What lenses will AF on my Nikon D60? Should I change now?

gary82

Hey,

Looking at alternative lenses now to the kit 18-55mm and discovering a serious lack of lenses that will autofocus on the D60 as the body doesn't have an AF motor, it's in the lens.

In the coming months, I'd like a 50mm 1.8, 70-300mm and a 10-20mm .

Would I be better off selling the body and changing to a model that doesn't require AF motor in the lens? There seem to be much more 2nd hand canon lenses available than Nikon too...

Any help picking out lenses appreciated!

G82

gary82

What would ye think of selling the D60 and 18-55 VR Lens and buying something like this which I've found for sale 2nd hand...

Canon 400D
EF 50 1,8f MKII
EF-S 14-55
EF-S 55-250 IS + hood
canon original GRIP
cokin holder 58mm
2 spare betteries (3)
UV and CPL by HAMA 58mm
CPL by TIANYA 58mm
shutter realese
€550

vectra

I have a sigma 70~200 that AF on my D60

mrmac

The D60 is a great camera, and it'll autofocus with any Nikon AF-S lense. With the 3 you're thinking of getting, I'd go for a Sigma 70-300, only +€30 extra for built in HSM, a Sigma 10-20 EX, which also has HSM, and is a great lense (trying to find a used one myself!). The only problem you'll have is with the 50mm. The only AF-S 50mm that Nikon make, is a f1.4 and is expensive (very good lense, just expensive). It's about x3 the cost of the f1.8. I will say, that a 50mm f1.8 is a great lense, and fantastic value!

Thirdfox

There's also the "50mm equivalent" of the 35mm f1.8 which will af on the D60.

The lack of in-body motor actually allows you to use more lenses - like the 50mm f2 pre-AI Nikkor H (ebay - 35 euro delivered). It's an interesting photographic exercise since it's manual focus, manual exposure...but it sure is a lot of fun (depending on what your idea of fun is ).

Optically it's great (once you reach f2.8)

See here:


shot at f2.8 or f4 if I remember correctly.

CasimiR

plenty of Lenses to choose from as stated above.
I have a D60 and those are in my bag & in the order i got them
18-55 Kit lens
50mm F1.8 AF-D N
55-200mm AF-S G DX VR
35mm F1.8 AF-S G DX
Sigma 10-20mm f/4-5.6 EX DC HSM


The 50mm is the only one that won't auto focus - but imo still a great lense
The 35mm will give you an AF equivalent of a 50mm with the D60 crop factor @ 1.5
The 10-20 is a brilliant lens - can't recommend it enough.

As for the 70-300, you have a choice depending on your budget, lower priced with AF as said above is the Sigma APO DG with HSM - i m undecided myself whether to get it or save a bit & go for a 400-500 lens.

D60 is a pretty good camera imo ..
The Canon/Nikon debate .. well ... let's not go there

gary82

Thanks for all the responses!!

Thirdfox wrote: »

There's also the "50mm equivalent" of the 35mm f1.8 which will af on the D60.

Thanks for that - had a look on eBay and the cheapest I can find seems to be €192 delivered. While I'm sure it's a great lens my budget is actually very tight... I see 50mm f1.8s going for €85 for other cameras...

Thirdfox wrote: »

The lack of in-body motor actually allows you to use more lenses - like the 50mm f2 pre-AI Nikkor H (ebay - 35 euro delivered). It's an interesting photographic exercise since it's manual focus, manual exposure...but it sure is a lot of fun (depending on what your idea of fun is ).

Optically it's great (once you reach f2.8)

See here:
<snip>

Yeah that shot looks great. Really want the 50mm f1.8 for narrow DOF portrait shots or gig/night-out shots... not sure what the chances would be of hitting the focus first time. You say manual exposure - would the newer 50mm's do the exposure automatically even if they wont AF?

vectra wrote: »

I have a sigma 70~200 that AF on my D60

I've been eyeing up a few Sigma 70-300s on eBay actually. I was told that getting them without the "APO" was a waste of time... yet those with APO don't seem to have the HSM. I've been looking at these three from an Irish eBay'er..

