Doubts about purchasing a D60

[Aitor]

Hi all!!

I'm just about to purchase a Canon Eos D60, after 18 months with a Fuji 6900z (great piece of equipment, btw) but I have some serious doubts due to the excessive price tag here in Spain (4500Eur for a Body and a couple of lenses).

I purchased the 6900z as present for my wife's and me 2nd anniversary (as she was very keen on photography)... but then i got bitten by the photographic bug... and I just keep shooting and shooting more and more, while devouring all books and internet documentation, pages that passed near me. And, in mi humble opinion, improving my photografic abilities... ;)

One of the things I miss most on my beloved 6900z is the ability to see what are you looking not trought a EVF but trought a real viewfinder (difficulty sometimes to use MF or check a correct AF), a narroest DOF, the ability to get to focal lenghts over 210 and under 35, and lots of other small things.

The fact is that I'm following (since several weeks now) both the Canon EOS D60 and the Nikon D100. Currently I'm almost decided to "jump into the Canon trail", but I fear that decision because I read (in multiple places, even also in this same forum) that the D60 has a somewhat poor AF system compared to middle range EOS cameras.

Besides that I'm curious about the "Focussing Screens", as far as I understood they help somewhat to do Manual Focusing... (I was used only to the classical diffraction semicircle shapes).

How is the quality of this "Focussing Screen" which i heard is not changeable on the D60? It really helps MF? How?

I'm also abit worried about several other issues on the D60 as the "Losing of Images" and such! but that topic has already a forum thread!

Thanks to all for having the patience to read trough this long and boring message! :)

Aitor

[Morden]

I too was dubious about spending such a large amount of money on a D60, but I have it now and it's great.

The problems that have been mentioned on this forum are certainly serious, but please remember that discussion forums such as this attract reports of such problems (and, with luck, solutions). The real situation isn't as bad as it may appear after reading some of the posts here!

After considering several cameras - including the D100 - I chose the D60 because it came out on top in most reviews and, more importantly, is better suited to my own needs.

Good luck with whichever camera you buy!

Neil D.

[henkbos]

Aitor,

LOve my D60 and have had no problems yet. Read about all the other problems but only out of interest. Never had problems with Firestone tires either :D.
As for the price: buy yourself a ticket to Singapore, buy it there sheaper, have a few days of shooting to test and back to Spain.

Good luck!

[petiot]

hi

I was in the same situation two months ago: d60 or d30 in my case. I finally choose to buy the cheaper d30 which allowed me to buy a god lens.

I thought the d60 doesn t worth the extra money: focus has not been improved, focus square higlight disturb the light metering (what a design mistake), they squeezed the pixel size to fit 6 M of them which makes the noise ration/signal a bit less performant (from what i heard) and finally you need more memory.

Having more pixels depends on what you want to do. i print A4 from the d30 often. if you plan to print bigger the d60 is to consider i think.

Also i would wait for the Sigma. i think (form the test ictures that it will be an amazing camera, and much cheaper tha the d60 (only 3.5 Mp thought).


Dan

[mskad]

Hi,

I wouldn't say that the D60 has a slow AF system. But unfortunatly, it seems that the CMOS sensor is not always ajusted as it should be. I'm going to send my D60 to Canon because almost 80% of my pictures are out of focus, regarless of what lens I'm using (28mm, 50mm or 70-200). The main subject is blurred but the background is sharp!

[phoby3]

regrading this issue about the d60's auto focus, I really don't have a problem with it. No it isn't as God awful fast as an EOS3, a 1v, or probably a d1 but it's still faster than me in most situations. In fact I find it on a par with the oriiginal EOS 1.

But I do have a question though, how many of you are using shutter half pressed for acquiring autofocus? Over a lot of years with the EOS system, I have found that reprograming the custom setting so that you use the AE button to focus instead. It is way faster and far more accurate. Also by using the center sensor, you will get a much faster acquisition.

One last thing while I'm at it, I don't care what EOS you use if you can't hit a contrasting line in a low light situation, the cameras will "hunt" for focus. You can't rely on autofocus d60 or 1v without a little finding the right spot then reframing. I hope I'm making some sense here.

[phoby3]

regrading this issue about the d60's auto focus, I really don't have a problem with it. No it isn't as God awful fast as an EOS3, a 1v, or probably a d1 but it's still faster than me in most situations. In fact I find it on a par with the oriiginal EOS 1.

But I do have a question though, how many of you are using shutter half pressed for acquiring autofocus? Over a lot of years with the EOS system, I have found that reprograming the custom setting so that you use the AE button to focus instead. It is way faster and far more accurate. Also by using the center sensor, you will get a much faster acquisition.

One last thing while I'm at it, I don't care what EOS you use if you can't hit a contrasting line in a low light situation, the cameras will "hunt" for focus. You can't rely on autofocus d60 or 1v without a little finding the right spot then reframing. I hope I'm making some sense here.