![]() But I've never been tempted to use the live view on my P&S to get a better view of anything. Many times I'll use my SLR as a telescope to get a better view. Those cheap point and shoot cameras give optical viewfinders a bad name because the optics inside is "cheap" but when you look directly through a $1,000 lens with no electronics in the way the view is quite a bit better. A good optical viewfinder projects a "perfect" image and if you have a fast lens on the camera the image is very bright even at night. In fact the reason to choose an SLR is because of the viewfinder. Good tripods will outlast the photographer, you will only need to buy one. You will be needing a good one and pick up one of those IR remote controls too. One more thing: Be sure to budget about $200 for a tripod. ![]() In the end which body you buy has almost zero effect on the final image you print but the lens you select makes a huge difference in the kinds of images you can take. Look on the used market too, see what's available and what re-sale value are like. So it may be that choosing the "correct" brand can save you the cost of the dSLR body in lenses later. These will not be cheap and will represent a larger investment then the body. Look to see which company has the best selection of "fast" and wide angle lenses. Those cheap f/5.6 "kit" lenses can be made to work but are not ideal for your intended use. Either an f/2.8 zoom or primes that open up to the f/1.4 through f/2.0 range. Typically for night time work you will be looking at some "fast" lenses. You will never finish buying an SLR system.īuy the body that fits the set of lenses you want to buy. The usable life of a dSLR body is about 5 years, lenses last for decades. Look at the bigger picture and where you want to be in five years. Don't select the brand based on which entry level camera body costs $50 less or some other trivial thing. Over time you become invested in the brand so much that you can't afford to switch. You will be 'locked into" this brand for a long time, additional lenses and replacement/upgrade bodies will all have to be of the same brand. For light metering there is Nikon's extremely accurate 3D Color Matrix Metering II, plus you can, if desired, use center-weighted averaging and spot metering.You need to back up. Now portraits made with that VP mode will also have certain color and contrast attributes as well. There are all the usual Exposure modes, plus Scene modes that take what Nikon dubs the "Vari-Program" idea further in other words, when you choose a Scene (VP) mode, Nikon adds certain image attributes that affect settings that go beyond shallow depth of field for Portrait mode and fast shutter speed priority for Sports mode. The shutter can fire as quickly as 1/4000 sec and ISO range is from 100-1600, with a 1 EV boost (dare we say push) available to 3200. Focusing in this camera is with three-area AF, which is quite uncomplicated for the intended audience and quite efficient in the bargain. We have noted that many independent lens makers have jumped on the built-in motor bandwagon of late, which attests to both the Nikon amateur line-up's popularity and the fact that this trend will continue. Others in the Nikon glass legacy can be used, but with some loss of AF or, with very old lenses, metering functionality. This screen pops up when you touch the Quick Settings Display button and shows access to most commonly used functions-a very good and efficient design.Īs with the other cameras in the amateur line-up, the D60 only delivers full functionality with AF-S lenses attached. Kudos to Nikon for a very nice and bright info display on their LCD panel. I guess Nikon's aim, and appeal for the intended audience, is to allow you to work with your images prior to downloading to get them print-ready right out of the box. There's more inside, including Quick Retouch, in camera NEF processing (the original NEFs are 12 bit), a cross star filter for sparking up highlights, and various color intensifier filters. Priced at $749 with the kit AF-S DX Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G VR lens, the new camera, dubbed by Nikon as their smallest D-SLR ever made, sports Nikon's EXPEED image processor that delivers 3 frames per second (fps) for up to a 100 JPEG burst, plus a unique Stop-Frame mode that allows you to create near GIF-like animations of a series of images. The D60 is familiar territory in many ways, except with the addition of the "Active" D-Lighting button (right behind the shutter release) and the Quick Settings Display button (rear lower left), a one-touch button for access to many essential functions, and a design that I think should point the way to less buttons on cameras in the future.
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