• SIGMA 70-300mm / 4-5.6 DG APO MACRO - (Selling for €129+€6 delivered). The listing says it will not AF on D60, Sigma site seems to say different though ("The built-in motor allows autofocus with all Nikon digital cameras") .
  

• SIGMA 70-300 mm / 4-5.6 DG MACRO (€159+€6 delivered). And this apparently will AF on D60, but doesn't have the APO. Big drop in quality?
  

• SIGMA 70-300mm / 4-5.6 DG MACRO (€95+€6 delivered). Neither AF or APO but good price.
  

mrmac wrote: »

The D60 is a great camera, and it'll autofocus with any Nikon AF-S lense. With the 3 you're thinking of getting, I'd go for a Sigma 70-300, only +€30 extra for built in HSM, a Sigma 10-20 EX, which also has HSM, and is a great lense (trying to find a used one myself!). The only problem you'll have is with the 50mm. The only AF-S 50mm that Nikon make, is a f1.4 and is expensive (very good lense, just expensive). It's about x3 the cost of the f1.8. I will say, that a 50mm f1.8 is a great lense, and fantastic value!

The Nikon AF-S lenses seem to be very expensive. The kit AF-S lens seems to be great so I'd say their quality is excellent but way over my budget. Can you link me to a 70-300 that you'd recommend? Do you know what importance of this "APO" is?... i understand it's the quality of the front glass elements...

gary82

CasimiR wrote: »

plenty of Lenses to choose from as stated above.
I have a D60 and those are in my bag & in the order i got them
18-55 Kit lens
50mm F1.8 AF-D N
55-200mm AF-S G DX VR
35mm F1.8 AF-S G DX
Sigma 10-20mm f/4-5.6 EX DC HSM

Good to hear from a D60 user!

50mm F1.8 AF-D N - approx €108 delivered
55-200mm AF-S G DX VR - not going to price as i'd prob go for the 70-300.
35mm F1.8 AF-S G DX - approx €190 delivered
Sigma 10-20mm f/4-5.6 EX DC HSM - approx €380 delivered :eek: - (looks great though!)

They all seem a bit pricey. I'm a jobless student btw!

gary82

CasimiR wrote: »

55-200mm AF-S G DX VR

So you'll be selling that 50-200 off cheap now that you quickly snapped up that 70-300 on adverts?! :P

CasimiR

gary82 wrote: »

They all seem a bit pricey. I'm a jobless student btw!

Well.. Most of those can be found go second Hand, except for the 35mm that s pretty recent and hard to come by.
There s a few 10-20 going on adverts from time to time ..
Just decide which one you want first based on your budget - i mean .. it s not like you're going to get all of them at the same time , is it ? (lucky jobless student you if you are )

Sorry i beat you to it on the 75-240 it won't AF on the D60 by the way so i taught you wouldn't be interested

gary82

CasimiR wrote: »

Well.. Most of those can be found go second Hand, except for the 35mm that s pretty recent and hard to come by.
There s a few 10-20 going on adverts from time to time ..

Yeah a nikon search of the photographic section is my homepage!

Just decide which one you want first based on your budget - i mean .. it s not like you're going to get all of them at the same time , is it ? (lucky jobless student you if you are )

That's why the Canon 400d deal i mentioned above seemed so tempting... by changing from a D60 to a 400d I could get them all at the same time.... Very tempting...

Sorry i beat you to it on the 75-240 it won't AF on the D60 by the way so i taught you wouldn't be interested

No worries! For €50 I could def live with that! :P Looking for something to do a bit more surf photography, a MF would keep me entertained on that front for a while anyway.

Just found this MF 500mm f8 for €105... absolute beast of a lens but f8 might be a bit slow. Would love to give it a try though!

vectra

gary82 wrote: »

Just found this MF 500mm f8 for €105... absolute beast of a lens but f8 might be a bit slow. Would love to give it a try though!

:eek:
Looks nice and tempting

CasimiR

gary82 wrote: »

]... absolute beast of a lens but f8 might be a bit slow. Would love to give it a try though!

i wouldn't want to have to carry that around

CabanSail

Do you just want any glass or is there something specific you are looking for?

Where is the kit lens limiting you now?

Maybe decide what you want to shoot & look for a lens to suit that.

