Nikon D60

[mrcheeky]

I am considering purchasing my first digital DSLR a Nikon does anyone have any ideas the cheapest place to buy one . Which telephoto lenses to buy with it.

Your help would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you


Mr Cheeky

[postcardcv]

not a full listing on there yet but keep an eye on http://www.camerapricebuster.com/Nikon_D60_Body_pc.html

[ikw101]

On paper the D60 looks a very good camera however be aware it does not have an autofocus motor therefore you'll be restricted to lenses that have a built in AF motor such as Nikon AF-S lenses and a few of the more recent Sigma zooms.

If your main interest is bird/wildlife photography it'd be worth spending a bit of time looking at what lenses are available. Ideally for birds you need to be looking at 400mm lenses or 300mm plus a 1.4x teleconverter. On a D60 your choice is restricted to the 300mm f4 AF-S plus a 1.4x tc. The 80-400mm Nikon zoom requires a camera with an autofocus motor !

At the moment there's some amazing deals available on the Nikon D80 and Canon 30D. Both are excellent cameras which offer remarkable value for money. Whilst I really hope the D60 proves a lot of cynics wrong I'd be amazed if it even gets close to matching the performance of the D80 and 30D.

Personally I'd go for either a D80 approx £500 and a second-hand (non AF-S ) Nikon IF-ED 300mm f4 circa £300 and Kenko Pro 1.4x tc. circa £60. Or the Canon 30D circa £500 and Canon 400mm f5.6 approx £800.

[pduxon]

the drawback with the d60 is it will only autofocus with Nikon's af-s lenses, and sigma HSM lenses. I think Tamron are launching some that will work. I don't think this is a massive draw back as there are plenty of fine lenses that will work.

as far as telephotos? Nikon af-s 300 with a 1.4 tc? Sigma 80-400 os or 50-500 will both work as will the new 120-400 and 150-500 (both with os - optical stabilisation).

annoyingly NIkon's 80-400 will not.

Unless you are hung up on having a dust reduction system you could look at the d80 as there is a cashback at present when you buy a Nikon lens. it will work with any Nikon lens.

[pduxon]

meant to add. parkcameras have the 80-400 at £899. warehouse express will price beat that so you can get it for £884. theyw/e have the d80 at £495. and as I said there is a cash back offer.

[Paul Jarvis]

In my opinion canon is the way to go, the 450D sounds pretty good and you can get the huge choice of canon's lenses.

[rioja]

Personally I'd go for a second hand D200 on Ebay. There are lots to be had as so many people are trading in for a D300. Expect to pay about £500.

[DFBHeron]

Personally I'd go for a second hand D200 on Ebay. There are lots to be had as so many people are trading in for a D300. Expect to pay about £500.

I have the D200 and D50. Considered the D60, decided to buy the D50 so I could use older (less expensive) prime lenses like the 300mm F4 EDIF, and others. I am finding myself gravitating to the D50 over the D200. The shutter action and weight of my D50 feels better, and I feel I get sharper images with my D50.
Also, the D50 is much cheaper. The megapixels should not be a factor in your decision, unless you plan on blowing these up into large posters. Megapixels do not make sharp pics, sharp lenses do.

[mrcheeky]

Thank you for you advice I am going to go down the route you have sugguested you sugguestion is much appreciated.

Cheers


Mr Cheeky.


On paper the D60 looks a very good camera
however be aware it does not have an autofocus motor therefore you'll be restricted to lenses that have a built in AF motor such as Nikon AF-S lenses and a few of the more recent Sigma zooms.

If your main interest is bird/wildlife photography it'd be worth spending a bit of time looking at what lenses are available. Ideally for birds you need to be looking at 400mm lenses or 300mm plus a 1.4x teleconverter. On a D60 your choice is restricted to the 300mm f4 AF-S plus a 1.4x tc. The 80-400mm Nikon zoom requires a camera with an autofocus motor !

At the moment there's some amazing deals available on the Nikon D80 and Canon 30D. Both are excellent cameras which offer remarkable value for money. Whilst I really hope the D60 proves a lot of cynics wrong I'd be amazed if it even gets close to matching the performance of the D80 and 30D.

Personally I'd go for either a D80 approx £500 and a second-hand (non AF-S ) Nikon IF-ED 300mm f4 circa £300 and Kenko Pro 1.4x tc. circa £60. Or the Canon 30D circa £500 and Canon 400mm f5.6 approx £800.

[mrcheeky]

I am considering purchasing my first digital DSLR a Nikon does anyone have any ideas the cheapest place to buy one . Which telephoto lenses to buy with it.

Your help would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you


Mr Cheeky

Thank you all for your sugguestions. Its much appreciated.


Mr Cheeky

Wheres the best deals?

[mrcheeky]

meant to add. parkcameras have the 80-400 at £899. warehouse express will price beat that so you can get it for £884. theyw/e have the d80 at £495. and as I said there is a cash back offer.

We both share a great Christian name Peter and thank you for your sugguestion.

Peter

[Youngbirder18]

Nikon have added the D60 onto their current cashback this morning. £40 off or £60 with 2 DX lens i think....

[NoSpringChicken]

A review of the Nikon D60 has just been added to dpreview's website.

[ruchai]

I have the D200 and D50. Considered the D60, decided to buy the D50 so I could use older (less expensive) prime lenses like the 300mm F4 EDIF, and others. I am finding myself gravitating to the D50 over the D200. The shutter action and weight of my D50 feels better, and I feel I get sharper images with my D50.
Also, the D50 is much cheaper. The megapixels should not be a factor in your decision, unless you plan on blowing these up into large posters. Megapixels do not make sharp pics, sharp lenses do.

I have D50 and D200. D50 is a good camera, can take good pictures but D200 is much better. It take little to learn to use a D50, it took me 6 months and 6,000 shots as learning curve for D200. Taking in RAW and do post processing D50 is ok. With D200 the camera will do very nice processing so I now take all pictures in jpeg. D50 is tougher and more trouble free than D200. For more than 3 years and 10,000 shots i did not have to do any thing with D50. Two years with D200 I had to replace rubber cover and focussing motor of the D200. It is better so it is more complicate, Nikon recomend bring D200 back for service after 1-2 year.
Buying used D200 you are likely will have to pay us$ 200 for new rubber cover and focussing motor! Repeat every 2 years after that!
If you can afford, take D200/D300, if money is your problem then D50. Nikon anounced new camera P80. I think it should be the most suitable birding camera of the year. I have not see it yet. It sure will be much lighter than D3 and should take good pictures. If it is as good as Nikon promised I may get one.

[rezMole]

If you are interested in buying secondhand, I have a Nikon D70 for sale for £500. I bit expensive? Yes, but I'm selling it complete with a Tamron 200-500mm lens.