What is the difference between the Nikon D60 and the Nikon D80? Is the price difference worth it?

Question

Any info you could provide me with would be awesome! I'm buying my first SLR Camera, and have read that the D60 is a great one for beginners. But i've been looking and I can't really tell the difference between the D60 and the D80 , except for the price range. Which would you recommend?

Answer 1

i want to know the same thing!

Answer 2

Here they are side by side:

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/compare_...

Detailed reviews for both are also linked from the page above

Is it worth it? You decide.

D60 is a high level consumer camera

D80 is more of a low level pro camera.

D60 is newer - comes with newer technology, but has fewer bells and whistles.

D80 is older - but is a higher level camera.

I bought my D80 (albeit before D60 came out, so I was measuring it up against D40) because it has a few extra buttons saving me trips to menu for things like changing ISO, also DOF preview (don't remember if D60 has it,  I know D40 doesn't).

But one of the big things for me - over years I've been used to having a small LCD screen on top of the camera that shows all the settings, and D80 has that, but not D60...

Also if you have a good collection of older Nikon lenses that are not AF-S (or AF-I), D60 won't be able to autofocus those, as it does not have the focusing motor, relying on one inside the lens. Could be an issue for some, but non-issue for most, because pretty much all new lenses are AF-S.

D80 is heavier, D60 is lighter. Some people find it more convenient to haul a lighter cameras with them on hiking vacations. After all your main purpose of a trip is to hike, and secondary is to take great photographs. If it's the other way around, then you may throw the weight away as a non-factor.

BUT... here's the most important part:

Image quality, sensor quality, and basically results wise - I don't think you'll see the difference. All the differences are in the convenience features. So if you can live without a few extra bells and whistles listed above, and a few more I forgot to mention - you should be good with D60.

Remember - when you're buying a dSLR - what your real long term investment would be: Lenses. Because the camera bodies, they become obsolete in a few years with the way the technology advances. But a good piece of glass will last you for years, moving from one body to another and another and another. So you should consider buying a cheaper D60, but investing more money into good glass!

But if you think the little conveniences are worth it, then D80 is a better camera for you. If it's your first dSLR - even D40 may do the trick. Don't be fooled by lower megapixels. They are not as important as you may think. Read here:

http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/mpmyth.h...

Good luck with your choice!

LEM.