D60 is in-Should I take it? (I'm scared)

buzzlulu · May 20, 2002

Well the moment of truth ! I received the call today "the D60 has landed". My last minute fears have arrived "Should I take delivery of this baby". Thanks to all who have replied to my posts several weeks ago however I need one last confirmation. As such I reprint some quotes from my original posts:

I have been shooting digital (S10-G1-G2-S30) for years but I know absolutely NOTHING about photography. Even though I am beginning to research workflow-RAW etc. (one cound not help to after following this forum) I still want a camera to shoot pictures of my kids BUT will not require workflow-processing-RAW etc. Will the pictures out of this camera be better than my G2 or do they need Photoshop-Fred Miranda etc. to get there?

My G2 works well in that the pictures are usable right from the camera. I am just annoyed by the large number of out of focus shots and the extreme length of time needed to achieve focus and then the subsequent shutter lag. Shooting my kids seems to require a camera that can focus and fire immediately. I just seem to lose too many shots.

As long as a D60 will give me BETTER autofocusing-quicker response- more realistic colors THAN my G2, in my hands (which know nothing about photography) and ALL without a degree in Photoshop (I promise I will learn it one day) or any other FredMiranda -Yarc-Breeze (not even MAC compatible) mumbo jumbo than I will be happy.

WELL should I tell them to FedEx it over ???

Gregg (knows nothing about photography!)

PS lenses 24-70L OR 24-85USM ??

Tony Rawlings · May 20, 2002

Cliff Chase · May 20, 2002

You shouldn't take it. You should tell them to send it to me instead

.

Seriously though, go for it. You will not be disappointed. It'll blow the socks of your G2 and the G2 is a great camera.

Either of those lenses will achieve great results. I have the 28-80L and it's a great lens but heavy and expensive. The 24-85 is more than adequate for shooting the kids etc.

CC

Cliff Chase · May 20, 2002

no text.

J. Roberts · May 20, 2002

I stepped into the digital world with a G2. Great little camera, with too much lag time resulting in missed shots. I have a D60 on order. I shoot JPEGS with almost no post shoot processing of image. Shoot it right is a motto I have always embraced. The images out of camera with the D60 will be better than the G2. Take delivery and enjoy.

Ty Doram · May 20, 2002

If you don't want it, I'll take it! When and where did you order it from? Just curious.

--
TyDo

Denise · May 20, 2002

Gregg,

I bought the D30 and now the D60 because I wanted to learn more about photography and reading between the lines I think you do too.

For the first few months I used the D30 as a point and shoot in P mode and although there is no shame at all in that I knew when I was ready to move on.

If you set the in-camera sharpening to high, contrast and saturation to high I don't think you will need to do much post processing, but I prefer (as most people seem to) to control the amount of camera intervention. Using levels in Photoshop and sharpening are quite easy once you spend a little time with them, if I worked it out, anyone can!

Versatility is the keyword hear and the D60 will allow you to move on when you have the time to spend experimenting.
Hope you make the right decision.

Regards,

Denise

Steve Mills38027 · May 20, 2002

You can get great pics right out of the camera, AND without shooting RAW. I have had mine for over a month, and have been shooting mostly large file, high rez jpegs. Although I do use Photoshop for some tweeking, the images straight out of the camera are great. You may want to turn up the in camera sharpness level. I would also recommend the 24-85 lens. I have been getting very nice 8x10's with this combination.
--
Steve

steve reed · May 20, 2002

I had a G2 (and before that G1-S20-S10).

Compared the the G2, the D60 focus instantly and has no shuttler delay.

The complaint of autofocus problems are from people coming from the SLR world, compaired to which the D60's autofocus is strickly "middle of the road".

Compaired to the any of the Digial Point and Shoot camera on the market, it kicks butt!

Even the D30 had better "Straight from the camera images" the the G2. Less noise at ISO400 than the G2 had at ISO50! No over sharpening articacts, etc. The colors where better too.

The D60 is even better in numberous ways It also has enough extra resolution to crop out a signincant portion of the image and still have a better image than the G2 can produce.

When and if you ever want to go further, you can also move up to more expensive lenses, shooting RAW, etc. But you don't have too.

-Steve Reed

DavidP #28649 · May 20, 2002

As long as you don't shoot 800 ISO routinely, and don't grossly underexpose, and get the right white-balance, you should be just fine shooting JPG mode. RAW helps out tremendously in any of those situations.

If you have Photoshop, a simple batch file that applies some auto-levels (with the endpoints changed so very little data gets clipped), and some UnSharp Mask, will work wonders on your pictures. That should easily get you to the G2-quality.

--
The Unofficial Photographer of The Wilkinsons
http://thewilkinsons.crosswinds.net
Photography -- just another word for compromise

Moonlighter · May 20, 2002

and make some money too.

The ways things are going; I'll bet 1-2 months from now you'll still be able to sell it for at least what you paid for and then some.
Or you can let me buy it now ... please?

