Nikon D3000 Digital SLR Camera (18-55 mm VR Lens Kit)

Michael Dobson

at 6:27 pm

Review by Michael Dobson for Nikon D3000 Digital SLR Camera (18-55 mm VR Lens Kit)
Rating: (5 / 5)
I recently ordered this camera, and I am completely in love with it!

I am currently doing an AS in Photography and it is certainly meeting up to the expectations I need it to. There is a fantastic range of shutter speeds, ISOs, and also aperture, however it would be nice if it could go a bit lower for low light situations.

When looking around I couldn’t decide on what make to buy, with the Sony Alpha 200, I found that the lens wasn’t that fantastic, however it is a bit cheaper and also doesn’t come with as many features. The nearest match to the D3000 for Canon was, what I felt, is the 1000D. This is currently under £400 which is fantastic value, and had it been that price when I brought the D3000 I may well have brought the 1000D.

Once I had decided on getting a Nikon, I originally decided to get the D60, however I found that the D3000 was on offer and was therefore cheaper. I did quite a lot of research into the difference, and found that, they both had 10.2MP, same frames per second (3), same range of shutter speed (1/4000 to 30 s ). However I found that the D3000 could go from 100-32000 ISO, whereas the D60 is only 100-1600. The D3000 also has a 3″ screen, instead of 2.5″ with the D60.

The D3000 also has a Guide system which means that supposedly anyone can take a photo and works almost like a compact digital camera.

Another fantastic feature with the lens is the VR (vibration reduction) feature which means nearly all the time photos come out crisp, even in low light conditions.

My one slight problem with the camera is that it lacks a studio light cable, however from what I understand neither does the D60, nor the 1000D nor the Alpha 200. – This wont be a problem for most, however it would be nice to have one as I will be using studio lighting with my course.

I am not sure what storage the other cameras have, however the D3000 uses SD cards which means very cheap prices for lots of memory!

Finally, the lens: I have had no problems with it and am really pleased with it, however I have found that when doing very close up photos, it can be hard to focus on the subject- which often results in zooming out a bit until I can get it into focus.

All in all.. a fantastic buy! I am really pleased with it and have had no problems.

I would recommend it for sure!

Steven Chapman

at 7:07 pm

Review by Steven Chapman for Nikon D3000 Digital SLR Camera (18-55 mm VR Lens Kit)
Rating: (5 / 5)
Having bought a DSLR from Amazon a couple of years ago in the form of a Sony alpha 200K, and being in the market for a second “entry level” DSLR for my other half so we could go shooting stuff together, this Nikon popped up amongst the competition and we decided to take a punt.

Most of my comparisons will be directed against the afore-mentioned alpha 200, which at the time was considered the entry DSLR of choice by many but has since been replaced by a newer model.

Anyone looking to choose their first DSLR will no doubt come across their advocates of each brand, and nay sayers of the competition. Brand loyalty is pretty fierce amongst the more serious DSLR camera-toting fraternity. It’s easy to understand why, as there are various proprietary reasons why someone buying into the field would want to stick with one manufacturer, as invariably most of the accessories will only fit other cameras of the same brand.

When it comes to entry-level DSLRs like the Nikon D3000 and Sony alpha 200, the competition amongst the brands is no less fierce, but fortunately there is no such thing as a bad device in the current offerings from the major brands (also consider Canon, Panasonic and Pentax in this regard). There are some headline features and little nuances that each brand like to highlight, and it will be these things that mark the cameras out.

On initial impressions of the D3000, it fits very nicely in the hand. This alone is an important factor. The alpha is comfortable too, but in a different way as it’s grips aren’t laid out the same. It’s down to personal preference, and I would strongly recommend anyone considering buying a DSL to handle a few in shops before they decide.

The actual feel of the camera, once you’ve attached the lens, is very good – it feels fractionally more “grown-up” than the alpha, if that makes sense.

The screen on the rear is large and clear, and the menus are ok to navigate, although the alpha trumps it in my opinion with some more logical menu trees, and a convenient quick-access button to some frequently used features.

