canon D-60 vs canon D-30

[jcesposito]

I have a D-30 and still think it is great.

I have a backorder for the D-60 but the longer I wait the more it seems that the D-30 is still the camera to beat except for the extra pixels when making prints larger than 8 x 10.

Anyone have a strong opinion one way or the other?

[NBAUSTRALIA]

Similar dilema. But I have been extremely happy with the resolution from my D30.

I am getting excellent quality prints at A3 size - printed using Epson 1290 printer on Epson A3 Matte paper.

Candid Wedding portrait shots using the D30 + 200mm lense various lighting situations taken in RAW mode for max quality - all blow up to A3 flawlessly. (In the Bride's opinion)

I tend to fill the frame when composing - so these shots require very little cropping or manipulation.

Yes I can see the need for extra pixels when I have been unable to fill the frame with the subject - a recent hot air balloon ride with a fairly wide angle lense left me with subjects in the distance (other hot air balloons) that did not respond well to photoshop manipulation and large blow ups.

The simultaneous RAW and JPEG file creation might be a good time saver?

Maybe I will wait for the 12million version?

[sudaplatov]

D30 is a legend.
D60 is an intermidiate step to Next Generation Camera.
So what is better to have?
NGC will be made very soon, sooner than we expect.
I think the first try would be 1D with full censor.
12Mp or 8Mp somewhen in October-November.
Price as of 1D now.
Then it will be the grandson of D30 next spring...
However when something became standard it price
goes down so digital world will destroy the real one
very soon and prices of old 35mm cameras will be
much higher than their digital analogs - for sure.
Remember how fast CD killed old vinil discs - no one
could even expect this 20 years ago (or something).
So very soon :) all this derivatives of 1D and D30 and
other digital SLR models would costs the same prices
as their grandfathers cost nowadays.
We don't have to hurry a lot.

[reittila]

The lack of resolution in D30 can (almost) be fixed with Fred's Photo Shop interpolation action.
I have made A2 enlargements from interpolated files and the result is stunning.
I aggree that D30 is a legend :)

[jcesposito]

Can you expand on "fred's photo shop interpolation action?

[reittila]

jcesposito wrote:
Can you expand on "fred's photo shop interpolation action?



What do you mean with expanding ? Perhaps does the files size become bigger ?

[jcesposito]

Sorry, I mean is this a feature in "photo shop" or is it a separate program called "fred's photo shop".

In other words I am not sure who you mean by "fred"

thanx for your help

[Anthony8858]

Putting the extra resolution aside.......The color of the D60 is much better. Very natural looking.
If you're a PS guru, I guess the color's not an issue.

Other than that, I see no major advantage over the D30.

[reittila]

jcesposito wrote:
Sorry, I mean is this a feature in "photo shop" or is it a separate program called "fred's photo shop".

In other words I am not sure who you mean by "fred"

thanx for your help
I ment an especially for D30 optimized PhotoShop action made by Fred Miranda.
The action can be found here : http://www.fredmiranda.com/Action_profilesPage/index.html , it's called "Stair Interpolation SI" and it's free :)

[DoctorMoth]

I think that the D-30 is better than I am, in other words I have a lot to learn before I need a better camera. I've taken more pictures on the D30 in six months or so then in the previous 10 years, so I hope to become a better photographer. Right now I think that the odd 2000 bucks that it would take to get a "better" camera would suit me much better in the purchase of finer lenses, not camera bodies. I think that in a year or less , the direct descendent of the D-30 will come out and I might be tempted again but I think I will wait it out. Besides, maybe someone will come out with a reasonable priced digital 4 by 5 View camera and that might be the one to go after, by then I might have honed up on my skills enough to be actually able to use it!

[oops]

My soul said, "Dr Moth, YES!". Well said. My knee even jerked (that's serious).

My D30 is a much, much better camera than I am a shooter. Also, my lenses are better still than my camera! This puts me on the learning curve grinning like a fool, trying to figure these two out.

One day I will buy another digital camera, but right now I am having too much fun trying to keep up with the quality posts of the G1 and G2 owners!

[NBAUSTRALIA]

Better Colour?? I must admit it took me a while to be really happy with some of the colour issues. But rather than use Photoshop to correct I have worked out that a quick "White Balance" on the camera before beginning a series of shots is really effective.

Particularly sucessful if the camera is set to fluro or flash mode - do your white balance and you will be very happy with the end result. (and of course a white balance is so much easier to achieve than the old "neutral density" check - just grab a piece of A4 photocopy paper and place it under your dominant light source)

I also attended a workshop at a professional publishing house recently - they helped to point me in the direction of thinking about my computer monitor and colour modes (RGB / CMYK) when reviewing shots AND I have had to "get to know" my printer / ink and know what to expect from them.

The other REALLY useful thing that they mentioned - Photoshop IS NOT necessarily an output product - that is you will get better results if you manipulate shots within PS then save them as PDF and print them from another software product. DON'T AKS ME WHY I'm just a dumb user.... but trial and error has proved them right.

[reittila]

Having used film based cameras for decades the idea of automatic white balance seems a bit odd to me. That's why I tend to use fixed settings which results very decent colourbalance and very little adjustment in PS.
When using RAW-format the fixed or auto settings can be decided afterwards as well.

[wcapald]

I just went out and bought a D60 and just shot 950 pix during a wedding at a castle in Scotland this weekend, alongside a D30. The difference is incredible. Just pull a picture and you have a 16x11 without any messing about, tweaking, interpolation. And the colours are much better than the D30. All I can say is sell your D30's and go buy a D60. If you have the money do it. The 6m pixels make a world of difference, and that was just on Fine JPEG's......