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The D70s offers a good selection of features and fast autofocus, but image quality was a little disappointing.
Compared to some other digital SLRs--such as the bulky Fujifilm Finepix S2 Pro or the heavy Konica Minolta Maxxum 7D--the Nikon D70s feels small and lightweight. The D70s fits comfortably in the hand, measuring just 5.5 by 4.4 by 3.1 inches, and weighs only 1 pound, 9 ounces without the lens. Although the camera offers a profusion of buttons, the most commonly used ones fall under the fingers, such as the buttons to change metering modes, exposure, and focus lock. The two control dials--one on the front and one on the rear--fall naturally under your index finger and thumb. Having two dials makes controlling the camera in full manual mode much easier than with cameras that have only one dial. On the D70s, one dial controls the shutter and the other changes the aperture. In contrast, the Digital Rebel XT, which has just one dial, makes you hold down a button so the dial changes the aperture instead of the shutter speed.
Also, you can also control most of the settings on the D70s using a combination of a button and one of the control dials, instead of having to navigate an on-screen menu. For example, to change the ISO setting on the D70s, you hold down the ISO button and turn the control dial. This method can be a little awkward because you need to use both hands: one to hold down the button and one to rotate the dial. The settings can also be accessed through the menu, which is navigated with a 4-way thumbpad. A single rechargeable battery powers the camera; it lasted for 500 shots, the cutoff point in our tests, and easily enough for a weekend trip.
One curious omission is the ability to store custom settings; most digital SLRs allow them. However, the mode dial on the D70s does have seven scene modes (for portraits, sports, night shots, and so on), plus the usual manual exposure modes: shutter-priority, aperture-priority, program, and full manual.
Although the 2-inch LCD is a slight improvement on the 1.8-inch screen on the D70, it still looks small compared with the 2.5-inch screen on the Maxxum 7D. The Nikon screen is clear and bright, however, and is easily viewable in anything but direct sunlight.
We found the autofocus of the D70s to be very responsive, focusing quickly in most lighting situations. The D70s was very quick to start up: It was ready to take photos less than a second after we turned it on, so you aren't likely to miss a shot while waiting for the camera.
Serious photographers are more likely to manually adjust settings rather than be content with automatic settings. That's why our SLR testing now includes some shots taken using manual adjustments, in addition to shots using automatic settings. All of the SLRs we tested improved their color accuracy scores under manual settings, but none more dramatically than the D70s: It earned the lowest score under fully automatic mode, but scored higher than most of the other SLRs after we set a custom white balance and adjusted its exposure settings.
We found that the automatic metering of the D70s consistently underexposed our test images, leading to weak colors. To be fair, most digital cameras underexpose because it is easier to recover details in an underexposed picture than in an overexposed one. The images I shot were underexposed only by around half a stop, so they were easy to fix in my image editing application of choice, Adobe Photoshop.
Outdoor images looked more impressive, though the shots I took on a sunny afternoon did have a slightly bluish cast to them. Exposure was more accurate in daylight, although some images were still underexposed using automatic metering. As expected, we were less impressed with the images when we increased the ISO setting (as when shooting in lower light): We noticed noise in our test images beginning at ISO 800; noise was very noticeable in images shot at ISO 1600. However, the D70s did earn one of the highest scores for its noise reduction (only the Canon EOS 20D scored higher); the pattern of noise was less obvious than with other cameras--none of the annoying white dots that we saw in the Finepix S2 Pro's images, for example. For exposures longer than a second, the D70s includes an additional noise reduction mode, whereby it takes a second exposure with the shutter closed in order to gauge how much digital noise the image sensor's electronics are introducing, and then uses the reading to subtract noise from the first shot.
On the other hand, the D70s did not score well in our sharpness and distortion tests. Though it did an impressive job in rendering fine lines distinctly, the sharpening process that the D70s uses to bring out these details also introduced some moir?? artifacts, with unsightly color fringing in some areas.
At $1299 for the kit we reviewed, the D70s costs a few hundred dollars more than some other SLRs we've tested. But it is a good value for the money if you don't own any lenses: the 18-70mm Nikkor lens that comes with the kit is excellent. But if you already have Nikon lenses, you can save a bit of cash by buying the body only, which goes for $899. You can use the D70s with most lenses that use the Nikon F mount; only a few older lenses won't work with it.
