Canon 60D?

[stealth]

So I am looking at buying a DSLR.

It will be my first one, and I wan't something that will last and will take great pictures.

Mostly taking pictures of vacation, and my son.

I always liked Canon cameras, and have used a 40D before and liked it.

I am looking in the $1200 range, and noticed the 60D with a lens on sale at memory express and futureshop.

Is it a good camera? What would you pros recommend?

[C4S]

It is great for the price!! ~ $12xx with a nice kit lens .. not much more then t2i .. and way less then 7D/D7000 etc!!

Good deal!

[Mitsu3000gt]

There is nothing available right now that can touch the D7000 for the price. Bang for the buck is off the charts. If you have no current investment, IMO it is the clear choice. You would need to stretch your budget a tiny bit to get a lens though, the $150 50mm/1.8 would be a great starter lens and keep you at $13XX.

Build quality, viewfinder, continuous shooting speed, high ISO performance, autofocus system, and metering are all superior on the D7000. Video is slightly better on the 60D thanks to 30fps and an articulated screen if you like those (Personally I hate articulated screens). D7000 has and intervalometer and dual card slots too which is a nice touch. There is no autofocus fine tune on the 60D either which can be a big deal to some.

This is probably the most intelligent and comprehensive review if you want to do some reading:

http://bythom.com/nikond7000review.htm

That 60D deal isn't bad but you can get a lot more camera for not much more money.

[stealth]

Thanks for the info guys.

I am not too worried about video as I have a HD video camera, but it would be a nice added bonus.

Any other recommendations?

[muse017]

Wow I was actually surprised mistu3000gt did not recommend the D3100 with more money toward lenses.
Anyways Canon 60D is a fantastic camera. Swivel LCD, Full HD capability with complete control, top notch L glasses etc
It's more than enough camera for the most prosumers anyways so you are not going to regret it. If you liked 40D, you will love it.

[Mitsu3000gt]

In that price range, and if you don't care about video, that is even more reason to go for the D7000 (and its video is till very good at 1080p/24, it just can't do 1080p/30).

The only other suggestion I would make for huge bang for the buck is the D90. It's only $935 with the 18-105 VR lens (much better than the average kit lens). Or you could get the body only for $675 and add something like the 50/1.8 or 35/1.8 and still be well under $1000. It's not as good as the D7000 but once again for the price ($675 body only) it can't be touched.

Really though, right now, the D7000 is the one to get if you can afford it. It competes well beyond its price category and is the newest camera of the bunch.

The reason I did not suggest D3100 + better lenses is because he said he wants this camera to last. If you want something to grow into and that will never hold you back, you need to get into the prosumer stuff. The D3100 is great for beginners, but if you start to really get into photography it's limitations become apparent fairly quickly. Digging through menus to change settings is a piss off even for amateurs.

[muse017]

Rejection!!

Originally posted by Mitsu3000gt
There is nothing available right now that can touch the D7000 for the price.

Build quality(K5 win), viewfinder(K5 win approx100% vs 100%) , continuous shooting speed(K5 wins, 6fps vs 7fps), high ISO performance(K5 win, according to DxO labs, Dpreviews and many other reviews), autofocus system(D7000 win), and metering(Draw) are all superior on the D7000.

K5 wins by 4-1-1! lol

[Mitsu3000gt]

K5 is a nice cam, but the system is nothing compared to Nikon or Canon. It's also over $2000 with a kit lens when it's competition sells for $500 less.

Also what you're missing is that the K5 (same sensor as the D7000) applies a heavier NR than usual to it's RAW images that you cannot turn off, so for some that is a disadvantage. When the ISO is high enough to tell a difference (3200+) it comes down to whether you prefer a softer image with less noise, or an ever so slightly more grainy image with no NR applied but sharper. Most people would rather have the option to apply NR or not apply NR.

Metering and AF are huge plusses as well for the D7000.

Again, the K5 rocks - Pentax hit a home run with that one. It just needs the system to back it up now and the price to come down - the former, at least, isn't happening anytime soon

The K5 compares more closely with the D300s and 7D thanks to its high price, where it is more expensive and doesn't compare nearly as favorably (except for that sensor which rocks).

OP: Another thing you should do is actually go to a store and handle these cams, something might stand out to you and make your decision easier.

[muse017]

I'm just telling you that there is no clearly better/worse cameras. Heck even my 3yrs old K20D or 5yrs old Fuji S5pro can do so much I don't even know some of the functions. If the decision/recommendation needs to be made strictly on comparisons like yours, its just non-sense to most of beginners or even some prosumers like me. Like I said, 7000D is a fanstastic camera no question, but when OP asked if 60D is a good camera, you don't need to make a such comparison because the brand you like performs better in some areas.

[Mitsu3000gt]

Originally posted by muse017
I'm just telling you that there is no clearly better/worse cameras. Heck even my 3yrs old K20D or 5yrs old Fuji S5pro can do so much I don't even know some of the functions. If the decision/recommendation needs to be made strictly on comparisons like yours, its just non-sense to most of beginners or even some prosumers like me. Like I said, 7000D is a fanstastic camera no question, but when OP asked if 60D is a good camera, you don't need to make a such comparison because the brand you like performs better in some areas.