One thing I felt was particularly useful – but only if it’s something that you feel you will make use of – is that it incorporates a full guide within the camera, which can help a new user to learn the features of the camera. Considering I have only flicked through the Sony’s manual at rapid pace and then stabbed blindly at the features when out in the field due to my eagerness, it would have been good to have access to an explanation or assistance with some of the features whilst I was out, so having the guide built-in to the Nikon is a bit of a boon. Anyone who already knows how all the features work however, will not be even remotely interested and should strike it off their list of pros.

The included lens is of good quality, and is in Nikon’s “VR” range. The range is only 18-55mm, which although pretty common in entry lenses it would be nicer to have something a bit wider. The Sony bundled lens that I got at the time is an 18-70mm. One of things you’ll likely find if you do get into photography, is that you’ll be hankering after a second lens. Either something speciality, like a fish-eye or telephoto, or one with a greater zoom-range, like a -/200mm or even -/300mm. Having a greater degree of flexibility with the equipped standard lens could delay that possible purchase.

As far as I know, the Nikon actually uses a Sony CCD sensor (as is often the way that there are technology shares going around in the industry). The quality of the shots are all fine for an entry model as is pretty much the case across the board. In my opinion the Nikon can handle higher-sensitivity shots better than the Sony – Sony don’t seem to have figured this out in any of their cameras as far as I can tell, but I have first-hand experience of the alpha 200 being really quite useless at high ISOs unless you’ve got great lighting. The Nikon is by no means great at high ISOs either, with grainy noisy images as you’d expect, but I did find them to be an improvement over the Sony.

There are 2 other key points that I think are worth highlighting – 11 point auto-focus is to be fair, very good for any size DSLR, let alone an entry-level model and is something Nikon is right to shout about. The other point is the 3 fps shooting mode. Very often you’ll find that DSLRs can burst shoot a few frames but then trickle down to a relatively slow pace. The Nikon boasts up to a continuous 3fps which is a good performance. – Do bear in mind that you’ll be wanting a high-speed memory card to take the strain if you plan on using that feature, else a slower card might slow things down a touch.

There are some features not included in this camera that are coming into fore in the world of DSLR cameras, such as being able to record HD video – but I for one think that goes against the ethos. Maybe I’ll be proved wrong in time, but if I wanted an all-singing-all-dancing multimedia camera, I’d get one and I wouldn’t expect it to be a DSLR. Another feature that is prevalent in newer DSLRs is something called “Live View” – which if you’ve been used to using camera phones and compact cameras with no glass viewfinder, basically means the image is presented live on the LCD screen at the rear. Entry DSLRs invariably don’t have this feature, and the D3000 is no exception and neither is my old alpha 200. You’d have to go further up the range to get this, and might be a factor worth considering if you think it’s going to be important to you. If it is an important feature, then consider a model which can swivel the screen round to different angles as I’ve trialled this in a shop and can see the benefits if you plan to use the camera in that way.

The included VR lens in the kit does some image stabilising, and works as well as can be expected. The Sony trumps Nikon here in my opinion by building anti-shake in the body of the camera, so any lens you attach is automatically stabilised and helps to bring down the cost of extra lenses. This could be an important consideration for some.

When it comes to Memory cards, unusually, it only accepts SD (or SDHC) cards. I guess this is probably the way forward, but the old chunky CompactFlash is still pretty much a stable to anyone in the DSLR world, so not being able to use CF cards might be a stumbling block for some.

On the whole, I am more than impressed with the D3000. I think perhaps the single overriding thing I like about it is that it feels more substantial, more professional than the Sony alpha200. Granted, I’m comparing a brand new Nikon with a nearly 2 year old Sony which has since been superceded by a newer model (A230K), but the price banding is similar and the target markets are/were the same. I think part of the chunkiness I like is down to the bundled lens which is very good, albeit with a limited if predictable range, but it’s got a nice heft to it. The Sony loses out on the heft because it gains in-built stabilisation, so it’s swings-and-roundabouts. I can easily recommend this model to anyone new to the world of DSLR’s who would appreciate having some useful features and primarily having an in-built guide to using the camera and all its settings. Anyone after something more of a step-up would probably need to go higher up the range.