Upshot: The small, lightweight Nikon D70s offers conveniences you won't find on other models, though its image quality lags behind many other SLRs.
Average Megapixels For an SLR
This digital SLR has an average megapixel count for its class. You can print images from an 8- to 10-megapixel camera at sizes up to 8 by 10 inches with no loss in quality; at 13 by 19 inches, however, prints will exhibit a slight loss of detail. Images from a 13-megapixel camera look good at 13 by 19 inches and can be pushed to 16 by 24 inches. Though prints at these larger sizes will lose some sharpness, they'll be superior to what you'd get from 35mm film printed at the same dimensions. You’ll also have plenty of latitude to crop and resize images. As the pixel count on an image sensor increases, so does its propensity to produce images plagued by noise--ugly speckling patterns. To avoid noise, look for a camera with the lowest pixel count that still serves your output needs.
High Continuous Shooting Speed
When a camera is in burst (or drive) mode, it will continue to shoot as long as you hold down the shutter button. How quickly a particular model takes pictures in this mode depends on its continuous shooting speed, measured in number of frames per second (fps). This SLR has a high continuous shooting speed. With a burst speed of 5 fps or greater, a camera can record a very subtle range of expressions in series shots of people. These slight variations can often make the difference between a good portrait or candid photo and an unusable one. You'll also be able to capture decisive sports and entertainment moments.
RAW Image Format
RAW is an uncompressed format for preserving graphics files. Smaller than TIFF files, RAW files often permit restoration of images that have overexposed highlight areas; also, you can ensure that your camera will store the full range of color it captures. You'll need special software on your computer to deal with RAW files, and shooting in RAW format can slow down your SLR. Some cameras with RAW capabilities let you choose from among several resolutions, so you can shoot RAW files at smaller pixel dimensions. That way, if you don’t need the full resolution of your camera, you can shoot RAW photos while saving space on your card.
JPEG Image Format
All digital cameras can capture JPEG images. The JPEG compression process greatly reduces the amount of storage an image requires, and JPEG images transfer quickly from your camera to your computer. JPEG compression is a lossy algorithm, however, which means that saving an image in JPEG format degrades its quality. The high-quality JPEG settings on most cameras are quite good, and it's difficult to spot differences between a JPEG compressed image and a noncompressed image. Still, if you like to edit your images, you may want to upgrade to a camera that also supports a noncompressed (lossless) format, such as TIFF or RAW.
Supports Center-Weight Metering
The light meter controls how long the shutter stays open and how large the aperture is--two variables that are critical to image quality. The default meter on most cameras is a matrix meter, which divides your scene into a grid, gauges the light in each cell of the grid, and then averages the results to come up with a final metering value for the shot. This SLR, however, uses a center-weight meter, which works like a matrix meter but pays more attention to the cells at the center of the viewfinder. This approach to metering can help greatly with backlighting complications.
Supports Spot Metering
A camera's light meter controls how long the shutter stays open and how large the aperture is--two variables that are critical to image quality. This SLR features spot metering. A spot meter gauges the necessary aperture and exposure time for a shot by measuring one spot in the scene you are photographing--usually a very small one. A spot meter is useful for dealing with backlighting complications and scenes that have a very wide dynamic range (a big variation in brightness or darkness) because it ensures that the exposure will be appropriate for certain specific details in the scene.
Fast Shutter Speed
A camera has two mechanisms for controlling how much light hits the sensor: the aperture, which opens and closes like the iris in your eye; and the shutter, which determines how long the sensor will be exposed to light. Depending on how fast the camera can open and close its shutter, you’ll be able to freeze fast-moving motion more precisely or less precisely. This model's fast shutter speed makes it ideal for capturing pictures at sporting events, in nature, and in moving water. You still have the option of shooting at slower shutter speeds to create blurred motion, if you wish.
This 6.1-megapixel model brings interchangeable-lens photography to an affordable level.
Nikon's 6.1-megapixel D50 digital SLR model is no photographic marvel, but it does fit nicely into the latest digital camera trend: making interchangeable-lens photography accessible to shooters who don't have deep pockets.
