cropping to different sizes easier. For example, see the image below..

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This was shot from as far back as I could get with the lens I had handy. (That and I couldn't get everyone else to move out of the way any more.) It will be fine as a 20x30, but pretty much any other standard size will require some black space at the top and bottom because I don't have room to crop on the long edge. Admittadly, a higher MP count wouldn't help here because I couldn't get more in the frame anyway, but it illustrates my point on cropping..

Hope this helps.Chefziggyhttp://www.pbase.com/chefziggy/lecream.

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RE> you would get pictures about 1.3x as wide and high with the D40x as with the D40,<.

This makes absolutely no sense..

BAK..

The only differences are the pixel count, a drop in flash sync speed (making the D40 the better of the two), the addition of ISO 100 in the D40x, and slightly more pictures per second when you hold the release button down..

For prints up to 12 x 18 at Costco, you'll never see a difference..

BAK..

I've heard people say 6MP is really the number where Digital meets Film quality. The difference between 6 and 10 can't be seen in any normal since print. In very large prints it can be visible, but only to those that really look for it and have a VERY good eye. It can help with cropping images though..

Other differences between the D40x and D40. 3fps instead of 2.5fps (performs at 2.6fps though). ISO 100 option, but I don't think there is any difference from 100 to 200. Most shoot at 200 or 400 anyways. There may be another that I'm forgetting..

I personally feel the choices are either D40, D80, D200. The leap from the D40 to D40x just don't justify the price IMO. I rather put it towards a lens/flash/etc. or towards savings for a D80/D200..

EDIT:.

From the D40x review....

Differences compared to the D4010 megapixel sensorLower base sensitivity (ISO 100 vs ISO 200)Auto ISO option includes ISO 200Faster continuous shooting (3 fps vs. 2.5 fps)*.

* Slower with noise reduction enabled.

Is flash sync really different? I've not seen it mentioned anywhere...

Most people seems to missed this point on the DR..

Although D40x has the same Sony sensor as the D80 but Nikon has tweaked the firmware with slightly better jpeg output from the D40x...

The main difference IMO is the in-body motor for AF in D40X. This allows you to use old lenses that does not have the internal focusing motor. With D40 you have a limited choice of lenses..

Other than that, you you'll have to decide if you prefer bigger photos (the more pixels the better, D40x wins) or you will really want to use ISO 800 and above (D40 has less noise)..

BestAlex..

BAK wrote:.

This makes absolutely no sense..

Of course it makes sense. It may not be the most important feature of the camera, as others have rightly pointed out, but it does make sense..

For the record:.

A D40 (6MP) will produce a maximum print size of (approx) 15x10 inches at 200dpi..

A D40x (10MP) will produce a maximum print size of (approx) 19x13 inches at 200 dpi.(in both cases, without interpolation / software adjustment, obviously).

As another poster has pointed out, the ability to crop without interpolation is probably the more important feature of the higher res camera..

At 200 dpi, without interpolationYou can take an 8x10 crop from 32% of the image area on a D40x.You can take an 8x10 crop from 53% of the image area on a D40..

Is this important? Maybe not. But there it is..

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Il_alexk wrote:.

The main difference IMO is the in-body motor for AF in D40X. Thisallows you to use old lenses that does not have the internal focusingmotor. With D40 you have a limited choice of lenses..

According to Phil's review, the D40x also lacks the in-body focus motor...

More important, according to Nikon it lacks the in-body motor.'Nice pen, bet you write good stories with it.'..

Oh, you are right, no in-body motor indeed. Sorry for the confusion..

But they really SHOULD have included it .BestAlex..

What doesn't make sense about it? You have 1.6x the pixels on the D40x sensor compared to the D40, so the linear dimensions of the image produced (assuming you print or view both at the same DPI) are the square root of 1.6 greater for the D40x...

If they did, the camera would likely have been bigger maybe, say the size of the D80.'Nice pen, bet you write good stories with it.'..

You heard incorrectly. Resolution of professional 35mm film is 18-20MP. Which so far is not attained by any 35mm sensor digital camera. Also dynamic range of the film is about 3 f-stops larger than that of digital sensor. So there is still some room to go. (Not for Fuji, DR wise they are there)..

Eugene.

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