Is he correct??

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Dorsetsnapshot

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Morning all,

Hope you're all well.

Basically, I purchased a Nikon D60 years back (2009 I believe) and had fun playing about with that. I have the 18-55mm lens, and a Sigma 70-300mm. After a combination of travelling Australia, moving about, and just over a year of bad health (that thankfully I'm just getting over) photography took a backseat.
I now want to get back into photography as my hobby, in a big way (Especially as I can't afford to do much as I'm saving for a wedding :( ) and so shall be out with the camera soon.

The thing is, I've been told by my friend that the D60 is pretty outdated now, and I should look to replace it. It works fine, and I need to get back into learning how to use it properly again, but is he right, and should I look to be upgrading soon? I know I'll have to pay the initial outlay for the camera, but then I'll be out a lot and thus saving money on pub time etc, so could justify it.

What do you guys think? Is he right, should I upgrade and learn to play with the new camera, or just stick with the D60 for now?

If I was to upgrade, I'd stick with Nikon, really like the cameras.

Any comments/advice would be greatly appreciated.
 
The D60 may well be a few years old but it is still a perfectly decent camera.

I think your best option is to keep the camera and use it. If you find then you're not happy with it for any reason then look to change. Things do move on and technology improves but that doesn't stop a camera which was well rated 3/4 years ago from still being a good camera.

Take it out, enjoy using it and save your money until YOU want something newer and better (?) not just because someone tells you you should. :)
 
Dorsetsnapshot said:
Morning all,

Hope you're all well.

Basically, I purchased a Nikon D60 years back (2009 I believe) and had fun playing about with that. I have the 18-55mm lens, and a Sigma 70-300mm. After a combination of travelling Australia, moving about, and just over a year of bad health (that thankfully I'm just getting over) photography took a backseat.
I now want to get back into photography as my hobby, in a big way (Especially as I can't afford to do much as I'm saving for a wedding :( ) and so shall be out with the camera soon.

The thing is, I've been told by my friend that the D60 is pretty outdated now, and I should look to replace it. It works fine, and I need to get back into learning how to use it properly again, but is he right, and should I look to be upgrading soon? I know I'll have to pay the initial outlay for the camera, but then I'll be out a lot and thus saving money on pub time etc, so could justify it.

What do you guys think? Is he right, should I upgrade and learn to play with the new camera, or just stick with the D60 for now?

If I was to upgrade, I'd stick with Nikon, really like the cameras.

Any comments/advice would be greatly appreciated.
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I would not rush into upgrading for now especially if your only just getting back into photography. If I were you I would stick with it until you find the camera is limiting you in some way.
 
:bonk: yes, its 'older' technology, but not that old, no need to fork out for a new body if you are saving for wedding unless you actually want to. It will still take pictures, still do its job and still teach you loads about how to get the most out your camera. You have a couple of ok lenses, so if you really do feel the urge to splash, look at adding to that with something, but to be honest, what you have is a great starter kit and will take you a long way before you need to upgrade. :thumbs:
 
Thanks guys, I appreciate all the replies. Sounds a bit daft, but just wanted to hear it from others that I wasn't wasting time by still using it. I like the two lenses I have, think I might treat myself to something new soon, always fancied either a macro, or maybe the NIKON 1 NIKKOR 10mm f/2.8 Wide-angle Lens, something new to enjoy and learn to use!
 
Dorsetsnapshot said:
Thanks guys, I appreciate all the replies. Sounds a bit daft, but just wanted to hear it from others that I wasn't wasting time by still using it. I like the two lenses I have, think I might treat myself to something new soon, always fancied either a macro, or maybe the NIKON 1 NIKKOR 10mm f/2.8 Wide-angle Lens, something new to enjoy and learn to use!
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That lens is for the 1 system range only and will not work with your D60.

If you a fancy a prime lens for your D60, the 35mm f/1.8 AF-S is well regarded and pretty inexpensive.
 
Soda Farl said:
That lens is for the 1 system range only and will not work with your D60.

If you a fancy a prime lens for your D60, the 35mm f/1.8 AF-S is well regarded and pretty inexpensive.
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You can tell I've been out of things for a while huh!? :lol:

Thanks for your input! I think I'll have a look around more before actually spending the money!
 
Soda Farl said:
That lens is for the 1 system range only and will not work with your D60.

If you a fancy a prime lens for your D60, the 35mm f/1.8 AF-S is well regarded and pretty inexpensive.
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Yes, and you need to make sure any lens you choose has the inbuilt focusing motor as the D60 doesn't have an in body one iirc. If you like the idea of going ultra wide, another option is the Sigma 10-20 HSM, a lot of fun on a cropped frame body and not too expensive as well as plenty available 2nd hand.
 