If you already have Nikon lenses from a film camera, you can use them with a D50 body, which sells for $750. Nikon also sells the D50 with an 18mm-55mm zoom lens for $900, a price a bit less than that of the D50's direct rival, Canon's 8-megapixel Digital Rebel XT, and about $400 less than the Nikon D70s.
The choice between the D50 and the 6.1-megapixel D70s is an interesting dilemma. (For more info on the Digital Rebel XT, the D70s, and other digital SLRs, see "Powerful Cameras, Lower Prices.") The two Nikons are near twins in look (both have 2-inch LCDs), function, and megapixel count. The D50 is a bit smaller and lighter, though, and it accepts SD (Secure Digital) media cards exclusively (the D70s accepts CompactFlash).
The D50 also lacks some controls as compared with the D70s. You'll still get most of what a hobbyist photographer might look for, though, and intermediate photographers should find the D50 easier to use than the D70s.
A surprising difference between the two models: Shooting in automatic mode, our shipping D50's images were brighter and had livelier color. According to Nikon, this is by design: The D70s is biased toward underexposure by default, while the D50 is tuned for those photographers who want to minimize the time they spend tweaking their shots on a computer.
The D50 is a fine entry-level digital SLR--particularly if you own some Nikon lenses. Some may even prefer it to Canon's popular Rebel XT.
This digital SLR camera has high resolution, a very fast burst-shooting capability, and exceptional flexibility, but it's quite complex.
My first impressions of the Nikon D300 digital SLR camera may rekindle my fondness for Nikon SLRs. It's not a perfect 10, but it's interesting and nicely built, and it performed better than I expected.
The D300 is not for the casual photographer. It's big, it's heavy--the body is just over 2 pounds with the battery--and it costs $1800 (as of 03/18/08) without a lens. It's also a complex camera that offers 12.3-megapixel imaging and straddles the line between professional and consumer.
When you pull the D300 out of the box, one of the first features to catch your eye is the 3-inch color LCD. More than just a way to review your photos, the LCD has a Live View mode that lets you compose shots while viewing the screen; the setup is ideal for those times when it's difficult to use the eye-level viewfinder, such as in studio work and tripod-based macro shooting. (The D300 and the top-of-the-line D3 are the only two cameras in the Nikon digital SLR lineup that have Live View.)
Nikon's implementation of Live View, however, is a bit more complicated than that of the Olympus E3, which I reviewed at the same time. You switch a mode dial on the D300 to 'LV', press the shutter release once to lock the mirror up and turn the LCD on, and press the release again to focus the lens and trip the shutter. Setting Live View on the Olympus, on the other hand, requires a simple press of a dedicated button on the back of the camera and flipping another lever to close off the eye-level viewfinder so that light entering through it won't affect the exposure. More important, the Olympus E3's LCD panel is hinged, so you can tilt it toward you when you're holding the camera very low or high overhead.
One of the D300's strong suits is its array of options for tailoring its controls to your liking; the 421-page paper manual gives you an immediate clue to its complexity. That said, the documentation is excellent--readable, well organized, and without the squint-print found in the manuals of too many other brands.
You can program many of the buttons, as well as the dual front and back selector dials, to handle other functions; by default, for example, the FN button near the lens mount sets bracketing options, but you can reassign it to control depth-of-preview, to enable or disable the flash, to select metering modes, or to enable auto-focus or auto-exposure lock. Fine-tuning is a common theme throughout the D300's controls. Take bracketing, for example: Instead of the usual three to five bracketed shots, the D300 is capable of taking up to nine frames with different exposure settings, or nine frames with varying white-balance values. The only drawback is that you cannot use exposure bracketing and white-balance bracketing as the same time. (I had to cruise through the manual just to locate the camera's bracketing control, which lives under the somewhat hidden FN button.) Like many other digital SLRs, the Nikon D300 has picture styles (Standard, Neutral, Vivid, and Monochrome) that let you quickly change the timbre of your images. In addition, the D300 allows you to fine-tune each of those styles with custom saturation, contrast, brightness, and hue settings. You can store up to nine custom configurations and give each its own descriptive label--an outstanding feature, and a real help to those of us with poor memories. One other interesting capability: If you have more than one D300 body, you can copy your custom setting from one camera to another.