I have no brand loyalty, I buy whats better for my personal usage needs. I use Nikon for my DSLR and Canon for my P&S.

I'm not sure how you shop, but for me, I like to look at everything I possibly can. Test results are not nonsense, and when he is no longer a beginner he may appreciate some of the things camera X does better than camera Y. I know I would. A lot of the differences aren't insignificant either.

I also never said the 60D wasn't great, but all else being equal you can do better for your money so why wouldn't you? Right now the D7000 is the latest and greatest, in a few months, something else might be.

Features and test results you don't care about could mean the world to someone else, so you just need to leave it up to them to decide. I'm not telling the OP anything that can't be found by doing his own research, so he can decide what information is important and use that to make his decision. I personally could care less what camera he buys.

The OP specifically asked what others recommend, that's all I'm giving him. When more people chime in he can read through the thread and use it as one of the many resources available to him to help choose a camera. Same as anyone else who asks for recommendations here.

Not everyone is a "just go out, buy something, and shoot with it" kind of person. Some like to get the most for their money while they're at it.

[Mitsu3000gt]

Sorry double post.

[muse017]

I didn't know D7000 kit was in $1200 range. If you ask him to spend more to uprade to better camera, what's the point there?
Just like K5 vs D7000, K5 is a clearly better camera, but it costs more. People like you will buy it because it's simply better camera in many ways or buy D7000 cuz it's simply bang for the buck.
In this case, 60D is cheaper and very well suited camera for OP. If the price wasn't a big deal for him, I would recommend him a used 7D.

[AccentAE86]

if you liked the 40D, then consider a used 40D! It's an awesome camera! that will leave you about 700 in your budget for great lenses, which to me, is more important. Personally, I can't see myself replacing my 40D units for many years to come, and I've already been using them for about 3.5 years for professional work. Great camera!

[benyl]

The 60D slid lower and is no longer a real prosumer camera. The 7D range took that slot.

Great camera, but lacks the dual digic 4, etc...

The T2i isn't that much different but also should be replaced soon. Maybe wait for that replacement.

[C4S]

I am very happy with the 60D since day 1 it came out ..

Yes, on paper, not as good as D7000, however, QC seems even better then D7000, (or say at least the same) and the kit lens, (no matter 15-85/18-135/18-200) are good, and great value, I did look at D7000 as well, but with 18-200VR, we are talking $2K .. vs $1.3K for 60D + 18-200 ..

Is the D7000 a better body? yes, is the D7000+18-200 better then 60D+18-200? probably, is it $600 or $700 better? then probably no.

One good thing for 60D, it is still made in Japan, I have heard so many problem/issue from made in china/thailand bodies, but not much from MIJ bodies. (other then firmware/recall etc)

Again, depends what you want, 60D fits me (my wife) very well, as she use it to take photo/video for our 1.5 yr old son.

Well, I am pissed that Canon has dropped the price for 60D 4 times already ..

[Mitsu3000gt]

Originally posted by muse017
I didn't know D7000 kit was in $1200 range. If you ask him to spend more to uprade to better camera, what's the point there?
Just like K5 vs D7000, K5 is a clearly better camera, but it costs more. People like you will buy it because it's simply better camera in many ways or buy D7000 cuz it's simply bang for the buck.
In this case, 60D is cheaper and very well suited camera for OP. If the price wasn't a big deal for him, I would recommend him a used 7D.

K5 is better than the D7000 in very few areas (1 more FPS, and build quality). That is about it. In far more important areas like metering, autofocus, and ISO performance, the D7000 wins. Depends what's important to you I guess, but for most shooters the latter is much more important. It also costs a lot more. But all this K5 debate is pointless, and has absolutely nothing to do with the OP. The system is very important too, which for most people means either Nikon or Canon.

D7000 + 50/1.8 is $13XX. Canon's 18-200 lens is pretty average, and the 60D is 18MP which means it's going to exaggerate any problems of the cheap 18-200 lens. If the OP is willing to spend a tiny bit more money, he can get a lot more camera. If he is on a super tight budget then no problem, that isn't an option.

Accent makes a good point about used gear too, if you don't care about the latest and greatest, you can look at a 40D, D300, etc..

Actually this is probably the best deal for $1200 going that I can find right now if you're OK with a used camera. Great lens too. This is a steal IMO, and it's "OBO". If you could get this for $1000 you'd be laughing if the body is in good shape:

http://www.nikonians.org/forums/dcbo...g_id=652&page=

[89coupe]

I'll sell you my 50D so I can upgrade to the 7D.

[stealth]

Mitsu3000gt, you are right, I do not mind spending a few extra dollars to get a better bang for the buck.

Thanks for all the info guys, it's good.

[stealth]

So I ended up getting the D7000.

I got it for 1377.49+gst with a 18-105mm lens, is this a good deal?

I really don't need the camera until spring time, but I figure I need practice to take some half decent pictures, when I go on vacation.

[89coupe]

Originally posted by stealth
So I ended up getting the D7000.

I got it for 1377.49+gst with a 18-105mm lens, is this a good deal?

I really don't need the camera until spring time, but I figure I need practice to take some half decent pictures, when I go on vacation.

I would have sold you my Canon 50D for less.