A quick test on the D60 + 16-85VR

[nightwolf75]

had a chance to molest the abovementioned new toys, courtesy of TK Foto, this afternoon... *despite my bestest efforts to harass NSG for a try, they have studiously ignore my pleas...*

first up... this cam is small.... and i mean small...



left - right: D60, canon S5IS, oly e410

by all comparisons, the D60 is not dat much different from the D40/40x. the rear panel LCD cum info screen has a damn cool function tho... ala Apple iPhone. the info will rotate based on the orientation of the camera (portrait or landscape). the major difference is the EXPEED image algo. below are some comparison images straight out from the cam + 16-85VR, mounted on a manfrotto tripod in the store. resized and rename in PSE5.

iso 100 (click on image for original file)



iso200



iso400



...cont'

[nightwolf75]

iso800



iso1600



hi1 - iso3200



not too bad, actually. i'll leave it to u to judge the pic quality.

oh yeah... the cam is on auto WB, NR and active D-lighting off.

[fidophoto]

how much is the 16-85 VR?

[nightwolf75]

the new 16-85VR lens is abt the same size and weight as the 18-70 kit lens. here are some images taken at f8 of the various focal length. again, pics straight out of cam. cam on the manfrotto tripod. click on image for original files.

18mm


24mm


35mm


50mm

[nightwolf75]

70mm


85mm


brought it outside to shoot. this lens handles flare pretty well, i must say. i metered off the sun - this will explain the slight underexposure.



colour reproduction from lens + cam



overall, not a bad entry-level, or travel camera. if you dun have the moolah to splash for the 18-200VR, the new 16-85VR is actually a pretty damn good buy. a little wider and longer than the original 18-70 kit lens (tho it is slightly slower on the tele end), and comes with VR2. i actually quite like the lens. if it was a constant aperture lens, i would have love to buy it. the d60 is a tad small for my hands. and, as like the predecessors D50/40/40x, this cam is menu-driven. so those used to the 2-dial system on its bigger brothers will find it a hassle to change settings. but, if you are those who seldom meddle with the settings during shooting, this is not too bad. wat i would like to see is that nikon put dat damn AF motor back inside the cam body... not everyone can buy AFS lenses, yah...

[dreamzcape]

nightwolf just wondering, the lens how muchie muchie?

[nightwolf75]

Originally Posted by dreamzcape nightwolf just wondering, the lens how muchie muchie?

eh... silly me. i din ask. but on nikon.sg, they list it as $1099. this probably means the street price is ard $800+?

[giantcanopy]

Originally Posted by nightwolf75 7. wat i would like to see is that nikon put dat damn AF motor back inside the cam body... not everyone can buy AFS lenses, yah...

That will be the rumored D90

Thanks nightwolf75 for providing first hand situational update on the latest offerings in town!

Ryan

[Six-GHz]

Thanks for the timely heads-up! Looks like it's still quite usable at 1600.

[n0v1cE]

is the shop tk?

[zambik]

Thanks for the 1st hand update! Was contemplating should I buy the D40x at a cheaper rate or the D60, but with VR lens as kit lens and other better functions at 100+ more it's worth the deal.

[skopio]

Originally Posted by n0v1cE is the shop tk?

yup. TS mentioned in the first post. =)

[Neverforevera]

Thanks you NW75 for sharing...

[nightwolf75]

oh yesh.... i forgot to mention that the set dat i was using doesn't come with the kit lens 18-55. 16-85 has to be brought separately.

if i were buying the D60, probably i will opt for body only, and buy this lens. IMO, this is a better deal than the 18-55.

and the D60 comes with sensor-cleaning built in.

[vincecarlo]

Good review

the noise control @ISO 800 seem to drop compared to D40?

also the metering @ 70 & 85mm seem a little off

[F2000]

what is the price of the 16-85VR?

[Dennis]

Just to add a little to the lens.
I initially thought the aperture will be around f4.5 at 70mm (read the graph somewhere) but was wrong. The aperture at different focal length is as follows :-
16mm---f3.5
24mm---f4.0
35mm---f4.5
50mm---f5.0
70mm---f5.6
85mm---f5.6
Would have been nice if it was f4 all the way.
Original vignette report was not that bad in actual usage.
When mounted on D300 and used with the build in flash, it seems like the lens still block a very small potion of the light although the manual says it is OK up to 16mm for both the D200 and D300. Have not tried that with D200.
Also no time to test it with both the 18-70 and the 18-200, but first feeling is that it is sharper than both the 18-70 and the 18-200.

[lsisaxon]

Originally Posted by vincecarlo Good review the noise control @ISO 800 seem to drop compared to D40? also the metering @ 70 & 85mm seem a little off

Compared to D40 or D40X? Not fair to compare to D40 because it's 6mp. Just wondering if anyone can do a side by side of D40X and D60 in terms of high ISO noise. The chroma noise at ISO1600 and Hi1.0 seems worse than that of D40X, I might be wrong though... But the images still look very useable.

[DeWei]

From the picture you shown, the sharpness of this lens at f8 is really disappointing, I think 18-70mm is still sharper. Please correct if I'm wrong.

[hlw8888]

Originally Posted by lsisaxon Compared to D40 or D40X? Not fair to compare to D40 because it's 6mp. Just wondering if anyone can do a side by side of D40X and D60 in terms of high ISO noise. The chroma noise at ISO1600 and Hi1.0 seems worse than that of D40X, I might be wrong though... But the images still look very useable.

perhaps u can take a look over here.

D40x: http://dc.watch.impress.co.jp/cda/re...5/10/6198.html
D60: http://dc.watch.impress.co.jp/cda/re...2/13/7839.html

the websites are in Jap. but can scroll down to the pics with bunny to compare.