The ability to tweak the camera becomes essential when you dive into the menu system. Dense and complicated, the D300's menus are, at first, a nightmare. Fortunately, you can arrange the menus in the order you prefer to see them, though the task is somewhat laborious.
The images this camera produced surprised me. Past Nikons have had a strong tendency to underexpose images, requiring fixes later in software. But of the three cameras I tested together--the D300, the Olympus E3, and my Canon 30D--the Nikon did by far the best job of capturing difficult, high-contrast landscapes. In scenes with vast amounts of snow, sky, and water, the Nikon was the only camera that came close to capturing accurate color and brightness. Both the Canon and Olympus produced shots that were substantially underexposed and far too blue. When I tried shooting less-complex subjects such as structures, objets d'art, and more-balanced landscapes, the image quality among the three models was a wash. The only knock on the D300 is its images' sharpness: Many of the landscapes seemed soft when I viewed them in Photoshop at 100 percent magnification. On the other hand, in our lab tests, where depth of field isn't as much of an issue, the D300 earned very high scores--in all likelihood due to the camera's exceedingly high resolution.
The D300 is quite fast: It can capture an impressive 6 frames per second in burst mode, and 7.5 fps with the addition of an external battery pack. My test unit came with Nikon's capable image editing and RAW-format processing application, Capture NX. However, having Capture NX bundled with the camera is a limited-time offer that expires in spring 2008; when you buy, look for a box adorned with a sticker mentioning the inclusion of Capture NX. Finally, if you add Nikon's MC-35 adapter cable (around $100) and a handheld Garmin GPS device, you can log location data with your images, too. As a landscape photographer, I regretted that I was unable to try that function.
The Nikon D300 is not a camera that you can simply pick up and run with. Its high resolution, exceptional flexibility, excellent exposure accuracy, and useful Live View function make it worth the effort of working through a longish learning stage. It should fare well against its two strongest competitors, Sony's Alpha 700 and Olympus' E3.
The good: Excellent color rendition and noise levels; large feature set; highly customizable; lightning-fast performance.
The bad: Full raw editor costs extra; flash sync of 1/200 second.
The bottom line: Nikon scores big with the D80, its new 10-megapixel, sub-$1,000 dSLR.
The last time Nikon updated its sub-$1,000 mid-range dSLR, a handful of minor, but certainly welcome, updates gave us the D70s. Now, Nikon has given the camera a serious overhaul, including a new 10.2-megapixel CCD imaging sensor, an 11-area AF system (up from 5), the obligatory larger LCD screen (2.5 inches, up from 2 inches), and a pile of in-camera editing and custom functions. With this newest revision, Nikon has put the camera more in line with its expected audience, which spans lower-end enthusiasts, all the way down to SLR newbies who crave more power than they can get with the company's entry-level dSLR, the D50.
The only downside to this slight shift in focus, is a slower top shutter speed--the D80 tops out at 1/4,000 second instead of 1/8,000 second--and a slower flash-sync speed of 1/200 second instead of the 1/500 second that the D70s offers, which was significantly faster than its competitors' in the first place.
This may irk sports shooters, who may appreciate the extremely fast shutter of the D70s, or other action shooters, who like to freeze movement with a fast burst of flash, but the majority of photographers won't notice the difference. But, given that more advanced enthusiasts now have the Nikon D200 to quench their needs--a D200 equivalent didn't exist when the first D70 came out--the advances in almost all other areas of this camera should outweigh these couple of changes.
The camera body is technically slightly smaller in all dimensions compared to those of the D70s, but current owners will find the design very similar. Most of the buttons are the same and in the same places, and there are dedicated buttons for many commonly used functions. For example, a cluster of buttons next to the shutter let you change metering mode, exposure compensation, drive mode, and AF mode.
Meanwhile, the buttons to the left of the 2.5-inch, 230,000-pixel LCD screen let you change white balance, ISO, and image size and quality settings without diving into menus. About the only function without its own dedicated control is AF zone selection, though the camera's programmable function button can be programmed to cover that if you so choose. The default for this button is to display the current ISO setting.
