by Ron Medeiros, Photographer
© MakeshiftDarkroom.com 2025
Posted 1/25/25

The Nikon D60 is an outdated entry level camera that was introduced back in 2008, but it is one of my favorite and most enjoyable cameras to shoot. It is simple, compact, light weight, and easy to use, but what I like most about it is that it has marvelous image quality and incomparable Nikon color rendering due to its magical Expeed image processor. The images it makes have a very distinctive characteristic to them unique to the D60 which I find particularly appealing. It makes everything I point the camera at look great.

Much of the love I give this camera is based on the pleasant experiences I have had with it, so I guess this piece will be biased and quite subjective in nature. Most people would probably have a different experience with and opinion of the D60, so I am not recommending it as a must have camera, but am trying here to express my own particular fascination with it.

For most of my serious work, such as landscapes where image detail is so important, I have newer higher end 24 megapixel cameras, but for shear shooting pleasure my “take anywhere with me” D60 is definitely my go to “Fun” camera. I have had so much fun with the D60 and made so many wonderful images with it that I decided to spot light a special gallery featuring my best D60 images.

I purchased a refurbished Nikon D60 camera body back in late 2008 because of the improved image quality afforded by Nikon’s then new “Active D-lighting” feature. The D60’s simplicity and picture making abilities quickly won my affection and began to replace my first digital camera the D200, even in spite of the D200’s superior feature set and build quality. After owning and using many newer Nikon cameras over the years, the D60 remains one of my favorite cameras and is still making great images for me today. When I’m out and about and I want to have a camera with me in case I see an interesting picture this is the camera I'll often take along.

Because the D60 was a slow entry level camera sold with a lower end kit lens and limited feature set, most photographers didn't take it seriously and ended up shooting something else. Many never discovered the unique image quality of this little 10 megapixel gem. By "image quality" I'm not so much referring to state of the art "technical" quality, but to perceptive, or aesthetic quality. The images work up wonderfully in post with great Expeed colors and Nikon's Active D-lighting feature which extends dynamic range and improves color rendering in highlights - preventing highlight colors from looking washed out. The D60's Expeed processor renders images with film-like colors without that overly perfect digital look.

Another big plus is its sensor cleaning feature that, unlike the ones in other Nikon cameras, actually works. Nikon claims a special air flow system that keeps dust away from the sensor, and it seems to be a valid claim. It also has a quality multi-selector with snappy positive clicks making image review and menu selection a pleasant experience. I wish all Nikons had the same. Ergonomics are good. The grip on the D60 is very good for such a small camera. I find that the grip is much better than the ones on the D5000 series cameras, which do not fit the hand as well. My experience with battery life is quite good with the D60, I seldom ever feel like the battery is running down too quickly, in spite of its lower 500 shots per charge rating. I almost never carry a spare battery when I am out shooting and always have enough power to capture the pictures I see.

Every Nikon camera I have used has its own set of handling and image quality characteristics giving each camera its own “personality.” The D60 is my favorite of Nikon’s "little D's" because of its handling and image making personality. Because it is so small and weighs next to nothing, it is easy to carry with me anywhere. When I frame up a shot and release its smooth quiet shutter the image that appears on the back screen often puts a smile on my face that affirms that I have one of Nikon’s little known secrets. Sometimes upon image review I marvel, and can’t help but laugh.

What do I think of 10 megapixel resolution? I like it; it’s just fun. For my “creative interest” genre of general photography I find it a refreshing step back. Digital capture is worlds cleaner than film emulsion, so even with lower resolution sensors we are still way ahead of the game of image quality than we were with small format film, for some genres of photography. Today’s high resolution sensors can be, in many ways, problematic and often takes the pleasure out of photography - especially in post-production workflow. Simple is often better, and 10 megapixels is wonderfully simple. The D60 takes me back to simple photography again.

When I need to make a big print of a D60 image I upsample the file in Photoshop to the size that I am printing. It works great. Upsampling fills in the needed pixels to make a larger file. Upsampling cannot add "real" resolution, but it eliminates "pixel stretching" so that your big print has the same perceived resolution as the "actual pixels" of the original file. I remember upsampling a 16 megapixel D7000 file of Mesa Arch to print a 24X36 metal print and the results were magnificent. Everyone who saw the print was stunned by the quality and never had any thought regarding resolution. Upsampling preserves the "real" photograph look of yesterday's pre-4K era, an era that I am content to live in for the rest of my life.

