The crops are taken from the original images, saved as High Quality JPEGs in Photoshop CS2 and presented here at 100%. Each number represents 100 lines per picture height (lpph), so a figure of 20 means a resolution of 2000 lpph.

Fitted with the standard Nikkor DX 18-55mm II kit lens, the Nikon D40 delivers 1750 and 1650 lpph of horizontal and vertical resolution respectively. Some moiré is quite visible in the horizontal sample at the point of maximum resolving power, and the D40 clearly applies greater sharpening than the other models here using its default settings.

The D40’s resolving power slightly improves upon several earlier 6 Megapixel DSLRs and actually matches the horizontal resolution of the 8 Megapixel Canon 350D / XT, although the Canon beats it in terms of vertical resolution. Unsurprisingly the 10 Megapixel Canon 400D / XTi and Nikon D80 both comfortably out-resolve the D40, although it’s worth comparing the studio results here with actual outdoor real-life resolution tests on our first results page. The difference in real-life detail recorded may not be as great as you might think.