Customer Reviews

Nikon D60 10.2MP Digital SLR Camera with 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G AF-S DX VR and 55-200mm f/4-5.6G ED IF AF-S DX VR Zoom-Nikkor Lens with 2 Nikon School DVDs

5 star:		(29)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Having come full circle from owning Canon Rebel manual 35mm film cameras in the 80's and 35mm automatic cameras in the 90's, then using a relatively good Sony Point and Shoot digital, I have to say the Nikon D60 has reinvigorated my desire to get "the picture" rather than just snap "a picture". I evaluated the Sony, Canon and Nikon models, and in the end the 60 provide the right blend of megapixels, comfort while shooting, available Vibration Reduction lens combinations, and at a price point under $1000 for body and 2 lens, 18-70 VR and 55-200 VR. I have found these VR lens do indeed add an extra level of forgiveness in your shooting.

In last 30 days, we have taken shots of Vegas sites, the Grand Canyon and of many sites along the Nile in Egypt, daylight and night, and the results are very good even for an amateur such as myself.

I've had the photograpy bug for a little over 40 years. I started out with a Nikkormat FT in high school. 15 years later I bought a Nikon FM. I still own both and they still work just fine. I've owned several point and shot cameras along the way also but have wanted to make the jump to a DSLR for quite some time. I had a wish list for quite a while that originally had the D40 but updated it to the D60 when it came out. My loving spouse took the list, did some research of her own and surprised me with a D60 kit containing the 18-55 & 55-200 VR DX zooms for my birthday in August. What a keeper I married :)

I have to say that I am absolutely happy and amazed with this great little digital beauty. It works great with my older Nikkor lenses and the 2 DX VR lenses are wonderful too.

The various "auto" modes work great when you want to let the camera do some, most or all of the work, OR need a quick shot and don't have the time to do more than compose. The manual mode allows complete control for those with the experience or beginners who want to learn by experimentation.

The small size might be a problem for a large-handed individual, but it fits my medium sized paws to a T. The 10.2 megapixels, large ISO range, 3 metering methods, multiple shooting modes and huge range of Nikon accessories and Nikkor lenses make this a great platform for the beginning dslr user as well as the more experienced. And the price at Amazon with both DX VR lenses is a great deal.

One more thing. The manual from Nikon is thorough, but not well organized or illustrated. Because of that, I recommend that you also buy the "Nikon D60 (Focal Digital Camera Guides)" by Corey Hilz. It's far better organized and illustrated, has a great quick start section that will get you up and photographing in just a few minutes and has great tips and techniques from Corey, who is a great photo pro and shows how to use all of the great features this camera has. Well worth the current $13.57 price tag on Amazon and can be found here:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0240810686

Wow! This camera and lense package delivers! No, I do not work for Nikon or any marketing firm, but I am blown away by how much easier it is for this amateur to get reasonably clear pictures from farther away. Parents, you know what I mean--nothing disappoints like being on the sidelines of a soccer or football game, and trying to use that pocket camera to capture the action. It can't, but the D60 will make you feel like a pro when you look at your results. The 10 megapixles gives you lots of room to crop. You do not need a degree in digital photography to make it work, but I could use some tips on photo editing/finishing . . .

Definitely get the 2 lense package. The VR does make a difference and do not forget to get your 50mm UV (or circular polarized) filter. At least now when you are sitting in the back row at graduation, you have a chance at getting some pics you want to keep.

For the more technical readers out there, let me add that turning off autofocus is a must if you want to take quick action shots.

Also, spend a couple of bucks extra and get an quick 8 Gig mem card.

My first day out I took over 400 picures, toasted my battery, but had plenty of room on the card.

Not sure if this i

I've had the D60 for about a week now, and I bought this for my fiancee who's been wanting to get into photography as well. Being an E-510 user, I was impatient to see what sort of differences I can see and my findings were mixed.

For starters, the D60 isn't very ground-breaking and no one even from a D40 might think about upgrading, other than resolution and a few features, everything remains the same. But to its credit, the dust reduction, VR kit lens and Active D-Lighting are very useful features.

Out of the camera, images are very contrasty and punchy, and I often found them over-saturated leading to unreal skin tones and excessive reds and yellows, this definitely needs adjusting (in my opinion). The Olympus in comparison maintained much more "real" colors. Also auto WB in incandescent lighting lead to excessive yellow masks which didn't seem to be the case on my Olympus.