Most people today would find the D60 to be a painfully slow camera to shoot. The D60 is a very slow CCD camera with limited features and a small 4 shot buffer. It’s not a camera for any kind of fast action as it always makes you wait, but when you see the image appear on the monitor you realize that good things come to those who wait. Its 3 point auto focus system is inadequate for tracking fast action, but I find that it works very well for still subjects and is relatively foolproof for my general photography needs. I seldom ever have to struggle with auto focus - it just works. The D60 is a simple camera for shooting slowly and deliberately, that is what I use it for, and for that, it seldom ever lets me down (it's my little shot getter).

I have had a much better experience with the D60 than with some earlier entry level “little D” cameras some of which can be a bit buggy. Its image quality and lack of bugs and quirks is a fair trade for its slow handling. With it's lower 10 MP resolution sensor it is a very handholdable camera capable of nailing perceptively sharp images with shutter speeds as low as 1/15th of a second with normal to wide angle lenses without vibration reduction (VR).

My compact D60 is basically the digital era replacement for my old beloved Nikon FE2 film camera with cleaner capture, superior colors, and instant results all while retaining somewhat of a film vibe in the files that it writes. The D60 is a piece of Nikon DSLR history and represents early processor technology that is no longer in production. Like other discontinued cameras of yesteryear Nikon is never going to make the D60 again. This is why I keep and enjoy my D60's and why I will never part with them. Yes, of course I have more than one.

D60 TIPS AND OBSERVATIONS

My overall experience shooting the D60 is I stop to make a picture with it and the camera’s slow handling as well as the effort I put into “dialing in” the camera settings to get an ideal Jpeg keeps me in that spot for a bit, usually taking a few do over shots of the same subject before getting the properly exposed file I want.

For me, the experience of taking a shot with the D60 often goes something like this: Check and adjust camera setting for a potential scene / subject, compose / frame up shot, release the shutter, look at the monitor which turns a lighter black color for 2 seconds..... then an hour glass symbol appears for about another second or two..... then the image appears which often times needs +/- exposure compensation, If so, estimate exposure compensation, reshoot. Then try a different Picture control (Optimize Image), or aperture - repeat process. It is slow, but the results are rewarding. One of the things I like about the D60 is that even with it's slow write / read times the camera is free from quirky bugs and doesn't get in my way or frustrate me when shooting it. Everything works reliably.

Each Nikon camera release gets unique tweaks to its image processing and I love what they did with the D60. ADL in the D60 has only one setting: "On." There is no Low, Normal, High, or Auto as with newer Nikon cameras. When "On" is selected it seems to work like an "auto" setting, it just makes the files look great and never over compensated. It works perfectly, the Nikon engineers really got it right. The slow write time of the D60 can be improved (files write faster) as well as increasing the buffer capacity by turning the Active D-Lighting feature off, but it is this feature that makes the D60's image quality so good, so I keep it on pretty much always. The only reason I might turn it off is if I shoot in RAW because you have to turn ADL off to enable adjustments to exposure with the "in camera NEF (RAW) processing" feature. Whenever I turn ADL OFF / ON I always use the nifty dedicated ADL button next to the shutter.

RAW / JPEG

For me however, the D60 is pretty much a Jpeg camera because the camera's processor applies its ADL "secret sauce" to Jpeg's but not it's RAW files. Normally, with my other Nikon cameras I am a RAW + Jpeg shooter, I use the in camera Raw Processing feature to create ideal Jpegs from RAW files when heavy corrections are needed and the accompanying Jpeg file is too far from ideal. The problem is that the D60 is limited to RAW+BASIC Jpeg only. I only use Large Fine Jpegs because, as far as I am concerned, even the highest quality Jpegs still have too much compression for my liking (1:4). Jpeg compression is an enemy to picture quality producing artifacts (banding and dithering) especially noticeable in images with skies. For this reason I never shoot anything but Large Fine highest quality Jpegs. Shooting Basic Jpegs with a bone crushing 1:16 compression ratio is for “dithering” idiots. ;^ D With the D60, I usually shoot Large Fine Jpegs and occasionally RAW files, but never Raw + Jpeg because a Basic Jpeg is useless to me.

