Sure, no problem Paul.

ISO can be set to the flash button on the D40, so it can be a one button process. :D

If your into movies, go for the D5000... It's Nikon's best movie camera. Otherwise get the D3X.

What's that? You don't have $6000? Go for the D90. It's Nikon's best DX camera. If you tend to shoot on on the extreme telephoto end (200mm +), it's Nikon's best camera period.

The D3000 will be at least as good as your D40, but with twice the pixels, & much better low light performance. That's a win-win if I ever heard one! I'll be curious to know if it gets the D90's LCD. I suspect (hope) it won't get the D5000's articulating screen. The other thing I'll be watching for is size... If it's substantially bigger, I'll probably still prefer the D40 for a low end camera (IQ just doesn't matter for most applications).

I love my D40. My only gripe about it is the crummy three point auto-focus, which I'm almost certain the D3000 will inherit. Its pretty terrible.

It also isn't suitable for serious shooting in a fast paced environment because the controls take too long to adjust. If you want to change ISO or white balance, your looking at about a 5 button process. The lack of a second dial makes shooting in Manual mode a bit cumbersome. Fortunately, I almost never shoot in manual mode with my D40. This doesn't matter if you do landscapes and the like, but if you need to be able to adjust your settings quickly, take a pass on the D3000 & D5000.

Guys...

Thanx a lot for the help.

d90 - same IQ as on d300, same density as d3x, works with almost all lenses, and is really a good piece of hardware

@ted2001:

I agree with you. I got the D90 as a second camera to my D300. I am really surprised at the handling and IQ you can get from it and although the button layout is different than the D300's, it's still very easy to use and get used to. It's actually a little better in low light than the D300.

I absolutely love the D90, the size of the D40/60 is very nice, but since I have large hands it feels small to use. I also like having depth of field preview since I do a lot of macro work. The only feature I would like to have is metering with manual lenses (s.a. D3/D3x/D700/D300).

For my use the D90 is very close to perfect.

kinda on a topic ... any ideas whn are we gone have next announcement for new toys ?

After owning the D200 and the D40 (the wifes), I purchased the D90 simply because of the CMOS sensor and,...in my opinion, it's the smartest camera Nikon makes at the present time. The video didn't interest me at all. I like the live view on the rear screen. It enables me to hold it above my head in a crowd and shoot down without having to "guess" what I get. I think this is a holdback from my news photographer days.
If you haven't read Ken Rockwell's review, it may be worth your while. He's pretty savy. Good Luck!
http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/d90.htm

An addition...don't neglect looking at d90, factory demos. My d90 and also my d40 are both factory demos. The D90 was virtually new. It had zero shutter actuations. Cameta Camera is very reputable. I buy most of my equipment from them.
http://www.cameta.com/Nikon-D90-Digital-SLR-Camera-Body-Factory-Demo-40354.cfm

After reading the D3000 rumors (I check the forum a lot more than the blog) I agree with NikoDoby. D3000 seems likely to be a better buy, and it's worth it to at least wait until the rumored announcement date.

Paul wait one week to see what the yet-to-be-released D3000 can offer you. Expected announcement date July 29/30th.

The D5000 is a wonderful camera, just make sure Nikon irons out the D5000 recall issue first before you go out and buy one. Although they'll fix it for free, why go through all that hassle? And make sure you check the serial number (if you buy it in person) to see if it was one that was affected. Plus, prices may drop a little by that time.

Sorry to hear your D40 was stolen. I own one too, and it's a nice small(ish) camera.

If you were happy with your D40's lack of old style AF, I'd say go with the D5000. Excellent image quality. The D60 is great, I own one, but the High ISO performance of the D5000 is a real step up. If you want to buy older lenses with the camera body AF, or AI lenses, the D90 is a better choice.

D90 is the best serious photo amateur Nikon camera yet (video or not), but if D60 and D3000 is your budget you should wait for newer and better D3000 CMOS design camera, at least to see what the price would be, and D60 will be cheaper for sure.

I am planning to buy a new Nikon DSLR after my D40 was stolen. I am more interested in an SLR and video is not a prefered requirement. What would be a good model? The models D90, D5000 etc. all have video facility. Is it worth to pay more for video facility in a SLR camera? Would D60 be a good camera or, I should wait for D3000 launch?