Three dials adorn the camera body. The mode dial lets you choose between program, aperture- or shutter-priority, full manual, full auto, or any of six preset exposure scene modes. The other two dials, located on the front and back of the grip, let you change aperture and shutter speed. Together, they make full manual shooting quick and easy.
Nikon's menu system is straightforward and, for the most part, intuitive. An option in the setup menu lets you hide some of the menu items by either selecting Nikon's preshortened Simple menu, which displays only what Nikon thinks are the most commonly changed menu items, or My Menu, which lets you choose which items the camera displays in each of the playback, shooting, custom setting, and retouch menus. Never heard of the retouch menu? That's because it's new.
The retouch menu lets you edit your photos in camera. Choices include resize, crop, red-eye reduction, filter effects, or monochrome. The coolest is probably the overlay option. It works only with raw images, but it lets you superimpose one image on top of another and even lets you choose the opacity, so the pictures can blend more smoothly. It won't replace Photoshop, but for simple overlays, it's pretty fun. Plus, since all the retouch menu functions save a new version of your image, you can always go back to the original later, and, in the case of overlays, you can lay more photos on top of already mashed-together images.
Other fun options include creating your own tone curves using the included Camera Control Pro software, as well as adjustable hue control, and a black-and-white mode with options for virtual yellow, orange, red, or green filters. A multiple exposure mode lets you shoot as many as three frames, which are then combined into one image by the camera. Of course, like most dSLRs, the D80 includes selectable white balance, as well as the usual metering and autofocus options. The image-processing and AF system are the same ones that come in the D200, while the 3D Color Matrix Metering II included here is the same as the one in the D50.
Like the D70 and the D70s, the D80 includes Commander Mode, which lets you control compatible Nikon Speedlights without the need for a separate wireless trigger, such as Canon's ST-E2 Speedlight Transmitter, which must be purchased separately to allow you the same level of control from Canon cameras and flashes. Unlike the D70s, which could only control one group of Speedlights on one channel, the D80 can control as many as three groups on any of the four channels Nikon offers.
In the "keeping up with the Joneses" department, Nikon has included SD-HC support, so you'll be able to use SD cards with capacities larger than 2GB. Also, Nikon will offer an optional vertical grip for the D80 called the MB-D80 which will hold up to one or two EN-EL3e rechargeable lithium-ion batteries or as many as six AA batteries. That means you won't be stuck buying a third-party grip as were so many D70 and D70s users. Without the grip, the D80 runs on one EN-EL3e battery.
Meanwhile, in the "not keeping up with the Joneses" department, Nikon continues to charge extra for its Capture NX software. PictureProject software is included for free, and will do rudimentary raw conversion, but if you want full raw control you'll have to shell out the extra cash for Capture NX. To their credit, Capture NX does include more image-editing functionality than that of the free software included with other manufacturers' dSLRs, but most buyers expect full raw conversion to be included with the camera.
Because of some nasty problems with third-party batteries in recent years, the camera will accept only Nikon's official EN-EL3e batteries. However, the company's new batteries let you see more detailed info. If you look under battery info in the setup menu, you can see remaining battery life as a percentage, as well as how many pictures have been shot since the last charge, and a loose gauge of how many times the battery has been recharged. It would've been nice to see average minutes or pictures remaining, as Sony's InfoLithium batteries provide, but we're not complaining about this extra info from Nikon, and the charge meter is a well-conceived idea.
Performance was among the fastest we've seen so far. In our lab, the D80 took 0.1 second to power up and capture its first image. Subsequent shots took 0.3 second without flash and 1 second with the flash turned on. Raw shots were just as fast, with a shot-to-shot time of 0.3 second. In our lab's high-contrast test, the shutter lag measured 0.45 second, slowing to 0.9 second in the low-contrast test. Continuous shooting yielded nine fine-quality 10.2-megapixel JPEGs in 2.7 seconds, for an average of 3.33fps and turned in about the same performance on basic-quality 2.5-megapixel JPEGs, capturing 99 images in 33.3 seconds for an average of 2.97fps.