Generally it's best to save up & get the better quality glass if you can rather than cheap stuff.

Here is a list of Nikon Fit Lenses which which have the AF motor, quite a list there.

Thirdfox

Nikon AFD lenses will meter with the non-motor bodies such as the D60. The AI/Pre-AI lenses will neither autofocus nor give auto-exposure.

So the 50mm f1.8 afd will not autofocus but give you correct exposure.

I use the D40 but I believe the D60 has a "digital rangefinder" feature in which the camera will tell you if you are front or back focusing, and by how much. This would help greatly in achieving accurate focus first time round. With the D40 we only have a green dot to confirm when it is in focus - it doesn't indicate if you are front/back focusing and by how much.

Like I said, I don't own the D60 so can't comment on that feature - see helpful google for that

http://www.google.at/search?hl=de&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-GB:official&hs=tao&ei=Z2h8SuCbDeLTjAeg6L2IBw&sa=X&oi=spell&resnum=0&ct=result&cd=1&q=d60+rangefinder&spell=1

dudara

The range of lenses for the D40/60 is getting bigger.

I've a D40 with the standard 18-55 lens and I've since bought a Nikon 55-200AF-S DX VR lens. I plan on buying the 35mm prime AF-S lens soon so that I'll have a prime (remember that it's equivalent to the 50mm prime, given the smaller sensor in the D40/D60)

gary82

I've sold my old bridge camera so now I've about €200 to reinvest in a lens. Undecided between the Sigma 70-300 f4-5.6 [autofocus] (€165) and a Nikon 35mm f1.8 AF-S (€190).

I've been thinking about the wide angle options... but with the DX format, does that mean a 10mm will actually be a 15mm? So I can't actually get a true 10mm for it?

Still contimplating changing the camera for something I can more affordably expand!

gary82

dudara wrote: »

The range of lenses for the D40/60 is getting bigger.

I've a D40 with the standard 18-55 lens and I've since bought a Nikon 55-200AF-S DX VR lens. I plan on buying the 35mm prime AF-S lens soon so that I'll have a prime (remember that it's equivalent to the 50mm prime, given the smaller sensor in the D40/D60)

How do you find the 55-200?

Thirdfox wrote: »

Nikon AFD lenses will meter with the non-motor bodies such as the D60. The AI/Pre-AI lenses will neither autofocus nor give auto-exposure.

So the 50mm f1.8 afd will not autofocus but give you correct exposure.

Thanks, I've a better grasp of that side of it now..

I use the D40 but I believe the D60 has a "digital rangefinder" feature in which the camera will tell you if you are front or back focusing, and by how much. This would help greatly in achieving accurate focus first time round. With the D40 we only have a green dot to confirm when it is in focus - it doesn't indicate if you are front/back focusing and by how much.

Like I said, I don't own the D60 so can't comment on that feature - see helpful google for that

http://www.google.at/search?hl=de&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-GB:official&hs=tao&ei=Z2h8SuCbDeLTjAeg6L2IBw&sa=X&oi=spell&resnum=0&ct=result&cd=1&q=d60+rangefinder&spell=1

I haven't seen that indicator, just the dot, I must have a play around with it tomorrow on manual focus mode with the kit lens and see how that goes.

CabanSail wrote: »

Do you just want any glass or is there something specific you are looking for?

Where is the kit lens limiting you now?

Maybe decide what you want to shoot & look for a lens to suit that.

Well I don't really want to be limited as I tend to get into something for a few days then change to something completely different. That's why maybe a second hand canon with a selection of lenses may work. I did get using a 450d today though and it's not near as well built as the Nikon... seemed very plastic.

Generally it's best to save up & get the better quality glass if you can rather than cheap stuff.

Here is a list of Nikon Fit Lenses which which have the AF motor, quite a list there.

Great list! Yeah I've managed to step away from the 500mm Samyang that was going for 90euro!

melekalikimaka

gary82 wrote: »

I've been thinking about the wide angle options... but with the DX format, does that mean a 10mm will actually be a 15mm? So I can't actually get a true 10mm for it?

Still contimplating changing the camera for something I can more affordably expand!

is 5mm that vital??