Nikon D3000 > Reviews (9)

I have lost a lot of cameras in my time. Anyone who goes backpacking knows what I'm talking about. They get stolen from airports, hotels, hostels, buses, trains and pushbikes, the camera the one thing of value in a rucksack for the quick grab. When it is my fault and I have physically lost them it's usually been spectacular, one dropped in the Grand Canyon, another left on top of a hire - car in Texas in a severe thunderstorm and another I had to leave sharpish as it had naked photos of the bloke's wife pursuing me! From these mishaps I have learnt to take a cheap camera abroad and keep my best one at home. The number of those Kodak and Fuji cardboard throwaway cameras I have had to buy because of camera failures is endless.

But Kodak film is a thing of the past and digital is king. Expensive cameras can take 10 very high quality stills a second and that makes photography much easier, especially when you can buff up your shots with the likes of Photoshop to a good standard, websites like Flickr now paying money for members of the public digital photos so they can sell them on to the media and various publications for profit, the newspapers and magazines especially pleased to bypass the expensive paparazzi and agency snappers. A good sports photographer mate of mine was the guy that pioneered automatic camera timers that allowed cameras to be placed in goalmouths and clicked from a far by a hand held shutter to get better action shots, but has lost a lot of work because the general public have these smart digital cameras and with the internet now a good way to make some money - like opinion site websites are for wanna be writers. You don't even need to have top of the range digital cameras to make good picture as the software does most of the work now, and you can download or buy that for fairly cheap. I prefer digital SLR cameras over the smaller digital standards with their tiny zoom lens because these feel and look like a proper camera, giving you a better feel for the shot and the ability to add bigger lens and zoom capabilities. I also prefer Nikon over Cannon as they are heavier and easier to balance in your hands and on the tripod and so help you capture the moment in your head, as well as on the camera, SLR (single lens reflex) what taking pictures is really about.

The Nikon D3000 is a cheaters camera and aimed at people like me who want the camera to do most of the work, but making you look cool in the process. Rather than packing the camera with extraneous features it simplifies most stuff with fewer levers and gizmos, the guide mode helping you set up the various types of photos you can now achieve in digital. It replaced the D40 which replaced the F range, the F50 my previous digital camera. All you have to do is learn the on-screen symbols and instructions from the excellent 3.5 inch plasma screen stuck on the back of this and point and fire. You centre your image there for panoramic or close up standard shots and 'click'. Obviously you can quickly deleted any shot your not happy with, the big money save with digital over Kodak film.

Digital cards offer a huge amount of space for images, which can be deleted.

The more expensive 10 mega pixel cameras will give you a sharper image but you can boost that up with the provided software or online locations. It also has the built in auto-focus facility for all Nikon lenses, old and new. The computer or your lap top becomes the developing labs and away you go. You still have to have a good eye for a good photo and that's what I have, the photo not a reflection of what you see before you but a story or moment to be recovered. It shoots six frames (100 JPEG) per second and so good for sports and action photography. If you buy an additional battery pack you can rev it up to eight frames per minute. I think it can do time lapse but I have never tried that type of stuff yet. Leaving the shutter open option is also available here so you can flood light in to capture better night panoramas...how those shots of electrical storms are done now.

On the whole I love my Nikon D300 and the fact it survived a recent storm and so fully water proof I'm even more chipper about it. They are sturdy and reliable babies and with this model digital photography isn't intimidating to the beginner, yet you are in possession of a camera well capable of taking a very high standard of photo. I use a 28-80 Sigma lens so the basic set up. And if the image is not quite right you can brush up some of the photo there and then on the camera at the location, which is again rather useful, although I don't know if other cameras around £400 offer this kit. The days of celluloid are over guys and its time to let technology do the work.

-Product Features-

3 inch hi-res LCD monitor
New Guide Mode for easy operation and enhanced picture taking skills
11-point autofocus system for tack sharp results
Active D-lighting for shooting in high contrast conditions

Technical Details Features

• Nikon's 10.2-megapixel Nikon DX format CCD sensor.
• Nikon's EXPEED image processor.
• Camera assisted "Guide" mode.
• Active D-Lighting.
• Sensor cleaning.
• 3.0-inch 230,000-dot resolution fixed TFT LCD
• Continuous Drive up to 3 frames per second.
• 3D Color Matrix Metering II with Scene Recognition System.
• 3D Tracking Multi-CAM 1000 autofocus sensor module with 11 AF points.
• ISO sensitivity 100 to 1600 (3200 with boost).
• Nikon F-mount lenses.
• i-TTL flash exposure system without built-in wireless control.
• File formats: JPEG, NEF (Nikon's RAW, 12-bit compressed)

Amazon £334!

Summary: Nikon are cameras!