The built-in flash has a Guide number of 13 at ISO 100, up from the D70s's Guide number of 11 at ISO 100. The extra power was noticeable in our lab test shots. Plus, the D80 did an excellent job of balancing the camera's fill flash with our scene's incidental lighting. In the field, we also noticed that fill flash from the D80 was consistently even.
Image quality from the Nikon D80 is quite impressive. Colors were accurate and neutral and the camera's meter did an excellent job of reading the scene and providing an accurate exposure. At times, mostly in extreme cases when the scene was dominated by darkness, the Matrix metering tended to preserve detail in the shadows at the expense of highlights, though typically, this is what one would've intended in that situation. Plus, switching to selectable zone metering or using the camera's massive plus or minus 5EV exposure compensation should help in those situations.
The 18mm-to-135mm, f/3.5-to-f/5.6 kit lens, which pushes the suggested price well above $1,000, performed well. We saw almost no colored fringing and were impressed with the lens's sharpness given its affordable price. Despite its plastic lens-mount, it feels more solid than many of the kit lenses on the market. Our only complaint was a slight amount of vignetting noticeable at the wide end of the zoom range.
Images from the D80 showed very little noise in our tests. At ISO 100, ISO 200, and ISO 400 noise was practically nonexistent, with only an extremely fine grain beginning to become apparent at ISO 400. Even at ISO 800, noise was a little more noticeable but still no more than a fine grain. At ISO 1,600, noise became noticeable but lacked the many off-color speckles that characterize many cameras' noise profile, and was similar to what we've come to expect at ISO 800 on some other dSLRs. At ISO 3,200--Nikon calls it H1.0--noise was obvious, resembling a coating of fine, snowy grain. A fair amount of detail was obscured by the grain but plenty still remained, and prints as large as letter size--and possibly even larger--should be acceptable, though far from perfect.
Buying an SLR is a complex process, which should include not only the camera body, but also a given manufacturer's--and third parties'--complement of lenses and accessories. That's exactly why manufacturers such as Canon, Nikon, Pentax, Olympus, and KonicaMinolta have built up such a large following over the years. Now that Sony has bought KonicaMinolta's know-how and released the DSLR-A100, which is compatible with past KonicaMinolta lenses and accessories, the consumer electronics giant has gained entrée into this market in a meaningful and substantial way. The same can be said for Samsung and Panasonic and their respective licensing of Pentax's and Olympus's technology. That means that big players, such as Nikon, have to continue to refine their technology if they want to remain competitive.
With the D80, Nikon has proven that it is very much still pushing ahead strongly. With 10.2 megapixels, lightning-fast performance, high-quality images with very low noise, and a heaping pile of convenience features, Nikon's D80 will not disappoint. We're just eager to see how it stacks up to Canon's Rebel XTi, which is due to hit stores just weeks from now. But, if you already own some Nikon lenses and have been waiting for an affordable 10.2-megapixel dSLR, this one is a sure winner.
CNET Editor Review
When a camera manufacturer releases a pricey D-SLR, it had better have killer features or some sort of hook to entice current users to upgrade to the latest model or to get new customers to take the plunge. The Nikon D60, while a very good camera, doesn't really deliver in that regard. With a 2.5-inch LCD, a 10.2-megapixel CCD sensor, and lacking a Live View system, the D60 is nearly identical to its predecessor, the D40. That's not necessarily a bad thing, because the D40x is a significant step up from a simple point-and-shoot camera, but I wish the D60 offered more new features. With so much competition in the entry-level D-SLR market, this camera is in danger of becoming obsolete before long.
When you place the D40x and the D60 side by side, it's hard to tell them apart. Weighing in at 20.6 ounces with a battery and an SD card and without a lens, the easy-to-hold D60 is much lighter than its big brother, the 33.6-ounce D300. The included AF-S DX Nikkor 18mm to 55mm, f/3.5 to f/5.6G VR (vibration reduction) lens (35mm equivalent: 27mm to 82.5mm) is light enough not to add much to the camera's body weight.
