Why choose D60 and not D30

[zapp!]

Wai,

Why dun you join the D30 users sometime during a photoshoot and test it for yourself...I am sure some of them dun mind lending the cam for a few test pics...(Can play with L lenses some more... ). I believe that personal experience with the D30 will give u most of the answers.

As i have mentioned before in previous threads, the only reason that i see myself upgrading from the D30 to the D60 is when i need 6 megapixs...which I dun cos i seldom print beyond 8R. Also, the AF module in the D60 is exactly the same as the D30...so no point.

As to softness, frankly speaking...it only matters when u are posting pics on the web cos the current breed of consumer photo printers cannot take too oversharpened pixs as you will see them on the printout as artifacts. My personal experience is to apply low to moderate USM to photos before printing.

Also, if u are concerned with the softness of pics, well then sometimes it pays to bring a tripod along cos i believe that majority of 'soft' pics are due to camera shake...Of course, L lenses sometimes make all the differences. Best example? Take the Canon 50mm f1.8 for example, it gives the best bang for the buck...excellent contrast and sharpness at less than 200 bucks! (Well then again, some pple here might swear by the 50mm f1.4!)

 

[mylau]

Originally posted by ckiang


I meant images straight out of the D30 using consumer lenses are relatively soft. If you use L lenses, or prime lenses (e.g. 50mm f1.8) it will be quite sharp. If you apply USM (as in UnSharp Mask, not UltraSonic Motor) in Photoshop, it will be as sharp as you want. In fact, most people leave the sharpness setting on their D30 as LOW and sharpen later. Those who shoot RAW export with low sharpness and sharpen later as well. You get more control that way.

Whatever you do, don't use a D30/60 with those 28-200 or 28-300 superzooms. Ultimate in softness. Trust me, I know someone who sold his D30 because of this.

Regards
CK

Not true leh, I've used D30 with Tamron 28-200 XR. Pictures are quite sharp. Not as sharp as prime lenses, but no quite far off.

 

[ckiang]

Originally posted by mylau


Not true leh, I've used D30 with Tamron 28-200 XR. Pictures are quite sharp. Not as sharp as prime lenses, but no quite far off.

I once borrowed this D30 from a colleague. It had a Tamron 28-300 on it. We took it around the office compound (outdoors) to do some test shots. All of them turn out disappointingly soft. That was when the D30 was still new, and every other user on the net has mentioned of this softness. I believe you are using the 62mm filter size one? Think that has been improved, and no way the 28-300 can be better than the 28-200 and lower zooms.

After a couple of months, he sold his D30. Shortly after that, Red Dawn bought his D30 with a 50/1.8. I gave it a 2nd go. Hey, it ain't that bad. The lens does play a helluva important part.

Regards
CK

 

[JasonTan]

The only and one reason which prompt me to upgrade to D60 is the 6MP. Knowing that this allows me more room when cropping is concerned. But as 6MP means more storage space and less pic can store on the 1GB MD, IF I ever own a D60 in future I for sure won't shoot entirely in 6MP. Current 3MP from my beloved D30 still suits me perfectly well. But know that I have the option to shoot 6MP if I wanted to is a pleasant feeling.

As I mentioned in other thread on D30 fate, I won't want to folk out too much for this minor improvement of D60 over D30, if no buyer meet my expected price, I would happily continue using D30, and keep it as backup or a teaching tool for my son in future.


For $3800, there is a choice for intended D30/D60 buyer :

1 used D30 + 28-135IS lens or
1 D60

The choice is yours.

Jason

 

[Wai]

Thanks everyone for sharing your experience, Phil Askey's review of D60 here

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canoneosd60/page11.asp

mentioned that....

There was a problem with the D30 in the way that it used its buffer in Single Shot drive mode, you couldn't take the next shot until the currently buffered image had been processed (converted into the JPEG / RAW output file). This meant that after taking a single shot the camera displayed a 'Busy' warning on the viewfinder LCD (approx. 1.5 seconds) and you couldn't take the next shot until it had gone.

This limitation has now been removed, with the D60 you can take shots as quickly as either you can press the shutter release or the camera can auto focus. And because of the way the D60 uses its buffer (see above) it means that in Single-shot drive mode you will almost NEVER find yourself in a situation where you can't take the next shot.

I would like to know how bad is it??
eg. If i took a pic with noise reduction, i will have to wait until the camera finish processing the pic and removed the noise and finsihed writing to the CF, then i can take the next shot?

whereas with D60, u can take photo half-way while the camera still processing and writing the pic to the CF?

how serious is this?

 

[Jed]

Not at all. The D1 suffered from the same problem, you just shoot in continuous all the time. You should be doing that anyway. It goes even with the 8fps, film burning F5.