Review: Nikon D60 Digital SLR
Posted on 31. Aug, 2009 by Joel Meadows in Review
The Nikon D60 is an entry-level Digital SLR from Nikon, replacing the D40 and D40x models. At 10.2MP with an Image Sensor Cleaning System, Nikon have improved on its predecessor as what you aren’t told as a consumer when upgrading from a compact to a Digital SLR is the dust on the sensor that will play havoc with some of your best shots. So the Sensor Cleaner is a fantastic feature, although it could be argued that you can fix dust on your shots in Photoshop, Aperture or iPhoto, something that is true, but this saves you having to go through the whole process of doing this.
The D60 is quite an easy camera to pick up and start using even if you haven’t used an SLR before because its Modes dial uses many of the modes that you would find on a Nikon compact camera: Auto, Auto (Flash Off), Portrait, Landscape, Child, Sports, Close up and Night Portrait. For example, Landscape comes in useful for vibrant landscape photos as the camera picks the focus point containing the closest main subject while the built-in flash and AF-assist illuminator turn off automatically. These features make life easier and make some of the choices for you. Setting it to the M mode on the dial allows you to control both the shutter speed and aperture, so you’ll be able to shoot fireworks and stars. It has a Panoramic mode which works well with a wide angle lens. The S Mode (shutter priority mode) means that you can choose the shutter speed while the camera automatically selects the aperture that will produce the optimal exposure. If you pick the A mode (Aperture-Priority Mode), you choose the aperture while the camera automatically selects the shutter speed to produce the optimal exposure. Setting small apertures (high f-numbers) increase depth of field, bringing both the main subject and background into focus. Another feature is Active D-Lighting, which will improve photos that you shoot outdoors or in high contrast situations. Also, because it doesn’t have a motor in it, it’s pretty light and portable and can easily be stowed in a camera bag or a back pack without too much of a strain on your shoulders. You can carry it in your hands without a battery grip and it’s not hard to handle, although a battery grip is available. So, unlike the old days, when an SLR meant you were adding pounds to what you carried with you, the D60 is feels like it’s got a lot packed into it. It does sit quite well on a tripod too, if you wanted to achieve something a little more ambitious, with its weight an advantage here.
It’s also pretty good in low light and you can achieve some nice subdued effects when you shoot with the flash off. For example, when shooting the Tim Burton portrait below at San Diego Comic Con, that was taken indoors with slightly sharp light but the D60 with the flash turned off compensated nicely for the poor light.
Also, when I took the photo below of geese on the river at Kingston Upon Thames, it compensated for the high sunlight. I used the D60 with two different lenses: the 18-55mm, which it comes with, and a bigger wide angle 18-105mm Nikkor lens.
I also added a Skylight polarising filter to improve shooting in sunlight and to enhance general shooting. The body accommodates the two lenses well and their addition doesn’t make the camera unwieldy and it remains portable. In fact, for taking your camera abroad to shoot away from home, the D60 is a perfect model. The 18-55 lens that it comes with has VR (Vibration Reduction), which is a godsend when shooting in low light and stabilises the image, making those blurry, out of focus shots almost a complete thing of the past. I even tried it with my monster 70-300mm Sigma lens and it accommodated that without too much of a problem.
The D60 also allows you to shoot in black and white but only with a lens that has manual focus. It is an efficient portrait camera too because it picks detail out very delicately and for that reason, it is also a good buy if you shoot a lot of architecture. As with all SLRs, it allows you to shoot in RAW, if you need to photograph very large images for posters for example and want to take shots that are uncompressed. The Fine JPG setting is suitable for photos that don’t have to be printed in large format and you can shoot portraits that are good enough to reproduce at A4 size.
In terms of its price, it is competitively priced at just above the £400 mark, which is impressive considering that its predecessor, the Nikon D40x cost about the same when it was launched but the D60 is a more intuitive and sophisticated piece of kit. Nikon cameras are also very Mac friendly and transferring shots from your camera to your preferred application on your computer is a reasonably quick process. Also, unlike the D40x, you don’t have to eject it from iPhoto: just unhook the USB lead and you’re done.
So if you are looking for a good entry level SLR or if you are looking to upgrade from a very basic SLR to the next level, the D60 is a good choice. It takes sympathetic architecture shots, it is fairly easy to master and it does handle portraits with little fuss. It also works very well with the Mac, if this is your computer of choice. If you are moving from family snapshots to something semi-professional too, then this is a sound investment for you. It fills your shots with warm blues and vibrant reds and helps bring a city that you’ve shot on the D60 to life. Digital SLRs used to be accused of taking photos that lacked the immediacy and the human touch of their film predecessors but I think that Nikon have moved some way towards giving Digital SLRs the gritty feel of film. The D60 is a recommended piece of kit for anyone wanting to switch from the holiday pics to something with more power and sophistication.
Test Shots
See all test shots taken for this review
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