Somebody here regret their upgrades?

[Sniper]

Hi folks!

I just wonder if there is someone here that has had the D30 and upgraded to the D60, and after a while (or immediately) regret their purchase? That you think the D30 really "did the job" better in some way?

I´m thinking of buying a D60, but sometimes I'm leaning towards a used D30 instead. I think that the D60 gets a lot of bad criticism. It's a lot of money and I don't wanna buy a "bad" camera again. I got this lousy G2 that makes me cry myself to sleep every night. It gives me nightmares.

Happy christmas everybody

Anders

[mrbobco]

anders...

don't cry :)

i loved...LOVED my D-30. and for the first month or so...i thought i made a mistake when i started using my new D-60. but THEN i remembered that when i switched from the olympus E-10 to the D-30 i was rather taken aback by the "apparent" softness (until i bought some "L" glass) now i would never turn back...looking at those E-10 images they look SO oversharpened...right out of the camera. the beauty of the D-30 shots is so stunning...as well as the D-60.

but back to the question at hand...

there IS a little bit of a learning curve...BUT...the detail in the pictures is amazing. i really didn't mind having to handle large tiff files (36 mb vs 18 mb from the d-30) and now i have the added bonus of being able to not worry so much about cropping (with the d-30 you really do have to get the shot framed just right...there isn't much latitude there)

it's a toss up. in SOME ways...i like the D-30 shots more...but most of the time...the D-60 wins out. could just be that i'm taking better shots now than before...i don't think either camera is easier/harder to use...or either one is better. but if you can afford more pixels...i say go for it. of course...there are some here that would argue that you could buy a D-30 and still have some money left over for a nice "L" zoom...depends on what you shoot (of course the lenses will always be worth the money...and the "L" lenses look especially lovely on the D-60...so that doesn't rule out starting with the D-30 and upgrading later)

i'm sure this doesn't solve any dilemma...i'm just trying to be as impartial as possible...in short, i think you have a two choices...buy a D-60 (possibly hard to get and still a bit of a wait) and not have enough money for some nice canon glass; or buy a D-30 now and get some "L" glass...get your feet wet with the D-30 and then upgrade when canon introduces their next model...

JUST be prepared for the learning curve no matter what you decide...trust me...it will be worth it!

hope this helps :)

bob

[redbutt]

That learning curve warning should be taken very seriously!

Also, exuse my ignorance (as a D30 owner), but isn't the D60, just a D30 with twice the resolution? Canon didn't change much else other than the CMOS sensor I thought.

Just for my two cents. If printing large posters isn't something that you see yourself doing a lot of, the D30 will be more than adequate for you (I get great 11x17 prints when shooting in RAW mode)...then upgrade when you want. Of course, now that the D1s is out with that full frame 11.1 MP CMOS sensor, you have to wonder what the D60 replacement will be...if they continue on the pattern of doubling the resolution...an affordable 12 MP camera...hmm...I think I need a drool bucket.

[Pekka]

I have not had too much time to try out my new D60, but initial impressions are after using and knowing and using D30 thoroughly over a year:

- the added resolution is enough to make your lenses and technique quality visible. This means that if you want to print big AND sharp, you will need to concentrate on things like holding the camera and lens quality/aperture/speed. I've had some very good results out with linearsharpen alpha versions - with LS D60 can make really stunning and realistic sharpness on screen, too. What the added resolution also does is that you will not get strong antialiasing jaggies D30 had. The colors are different, but if they are any better is debatable (RAW mode get round color issues anyways).

- metering is in some aspects different. D60 seems to have its quirks there (e.g. more sensitivity to highlights) but it does not take long to know them. I have not tired anything else than M mode yet. It should be remembered that you CAN take the body to be adjusted in any way you like. Overall a factory D60 seems to prefer very "safe" exposures - I think I'll have it adjusted to "I know what I'm doing"-mode as I did with D30. :)

- noise levels are better and as the resolution is bigger, on prints the noise averages out better.

- long exposure noise reduction and overall quality is much better than D30 - and no more that annoying wait time for noise reduction.

- shutter delay is shorter and buffering system is very good (in continuous mode) - this and resolution improvement and the two most important improvements over D30.

- white balance is worse than D30. Shoot RAW only.

- in other aspects it feels, smells and tastes like D30.

I still have the D30, so if you want any specific comparison "tests" let me know.

[mrbobco]

i wholeheartedly agree, pekka...white balance is LESS than spectacular...

but dare i ask...when we can see a link for the d-60 LS action (i've been using LS for the D-30 forever and haven't seen anything that come close to it yet :)

bob

[Sniper]

Thank you guys for your answers.

But they did not really made it easier for me to make my decision. The two cameras both have their pros and cons, and one problem is that the D30 is not possible to get (new) in sweden anylonger, so I have to get a used one, and that feel kind of "risky". It's nice to have new stuff (but ofcourse I would prefer a working D30 over a bad D60).

PEKKA you say that white balance is worse than D30. How is it if you compare to the G1?

Anders