Another reason I stick with Jpegs is that the D60 has a very early and primitive “In camera RAW processing” feature. The adjustments are quite limited, so I don’t use it very much. If I shoot RAW with the D60 I will open the RAW file in Nikon’s Capture NX-D which is the only way to get most of the secret sauce that the cameras processing engine has (including Active D-Lighting - which in camera RAW processing has no option for). I do not like other third party RAW converters, none of them can give you Nikon’s incomparable color rendering.

Bonus* - It should be understood that the best RAW converter in the world currently is the processing engine in your Nikon camera; nothing else can consistently match it. The problem is that your camera can only give you that secret sauce in a compression laden Jpeg file. So get your Jpegs as close to perfect as you can so when you take them into post for final edits they don’t fall apart. After you do your best in camera and in post-production, remember that life is too short to not allow for a few Jpeg artifacts.

BUILD QUALITY

Build quality is pretty good. For an entry level camera it is pretty well made and has a smooth plastic finish that seems to really resist marks and scratches. The grip is not the usual "grippy" rubber, but a harder skin that does not suffer much from hand wear. For this reason you can find D60's in great looking shape nowadays, unless they have been really abused, which is a shame. D60 cameras are still functioning well and going strong today, a testament to Nikon quality.

HIGH ISO

Another tip is don’t be afraid to shoot the D60 at high ISO. At higher ISO your original camera files will look quite noisy, but in post your noise reduction software (l use DXO) will scrub the noise out of the files quite well and leave a very subtle wonderful grain look that is similar to fast color print film. I find this quite pleasing for appropriate genres of photography and it makes high ISO’s welcome in my shooting anytime I need more speed.

MY LENS CHOICES FOR THE D60

Most of the time I shoot prime lenses with the D60 - most often my tried and true 35mm f1.8 AF-S DX lens which excels with a 10 Megapixel sensor and balances nicely on the D60. I prefer compact lenses. The 50mm f 1.8 AF-S is another great choice for a short telephoto with fabulous optics. I find that I seldom ever need a shorter or longer focal length than the 35mm which on DX is a 53mm normal lens equivalent. I have alway loved and found the 50mm normal focal length useful (probably from all of the years of shooting my Nikon FE2 with a 50mm f1.8).

Good prime AF-S lens options with full frame equivalent focal lengths.

35mm f 1.8 AF-S DX.......................53mm
40mm f 2.8 AF-S Micro DX.............60mm
50mm f 1.8 AF-S.............................75mm
28mm f 1.8 AF-S.............................42mm
20mm f1.8 AF-S..............................30mm

When I need a zoom I usually use the compact 18-70mm AF-S and sometimes the 70 - 300mm VR for longer reach which is another of Nikon’s hidden gems, but don’t tell anyone.

THE NIKON D60 GOLD EDITION

Nikon released a limited Gold edition of the D60. Officially called the Black Gold Edition, this edition of the D60 has gold colored shutter release button, top mode dial, Strap lugs, and D60 badge. It should be noted however that the Gold Edition D60 is NOT the same camera as the standard D60. The Gold Edition sample that I handled had far fewer menu options including no menu setting for firmware version, ISO Auto, and Clean image sensor, among many other important features!

In the CUSTOM SETTINGS MENU (pencil) there are only 7 options:

Reset, Beep, Focus mode, AF-area mode, Release mode, Metering, No memory card?

Missing from the real D60's CUSTOM SETTINGS MENU are:

Image review, Flash compensation, AF-assist, ISO auto, Fn button, AE-L/AF-L, AE lock, Built-in flash, Auto off timers, Self-timer, Remote on duration, Date imprint, Rangefinder.

The SETUP MENU (wrench) there are only 10 options:

CSM/Setup menu, Format memory card, Info display format, Auto shooting info, Shooting info auto off, World time, LCD brightness, Video mode, Language, Image comment.

Missing from the real D60's SETUP MENU are:

Folders, File no. sequence, Clean image sensor, Mirror lock-up, Firmware version, Dust off reference photo, Auto image rotation.

It appears that the Gold Edition D60 was a vanity version with a stripped out menu system??? It presently has little to no collectors value; don't be fooled by sellers.

