I am looking for my first digital SLR, I am considering a Nikon D60 but thats largely because I know nothing and I’m therefore looking for some advice on comparables and what you (the ST photographers) would spend your own hard earned cash on.
Any thoughts?
Thanks
I just bought the D60 and, after less than a week, am very happy with it. I’m not a pro by any means and I find it very easy to use. There are several threads asking the same question. I suggest doing a title search on SLR (that’s what I did). Also, go to dpreview.com for exhaustive reviews of many cameras.
Martin
I just bought a D80, which I am also very happy with. I was originally planning on buying the D60 but found that it was not compatible with my older auto focus lenses. There are also a few other differences that you may find important, but that was the defining issue with me. Good luck.
Bought wifey a D60 for christmas and she is very happy with it. Also very happy with Nikon service. It was accidently dropped on the ground while chasing our great dane at the dog park. The flash was broken and there was a bad rattle in the body. Well packed it up, sent it to Nikon, and in about 4 weeks got it back good as new. No charge other than the cost to ship it to them. They even shipped it back free of charge.
http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/recommended-cameras.htm
Save money, buy a D40, …see Ken Rockwell’s website. Bought one for Xmas and am glad I took Ken’s advice. No regrets at all, but great pictures, and easy enough to use that even my wife (non-techy, non-gadget girl) is comfortable using it.
read this.
I learned a lot from it when I was getting into photography (before digital).
I’ll make the assumption that you want the SLR for more control and being able to use different lenses. Decide on the lens you want, and then pick the system. That said, Nikon and Canon are pretty much on par with a huge selection of lenses & accessories new AND used. Or, if you have friends who can lend you stuff, go with whatever they have. Its all the same. Shimano vs. Campagnolo etc.
Last but not least, just hold it in your hands and see what’s comfortable. If you had an old film SLR, you might be used to where certain dials should be, aperture rings rotation etc.
read this.
I learned a lot from it when I was getting into photography (before digital).
I’ll make the assumption that you want the SLR for more control and being able to use different lenses. Decide on the lens you want, and then pick the system. That said, Nikon and Canon are pretty much on par with a huge selection of lenses & accessories new AND used. Or, if you have friends who can lend you stuff, go with whatever they have. Its all the same. Shimano vs. Campagnolo etc.
Last but not least, just hold it in your hands and see what’s comfortable. If you had an old film SLR, you might be used to where certain dials should be, aperture rings rotation etc.
I really like a lot of what is said here, but one thing (to me) doesn’t make sense.
Since both Nikon and Canon (and other brands) all have similar lenses to cover whatever you need…why would one pick a system based on a lens? I would think (like this post goes on to say) it’s better to hold the cameras you’re looking at in your hands and see which is more comfortable, and which layout and menu system makes more sense.
I did that very thing when shopping and found I liked Nikon much better (but that was for me)…
The new Canon X1i, aka 500D across the pond seems to be the bees knees. It’s got the 50D sensor, 1080p video and costs $899.
Unless you are just a Nikon Fanboi, this is the shiznit.
You pick a system based on the lens if you already own lenses of that particular brand, or if you have access to lenses of that particular brand (your friend/father/uncle/whoever has Nikon/Canon and is willing to lend).
There are others who will argue that Nikon lenses have better optics/Canon lenses are better for shooting sports, but I don’t buy into that jive.
Most importantly, hold both and see which fits your hand better. Kind of like STI vs Ergopower - one *may *feel better in your hand than the other. If it’s still a toss up, get a D40 and call it day. 
Say you like the normal perspective, but want a fast lens, like a 50/1.8 The closest is probably a 28/1.8, which Nikon does not offer. Canon does.
The Canon 50/1.4 and 1.8 are both considerably cheaper than their Nikon counterparts.
On the other hand, Nikon’s 35/1.4 is a little more than half the price of Canon’s 35/1.4 (700 vs 1200)
In terms of wide angle zooms for digital, which do you prefer? The extra width of 10-22 for Canon, or the extra telephoto range of Nikon’s 12-24?
Outside of these two big guys, consider Pentax’s 40mm pancake and Olympus’s 25/2.8 pancake. If you want an SLR with a normal perspective but ultra portable/flat, the pancake lens is hard to beat. You sacrifice a bit of quality, but hey, Canon and Nikon don’t offer these lenses 
Similarly, Pentax has some really gorgeous “limited” lenses like the 43mm, 77mm etc. I also used to own their oddball 300/4.5 - much lighter than C/N’s 300/4’s and cheaper too.
Anyway, if you can take a guess I used to own a Pentax system (film), but I now have a Canon Rebel XT. I’ve been debating the Olympus E420/25mm package, but maybe I’ll hold out for a better successor to the Sigma DP1/DP2 (full size sensor w/fast lens) If you have an idea of what lenses you want, you can save some money/make trade-offs for the future. (There’s also the Canon rebates where you buy a body + a few lenses and save $)
why would one pick a system based on a lens?
Lenses, for the most part, transfer from camera to camera and don’t depreciate significantly. Digital camera bodys, on the other hand, are almost fully depreciated in 4-5 years. So, it makes sense to buy quality lenses and cheap bodies if you can’t afford quality all the way around. You will get better photo’s that way also (depending on your skill).
