In this post I review the Nikon D60 DSLR. I do this with the question in mind how does it work for me as a photographer who is just starting as a serious amateur.
Before I start the review I will mention the why. Why did I buy a DSLR?
Why DSLR?
Before the Nikon D60 I had the Sony cybershot DSC-P93. A nice little point and shoot camera. Quality was ok, colours could be better but by and large ok. I was able to take good pictures with it so why buy a much less portable dSLR? The main reason for changing to an SLR for me was the increase in control over the picture. The Sony had a manual mode but it was crap to operate and very limited.
Nikon D60
To start off I want to point your to other reviews. I only have one DSLR and never had any other so I can’t compare it to other bodies. Here are two links of in depth reviews of the D60.
Secondly I should mention that I bought the kit meaning the body (camera) and the lens (Nikkor 18-55 VR) as a package. It is very convenient when you start out to buy the bundle, but important to keep in mind is that the lens has a much bigger impact on your photo’s than your body.. So if you have the choice between a cheap body and a better lens versus a cheap lens and better body, go for the better lens.
Related to this if you buy your first SLR it is important to consider the brand. The reason why this is important is that, if you want to increase your range as a photographer, you will need more lenses. And it is important to know that not all lenses fit on all camera’s! The safest brands are Nikon and Canon they have been around and have a large set of lenses and plenty of third party manufactures make lenses for Nikon or Canon bodies (Sigma, Tamron etc). Pick either brand and you’re fine.
My experiences with the camera are good. As an entry level camera is is nicely compact. The amount of control I gained by getting this camera compared to my previous one is enormous. It doesn’t fit into my pocket but it enables me to make better photo’s. Besides control over settings like aperture and shutter speed, the colour response in much better than from my point and shoot. Colours are more saturated and more detail in preserved. All in all I am very satisfied.
One thing to note is that this camera does not have an autofocus motor build in the body. This means that the lens has to have one in order for auto focus to work. Many lenses do (for Nikon lenses look for AF-S) but not all. I have one such lens Nikkor AF-D 50 mm F/1.8 which means I have to manually focus it. This is by no means impossibe and the camera does have a focusmeter build in to help you, however it requires some practice and is hard to do with moving objects.
One other huge improvement over my point and shoot is the ability to take pictures in darker surroundings without the use of flash. The camera can go up to ISO value Hi (1600) but significant noise is already present at ISO 800.
Conclusion
The Nikon D60 is working out very well for me. It is a great entry level camera very well suited to explore serious photography. I have hardly ever felt that the camera was limiting me in the pictures I wanted to make.
pros
- affordable
- compact and light weight
cons
- Although it performs reasonably well in low light situations, it is not top of the class
- requires lenses to have AF motor limiting the lenses you can use.
