Giacomo Tognoni
Well-known member
Hi...I've owned an EOS 3 for 3 years, and I just got a D60. I just wanted to give you my opinion on the difference between the two cameras...this could be useful to photographers switching from semi-professional analogue canon cameras to the digital D60.
Before I do so, I would like to say that I am not at all bashing the D60, of which I am very happy (because it's digital...).
Compared to the EOS3, the D60
1) seems like a toy
Seriously, the plastic feel and lower weight will initially put you off...also the buttons have a very strange, and seemingly less reliable feel than those on the EOS3
2) It is less tall...this is giving me problems, actually, because it gives you less space on the right to handhold the camera...I find the D60 much harder to handle than the EOS3...especially when shooting vertically (also because of the more slippery plastic used in the handle). I think the optional battery grip is a must to handhold the D60 properly...
3) the AF (we all knew that before) is very bad...although not as bad as I expected. Let's say it is somewhat similar in speed, for what I can remember, to my old EOS5. Unfortunately, though...it has serious accuracy problems as soon as the light levels drop...even in conditions that are far from dark! I find the AF illuminator totally useless...the range is too limited, but what is worse, the beam is obstructed by large lenses (my 70-200, for example) or even by wideangle lenses with a hood (my 17-35...).
4) has an extremely small viewfinder area. This is my biggest problem, and one that surprisingly was never mentioned in the postings I read. The area displayed in the viewfinder appears noticeably smaller than that of the EOS3 (as small as the EOS5, I'd say). That's a huge problem to me, as I've already noticed it is often hard to tell what is sharp and what is not...in other words, objects that look sharp in the viewfinder may not be in the actual picture...and it's very hard to tell. Coupled with the increased need for manual focussing due to the lower-quality AF system, this IS an issue.
These are the main points. There are more, of course....but in general it seems that we'll have to wait a bit longer to have a semiprofessional body housing at this price. At the moment the D60 has a wonderful engine trapped in a utilitarian.
Having said all this, I still love it...and was amazed by the smoothness of the pictures...for those of you that haven't seen samples...let's just say that there is no comparison with a dia scanned using consumer systems (e.g., PhotoCD). In this respect, the D60 truly rocks.
Giacomo
Before I do so, I would like to say that I am not at all bashing the D60, of which I am very happy (because it's digital...).
Compared to the EOS3, the D60
1) seems like a toy
2) It is less tall...this is giving me problems, actually, because it gives you less space on the right to handhold the camera...I find the D60 much harder to handle than the EOS3...especially when shooting vertically (also because of the more slippery plastic used in the handle). I think the optional battery grip is a must to handhold the D60 properly...
3) the AF (we all knew that before) is very bad...although not as bad as I expected. Let's say it is somewhat similar in speed, for what I can remember, to my old EOS5. Unfortunately, though...it has serious accuracy problems as soon as the light levels drop...even in conditions that are far from dark! I find the AF illuminator totally useless...the range is too limited, but what is worse, the beam is obstructed by large lenses (my 70-200, for example) or even by wideangle lenses with a hood (my 17-35...).
4) has an extremely small viewfinder area. This is my biggest problem, and one that surprisingly was never mentioned in the postings I read. The area displayed in the viewfinder appears noticeably smaller than that of the EOS3 (as small as the EOS5, I'd say). That's a huge problem to me, as I've already noticed it is often hard to tell what is sharp and what is not...in other words, objects that look sharp in the viewfinder may not be in the actual picture...and it's very hard to tell. Coupled with the increased need for manual focussing due to the lower-quality AF system, this IS an issue.
These are the main points. There are more, of course....but in general it seems that we'll have to wait a bit longer to have a semiprofessional body housing at this price. At the moment the D60 has a wonderful engine trapped in a utilitarian.
Having said all this, I still love it...and was amazed by the smoothness of the pictures...for those of you that haven't seen samples...let's just say that there is no comparison with a dia scanned using consumer systems (e.g., PhotoCD). In this respect, the D60 truly rocks.
Giacomo