Why Nikon need to update the D60

[gymak90]

I think it's not just about keeping the cost down. It's about keeping the size down as well. The AF module itself take up space at the bottom of the mirror box. So the more AF points you have, it will take up slightly more space also.

Yup. Another reason why things can't be that small to suit glygcs's demand for small size.
But I have also noticed that on 1 hand the box has been getting smaller over and on the other hand, more AF points are given.

I always felt Oly has not done a good job at all in scaling down the size of the body despite its advantage of using the 4/3 sensor.
When I hold the E420 and D60, there's not much diff. In fact its about the same size. And on top of that the 420 do not have IS and poor high iso. And not to mention the E520, its crazy! Its so much bigger than the D60.

I'd rather buy a D60 or D40 than a E420 if size is a concern. They all cannot be put into a pocket anyway.

However, Oly did well in its scaling own the lens particularly the pancake lens. But the body in general are still way too big.

Yes, size is just as important as image quality.

If size is so much of a concern to you, I think you would be better off using compact cameras. That's in a different market segment.
I can assure you that a prosumer e.g. G9, P6000, LX-3 deliver similar image quality as D60, to a large extent.
What you will lose, is probably high iso handling, ability to change lens, less bokeh because of small sensor, slower fps. Other than those, it is pretty much the same.
Besides I own a P5000, and it gives 99 AF points, far better than D60 don't you think so?

And since you hate weight, most likely you won't carry more than 1 lens. So a p&s will suit you well.

[blue_quartz]

With all these talk about a D40/D60 replacement, I only worry about the naming convention lah... Nikon already maxed out the numbers from D40 to D90: they can't even call D90's successor a D100! And when D300 improves to a "D600", they wouldn't be able to call the next one D700 too! Are they going to just affix letter suffixes at the end from now on? D60a? D60b? D60c, etc.?

[lightsaber]

Maybe D69... Hehehe... That would be a little saucy

[glygcs]

Yup. Another reason why things can't be that small to suit glygcs's demand for small size.
But I have also noticed that on 1 hand the box has been getting smaller over and on the other hand, more AF points are given.


If size is so much of a concern to you, I think you would be better off using compact cameras. That's in a different market segment.
I can assure you that a prosumer e.g. G9, P6000, LX-3 deliver similar image quality as D60, to a large extent.
What you will lose, is probably high iso handling, ability to change lens, less bokeh because of small sensor, slower fps. Other than those, it is pretty much the same.
Besides I own a P5000, and it gives 99 AF points, far better than D60 don't you think so?

And since you hate weight, most likely you won't carry more than 1 lens. So a p&s will suit you well.

I knew someone's gonna say this .."go get a compact"

But that's not the point, the point is, they can make it much smaller if they wanted to, provided they change their mindset. Features don't take up much space, only the sensor/mirror and lens mount do. Compacts comes with tons of features at a small fraction of the DSLR's size.

Sony is one extreme. Funny, they make one of the smallest compacts but they also make the largest DSLRs (with no remote control some more!). I'd never buy a Sony DSLR.

Also, dun anyhow recommond leh. The P6000 image is sh*t and the LX3 and G9 is no better for anything higher than iso200

I look forward to Nikon upgrading their D60 range, throw in movies and liveview, throw in AE bracketing. Sell me any price you want, I'll buy it. Just don't make me carry all those unnecessary loads when I travel.

[diediealsomustdive]

DIWA Gold for Nikon D300 and Nikon D60

[blue_quartz]

I knew someone's gonna say this .."go get a compact"

But that's not the point, the point is, they can make it much smaller if they wanted to, provided they change their mindset. Features don't take up much space, only the sensor/mirror and lens mount do. Compacts comes with tons of features at a small fraction of the DSLR's size.

Sony is one extreme. Funny, they make one of the smallest compacts but they also make the largest DSLRs (with no remote control some more!). I'd never buy a Sony DSLR.

Also, dun anyhow recommond leh. The P6000 image is sh*t and the LX3 and G9 is no better for anything higher than iso200

I look forward to Nikon upgrading their D60 range, throw in movies and liveview, throw in AE bracketing. Sell me any price you want, I'll buy it. Just don't make me carry all those unnecessary loads when I travel.

I think what you are looking for is the micro 4/3rds concept? Panasonic with their G1 and Olympus with their uber-cool concept...

[gymak90]

With all these talk about a D40/D60 replacement, I only worry about the naming convention lah... Nikon already maxed out the numbers from D40 to D90: they can't even call D90's successor a D100! And when D300 improves to a "D600", they wouldn't be able to call the next one D700 too! Are they going to just affix letter suffixes at the end from now on? D60a? D60b? D60c, etc.?

Haha I was wondering about that too.
Which numbers havent Nikon use yet? D10, D20, D30? Unless Nikon comes up with a whole new series, like D1000.

I knew someone's gonna say this .."go get a compact"

But that's not the point, the point is, they can make it much smaller if they wanted to, provided they change their mindset. Features don't take up much space, only the sensor/mirror and lens mount do. Compacts comes with tons of features at a small fraction of the DSLR's size.
As I've said for many times, it is not a mentality issue. Because you need consider other factors, like electronic components controlling AF system, and also weather seals, extra metal to be able withstand knocks.
So far you have not answered me on ways to overcome these size issues, and you insist it to be a purely a mindset problem?

