Nikon D40 or D60

I am contemplating getting a DSLR soon. I have a Pentax ZX-7 Film cam that collects dust and I want to get a new Digital SLR to go along with my Sony point/shoot...
Anyone have any feedback on D40 and D60? I have no aspirations of using the camera for much more than fun/recreation so I am not looking for terribly high resolution. Any feedback will be appreciated. Any features that are must have?

Thanks.

I got a D40 just for kicks and I'm happy with it... It is short of power after playing with some D200/D300's but for me it is just fine while i fiddle around, and it was fairly cheap, takes pretty good shots too.

Thanks Nick.. good shots.. is that with the lens that comes with it or do you have a bigger lens? Based on the shots, I am guessing the shutter response is fast enough..
I think I will go with the 60.

Anyone else have any feedback on Nikons?

That lens is a Tamron 70-200 F4.5 i got on ebay for 80 bucks

I donno if the 60 has a built in motor for lenses, the D40 does NOT, which means you have to buy lenses with the built in motor usually adding more money....maybe worth looking to see if the 60 does

Thanks Nick. I have a tamron 75-300 for my pentax so I will keep an eye out for that on ebay.

I bought a D60 a few months ago. I am very happy with it.... but, I would either go for the D40 or save up for a D90 if I had to do it over again.

Jon,
Interesting suggestion on D40... other than 6.1mp vs 10mp, is there nothing I would miss on the D40vsD60? I went down the comparison last night and saw a couple of things, but nothing that worried me for not having. I can't imagine for what I am gonna be doing that 6mp would not be good enough quality... I was leaning towards the 60 so that I did not regret it later.. but, with my Sony point/shoot, i usually take most photos at 3mp and they are plenty good quality for anything I do... I am all about not paying as much! I doubt I need anything the D90 offers for my "Playing"..... thanks...

I really doubt you will notice much difference between the 6 MP vs. 10 MP. The sensor in the D40 is actually better than the D60 in low light.

Buy the D40 and pick up an extra lens for what your would pay for just the D60.

(Message edited by hunter660 on November 28, 2008)

Thanks.. That's what I'll do..
BW

my grandpa has the d-40 and to be honest i HATE it. i find it rather difficult to work with and the pictures are not as great as i would think they are.

i have a canon rebel eos xti and the photos are incredible. when its in sports mode it takes consecutive photos and when you upload them on the coputer they look like a video. extremly clear. look into it.

I have both the D40X and the D90. I'm not entirely sure about the feature set of the 60 but there are a few things that I've come to understand as real shortcomings of the D40.

Focus motor - After going through some rental and borrowed glass, I find it much better to have the focus motor on the body. When I got my D40X, I didn't think this would matter to me. All it took was the $100 50mm 1.4 to change my mind.

Interface - The D40 lacks the great interface of the other Nikon SLR's. It's in a pain to have to go through menus to adjust things like ISO and WB.

Remote Flash Command - Using the on-camera flash to trigger a remote like the SB-600/800/900 is really fun to experiment with. The D40 will let you do this, but when using the flash as a commander it is dedicated to that function. My D90 lets me trigger a remote and also use the on camera in manual or CLS.

Shooting speed matters too. Is the 60 any faster than the 40? The jump on speed to the D90 is another worthy consideration.

I don't really know where the 60 stands on any of those issues but it's worth checking out. I know you didn't ask for a comparison with the D90, but it came up...and spending time with both has shed light on some differences that really do matter for me.

Thanks Nate... I am starting to think the 60 is worth the step up.. i don't have experience or need to jump to 90...my sony point/shoot is probably more my speed, by i want some better wake photos than what I am getting....plus I gotta teach someone in the boat to get some shots of me! HA

Do a little reading here http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/recommended-cameras.htm before you buy.

I started out just like you and I wish I had bought the D80 and now D90 instead of the D60.

(Message edited by hunter660 on December 01, 2008)

well, I have ordered the 60.. It will do more than I could imagine using..
Jon, thanks for the link.. i have found a lot of useful info in there..

Where did you order your D60 from and how much are you going to spend?

greg,
sent PM

Where did you get the D60? I am shopping right now.

I ordered it through a friend in the business...
The best deals right now are at BHPhoto.com and Crutchfield.com
Both have the D60 with lens for $550 after instant rebates...and I know Crutchfield has free shipping...bh may as well..
I have had fun with it so far.. still learning.. Anxious to take more photos and learn. I bought a couple of different books...one on the D60 and one on Digital Photography. There is so much more to these cameras than the 35mm SLR I had before!

Nick,
what settings are you using for photos such as above? Any particular Auto Setting or or you controlling manually?