With Active D-Lighting on, the camera takes a good 5-6seconds to show an image preview after an exposure, this can be very annoying. Also shadow areas boosted with D-lighting seemed noisy even at ISO 100, so I'd definitely use this feature only when required.

The D60 has very good metering although sometimes it tends to over-expose. The flash is very nice and uses TTL metering for deciding flash strength. This is pretty accurate.

The one thing I was a little surprised about was the absence of live-view, which even Canon has now on the 450D, not sure why this was left out and would have made an excellent addition to the feature-set.

Overall this is a nice camera for beginners and semi-professionals, but definitely needs to be tweaked before use.

Pros:
- Excellent build quality
- Very nice menus and software
- Great images out of camera (very saturated and contrasty)
- Active D-Lighting
- Vibration Reduction

Cons
- No Live View.
- Colors over-saturated and needs to be toned down.
- VR feature is in lens as opposed to in-body, making lenses more expensive.

I recently replaced my old Olympus film SLR with the D60. I have liked my digital Nikon pocket cameras because they are small and easy to use, and my pictures always had better quality than those taken with other similarly-priced brands. However, the pocket cameras' shutter lags really annoyed me and I really missed the quality that glass optics give to landscapes.

So far, I am delighted with the D60. I have taken several short photo classes and experimented with the camera's settings. I am really impressed with the photo quality and ease of use. The D60 is easier to use than my film SLR because the screen reminds me of my settings and offers help. I can see what options I chose for each picture on-screen. The camera lures me into trying manual settings. I am very happy with the quality of the photos I have printed.

This is the best entry level DSLR for anyone going from a P&S to an SLR camera. The automatic settings are wonderful, and while not always precise, are a good introduction to the exposure triangle for people who have no formal photography training. This camera provides a lot of options for customizing the automatic modes as well as using a fully manual mode (manual exposure) that will allow the photographer to take charge of the entire photographic experience. The self-cleaning system is a great way to keep images sharp and avoid nasty dust spots on images.

The combination of the two lenses is great. Too few kits exist that include multiple lenses. These lenses are some of Nikon's best for this level of product (consumer SLR). The vibration reduction allows the photographer to shoot more frequently off of a tripod. My only complaint with the lenses is the that they have difficulty focusing close and need assistance for close focus, in the form of a close-up filter.

Great product for any new photographer, not great for a professional, but I have no regrets about it.

Total novice mom is taking professional quality pictures of child.
AMAZINGLY EASY...auto settings are great...can't wait til I really dig in and learn about all the fancy stuff and manual settings. I am a point and clicker....this is AMAZING.
Great for beginners and I am sure that well experienced photogs would enjoy. Took this to Disneyland and their professional photogs that take your picture throughout the park said that was the kind of camera she was going to buy after having tried mine.
DAMN>>>it feels good in your hand.

The Nikon D60 has proven to me to be a fantastic beginner's DSLR, while it can hardly be labeled a beginner's camera since it is more than capable of running with the higher models. It does, however, lack some of the features that give the more expensive brands their appeal, and high price tag.

For what you get with this model; high quality photographs, durability, small and lightweight body; the price is unbeatable. The difference in quality from the D60 and the higher level DSLRs can only be seen if you have already mastered the techniques of digital photography, and are looking for the next step. I would not recommend a newcomer to DSLR photography puchasing anything much higher than the D60 to start with, otherwise you may be wasting money that could be put towards a more powerful lens.

The D60 has proven it's durability to me in the field, as I have dropped it on the ground and worst of all, fell into a stream with it around my neck in Yosemite National Park. I dried it off and it was like new. Excellent quality.

If you would like to see what kind of photographs I have been able to shoot with my D60, check out my photostream on Flickr. Just look for Nick Chill!

Enjoy!

Purhcased as my entry into the dSLR market. I was able to track down a price of under $500 locally for both the 55-200 & 18-55 lenses, and am very happy. Still learning the ins, outs, etc. but from what I can see from the pictures, great entry camera and would highly recommend for a first time purchaser/entry into the dLSR market.

As a downside it should be noted that the d60 does NOT have auto-bracketing, something to keep in mind...

This is a fantastic camera and lens combination. My 16 year-old son has mastered it quickly and taken some professional quality photos both indoors & outdoors. The operation of the camera, lenses & menus are intuitive and easily learned. The Vibration Reduction feature permitted great, sharp photos in low light at a concert and also of some bald eagles flying at a good distance from the camera. The 10 megapixel size permitted zooming & cropping and still getting great quality pictures. It feels comfortable in our hands - better than any other DSLR's we tried. A gem!