The Nikon D60 is a compact digital
SLR designed to appeal to shutterbugs looking for a quality mirrorcam
that's easy to use, as well as offering room for creative growth. Weighing
in at about three pounds with its standard lens, that may sound heavy
to pocketcam enthusiasts, but its weight is offset by the camera's excellent
balance.
Lenses for the camera connect to it through a bayonet mount at the front
of the unit. Attaching and removing lenses are smooth operations. To attach
a lens, you align a white dot on the glass with a white dot located at
about one o'clock on the mount and turn the lens counterclockwise until
the unit clicks into place. To remove the lens, you press a button positioned
at about three o'clock at the side of the mount, twist the glass clockwise
until the white dots line up and pull the lens from the body.
A large ring with ridges
in the middle of the lens is used to control its zoom when the camera
is in auto focus mode. In manual mode, focusing is controlled with smaller
ring at the glass end of the lens. Controls for auto/manual focusing and
turning vibration reduction (VR) on and off are located on the left side
of the lens.
Also found at the front of the camera are
an infrared receiver located on the unit's hand grip and an LED lamp in
the recess between the hand grip and lens mount. The lamp does triple
duty as an autofocus assist light, self-timer signal and red-eye reduction
aid.
On top of the camera,
all controls are clustered to the right of the viewfinder housing. Although
such an arrangement has the potential for overcrowding, that isn't the
case here. Moreover, the design cuts down on the amount of hunting for
buttons required by some cameras. Controls atop the D60 are the mode dial,
exposure compensation button, D-Lighting button and shutter release.
In Manual mode, the exposure compensation button is used
in combination with the Command Dial at the back of the camera to modify
the aperture for a shot. If the pop-up flash is activated, the e/c control
and Command Dial tandem will control the brightness of the flash.
Active D-Lighting can be activated by depressing the D-Lighting
button and turning the command dial. D-Lighting brightens dark areas and
lightens washed out areas in a photo.
The shutter release button is inside a tabbed ring for turning
the camera on and off.
At the back of the camera is its 2.5-inch display, which
has a resolution of 230,000 dots.
To the left of the monitor are controls for
entering Playback mode, accessing the camera's menu system, displaying thumbnails
and calling up the information display. When an image is displayed on the
LCD, the information button can be used to enlarge its size. Pressing that
button together with the D-Lighting control will reset the Quick Settings
display to their defaults. Poking the thumbnail button when an image is
displayed on the screen will reduce the picture's size. That button can
also be used to access the camera's context-sensitive help.
Above the LCD is the viewfinder. For lensslingers with less than perfect
eyesight, there's a diopter control buried on the right side of the finder.
Manipulating the control while planting an eye behind the viewfinder can
be a bit of a dexterity test. When using the D60 with its self-timer,
an included eyepiece cap can be used to keep light from leaking through
the viewfinder and throwing off the exposure setting for a shot.
Beside the viewfinder is an Auto Focus/Auto Exposure lock button. It's
used to lock the exposure on a subject when using spot or center-weighted
exposure modes. In Playback mode, it can lock an image file to prevent
it from being accidently trashed by the camera.
To the right of the AE/AF lock is the Command Dial for changing settings
in the viewfinder, like shutter speed and aperture.
Just to the right of the LCD is the Multi-selector. It's a navigation
device used for moving through menus and selecting items in them.
Below that dial is the Trash button. It's used for deleting single photos.
Multiple deletions must be performed through the menu system.
On the right side of
the camera is a compartment for a storage card. On the left, there’s
a compartment with a mini USB port and socket for an optional video
lead. On the bottom of the unit is the battery compartment and tripod
mount.
The D60 has excellent ergonomics. Its controls are thoughtfully
placed, intuitive to learn and easy to access.
Ergonomics
