Nikon D60

[DurExplorer]

Hi,

I'm currently researching which camera would be best to purchase.

I'm looking to purchase my first DSLR, I will be mainly using it for landscape photography, I will experiment with HDR from time to time. After quite a lot of reading I'm leaning toward a Nikon D60, I know it doesn't include exposure bracketing, but its an entry level camera.

Does the lack of an inbuilt motor to auto-focus the lens make a huge difference, or will it impact me hugely in the long run?

Thank-you.

[Aegea]

It depends what you mean by hugely. As I expect you have discovered, the D60 will only autofocus with AF-S lenses, which tend to be more expensive than AF or manual focus lenses. Also, the viewfinder on the D60 is not very good for manual focus - it is rather dim and does not have a split prism, so manual focus can be an exercise in frustration unless you have pretty good eyesight. I never could focus my D40 well manually. A D90 would be four or five hundred $ more expensive initially, but would let you use the older and cheaper AF lenses, some of which are really good value. So it's a trade-off, and you probably won't know until you start shooting, which of course is a bit late. Personally, I felt the D40 was limiting me after a while and upgraded to a D90, which I am very happy with. I've probably saved more than the price differential by buying some AF rather than AF-S lenses.

[dbevisjr]

I have a D60 and I love it but I can confirm Aegea's statement concerning manual focus. It is a BEAR to focus it manually. I will have to upgrade sooner than I had hoped to.

[DurExplorer]

Originally Posted by dbevisjr

I have a D60 and I love it but I can confirm Aegea's statement concerning manual focus. It is a BEAR to focus it manually. I will have to upgrade sooner than I had hoped to.

However if I purchase lenses with an inbuilt motor they will autofocus yes?

To be honest I can't imagine me purchasing a large number of lenses, thus the added cost might not impact me too much.

[Aegea]

Nikon lenses labelled AF-S have a built-in motor and will autofocus on the D60. Other manufacturers use other designations (Sigma, I believe, uses HSM for lenses with a built-in motor).

[kirbinster]

You don't need to go up to the D90, but you might want to consider the D5000. I don't think it is that much more than the D60, but has the same image quality as the D90 and D300.

[Aegea]

The OP's question was whether the D60's lack of a focus motor would impact him hugely in the long run. IIRC, the D5000 does not have a focus motor either, so recommending it does not address his question.

[DurExplorer]

Hi Guys,

Thank-you for all the replies.

I'm looking at which lens to purchase to go with the D60, I would appreciate some feedback on the lenses below. I have read quite a few reviews but quite a few offer different opions and seem to conflict each other...

Nikon AF-S 18-70mm F3.5-4.5G ED DX Autofocus Zoom Lens
Nikon AF-S 18-55mm F3.5-5.6G ED DX AF Zoom Lens
Sigma 17-70mm F2.8-4.5

As mentioned in previous posts, the vast majority of my photographs will be landscape shots.

This will be my first DSLR so i'm sorry if I have made any mistakes.

Cheers,

[dbevisjr]

If you get the D60 kit it comes with the Nikon AF-S 18-55. The Nikon 18-70 and Sigma 17-70 for me wouldn't be as good a choice for a second lens as the Nikon AF-S 55-200. However if you are buying only the D60 body I would go with the Nikon AF-S 18-70. To cover the most range for your money if on a budget I would try not to duplicate focal length in 2 different lenses that have basically the same f stop range.

[Almond.Butterscotch]

i'll throw in a completely different opinion. If you want to do landscape photography, the absolute best lens for the job is the 14-24mm f/2.8. (Filters for it are tricky and as far as I know Lee is the only one that makes filters that work with it.) The lens is pretty expensive: $1569 on B&H.

just my opinion, but I think that's gonna be what you really want- if you're serious on landscape photography.