It’s a question I keep coming back to. What is the difference, if any, in image quality between the Nikon D200 and the Nikon D60?
Now that I have the 35mm AF-S lens, the question has become more relevant. The D60 with the tiny 35mm lens is such a good carry anywhere combination that I really want to know whether I am losing anything by not sticking on the D200, which is a heavier body.
I know there are lots of other reasons for using the D200 body, but the D60 is fast enough for the two things that I change more than anything else – ISO and exposure compensation.
What the D60 does not do as well as the D200 is deal with high contrast scenes. Sometimes I find myself dialing in crazy amounts of exposure compensation to deal with sky that would otherwise be blown out – at least that’s what the LCD tells me. I have found though the LCD on the D60 tells white lies, and sometimes when I convert the RAW image, I can easily recover what the LCD said was irrecoverable.
That aside, the biggest thing in favor of the D60 is its weight. 522g (18.5 ounces) versus 920g (32.5 ounces). In other words the D200 weighs the best part of twice as much as the D60. And I know that for a carry anywhere camera, weight is the difference between carrying the camera and leaving it at home.
So for the first test I decided to shoot two shots at base ISO with a subject that was near. I plan to shoot the next pair at 800ISO and also do a test with more distant subjects.
It was an easy test with the camera on a tripod and a bunch of flowers on a white background. The LCD showed the metering was more conservative with the D200 and the background was more grey. The color of the tulips looked richer though.
I opened the first shot in RAW with Photoshop CS3 and moved the exposure slider so that the histogram was over to the right. Then I opened the PSD and applied unsharp mask with the sharpening slider at 100, the Radius at 1 and the Threshold at zero.
I set the Rectangular Marquee Tool at 500×500 pixels and took a crop and Saved for Web as a jpeg at 100%.
I did the same for the other shot and here are the results. What do you think?
D200 full frame
D60 full frame
D200 Crop
D60 Crop
{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }
Give your shoulder a treat and abandon the D200. There is precious little to choose between the crops but I prefer the D60.
Well first of all thank you for doing this test!!! Just what i wanted to know know, now I can go n’ buy the new Nikon 35mm lens for my D60. Well I do also like the sharpness the D200 provides in the result but I’ll pass ’cause comparatively the D60 result is good enough ‘n with the ease I’m able to carry it around, it’s cherry on the topping!!! Thanks once again!!!
The D60 is not sold anymore. Do you rate the D5000 or the D3000?
Well the D5000 can shoot movies, but I guess you are not asking about this, but about their capabilities as stills cameras. The D5000 had live-view and that may be a factor, but I think there are more important differences, and I would go with the D5000 without a doubt.
By the way, the D60 is available – you just have to look around. And it is a very capable camera.
The only downside I can think of for the D60 is that it has three focus points, whereas the two newer cameras have 11 focus points. Personally, I have not found three (as opposed to eleven) focus points to be a great disadvantage.
One failing of all three cameras, in my opinion, is that one cannot choose a focus point and then lock it. Several times I have found that the focus point had been knocked to left or right and is not where I expect this to be.
Compare this to the D90 and other higher-end Nikons where one can lock the chosen focus point.
If price is a major consideration then I would still go for a D60 over the D3000.
If live-view is not that critical for you, then I would still go with the D60 and spend the spare cash on good lenses. Otherwise, go for the D5000.
Abandon d200? Perhaps Jack should keep his idiot advice for himself. I’ve never heard someone ditching a semi pro camera for a toy like D60.
Calling Jack’s advice ‘idiot advice’ is insulting to the man.
The only thing that counts is the results. If he gets good results, then that is all there is to say.
Thanks for doing the test, I am using D200 it is doing good. With the test you have d60 looks better. I was trying to buy 35mm so I came across your test,
Thanks
I am glad you got some value out of the test I did. I believe in testing, testing, and more testing.
Just came across your post and trying to decide on a new lens for xmas. I have a very Amateur question but does the 35 mm autofocus on the D60 and would you recommend a 35mm or a 50mm
The D60 will only autofocus with AF-S lenses. Luckily, both the 35mm and the 50 lens are AF-S lenses.
I wrote a comparison of the two lenses in this article: 50mm or 35mm lens?
If I could only have one of these lenses, I would go for the 35mm because it is a bit wider and that would give me a bit more flexibility. I know I would be losing a bit of the close-in capability of the 50mm, but that is a price I would be willing to pay for the flexibility of a wider lens.
I used a 35mm for seven weeks in India a couple of years ago, and it worked fine for me. On the other hand, I shot a lot of portraits on the street in Edinburgh with the 50mm earlier this year.
My advice is to go to a camera shop and look through both lenses. If one feels better and you think it suits you more (without getting into too much detail about what ‘better’ means), then go for that one.
Best of luck – let me know how you get on. If you want to contribute an article about your experience with one of these lenses, let me know