Nikon D60

Nikon D60

Nikon has released the D60 as their new entry into their dSLR range. A little bit unusual this time is the fact that there hasn’t been a resolution jump, and while some consumers may bemoan this, I see it as a very good thing as it hopefully means the era (error) or meaningless megapixel jumps is over. In fact, more resolution can certainly be a negative thing, one only has to look at the current insanity of the compacts to realize this, we are now seeing compacts introduced with worse image quality than their predecessors because too many megapixels have been jammed into too small an area for the sake of the marketing departments being able to claim the highest number of pixels.

I bought this camera because I wanted something that is very light, inconspicuous, easy to hand to somebody else I’m out and about with and enable them to take a shot - and of course takes great images. It isn’t a body I use for work in all honesty, but that shouldn’t be taken as a sign it couldn’t be, it most certainly could although I’d miss a few options and I’d be worried about knocking it about too much as its a camera designed for a different user entirely. As has happened before, I wanted just the

body but it was not available so in the end I ended up paying the extra £40 to get it with the kit lens. As it happens, this was no bad thing as the redesigned 18-55mm AF-S VR is a remarkably capable lens and downright fantastic when the cost is factored in.

Nikon has once again showed that they are willing to use the sensor technology they feel is best for a particular body. We recently saw a CMOS sensor used in the D300 and now they have used a CCD sensor in the D60. There are advantages to both technologies that I am hardly in a position to go into detail on not being an engineer, but from a photographers point of view, we seem to have reached a point where it matters little. What the D60 does have is Nikon’s newly branded EXPEED processor, which may or may not be the reason behind the snappy performance, but either way I have no complaints as I never get frustrated waiting for it to do its job for my uses.

The D60 is able to shoot at 3 frames per second for an astonishing 100 jpeg frames, and this is one body that I don’t shoot RAW’s with so I’m very happy with the jpeg performance. In fact, using a SanDisk Extreme III SD card I was able to go a little over 100 frames when I was playing around with testing, so I cannot imagine a situation where you’d be disappointed with the buffer performance. On a more personal note, I would have preferred compact flash as I have huge quantities of those cards, but in reality SD is the standard for the D60’s market so I have to concede it was the correct choice and makes very little difference as SD & CF cards are equally priced now.

The auto-focus sensor is a 3 point affair, which may sound a little low when compared to the professional 51 sensor chips, but I have to admit its very good. On the D60 I am most often using the central focus point in single mode anyway, but its able to focus very well and even in relatively dim lighting. Now, I’m not going to lie to you and say this is the body you should be looking at for birds in flight, but for the consumer this body is intended for its a very good AF system.

The back of the camera is dominated by the 2.5in screen. Its a very good screen with good viewing angles which means you can look at it from off-centre and that is always a good thing if more than one person is looking at the image captured. All of the settings are displayed on the 2.5in screen as this body, like almost all of the competitors bodies, does not have a screen on the top plate. I do miss the top plate screen, but thats only because I’m used to using it. I think for the vast majority of people using the D60, it does make sense as it gives you a lot of information presented in a clear and easy to understand way. There is even graphical information, which shows you a little opening that gets larger and smaller as the aperture is opened up - likewise there is also a graphical representation of the shutter speed. It looks great, its real world use is questionable however as you’ll still need to look at the cold hard numbers to know precisely what the camera is set at. The screen has a good 230k dot resolution which is crisp enough for image review and clear text. I have to be honest, there is a noticeable difference between the D60 LCD and the D300/D3’s 920K dot LCD, but its not fair to expect the newer LCD’s to appear in this market yet, it will however filter down soon as these things always do.

Where would a dSLR write-up be without some mention of noise at the higher ISO settings? This time, its a pleasure to write this paragraph as the noise performance is very, very good indeed. This is one of those reasons why I’m glad Nikon has chosen to stay at 10MP this time as its given them an opportunity to get things like noise performance refined without giving themselves a handicap of trying to squeeze in more pixels. Up-to ISO 800 and there is very little noise, ISO 1600 is easily usable as long as you don’t blow the exposure. There is noise at ISO 1600, but its noticeably better than what’s come before, and importantly it has what I’ll refer to as the ‘Nikon look’ which retains the detail in the image and has a nicer grain to what noise there is, making it much more palatable.

The body itself has a great shape which makes it very easy to hold. I think this is something that gets overlooked by many consumers when deciding which camera to go with in the shop. It is even more important when the camera is this small, as it becomes harder for the camera companies to make it easy to hold onto the camera in a comfortable and firm way. I do need to stress how small the D60 is, its a tiny little thing not much bigger than some compacts. I have a hard time imagining how they could possibly make it any smaller and indeed, they claim it to be the smallest dSLR available which I can well imagine. The body is built very well for an entry level camera, something its rivals could certainly learn and thing or two from. I do miss having the second command dial and direct access for some of the functions, but for most people this will be of little consequence as they will be using the programmed modes available from the top dial. There is a mode to accommodate almost any possible shooting situation, so if you want the flexibility of a dSLR with the better optics that comes from buying your lenses separately whilst still being able to set it and forget it, you’ll be very happy with the D60.

Normally I’d pay scant attention to the lens that comes with the camera as its often better to buy separately and spend just a little more to get a lot more performance. This new 18-55mm VR lens though is well worth mentioning. It has fantastic sharpness when stopped down just a little. I suppose Nikon had to answer the body based stabilization some of their competitors were offering in their camera’s, even though I think lens based stabilization gives better results. Almost certainly because of this, Nikon has added it to the kit lens, and it will save your bacon in many a situation. It works very well indeed, giving noticeably more stabilization than the first VR lens I ever bought (24-120mm) that I quickly compared it to. It also has an AF-S motor of course, which is needed for the D60 as the body does not have a motor built into it. The AF speed is very good, not quite as quick as the professional and expensive optics of course, but fast enough that you’ll never have to think about it.

I am very happy I bought the D60, it is remarkable what you get for the very reasonable price asked. Even if you are not a photographic expert, you’ll be able to capture excellent images as it does almost everything for you if asked. Likewise, if you want to take control you’ll of course be able to since its a dSLR. The D60 gives you sharp images that you’ll be able to print out in very large sizes, even on occasions you have to venture up into high ISO’s. There are a few things I’d like to see added to a future version such as an updated AF sensor and a LCD screen similar to what the D300 has. Really though, when you take into account the price, you are getting a fantastic deal. Great body to have with you all the time as its weight will never bother you, the camera will not shock people when you point it at them and it takes great images. My new go anywhere body...