What is the crop factor of the Nikon D40?

The Nikon D40 is equipped with an APS-C sensor, whose diagonal measures 28.4mm. The sensor has a crop factor (or format factor, or focal length multiplier) of 1.5.

The crop factor is defined as the ratio of the 35mm full-frame film diagonal to the diagonal of a digital sensor. This number indicates how a lens behaves in relation to the size of the image sensor.

Sensor size comparison with a film slide

With a crop factor of 1.5, the sensor in the Nikon D40 is smaller than the receptor area of a 35mm film slide or negative. As a result, a lens that is attached to the Nikon D40 will offer a narrower angle of view and provide deeper depth of field than a lens of similar focal length and aperture on a film camera. The equivalent focal length is obtained by multiplying the actual focal length of the lens with the crop factor. For example, a 33mm lens on the Nikon D40 will provide the same angle of view and depth of field as a 50mm normal lens on a film camera (33mm * 1.5 = 50mm).

Sensor specs and performance

The table below compares the sensor specs of the Nikon D40 to those of several similar cameras. The reported DXO values are indicators of the sensor's imaging quality (higher is better), covering color depth (DXO Portrait), dynamic range (DXO Landscape), and high-ISO noise (DXO Sports). Larger sensor cameras tend to outperform cameras of the same generation that are equipped with a smaller imager. On the other hand, larger sensors are more expensive and require bigger and heavier lenses than smaller light receptors.

Sensor Characteristics

		Camera Model	Sensor Class	Resolution (MP)	Horiz. Pixels	Vert. Pixels	Video Format	DXO Portrait	DXO Landscape	DXO Sports	DXO Overall
1.		Nikon D40	APS-C	6.0	3008	2000	none	21.0	11.0	561	56
2.		Nikon D40X	APS-C	10.0	3872	2592	none	22.4	11.4	516	63
3.		Nikon D50	APS-C	6.0	3008	2000	none	20.9	10.8	560	55
4.		Nikon D60	APS-C	10.0	3872	2592	none	22.5	11.4	562	65
5.		Nikon D70	APS-C	6.0	3008	2000	none	20.4	10.3	529	50
6.		Nikon D70s	APS-C	6.0	3008	2000	none	20.4	10.3	529	50
7.		Nikon D80	APS-C	10.0	3872	2592	none	22.1	11.2	524	61
8.		Nikon D3000	APS-C	10.0	3872	2592	none	22.3	11.1	563	62
9.		Nikon D3100	APS-C	14.2	4608	3072	1080/24p	22.5	11.3	919	67
10.		Nikon D3300	APS-C	24.0	6000	4000	1080/60p	24.3	12.8	1385	82
11.		Nikon D3400	APS-C	24.0	6000	4000	1080/60p	24.8	13.9	1192	86

In the United States, the D40 was initially launched in November 2006 at a price of $499.

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Camera to camera comparisons

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