Compacts don't come with "tons of DSLR features." They provide reduced capabilities of what a dslr can do. Compacts don't shoot at 5fps. Compacts don't AF as fast and as accurate as dslr. Compacts can't have their lens changed. Compacts don't use mechanical shutter. Eventually, you'll realise compacts employ a different system inside hte camera.
So there is no comparison. You can, at most, compare image quality.

Also, dun anyhow recommond leh. The P6000 image is sh*t and the LX3 and G9 is no better for anything higher than iso200

I don't "anyhow recommond" (brush up your English pls). P6000, G9, LX3 happen to be the top-notch compacts of their respective manufacturer. From the pictures I've seen, P6000 seem to perform like P5000 and I own the latter. I'm also not surprised at your complain, because rarely would any compact perform well at high iso.

[mutant]

My fren fren have a G9. Image quality very slightly better than my former S5 IS; both of their image quality lags quite far behind 450D and D60 i am using. Prosumer can't compare to even low-end DSLRs; very different.

[glygcs]

I think what you are looking for is the micro 4/3rds concept? Panasonic with their G1 and Olympus with their uber-cool concept...

Aiyoh, these people hardcore lah. The G1 micro 4/3 is larger than the Oly E420.
I give up lah.
They still dun get it, people want small light and convenient DSLR lah. Not big body type micro 4/3.
Then what's the point of micro 4/3 ??

[blue_quartz]

Aiyoh, these people hardcore lah. The G1 micro 4/3 is larger than the Oly E420.
I give up lah.
They still dun get it, people want small light and convenient DSLR lah. Not big body type micro 4/3.
Then what's the point of micro 4/3 ??

You really never see the Olympus concept meh?



(sorry for going OT)

[Six-GHz]

Nice little Oly!

[glygcs]

yah.... the Oly got the whole idea right. Compact-like DSLR.

Sadly Panasonic missed the point totally. Their G1 is even bigger than conventional DSLR.

But I hope they all incorporate remote control. It is a must for me.

And if they add a swivel LCD, keep the size minimal, wah! Nap shot maan ! even if they charge me 2.5K for it, I will still queue up to buy.

**And one more bright idea for the mfrs, for people who like big and heavy body, they should sell hand grip. Even better, hand grip which can load sand in it so that people can load to the exact weight they want. Isn't it perfect ?


wait wait wait, something is wrong. The oly no flash meh? Sekali the flash bigger than the camera. Then we are back to square one. Siao !

[psyk1]

**And one more bright idea for the mfrs, for people who like big and heavy body, they should sell hand grip. Even better, hand grip which can load sand in it so that people can load to the exact weight they want. Isn't it perfect ?

so is it about size or weight? doesn't mean people prefer bigger they want it to be as heavy as possible? please don't twist what's being said by others..

yes, you have your needs, to have a small compact dslr.. others have their own too.. but it seems you want a camera to suit all your needs alone (must be small, have flash etc. ) else it simply is not right.. well, isn't that just life.. you just have to accept some of limitations..

[NeTHaCk]

nikon d60 replacement huh?

The OLDER nikon d50 was a very good competitior. not much hype about it. underrated piece of gem. Small DSLR, the size of almost the d40/40x/60. has BUILT in motor meaning all lenses compatible. has 5 AF points like the d70 series.

nikon should move towards bodies like this

[demonx]

nikon d60 replacement huh?

The OLDER nikon d50 was a very good competitior. not much hype about it. underrated piece of gem. Small DSLR, the size of almost the d40/40x/60. has BUILT in motor meaning all lenses compatible. has 5 AF points like the d70 series.

nikon should move towards bodies like this

Yes, agree with you. What we need now is D50x but not D60x. Just replace the sensor and image processor for D50 and here we go

[Simon_84]

Also, dun anyhow recommond leh. The P6000 image is sh*t and the LX3 and G9 is no better for anything higher than iso200.

LX3 images iso performance are acceptable up to 400.
if noise performance is an issue, a cmos sensor is a better solution than a ccd.

[blue_quartz]

yah.... the Oly got the whole idea right. Compact-like DSLR.

Sadly Panasonic missed the point totally. Their G1 is even bigger than conventional DSLR.

But I hope they all incorporate remote control. It is a must for me.

And if they add a swivel LCD, keep the size minimal, wah! Nap shot maan ! even if they charge me 2.5K for it, I will still queue up to buy.

**And one more bright idea for the mfrs, for people who like big and heavy body, they should sell hand grip. Even better, hand grip which can load sand in it so that people can load to the exact weight they want. Isn't it perfect ?


wait wait wait, something is wrong. The oly no flash meh? Sekali the flash bigger than the camera. Then we are back to square one. Siao !

The prototype you see here is slightly larger than the size of a LX3 or Ricoh GX/GR-D series... so yes, the Flash will be bigger.

[gymak90]

nikon d60 replacement huh?

The OLDER nikon d50 was a very good competitior. not much hype about it. underrated piece of gem. Small DSLR, the size of almost the d40/40x/60. has BUILT in motor meaning all lenses compatible. has 5 AF points like the d70 series.

nikon should move towards bodies like this

If I'm not wrong, the d50 was introduced around the same period as d70. Given that the difference between the 2 is probably nothing more than SD or CF, and a better kit lens for the d70, many people opted to pay slightly more for the d70. So it is actually Nikon's poor marketing tactics.
I would pick the d50 over the d60. I would like to see a d60x with the features of d50, rather than a handicapped dslr model to make it cheaper.