So, the first step should be deciding what you need in a lense. You can bid on a used lense on Ebay and pretty much count on getting your money back out of it at any time…which is better than my mutual funds. Unfortunately, it is hard for beginners to know what lense is best for them. Often they are seduced by “mega-zoom” lenses, or else they just go with whatever cheap lense came in the “kit” they purchased. The lenses I use the most are my 50mm F1.8, my 28mm F3.5, and my 135mm F2.8. They are all primes (non-zoom) which generally gives you smaller, cheaper, and better than a zoom for any given focal length (but you may have to carry several lenses). I have a 200mm prime and 85-300mm zoom also, but seldom use them. My next lense would probably be a 24mm or 21mm, and these (Zuiko glass) sell at established prices that haven’t changed much in years. These are all full-frame 35mm lenses.
You NEED a fast lense (F2.8 or less) for indoor photos without flash, or for control over depth of field. You might want image stabilization, a fast/quiet autofocus, compatibility with a set of filters you have. You might want to go with a slower lense if it will be taken on hikes, etc, where weight is a concern and lighting is not a problem. Do you want to be able to upgrade to a larger/full frame sensor at some point? Then you need a lense that is compatible.
There are a lot of choices in any lense family…Nikon, Canon, Olympus, Sony, etc. Over the years you will tend to aquire lenses and other kit that lock you into a family of bodies. But for the most part, the differences in bodies are not major at any given price point, especially Canon vs Nikon…you can’t go wrong with either of those.
Save some budget for a high quality (Gitzo) tripod. It will do more to improve your photo’s than double that money spent on lenses or bodies.
The new Canon X1i, aka 500D across the pond seems to be the bees knees. It’s got the 50D sensor, 1080p video and costs $899.
http://i.gizmodo.com/...skyline=true&s=x
Unless you are just a Nikon Fanboi, this is the shiznit.
Unless the OP is in the U.S…at which point they’ll probably find it easier to buy a camera that is actually on sale somewhere.
Thanks for all who replied to my post about why lenses first.
I think I partially mis-stated my question…
Granted if you already have a variety of Nikon or Canon lenses it’s moot point.
My point/question was more along the lines of…
Both Canon and Nikon have a pretty big range of lenses…in fact either will have enough to keep most photographers busy (and broke so…since you can probably find a lens to suit your needs with either, I would think the emphasis would be placed on the body. Sure it will depreciate…and I also agree that you’re more likely to replace it before you replace your good lenses…BUT…if the body is doesn’t fit you (menu system isn’t intuitive, the grip isn’t right, it’s too heavy, or doesn’t feel “solid” enough…etc.) all the lenses in the world won’t matter if you don’t enjoy working with your camera and using it (some can get HEAVY! with a good lens)
Point taken though (above - I don’t remember who posted it) that there ARE price differences between Nikon vs. Canon (depending on what lens you want).
I’m keying on the last words of your post: hard earned cash, taking them to mean that to you at least, money matters.
I’m a professional photographer. I buy all my cameras used on ebay. So far I’ve gotten great cameras at rock bottom prices. Timing it right, you can buy a camera, and sell it two years later, for about what you paid for it.
If you’re interested, this is what I look for.
I look for sellers with excellent ratings, sellers that were the only previous owner, and I scrutinize carefully the pictures of the cameras posted. If there are no pictures, close up, of the different angles of the body, I’m not interested. If it is being sold by a professional photographer, I don’t bid. I’m looking for the typical materialistic hobbyist who always has to have the latest model, and is selling their barely used camera that is maybe two years old so they can show off a newer toy. I don’t buy from dealers who have no history of the camera.
Don’t be suckered in by the bells and whistles. Anything that you can set manually with say six mp’s or more, will do just fine. I’ve printed 30x40s, earned my Master of Photography degree, and run my studio for years with these cameras. And because I don’t have so much invested in them, I’m more willing to take risks outdoors.
FWIW, I shoot Canon. I recently upgraded from the 10D to the 5D. The 5D is a great camera (Full-sized chip) for about $1200. (Now is the perfect time to get a 5D because Canon has just recently released the 5D Mark II. So droves of photographers are doing what I just described.
Nikon makes a great camera, but I don’t know anything about the different models.
Camera’s are like bikes. It’s the owner that makes the difference.
If you’re the type to know that you NEED a specific characteristic in a lens (50/1.8, etc) you aren’t going to be posting asking about what to buy as your first digital SLR. 
This is like someone asking about their first tri bike and a bunch of posters replying that the P4 won’t work with a bulged disc, so if you want to use one of those stay away. You might very well keep your race wheels (add on lenses) but replace the frame/bike (camera body) in a few years. Or, you might happily ride that P2SL indefinitely.
Either system you go with will more than cover your needs. Canon or Nikon might be a little bit cheaper one way or the other, and then there’s a whole market of other brands of lenses to consider (generally due to budgetary constraints, but sometimes for availability) as well - Tamron, Sigma, etc…
Pick the one (body) that fits.
The new Canon X1i, aka 500D across the pond seems to be the bees knees. It’s got the 50D sensor, 1080p video and costs $899.
http://i.gizmodo.com/...skyline=true&s=x
Unless you are just a Nikon Fanboi, this is the shiznit.
Unless the OP is in the U.S…at which point they’ll probably find it easier to buy a camera that is actually on sale somewhere.
Too many shortcuts they took with that camera that make it a deal breaker. Who wants 1080p at 20fps?