Dave McDonald asked:
>
>Dear Friends: This weekend, while shopping at my local Wal-Mart,
>I discovered a surprise in the camera dept, namely a Nikon N60 with
>35-80 mm f4-5.6D AF Nikkor lens listed as "New Item - $399.97."
First, some general thoughts. That is NOT a particularly _good_ price -
that price is avaliable from many different places. For example, B&H has
the N60 listed for $299.95 and the 35-80 for $99.95 which is just about the
exact same total price of your Wal-Mart offer. I've also found the same
price at various places local to me including Ritz Camera mall shops and
more pro-oriented Penn Camera (Wash., D.C. area).
So, no, I _don't_ think this is a particularly good deal - at least
price-wise. I only speak for myself, but I've never been particularly
attracted to a 35-80 zoom because the zoom ratio is too limited.
Specifcally, for me it's not wide enough on the short end.
I like the N60 (more about this below). But you need to know that your
existing lenses will be limited on the N60 -- AI and later will mount and
focus, but the camera will work only in manual mode, and you will have no
metering capability. The N60 specifically requires CPU lenses (AF Nikkors)
to use the light meter. So the N60 really would require a new set of lenses
(new lenses would work on your F3HP, but not on your F2AS because new
lenses don't have the coupling prong).
For some reason the N60 doesn't get much respect (sort of the Rodney
Dangerfield of Nikons <grin>). This is a shame, because I like the camera a
lot. I got one for my wife about three months ago -- I got her the 28-80
f/3.65-5.6 D (about 1-stop faster than the 35-80 ar the short end, with a
wider angle). My wife loves the camera, especially the convenience factor
of having a small, light SLR camera with built-in flash. And the ability to
"borrow" lenses from me to use (and if we're out shooting together, that
means _I_ can carry the heavy bag with all the extra lenses <grin>).
There has been much criticism of the N60 on this list from time to time.
I'm a pretty staunch supporter of the camera. I (personally) could live
with it as my _only_ Nikon, and I'd certainly feel comfortable with it as a
backup to --say-- my F100. The major failing is what I mentioned above: No
metering available with non-CPU lenses. Since the autofocus mechanism has
been around since the '80s (it uses the same AF module as the F4), it and
the metering system are well-proven over time. All other Nikons since the
F3 allow stop-down (or aperture-priority) metering, so it shouldn't have
been a technical problem to include that capability in the N60 without
increasing the price. So it probably was a marketing decision only.
The price for a Nikkor 28-80 f/3.5-5.6D is around $160 or so. So an N60
with this lens would be about $475-$500 or so (including shipping and
handling if you got it mail order). If you don't mind going with the 35-80
zoom, then your Wal-Mart price is competitive, but as you mentioned, their
clerks couldn't give you much help. So if you had any problems they'd
probably give you even _less_ help.
So why do I like the N60 so much? Well, first of course, because it takes
all of my Nikkors, even the non-CPU (but AI) ones. And since I often use my
hand-held Sekonic incident meter anyway, the lack of metering on those
older lenses doesn't bother me. It has a built-in and adequate flash; it
has autofocus, it works very smoothly with the consumer-grade zooms (the
28-80 f/3.5-5.6 D and 80-200 f4.5-5.6 D) and the auto exposure is great.
The autofocus may not be the fastest compared to pro cameras (F5, F100) but
it certainly is fast enough for most people. The camera does have
Matrix-balenced fill flash, it does have focus tracking, it does have
usable program modes, and overall I _just like it!_ I've often taken just
the N60 with the 28-80 on walks around the neighborhood when I only want to
have a small, easy camera on my shoulder.
-- John Albino
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>The clerk was no help at all. My question of the list is: Is this a
>good deal or not? I presently use an F3HP for most of my stuff,
>plus an F2AS (my true first love in life), but I've been thinking
>about getting into AF. Is this a good place to start? I can afford
>this price, but just barely, that is, I can't afford to waste money
>on disappointing purchases.