While not quite as intuitive as the D300's, the D60's menu system is much simpler than that of the competing Sony Alpha DSLR-A350. I really like that the LCD displays graphic representations of nearly every setting. For example, the lens is represented by a circle that opens and closes as you increase and decrease the f-stops. Shutter speed is represented by rotating bars around the lens. If the shot you wish to take is too dark, you'll get a message on the LCD telling you so. There's an Information button on the bottom left of the camera that lets you customize what you see on the display. This same button also lets you access frequently used settings, such as ISO, white balance, and metering modes. To get to all camera settings, you need to use the Menu button.
During testing I found that autofocus was sluggish, compared with the same feature on the Sony A350. The D60 uses only a three-point autofocus, while the A350 and Canon EOS Rebel XSi both use a nine-point system. Generally, the more focal points, the quicker the response time can be. Nikon also employs lens-based optical image stabilization here, as opposed to Sony and Olympus (with its E3, for example) which rely on in-camera sensor-shift image stabilization. This is something to keep in mind if the lens you already own lacks this feature, as it is not built into the camera's body. That said, the D60 performed well during testing, and I never had a problem with blurry images. Nikon offers plenty of DX lenses for the D60, but as with the D40, older Nikon or Nikon-compatible D-SLR lenses (anything other than Nikon Nikkor AF-S lenses) won't have autofocus capabilities when installed on this model because of its relatively compact construction. Check Nikon's Web site for a full compatibility list.
A handy and fun feature that you won't find on all D-SLRs is stop-motion movie mode. The camera takes a series of JPEG files and converts them into a movie—a 640-by-480 AVI file at a frame rate of 15 frames per second. I found it easy and fun to use. The D60 also offers in-camera editing, including corrections for brightness and red-eye. Like the D300, the D60 has 3D Color Matrix Metering II. When this mode is activated, the camera will determine the best possible exposure for the scene to produce accurate light and shadow detail. I found it worked as well here as in the D300: Shots came out clear and bright, even in a darkened environment. An additional feature is the automatic Dust Reduction system, which works in conjunction with a new airflow control to keep the lens clean.
The D60 has a number of manual settings, including white balance, ISO sensitivity, shutter speed (including continuous mode), auto and manual focus, exposure metering, flash modes, exposure compensation, and active D-Lighting. It also shoots in RAW and RAW + JPEG format for maximum flexibility.
ISO settings go all the way up to 3200, and, as with most D-SLRs, low-light shots were impressive. Noise was negligible at about ISO 400, and even at ISO 1600 noise was minimal—often completely unnoticeable. I did find that at ISO 3200 unacceptable noise was present in some shots.
In the lab the D60 demonstrated its high speed. One of the key missions of a D-SLR is to eliminate shutter lag and enable continuous shooting. The D60 doesn't disappoint, with a boot-up time of just 0.2 second, and shutter lag of just 0.15 second—scores nearly identical to those of the $1,800 (body only) D300. At 1.5 seconds, recycle time was impressive, but not as lightning-fast as the D300's (less than a second). Still, this is much quicker than any compact point-and-shoot camera can manage. The camera's burst mode was effective and speedy, allowing for continuous shots to the capacity of the card. (The D60 conveniently supports SD and SDHC cards, so you don't necessarily have to upgrade your existing memory format.)
Using a DX-format CCD image sensor, the D60 produces exceptional images. The camera averaged 2,000 lines on our resolution test—on par for a 10MP camera. My daylight and flash still-life shots were superb, with accurate colors and more-than-adequate flash coverage. Shadows were true to life, with no under- or overexposure. I saw slight barrel distortion at the very fringes of the wide angle, but that's to be expected. Outdoor shots yielded fantastic color, especially in the vivid mode, and I was able to get some excellent shots of the city skyline.
I don't have many complaints about the D60. It is an easy-to-use camera that produces high-quality images, and at $750 (with lens), it's a terrific deal. But since there aren't too many substantial feature upgrades from the D40x, the D60 is in danger of falling behind the current competition. The Sony A350 offers an excellent Live View system, a tilting LCD, and 14.2MP resolution, while the Canon EOS Rebel XSi sports a 3-inch LCD and a 12.2MP sensor. Of course, both of these models cost more—about $800 (body only)—but you'll get more features in the bargain. Still, if you want a solid, simple, budget D-SLR, the D60 delivers.
Article courtsey of pcmag.com
The D70s offers a good selection of features and fast autofocus, but image quality was a little disappointing.