Jeffrey Behr · May 20, 2002

--
I love my D60!

Dennis Lathem49692 · May 20, 2002

I received mine on Saturday and after about 30 minutes of check out I proceeded to do some serious snapping in large/fine JPG. It was an overcast day, but I managed to put it throught its paces. The AF was fine. A little slower in dim light, but it had more to do with me not pointing it at something you could actually get a focus lock on even in bright daylight.

I must say, the experience of the D60 was so uplifting after two years with an OLY 2020Z I cannot imagin ever going back. Being able to shoot 8 frames in a row with out waiting for the blanking blinking light was liverating!

I ended up with a 24-85 on it for most of the 350 shots I took on Saturday. I did mount the 75-300 USM IS for a few shots and that IS really does work well.

You need to make that call, operators are standing by. You will love it. I also got BIG ED and an extra battery. I am still running on the first charge and the ticker is now up to about 650.

I have shot some RAW stuff and I am trying to figure out which I like best, the Canon software, Breeze or Yarc. That will come in time.

Best of all, my vivitar 283 flash (auto thyristor) works really well. I had wondered about getting a 550EX but now I think I will wait. The vivitar did very well in some tests I did. I put the D60 in full manual with the apature at the setting indicate on the flash scale and the exposures seemed to be right on. I have one of those little Sunpak flashes with the sensor on it and did some test with using it as fill flash triggered by the Vivitar on the hot shoe on the D 60. I got some very acceptable results very quickly and with some further testing I think I will have a nice little two flash setup.

Good luck, have fun.

CDL

mr_liou · May 20, 2002

I've been shooting with the D60 for 2 weeks and have shot all my pix
in large JPEG format - the quality has been unbelievable!! Have done
very little post processing and have quite a few prints that look great
in 8x10 format. I am also not a professional, but have been extremely
pleased with the results - right out of the camera. Just my 2 cents

Kbone · May 20, 2002

Pardon me if this comment is out of line, I don't mean to be overly critical of anyone but... I find your statement utterly astounding. You have been shooting digital for YEARS but know absolutely nothing about photography????!

I just can't imagine doing something for a long time and not bothering to learn the basics of the craft/sport/activity/science etc. It's kind of like saying "I have been playing baseball for years but have no idea which end of the bat to hold" or "I have been driving my car for years but haven't the faintest idea how to steer it" or "I have been making love to my wife for years but don't know where to..." well, you get the idea.

What possible reason could you have for not learning anything about photography for this long? Perhaps you are a very busy guy? That might keep you from becoming Ansel Adams, but I'll bet there have been twenty odd hours in your life since you started shooting where you could have read a book on basic photography. Walk into any book store in America. Swing a dead cat. You'll hit one. It will probably be under $30.

Again, I don't mean to sound like a grouchy old meanie, but PLEASE! Being a newbie is one thing but intentionally remaining one for years is rather sad. Let me put it this way; babies are adorable, we all love them. But if you come back to that baby's house thirty years later and he is still a tiny little baby utterly dependent on others for all his needs that isn't cute. It's tragic.

I've probably overstated my case, I've been doing that a lot lately. I'm not trying to offend you but please, read a book.
-Kevin

Gary T · May 20, 2002

My response is take it and learn. Take the D60 as you'll have a fine digital weapon in your arsenal. Learn the photography that goes into this field as you'll never know when you'll need to fall back on the basics. When that backlit subject becomes just a silhouette or when that high speed car you're trying to capture comes out looking like something sitting in a parking lot, you'll need to know the manual side of your camera and how to do things from exposure compensation to panning techniques. Many books, mags, classes, workshops, and clubs are available. No reason for one not to be able to learn how to take control of the image.

Gary T

Paul V54639 · May 20, 2002

Just go out and buy an Olympus Stylus and go with the Costco prints...shhesh!

DavidP #28649 · May 20, 2002

He's probably just used his point/n/shoots in automatic mode - the way most people do. And he's never had to worry about what kind of lenses to buy before. And he's probably never had to think much about exposure compensation (I remain convinced that the digital point/n/shoots have some form of auto-levels built into them to get exposure right).

But he may know a LOT about composition.

--
The Unofficial Photographer of The Wilkinsons
http://thewilkinsons.crosswinds.net
Photography -- just another word for compromise

Jim K53618 · May 20, 2002

Gregg, GET IT!!! You won't be sorry!! And if you change your mind, I'm sure some one here will take it off your hands ; )

As for lenses, 24-70L OR 24-85USM.

Get the 24-85. It's light and you won't mind taking the D60 with you where ever you go. Or consider the 28-135 IS too.

The L series lenses are great, but one would have to question the difference in quality verses price for a beginner. I have them all, and honestly, I use my 24-85 and 28-135 more then any of my L's!

Looking forward to your post announcing you have the D60!!!

Good Luck,
Jim K

John Mason · May 20, 2002

--
John Mason - Lafayette, IN

D60 is in-Should I take it? (I'm scared)

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