Nikon D60

Award: Best Buy!

Review summary: The Nikon D60 is a great choice you don't need a high-end digital SLR but you're keen to trade up from a compact camera phone and capture more professional-looking photographs without starting a run on a bank.

Verdict: All that's missing in the Nikon D60 is Live View, an increasingly common function on DSLRs whereby the rear LCD can be used to compose and check images; useful if you're shooting flush to the floor, whereupon it's impossible to get your eye level with ...

Pros: Sharp pictures, great colour, Active D-Lighting, dust reduction, low price, comfortable to hold

Cons: Some minor chromatic aberration issues, no live view

Verdict: Nikon's D60 is a fantastic entry-level SLR that takes brilliant pictures and offers a robust feature set. It is ideal for users looking to take the plunge into more creative photography.

Review summary: Nikon is touting its D60 model as 'one of the smallest Nikon digital SLRs ever'. Released less than a year after the slightly lighter D40, it's identical in size and also the same size and weight as D40x that followed. It also has the same 10.2 ...

Verdict: Pictures from the test camera were generally sharp, although the AF system had occasional problems with focusing and tended to hunt in dim lighting and with fast-moving subjects. With stationary subjects the powerful AF light reduced hunting to a ...

Review summary: If the new D60 looks familiar, there's a simple explanation. Hold the old D40X model in one hand and this camera in the other, and aside from the silver model-name badge you'll struggle to tell the difference.

Verdict: More practical photographic tool than technological feast, but the D60 is a well-balanced camera and decent value for money.

Award: Highly Recommended!

Review summary: The D60 is the third incarnation of Nikon's compact, user-friendly entry-level SLR line that started back in 2006 with the D40 (which replaced the first Nikon 'starter' model, the D50). The original D40 was a hugely important camera for Nikon and can ...

Pros: Good resolution and detail (especially at lower ISO settings), Good dynamic range (better than D40 and slightly better than D40X), Surprisingly good build quality, tight shut lines, New Dust removal system and very useful manual focus rangefinder, ...

Cons: No lens motor in body means non-AF-S/AF-I lenses are manual focus only, Disappointingly RAW+JPEG setting only records Basic quality JPEG's, Default settings a little on the soft side at a pixel level, High ISO performance good, but not as good as best ...