tallpete33

at 8:11 pm

Review by tallpete33 for Nikon D3000 Digital SLR Camera (18-55 mm VR Lens Kit)
Rating: (4 / 5)
Before I begin, I am writing this as a keen amateur photographer so if you’re looking to upgrade from a compact as I was this should hopefully be of use. Photography experts can move along now…

Anyway, I’ve been enjoying digital photography from the early days starting with a pretty ropey Hewlett Packard 1Mp (stop sniggering at the back) camera but thought it was time to step up from my trusty Canon Powershot to a DSLR. The Nikon D3000 fitted my bill perfectly from a price, size and usability point of view and I was always impressed by my old Coolpix which gave many a year’s good service and produced some great shots. I shopped around the High St and got to hold the camera and get some good advice from Jessop’s and a kid in Curry’s but as they were not prepared to cut a deal I bought from amazon, later claiming cashback from Nikon which arrived promptly. When it arrived, the box contained

* Camera body

* 18-55mm Nikkor VR lens

* Nikon Strap

* EN-EL9a battery

* Battery charger and power cable

* USB cable

* Rubber eyepiece

* Manuals and CDs (Nikon Software Suite and Reference Manual)

Following the Quick Start guide, I was up and running within 2 minutes, the most enjoyable part being the fixing of the lens to the body of my first “proper” camera. The build quality to my eye and touch (I’m a computer server engineer of many a year) is second to none and in my quite large hands it feels exactly right, not too heavy or small.

The proof of the pudding is in the eating and having sampled the delights of this beauty for a couple of months now, I am very satisfied. At first the LCD info screen can be somewhat daunting but you do not need to stress too much about that as it gets more familiar with time. Alternatively you can completely ignore it and use the familiar icons (portrait, landscape, close-up, sports etc) on the top dial and shoot away. Happy snappers just looking to produce quality pictures with the minimum input are well catered but those looking to hone their photography skills will find plenty of control at their fingertips. Using just the viewfinder took some getting used to, ditto removing the lens cap(!) but the rules are the same i.e. half depressing the shutter focuses the shot. The array of 11 autofocus points clearly show the main subject, useful if a stray branch is encroaching in the shot and hogging the limelight.

Twist the dial to Guide and a menu will walk you through the different shooting modes with the option to customise further although you are less likely to use it with time. The advanced mode explains the functions of Shutter and Aperture priority which is the next step for becoming a more accomplished “tog” that I’m working on with the help of an additional guide. I have found the 18-55mm lens very functional and definitely a good starting point for any DSLR newbie. It copes well with close-ups, portraits and landscapes although the zoom has it’s limitations so I have my eye on a Nikon 55-200MM Lens for better wildlife shots. Make sure you specify the VR (vibration reduction) which is the better lens for little money. I’m a keen walker and most of my picture taking is outdoors and it has definitely delivered the goods as far as that is concerned and is less cumbersome in its case than I thought it would be. Indoor shots are improved by the Active D system which fills in the shadows and can be applied by the camera retrospectively too, as can other touch-up utilities. Rather than over-write the original, it will create a copy with a different prefix filename to avoid confusion.

The attractive menu system is quite intuitive and easy to use, no complaints there. In fact the only complaints I do have are the lack of live view (you cannot see what you are shooting on the LCD) and video but this is not uncommon at this price point for DSLR’s. You should consider the D5000 (currently with £50 cashback) or another make if you want these functions. The “Recent Settings” menu is particularly useful to save you having to hunt for a previous “favourite” change.

I can also recommend the following to go with the camera:

Nikon D-SLR Shooting Modes a handy little book that fits in your bag

Wireless Remote Control cheap as chips and very useful

Hama Lens Cleaning Pen great little device for cleaning your lens

Gem SLR Camera Case decent bag for the money though there are other options out there

Hama Circular Polarizer Filter 52mm another excellent accessory for not much money. Great for bright days

Overall, I’m luvvin’ this bit of kit. It’s a bit of a hot hatch – practical and affordable enough for everyday use but with the potential for even better performance in the right hands.