Upgrading from the D60

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mon_star

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I have the Nikon D60, but I'm quite keen for an upgrade. I'd like to learn more about portrait photography and I'm looking for something that would get good shallow depth of field. Also keen to learn more about video.

I've had a look at the D5100 (with a fixed 50mm f1.8 vr lens maybe?) and it looks pretty sweet. Think it's worth saving up for the D7000?

Also looked at that Fujifilm X10 which is much more basic but is quite beautiful. Not sure how much bokeh I'll be able to capture with that.

Thoughts?

:D
 
D90 as web mentioned is a good upgrade for your D60 and D7000 even better, the D5100 as you mentioned is a good camera too for your upgrade, 50mm give you good DOF "bokeh" but best DOF comes from the 85mm.
 
Shallow depth of field will come from a lens, not the camera body.

I assume the D60 is a crop sensor body and therefore the standard portrait range is 57mm to 90mm. So look for a lens in that range. Looking at a brochure I picked up at a recent photo expo, the lens that come to mind are the Nikkor 60mm f/2.8 Micro VR, Nikon 85mm f1.8 D and Nikon 24-120mm f4 G AF-S ED VR

These are all not that expensive. Just remember to work out the respective DOF for every shot because as you change aperture, distance from the subject and focal length, the DOF changes.
 
D90 not a bit old now? (Forgive me, I'm a total newbie). D5100 can do 1080p video vs 720 on D90, but I suppose that isn't really end of the world. What I do like about the D90 are the dual wheels on the controls. Feels nice in the hand too.
 
I looked at the D5100 when I was looking (my D60 was stolen) it is nice I just felt it was like they spent to much time trying to cram "photoshop" onto the camera than anything else. So i went with the D90, couldn't justify the D7000 as I don't use it that often.
 
Yes it is "old" but for photography still good, not meant for hd video, if your interest lie in video dept on dslr then you can get the D300s or lower down the line D3100.
 
D90 or D7000

The D90 is very good. Yes it's older but is a phenomenal camera. Well worth it. Certainly better than the D5100.

The D7000 however replaced the D90, so if you're keen on that go for that. Bit more cost but oh well.

Canon has the 60D which you can pick up for about 10k as well, it's one phenomenal camera, and no no I aint a camera fan. I have a nikon d90 and a nikon d5000 as a spare, but my brother bought the canon 60d, and wow, pretty decent for what it can do.

But I'd say

Canon 60d or Nikon d7000. I would choose between than.

There are some good lenses too, the 50mm, 1.8 is a bit better rated than the 1.4. But my pref is the 18-105vr lens, and the 70-300 vr 2 lens. Should be a standard. unless you have the 16-85, that's nice too.
 
oh the Fuji whatever camera's are generally rubbish inside. So dont bother there. they look all fancy and all, but their optics just arent the same.
 
www.orms.co.za

Is selling the D7000 for R13995 on special from what i can see with the 18-105vr lens. it's a nice package. includes nikon bag, adobe photoshop lightroom 3 software, and 8gb lexar card. they got the 70-300vr lens on special there too for R4995 i think. That's a really nice zoom lens, not slow, pretty darn quick. used it a few times already
 
D5100 has the same sensor as the D7000. See if you need all the extra gizmos in the D7000 otherwise I would recommend the D5100 with the extra bucks for lenses.
 
Thanks! You guys were really helpful. Think it's between the D90 and D5100. I'll try and play around with both of them. Now for some good deals...
 
http://snapsort.com/compare/Nikon-D5100-vs-Nikon_D90

Pinch of salt and all that. It just summarises features against each other. The only reason I might go for the D90 over the D5100 is if I was planning to use AF-D lenses where the D90 has an AF motor, and if I found it at a crazy bargain which you probably could. Otherwise the D5100 sensor is magic - I have it in the D7000 and love it. Plus the flip-out screen can be really handy and the camera is lighter overall.

Good luck, playing around with both is a good idea and just see which is more comfortable.

PS: I had (have) a D60 too and never considered the D90 a worthy upgrade. But that was a while back and the price has dropped a bit now so it could be a consideration.
 
mon_star said:
Thanks! You guys were really helpful. Think it's between the D90 and D5100. I'll try and play around with both of them. Now for some good deals...
Click to expand...

My 2c: Try handling both bodies for a while first.

I had a D40 for 4 years, and quite liked it (coming from a compact), and have been using a D7000 since Feb. The other day I went with a colleague to compare Canon 500D / 550D and Nikon D5100, and I would not take the D5100 over even the 500D. Why? Well, the controls on the body makes all the difference. On the D40/D60/D5100 everything is done through the menus, whereas the D90/D7000 and the Canon 500D/550D all have hardware buttons for changing the commonly used settings. This makes a huge difference if you shoot moving subjects, and you have to change settings without taking your eye off the viewfinder.


I did not think that this mattered when I was using the D40, but now I cannot believe that Nikon still puts everything in software on the D5100, which is a fine camera in most other aspects.
 
fvdbergh said:
On the D40/D60/D5100 everything is done through the menus, whereas the D90/D7000 and the Canon 500D/550D all have hardware buttons for changing the commonly used settings. This makes a huge difference if you shoot moving subjects, and you have to change settings without taking your eye off the viewfinder.
Click to expand...

True, although the main stuff of ISO, shutter speed and aperture can be controlled with buttons and dials and you don't need the menus. When you start needing to chop and change between AF modes etc in a matter of split seconds rather than seconds, then you will struggle, so the OP will have to judge whether he needs these options on-the-go...

Also re: video, you can get away with just setting the camera to record and get something out of that. It will look like a backyard job though. If you are going to use it semi-seriously for video then there's huge expenses in extra batteries, SD cards, hard drives, editing software, shoulder rigs or other proper supports, ND filters, LCD loupe, maybe dollies, list can go on. I don't know that much about video but just be careful if you think you can just wing it. For shots of your kids and holidays etc then it's fine :D
 
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