Nikon D60 or D40 ?

mintyfresh

Hi,

Thinking of getting my first DSLR camera and cant decide whether to push the boat out for the D60 or just go for the D40 ? There doesnt seem to be many differences, although the main one is the dust removal system - can you manually remove the dust from the D40 ?

Any other opinions would be appreciated please...

I would be buying the camera with the single lens kit, but so far have seen 3 different types of lens that on first glance sound the same eg AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G but are either the VR (vibration reduction) or the mark II version. Can anyone shed any light on which I should be aiming for ?

Also does anyone know of any good deals ? Best I can find is Jacobs for £359 for the camera. I would get a 4Gb memory card and bag on top of this, say another £18 and £30 respectively, so all in £407...

Many thanks for your time

MF

MRSCARNEY

I bought a D40 about 18 months ago and I'm very happy with it.

It's my first SLR and despite my best intentions I have never really used it to it's full potential tending to stick to to the Auto settings. I have a good quality compact camera which has more MP than the D40 but the photos from the D40 are much better quality. Can't fault it really. I did buy a dust cleaner (think it was around £10) but haven't used it yet, only have 2 lenses and tend to stick with the standard one it came with most of the time.

At the time I bought mine there was an offer on where you got money back from Nikon - think it was around £80 but I don't know if it's still available.

Marty_J

I have a D40, and it's a great little camera. IMHO, the price of the D60 doesn't really warrant the extra you'd pay. It has a dust removal system, active D-lighting (a way to increase the brightness of darker areas of a photo without affecting the lighter areas - the D40 has it, but you have to apply it manually), and more mega-pixels. Those feature are nice to have, but aren't really going to make a huge amount of difference.

On the other hand, the D60 has a worse flash sync speed than the D40. The flash sync is the maximum shutter speed you can use its flash with. The D60's is 1/200, whereas the D40's is 1/500. That feature can make a big difference, especially if you use a lot of fill flash on sunny days. It's one of the best things about the D40, and is pretty extraordinary performance for a budget camera.

Argos have the D40 for £246 with an 18-55mm lens, or £352 with an 18-55mm lens and a 55-200mm lens. You could then put any money you save towards the cost of some accessories such as a tripod or filters. A polarising filter is a must for anyone interested in photography, and will make more of a difference to your photos than any amount of extra mega-pixels will.

toymaker

you can manually clean the mirror but its not for everyone.
i havent seen the mark II version but the one with the standard IS (vr) is good enough...but im not a pro.
be prepared to spend some more money on a telephoto if you used to the zoom ranges of some telephoto compacts. but d40 is 299 actually. where did you find 359?

in the end, i like canon :D:D u get more choices for lens compared to nikons. let us know what you got in the end

icle-ginge

As the d60 is the d40 replacement there should be some great deals out there like at Bestprice brands.com.uk who have the d 40 for £219 with free delivery.
I bet there a camera shop near you that would mach that price for cash if you ask.

sickparrot

toymaker wrote: »

you can manually clean the mirror but its not for everyone.

It's the sensor you need to clean, not the mirror. Most dust removal systems merely consist of vibrating the sensor when the camera is turned on or off, and they merely extend the time between manual cleanings rather than eliminate it. You will need to clean them manually after a year or so anyway, so I wouldn't worry about the lack of it too much.

The main thing to consider with the D40/D60 is that there is no autofocus motor in the body, so this restricts your lens choice somewhat, but again if you're only going for a standard and telephoty zoom anyway It won't be a problem.

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/nikond40/

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/nikond60/

MX5huggy

D40 I say

http://www.camerapricebuster.co.uk/

wheresmydoshat

i've had a d40 for about 2 years, for business use and family pics.

cracking camera, i'm yet to see it selling for cheaper than i picked it up (around £230, or at least i hadn't until mentioned higher up in this thread !) which is always nice and the pictures i get are fantastic.

however if buying now i would maybe research some newer camera's as well.

caleyles

I have a d40 which i have used a fair bit its an excellent entry level dslr and well worth the money - it is excellent if you want to develop yopur camera skills and eventually build up to a more expensive model further down the line - the digital field guide book for the d40 is excellent too - much better than the instructions that come with it. heres a couple of pics i took with it - the chihuahua has a white mark on his head when he got it stuck in an ice cream tub - i love my nikon

mintyfresh

Thanks everyone - some cracking replies and the photos look superb.

think I'll look at the D40 then...

toymaker

sickparrot wrote: »

It's the sensor you need to clean, not the mirror.

thanks. i meant sensor my bad!