Nikon D40x -

Picture Quality is about Lens Quality and your own Artistic Composition. The Number of pixels (once over 3Million only matters if you want bigger prints - this Camera has 10 Million Pixels - I doubt I'll produce A3 prints on a regular basis - but if I do they will be sharp, crisp, colorful & in a 3:2 format.

SLR Camera's cost more because they have bigger better quality lenses and larger light sensing chips (physically and not just Pixel Count). A Larger lens means more light is captured to make your picture, as well as enabling real options around depth of field for creative photography.

SLR Cameras take the photo when you press the button (If you have a point and shoot or a camera phone - you will recognise the problem of pressing the button and waiting for the image to be captured).

Nikon - Why? When I could afford a good quality 35mm SLR I chose Nikon - and since then I have bought a point & shoot digital Nikon (Very Good) and now this D40X - (excellent) - the controls are similar on all three devices - the picture quality and lens performance is brilliant especially on the SLR's.

Lens Compatibility - The lenses I used with my (F)ilm F70 also fit my (D)igital D40X.

ISO Film Speed (Equivalent) - Because this is a top quality Image Sensing Chip - instead of being stuck with shutter and film speeds such as ISO 200 - the chip on this camera will operate (optionally) at up to 1600 ISO - which means you cna take a picture without flash in very dim conditions and get a great image - as well as play with depth of field to produce images that have for instance :- Eyes in focus but everything else blurred and out of focus or for the same picture everything in sharp focus - this means you can create professional quality images.

Auto Focus - Sharper and faster with the D40X than the F70 - Nikon have improved their Auto Focus technology with this new Digital Camera.