Should I change from a D60 to a 30D?

Hi,
I have just found this forum and am really enjoying looking at the very interesting threads.
I have a D60 which cost me just under £2,000.00 back in 2002, (body only!).
I used to use it for work, at that time I was a photorgapher at Brands Hatch Racing Circuit in Kent UK, taking photos of customers driving cars and motorcycles having a driving/riding experience for the day.
Later that year I was made redundant, and didint use my camera for a few years as I was into something totally different. In the last few months I have taken up photography again, just for fun.
I have two lenses, given to me by my old boss as he kicked me out the door for the last time!
One is a 17-35mm 2.8L a good lense I think( approx 9 years old)?,and also a cheap 75-300mm 4-5.6 Ultrasonic zoom.

Now after reading all the posts etc, I was wondering if I would get better quality pictures from a new 30D verses the 6 year old D60?
Basically, is the 30D that much better than my old D60?
I would appreciate your thoughts. Thanks.
Ben

Welcome to the forums Ben!
the 30D certainly represents a lot of improvements over those 6 years. It will be much faster focusing and more realiable for focusing for one. Another major improvement will be high ISO performance. from what i hear the D60 performs quite poorly at ISO800 and up. whereas the 30D performs beautifully even at 1600. The 30D should also be a faster camera in every respect including start up, and image reviewing. This is one respect where i believe the upgrade is worth considering. if you do want to save some money, or put some toward lenses, you could consider the 20D instead.

As for your lenses, the 17-35 2.8 is still well regarded by many people, and at the price you paid it certainly cant do you any harm. it has been replaced by a newer version, which is said to perform much better, but is still a fine lens. The 75-300 as you metioned is a bit cheap, so depending on how much you use telelphoto, you might consider putting some funds toward a better telephoto.

See you around,

I went from a D30 to a 30D. World of a difference, you'll appreciate the advancements a few years can offer. Not to say the D30 is a bad camera, it's just notably long in the tooth.

Welcome to POTN! Billy is right on. Welcome back to a wonderful hobby.

Hi welcome

It's not even about better "quality" IMHO (though you will get better quality)

It's abut functionality. The 30D will out perform the D60 on so many levels, focus speed, shooting / burst rate speed, etc..
Overall your whole "shooting experience" stands to improve quite dramatically in this case.
FYI I own a D60 alongside a 20D and 1D MkII. and though I feel most cameras after the 10D have a very similar feel performance and speed wise, the differences between these modern cameras and the aged D60 are far more dramatic.

I have a D60 and a 20D.

Image quality wise the D60 can hold its own against the 20D (or the 30D which uses the same sensor) for shots at ISO 100, 200 or 400. The difference between a 6 and 8 mp image does not make that much difference when you make prints. However, for shots a ISO 800 or higher the 20D is clearly better.

Camera wise, the 20D is much more pleasant to use. The instant on feature means you don't miss shots while waiting for the camera to turn on or wake up. The autofocus is better. The 5 frames per second is great for sports.

dive in...30D. welcome back to the club. we've got jackets.

Welcome back.

Thanks alot everyone for the information it is much appreciated. I just need to get some money now!

On a side note, I have 2 x T-90 bodies and a F1 body with motordrive. All quite well used but looked after.
Do these things hold any value for resale? BTW Im in the UK.
Ben

Ben

Four years ago I sold 2 F1N bodies with motordrives and the Highpower Ni Cad packs and got over £400 each for them. Not bad for saying they cost not much more than that when bought in the early 80's.

Stu

shrugs* wrote in post #2081139
I went from a D30 to a 30D. World of a difference, you'll appreciate the advancements a few years can offer. Not to say the D30 is a bad camera, it's just notably long in the tooth.

NOOOOOOoooooooo!!!!???​?!!!!! Don't say that....I've wanted a Dslr for a while now but just couldn't empty the piggybank...

I just GOT the D30 (a thriftshop deal too sweet to pass up) and so, even tho I've had the A95 for a year and a half without committing to Canon for an SLR (I've bags full of Nikons and manual lenses which I love but couldn't really use on Nikon Dslr), I'm now firmly in Canon's corner.

I'd love to take some side-by-side pix with the 30d30 to see the diff...I don't crop much or use the motor drive much and use the center-weighted meter/focusing mode, so the 30D's aces for me are it's greater number of pixels and that nice larger lcd in the back...

Still, I can happily live with the d30 until the d40/d50 comes out lowering the d30's price...

Photographing alot of macro and color stuff I see a notable difference just going from the 10D to the 20D primarily because of the DigicII processor. If you're considering the jump from a D60 to a 30D ... that's a no brainer. DO IT.

As always the question to upgrade should be.
"Does your current camera not do something that a newer camera does that you need or want"?

I wish I could afford a 30D!

Longwatcher wrote in post #2085326
As always the question to upgrade should be.
"Does your current camera not do something that a newer camera does that you need or want"?

I think that this should be an easy answer given the significant differences between the D60 and the 30D. The improved AF alone should more than answer that question, but add in more resolution, larger LCD screen, 1/3 ISO increments, ability to take EF-S lenses, etc. and I can't really see a reason not to upgrade.

Mark