was looking at digital slr's and from the reviews at various places, nikon d40 seems to be good for a person getting into slr : good set of basic features (including continuous shots of 2.5 frames per sec), light, not expensive. seems to be for about 65,000 yen at bic camera (from their website).

[12 june 2007]
at cnet, this does not seem to fare so well :

"Shutter lag and autofocus speed pop up as the D40's biggest weaknesses. It wakes up fast--0.3 second and you're good to go. But its shutter lag in good light is an almost embarrassing (for a dSLR) 0.7 second, and it more than doubles in dim light to 1.6 seconds. I frequently missed shots because of it. The autofocus system works fine for small changes--the subject taking a step, or refocusing on something nearby--but when switching from a far subject to a near subject or vice versa, it takes a perceptibly long second or two to lock."

"If you're just looking for a great, cheap dSLR, the faster, higher-resolution Canon EOS Rebel XT is probably a better bet; and if you're an experienced shooter, you might want to spend more for the Nikon D80."

on sunday (10th june's) function, kanai san said he had bought a D40 on friday. midway during the session, after he would have taken about 50 photos or more, he did not seem too happy. he advised that i go for the next higher camera.