Canon has Maria Sharapova. Nikon
has the Nikon Kid. He's that twenty-something guy who needs a shave and
beams after every shot he takes with a Nikon D60. Is the message here
you can take great pictures with a digital SLR even if you don't know
how to shave? Not quite. But this upgrade of Nikon's stalwart D40 line
is fun to use and produces images worth beaming about just as advertised.
The D60 ($539-$698, with lens) is essentially a D40 with a few new tricks.
It has more megapixels--10.2.
It will shut off its monitor when you look through its viewfinder.
Its information display will flip from landscape to portrait when you
take a vertical shot.
It lets you edit images in the camera in a number of creative ways.
Nikon technologies found in its higher end models have also been added
to the D60. Its EXPEED image-processing system, for instance, is one of
those technologies as well as Active-D Lighting, which improves the high-dynamic
range in photographs, and a sensor-cleaning system.
As efficient as dust-cleaning systems are these days, they're not perfect.
The D60 helps address that problem by allowing a shooter to create a reference
photo by which dust's handiwork can be removed automatically with Nikon's
software when the image is transferred to a computer.
What's nice about the D60 is that Nikon didn't change things about the
D40 that worked. The same solid construction is here. The economy of design
and outstanding ergonomics are still here, too. With most controls confined
to two main areas on the camera, quickly finding a button, switch or dial
is not a problem.
One of my favorite features of the D40 is the Quick settings menu, which
has been inherited by the D60. I find it so much more useful than monochrome
displays that just add bulk to a camera. With the feature, you can get
quick access to most of the frequently used settings for a shot--image
size and quality, white balance, light sensitivity, continuous shooting
modes, focusing and metering modes, exposure and flash compensation, and
flash settings.
As full-featured as the D60 is, though, it's not without a wish list.
Most notably, it lacks a Live View, so pictures can be framed and shot
through the LCD, and it doesn't have an auto bracketing mode, where an
exposure can be bracketed without manually adjusting exposure compensation
for each shot in the series.
Nikon should also receive kudos for including an outstanding piece of
software with the camera, Capture NX2. Unlike most applications boxed
with digital cameras, this one is more than an afterthought. Unfortunately,
the version with the camera is only a trial version. After 60 days, a
user has to cough up big bucks to keep it running.
Image grabbers looking for a camera to carry in a purse or pocket will
no doubt turn away from the D60 which, with a lens, weighs around three
pounds--although I found it small enough to tote around in the cargo pocket
of a field jacket--but most pocketshooters won't leave you beaming as
often after you press the shutter button as does the D60.
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Introduction