Yv said:
Yes, and you need to make sure any lens you choose has the inbuilt focusing motor as the D60 doesn't have an in body one iirc. If you like the idea of going ultra wide, another option is the Sigma 10-20 HSM, a lot of fun on a cropped frame body and not too expensive as well as plenty available 2nd hand.
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Thanks for the input. I think the Nikon AF-S 35mm F1.8 DX prime has the motor you mentioned?
I've seen one I can pick up today for £150. I might give it a go as I have the money ready due to a recent birthday, so that could be a treat to myself. So I'd have that lens, teh 18-55 and the 70-300mm, which I'm sure would be enough to keep me busy, entertained and learning for countless months!

Just seen that the local camera shops by me has shut down. They have the lens at Argos, but, i've never bought anything camera related from Argos :eek:
 
Dorsetsnapshot said:
Thanks for the input. I think the Nikon AF-S 35mm F1.8 DX prime has the motor you mentioned?
I've seen one I can pick up today for £150. I might give it a go as I have the money ready due to a recent birthday, so that could be a treat to myself. So I'd have that lens, teh 18-55 and the 70-300mm, which I'm sure would be enough to keep me busy, entertained and learning for countless months!

Just seen that the local camera shops by me has shut down. They have the lens at Argos, but, i've never bought anything camera related from Argos :eek:
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Calumet are a good shoot if you have one near you and yes it has the built in af-s motor you need.
 
The weak-point of older cameras is high ISO as that is the primary area of improvement over the last few years. If you are not shooting with high ISO then you wouldn't see much of a difference by changing to a current model.
 
Right, I succumbed due to my lack of knowledge, both of suppliers and locally, and being a novice, I was happy to take the chance and went with the lens from Argos. It was £150, si I was happy with the price.

Really really really stupid question, but how much is a spare lens cap or two, and where am I best to get them from? I lost one when in Australia, I've made to by having one lens on my camera and the other in my bag with the lens cap, but I'd like to buy a replacement or two if possible.
 
Head off to ebay and type in something like "52mm lens cap" or whatever size you want :D

Personally I buy the pinch ones, they're only a £ or two each.
 
woof woof said:
Head off to ebay and type in something like "52mm lens cap" or whatever size you want :D

Personally I buy the pinch ones, they're only a £ or two each.
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In this day and age, why do I never think of ebay :bang::bang:

I've never actually used ebay before, crazy huh. I'll check it out though thanks. I have the front pinch cover (I prefer this) for my new lens (would be bad if i'd lost that in an hour) and the 70-300, but i've manage to lose, or have taken, my front and back cap for the 18-55mm.... will set up an ebay account.

Thanks for the info
 
eBay excels for finding all sorts of small items that are really difficult to find in shops (online or high street) plus it is usually considerably cheaper.
 
Premier inks also supply extra/spare caps and the like and avoid the pitfalls that e-bay can have.

As has been said, the D60 isn't the latest, greatest body from Nikon but it's still very capable. It does need the motor-in-lens lenses though (which are more expensive and rarer on the 2nd hand market" which are fairly easy to spot from the full lens designation (at least in Nikkor and Sigma's ranges) - Nikkors will have AF-S in the title and Sigma's equivalent is HSM.

Another option (that's just occurred to me) for the lens caps is the high street. If there's a good, old fashioned camera shop around, chances are that they'll have an "odds and sods" drawer with all sorts of useful little odds and ends in it. Probably cheaper than just the postage charge for the things (IF the shop has them!) via e-Bay!
 
Nod said:
Premier inks also supply extra/spare caps and the like and avoid the pitfalls that e-bay can have.

Another option (that's just occurred to me) for the lens caps is the high street. If there's a good, old fashioned camera shop around, chances are that they'll have an "odds and sods" drawer with all sorts of useful little odds and ends in it. Probably cheaper than just the postage charge for the things (IF the shop has them!) via e-Bay!
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Don't agree. There are no pitfalls to buying from eBay stores, the item listed is actually for sale (unlike online shops where you get an email two days later stating they haven't actually got that, will get it in 6 weeks etc,.)
The postage for a lens cap would typically be free or under a pound combined with the fact that the price is going to be around £2 rather than £5 in a shop (and that is after driving to shop, parking, wasting an hour of time etc,.

A two second search has revealed a pinch cap, 52mm, for £1.99 including postage. Is it actually worth leaving the house when you can buy that one in under a minute and have it arrive two days later?

Just sticking up for eBay as always as it has saved me so many times when trying to find obscure/hard to find new items that even if you manage to find in a shop you end up paying through the nose for :)
 
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ernesto said:
The weak-point of older cameras is high ISO as that is the primary area of improvement over the last few years. If you are not shooting with high ISO then you wouldn't see much of a difference by changing to a current model.
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Very true. My camera is a Canon 350D which is even older than your D60! It was the only DSLR I could afford when I bought it and has served me well for the last couple of years of learning photography. The main limitation I'm currently finding is that when using a medium/high ISO (i.e. in low light levels) there is a fair amount of noise
So stick with the camera you've got and re-find that joy of trying to take good photos!
 
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