UNDERSTANDING THE D60

The D60 was introduced at the very beginning of Nikon's Gen 2 camera line. Two of the things that characterized Gen 2 cameras was improved image quality (Expeed processors) and a new "Picture Controls" menu system. The D60 was a camera that bridged the gap between the Gen 1 and Gen 2 cameras. The D60 got the improved Expeed Gen 2 picture quality, but not the new Picture Controls menu system (it retained the older "Optimize Image" menu setting. I don't mind this since the image quality is so good (Gen 2). The D60 is an earlier Nikon in many ways, but has the performance of the Gen 2 cameras making it unique. It was introduced not too long after the D50 which was Nikon first real entry level "little D" camera. It had a flash sync speed of 1/500 second, and a screw drive auto focus motor in it for use with Nikon's earlier screw drive AF lenses. At that time Nikon was putting some decent features into it's first "little D" camera. When the D40, D40X, and D60 came out they were made well and had good performance because of this lingering trend. The D60 was the latest and best of the three. When Nikon released the D3000 and D5000 cameras it marked the beginning of a new series of little D cameras. The D60 was therefore, the best and last of the early "little D" entry level cameras. One of the things that Nikon has always done is put the latest in image quality tech into its entire product line including its entry level cameras. The D60 was released about the same time as the D3, D700, and D300 cameras and all of these had Expeed processors and so all four cameras shared very similar image quality and color science.

BASIC D60 SPECIFICATIONS

Introduced in January of 2008 and made thru the first quarter of 2009 for more than a year in production.

10.2 megapixel CCD ICX-493-AQ sensor made by Sony (same as D40X, D80, D3000).

DX APS-C format

Expeed image processing engine specific to D60.

ISO Range - 100 -1600 + Hi 1 3200 (don't use Hi 1)

Body Weight just over 1 pound at 16.1 oz.

Storage - SD and SDHC up to 32GB

RAW + Jpeg in BASIC quality only.

2.5 inch LCD screen

Dedicated Active D-Lighting button near shutter release.

Best Multi-Selector of any Nikon camera!

Flash Sync - 1/200 second

Uses the ML-L3 Wireless IR Remote (I just use the self timer set to 2 seconds).

The D60 cannot record video, it is a stills only camera.

Battery - EN-EL9 and EN-EL9a or equivalent (I like the Wasabi 3rd party battery, but my nikon EN-EL9a’s are still going strong). OEM Nikon batteries are top quality cells that if cared for and used properly and moderately can last well over a decade or two.

The Wasabi batteries are a very good 3rd party option and should be considered the prime choice for discontinued OEM batteries going forward into and beyond the next decade.

Charger - Nikon MH-23 - I replace the power cord with the plug from a MH-25 charger (which is why the plug on the MH-25 isn't a bad thing after all). Bonus tip: The plug also works with the Fujifilm X100 charger, eliminating the need for it's cumbersome cord as well!

Use the Nikon EH-5 Power Connector with Nikon AC Power Supply.

NIKON CLASSIFIES THE D60 AS AN "ARCHIVED" CAMERA

There are three classifications for Nikon's digital cameras in terms of production and service:

1. In Production (new cameras being manufactured, Nikon warranty, parts and repair service available).

2. Discontinued (no longer in production, Nikon parts and repair service still available).

3. Archived (no longer in production, no Nikon repair service or sensor cleaning, OEM batteries unavailable, firmware updates may no longer be available).

The D60 once had a firmware update B 1.01 that is no longer available for download on the Nikon USA website. My original D60 got that update when I sent it in for service to replace a cracked monitor. I'm not sure what that firmware update added. I can't find any info online about it. My guess is that it added improved performance with the newer EN-EL9a battery. If you have accurate info about this update please let me know.

Present day, the D60 is an "Archived" or "dead" camera as far as Nikon is concerned. This means that if your D60 malfunctions and becomes inoperable unless you can find a reputable and capable service technician who can repair it your D60 is a throw away. The cost of a third party repair will most likely exceed the price of a replacement used camera so it would be better to just buy another one or move on to a newer camera.

If you have any "discontinued" Nikon cameras you might want to send it in to Nikon for a service check up which includes a sensor cleaning and firmware update before your camera is "Archived" and can no longer be serviced.

Back to the D60 Gallery