Nikon D60

This is a great DSLR! anyone looking for their first steps into the DSLR world will be very happy.

I've been shooting with this camera for a few months now and im amazed with it's ability to do just about whatever I want. this is my first DSLR and im a bit of a technical guy so I have looked into the competition extensively and i am confident this camera was the right step into the DSLR world. As the anti-dust facilities are almost a joke I've already had experience cleaning my camera and it's not incredibly hard, dont be fooled that this feature will keep you from having to clean your sensor, but its no big deal. the first body I got had a dead pixel and was easily returned for a new body at best-buy, but the customer service and trouble shooting offered by nikon was awesome (24-7, very knowledgeable)

I shoot with the kit 18-55vr and the 55-200 vr
have also used the 70-300 nikkor(not too impressed
50mm f1.8(need to buy one soon)

I have an sb600 strobe(very useful)

if youd like to see more of that this camera is capable of feel free to check out my flickr account: www.flickr.com/ggcadc

responsive
high ISO range
very light
fast repeating shutter (3fps {best you can get at this price point})
versatile
AWESOME kit lens (fast AF too)

lacks some features of other cameras (within this price range).

high iso noise

anti-dust does almost nothing

a bit small for those with larger hands

they dont(yet) make a battery grip with internal wiring for functions(shutter release etc)

Nikon D80
Canon XTi

incredibly happy with nikon's customer service!

A very compact & lightweight DSLR, great build quality (compared to e.g. Canons Rebel XTi/450D). Very easy to operate, it has all the features you need and some more. It includes the great Active D-Lighting function (it shares this function with the D3/D300/D700), Nikon´s special Auto ISO function (perfect) and has (in its price range) probably the best image quality (especially at high ISO rates!). Customizable Menus give you the ability to access only the features you need by a few clicks. It lacks special Buttons for WB, ISO and so on, but its menu structure allows it to adjust all settings very quickly - additionally, you can assign at least one special function to the function key (I use it for changing WB). It has a 10 MP CCD (DX format, crop factor 1.5) with a built-in sensor cleaning function. It lacks an internal AF motor, so it can ONLY autofocus with AF-S and AF-I Nikkors (which have an internal motor) - ALL other AF lenses can only be focused manually! For me this is not a problem, since I do not own older AF Nikkors (I used to shoot Minolta), but this definitely limits your choice ob AF lenses. An iTTL flash is included, which works great and automatically adjusts the necessary flash intensity depending on the picture. Unlike other Cameras (which use the built-in flash), it has a special LED to provide AF aid light. Generally it focuses fast and safe, it only has 3 AF sensors - I prefer that, since you can switch very quickly between them -and each sensor covers quite a large area. It has a very good Matrix metering system, which works great under severe conditions - especially combined with the Active D-Lighting, which is great for high contrast subjects (see e.g. www.kenrockwell.com for further details). The frame rate in continuous mode is 3fps, which is normal in its price range. The included kit lens (18-55 VR) has a great optical performance, is very lightweight, and is totaly made from plastic (except the lenses, which are glass - Canon´s kit objectives really do use plastic LENSES!) - I bought the kit with the VR lens, which means vibrational reduction (works GREAT!!!). Most people seem to judge this lens as "average" without even relly testing it - I like it, it´s quite sharp, superlightweight and has very low distortions. It´s even quite good wide open! Sometimes I miss one thing: a depth-of-field preview button - it has none. This is sad, but since its a DSLR, you just can take the picture and look at the screen afterwards to check your depth of field. IMHO, this is ok or sometimes even better than stopping down, since you do not have to look at the darker image in the finder when stopped down. Its LCD is super bright, has a very good color rendition and is extraordinary sharp. The card slot takes SDHC cards - I use an 8 GB card, which stores more than 2000 pictures (jpg, size Large, quality Normal - alternatively, you can store 600 RAW files, or 1000 highest quality jpgs, but imho the normal setting does not make a difference, since I do not print posters). The finder is brighter than the Canon´s, Olympus, Pentax´and so on, but as small as usual for APS-C sensor cameras. My old Minoltas had huge viewfinders compared to this one!

-small
-lightweight
-excellent image quality
-very good build quality (good "haptics")
-special features (ADR, Auto ISO, ...)
-great kit lens
-quick, easy, intuitive operation
-all buttons easy accessible
-customizable menus
-clear, bright finder
-great built-in flash
-crystal-clear LCD
-dedicated AF assist light
-cheap!

-no depth-of-field preview (not really a problem, look at the LCD)
-no Live View (who needs this? IMHO, this is a feature for compact camera users)
-no internal AF drive (may be a problem if you own older AF lenses)
-no dedicated buttons for all features (if you need this, go and buy a D3 ;-))

AF-S Nikkor 55-200mm VR

No experience yet...