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I'm still using my old Nikon 35mm, and I think the time has come to upgrade. I really like Nikon as far as lenses go, and I've heard great things about the D80 and D90. I'm open to other suggestions, but I do want a digital SLR. Does anyone have any experience with either of those two cameras? Or do you have a digital camera that you use that you would recommend? I'm looking to stay in the $300-700 range, and there's a camera store near me that usually runs special packages on their SLRs. Yes I have googled, yes I have read professional reviews of these cameras, yes I have talked to the owner of the camera store. I'm just looking for a more personal response from someone who actually has or has used a newer SLR. Ease of use, quality of photos, any issues you may have had, customer service from the brand, etc. Thanks in advance

I have the Nikon D60 and I really like it a lot. It has fewer buttons than a Canon which I like a bunch. Def go with one of those cameras, the D90 if you can afford it, especially if you have big hands. I have fairly small hands and I find that the D60's grip is bordering on too small. It is not uncomfortable but if you go from the D60 to a D80 or 90 you definitely feel the difference and it fits a lot better. I only mention this because the D5000 has basically the same size case as the D40/D60 and falls into your budget more easily than D80/D90 and therefore might become somewhat tempting. I believe Nikon makes a battery grip for the D90 as well.

For shits and giggles, here's a pic I took the other day at night. It was overcast and about 8 at night so it was fairly dark.

1/6sec
1600iso
52mm (18-55mm)F/3.5-5.6
F/5.6

Message me if you have any questions.

Thanks! I'll look into the others ones you mentioned. I didn't even think about grip...I'll make sure I go into the store and get a feel for each of them

My parents have a canon and it's seriously the most complicated machine I've ever seen, and unnecessarily so I might add. Also, theirs broke and it's not under warranty anymore. Canon basically told them if anything happens to it while they're attempting to repair it, they're SoL. If Canon loses it, they're SoL. They also said something like if we fix it, even if we don't provide you an estimate beforehand, and you refuse to pay, we keep your camera. Their customer service scares me now.

Yea, that happens sometimes. Canon is a kind of intermediate camera company in my opinion. They provide nice glass and decent hardware at a fairly reasonable price which caters to the entry level consumer. Nikon provides equally (if not better) glass and, I think, better looking hardware. I can not say anything about their customer service because my D60 has not broken and any questions I had were easily answered with google.

You said you had a Nikon 35mm, so I assume you may have some lenses that you want to move over. Double check to make sure you can use them on your new camera. The D60 does not support AF lenses, only AF-S. Since most of their current lenses are DX format, they will all still work but with manual focus only.

One last thing, have you seen this post on http://www.nikonrumors.com?
http://nikonrumors.com/2009/07/08/nikon ... eaked.aspx
It is supposed to be the "roadmap" for the next year or so. Don't know if this will change your plans any, but its there.

If I were you I'd buy the D90. The build in motor is really a must seeing that you have older lenses, which might not have the new AF-S built in motor. I really like the fact that a 50-year old lens would still work on my D200. You could also look at buying a second-hand D200, they go for about 600-700 dollars around here and they are far better than a D80, but a D90 would be better I think since it has the same generation sensor as the D300-D700-D3

Doesnt the D90 have the Expeed processor? Kinda makes me wonder why the D60 cant do video. Just seems like a software fix to me. idk

I only have the standard lens for my 35mm. Originally I was thinking about getting new lenses for it, but then the wide angle lens I wanted was basically the same price as the D80 package deal at the camera shop, and it came with the standard lens and mid-range telephoto. But that's a point I will definitely take into consideration. It would be awesome if I could get a camera upgrade and be able to use my lenses with both my old and new.

There's only one shop around here that sells second hand cameras and they didn't have a lot of stock when I looked last week. It's mom and pop tho, so I could probably have them call me if a D200 ever came in. I'm really wary of ordering anything online that's refurbished or used since I can't inspect it

I didn't realize there was that big of a difference between the D80 and D90. When I was reading about them on Nikon's site they didn't seem that different (but I probably didn't understand the technical differences). Thanks for pointing that out

D80 has the same image quality as the D200, but the D200 is just more professional and has more options

Personally, I find Nikon's site kinda disappointing as far as comparing cameras or anything else for that matter (where's the awesome T-Shirts with the Nikon logo they could sell tons of?). I would use www.dpreview.com to compare cameras. Buying Guide > Side-by-Side, for comparing stats if you've never used it before.

When I googled yesterday I found that site Now all I need is the hundreds of dollars of savings -.- Hopefully most of that comes in the form of graduation presents next month.