Nikon D3000 10MP Digital SLR Camera with 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G AF-S DX VR Nikkor Zoom Lens: Customer Reviews & Product Details

I owned a D60 but I gave it to my sister. Bought this D3000 for myself since it seemed to be better than the D0 specs wise. Boy was I wrong. The pictures from this thing are terrible compared to the D60. Now the D60 itself needed a lot of ISO twiddling then it came down to increasing the depth of field in indoor settings. With the D60, I typically always used to shoot at f10-f16 at ISO800 with in body flash to get a better DOF and D60 did a very good job of handling & suppressing the noise at ISO800, however with this D3000, the pictures at ISO 8000 are turning out to be garbage with too much noise showing. If you are interested in only potraits, you might be OK but for shots where some subjects are 4-5 ft behind others in indoor settings, this camera is going to make it virtually impossible to take good pictures in that setting.
The quality of the LCD screen seems to have dropped too..
This is going back, I think I am going to order another D60 while it is still available.

Nikon D3000 Is great for amateurs, Easy to use, value for the money, I bought it for my girlfriend, and she is really happy!!!

I love this camera I really do! I got it a week ago and have already taken almost 1000 pictures (but thats no problem with my 4 gb extreme 3 memory card!) What can I say! I love photography!! I had a canon powershot sd750 point and shoot and let me tell you that camera was no wimp. It gave me stunning shots while retaining lightness and compactness. But it was starting to limit me a bit. Like all the action shots I would take would come out blurry and outdoor shots of animals and such were no better. So I read up on a lot of dslr's for a long time and finally decided on this one. The day I got it I shot 200 shots. It was ready to use right out of the box! I had recently purchased a 4gb extreme 3 memory card and that went immeadiately into my camera. I absolutely love this camera. I didn't realize how badly I had been needing a camera like this!! There is a drawback though! I dont know if it is a defect on mine or not but it will only shoot four frames in a burst and then it slows down to one frame per second and at times slower than that. I dont know quite what to do but this is not to much of a drawback! I can get great action shots still with no problem! Anyway I debated a long time whether to get the canon rebel xs or this but this ultimately looked like a better camera. I would highly reccomend it for its ease of use and user friendliness. If your looking for a step up form a point and shoot this is the camera for you! But if you have a d40 or a d60 I would reccomend the d90 as an update for this camera! The d90 is $1100 but is worth every penny! P.S. I will update this review if I find out why it will only shoot four frames in a burst. Edit...
If you have active d lighting on it will slow down how fast your camera processes pictures. If you turn it off you can shoot as many as you want.

This is a great camera for beginners.

This is my first DSLR and I've had it for about a month. Since I'm a beginner myself, I can't really speak to the technical aspects of the camera, but will try to cover the basics as much as possible.

BUILD QUALITY - This is an entry-level DSLR, so don't fool yourself into thinking that you're buying a robust, professional level camera. That means that the body and lens (including the lens mount, which is the ring that attaches the lens to the body) are plastic. Although this makes for lighter equipment, it also isn't generally as sturdy as some of the higher level cameras. HOWEVER, when I actually went to BestBuy and camera stores, I found that the Nikon cameras (when you actually picked them up in-hand) in this niche felt much sturdier and of much higher quality than the competitors. Does that mean they'll last longer? Not necessarily, but for what it's worth, the Nikons really did feel better.

FEATURES - In this day and age, this is really a bare-bones DSLR. The only camera I cross-shopped with this was the D5000. There are MANY differences between the two, the largest of which is the nicer processor. But don't get fooled! That doesn't mean that the D3000 can't take great pictures... Anyhow, onto the features. It has a 10MP processor which is more than adequate for me, and the average beginner. It has a really large screen, which takes up the whole back of the camera almost. However, as many reviewers have noted, it's not that sharp! This was probably the biggest disappointment of the camera. My point and shoots have less-pixelized screens! But overall, it's not a big deal. The other minute feature is the Guide Mode. I've found it to be less than helpful and don't even use it at all anymore, and I've only had it for a month or so. THE BIGGEST FEATURES that you won't find on the D40/D60 cameras is the ADL feature and the 11 autofocus points... ADL stands for Active D-Lighting, and improves color somehow (the best way I can describe it, and I'm probably technically wrong but, it preserves actual colors better). The only drawback is that it's relatively slow on the D3000. The 11 autofocus points is great. The D40/D60 only has three, and they're all aligned along the same horizontal line, which is right in the middle of the camera. When composing a shot, ti's nice to be able to set an autofocus point not directly in the middle of the shot. Anyhow, this camera was appealing to me because of it's bare-bone feature set. I didn't want Live View or Video, and I'd basically be paying for those features if I were to step up to the D5000.

PICTURE QUALITY - Ah, probably the most important aspect of the camera... and I don't know what to say about it! I'm a beginner, so I don't know what makes a great photo, and DEFINITELY have no idea how this camera shoots vs. another one. What I've read is that the D3000 shoots relatively noisy pictures, but that it doesn't necessarily preclude you from shooting great photos (by adjusting things like ISO). I DON'T KNOW THIS FROM EXPERIENCE, JUST WHAT I'VE READ! Oh, and noise is basically random color pixels in a photo. It doesn't look good. All I can say is that I'll update this review as I figure it out!

RECOMMENDATIONS - If you're a beginner, I'd recommend picking up a book such as "Understanding Exposure" by Bryan Peterson. That book, coupled with the D3000 will help you understand the basics of photography and how to use a digital SLR. Also, get the kit, not just the body! The price difference is currently $100, and from what I've seen, you can sell the lens itself for more. Remember, the kit lens has VR, which the D40 and D60 didn't come with. So there are those out there who might want a cheap upgrade (and in DSLR world, $150 for a decent lens is cheap!).

Also, the kit lens is great, but in addition to that, I'd recommend the relatively cheap 35mm f/1.8G AF-S DX lens... you should eventually get a prime lens, and for this camera, this is arguably the best one out there, especially for the price. Also2, get a flash that tilts upward so you can bounce it off the ceiling! I went with the Nikon SB400 and it's worked well so far.

CONCLUSION - Like I said, this is a great beginners camera. The great things about it are the 11 autofocus points, ADL option, compact size, great ergonomics and size, build quality, and easy-to-use menu. The drawbacks are the older processor, plasticky feel (I don't mind it, and furthermore it feels solid), and disappointing screen. Overall, it's a great camera to purchase if you're thinking about getting into DSLRs... If you find you LOVE photography, it will help you develop as a photographer and understand what you are doing until you're ready to upgrade to something more serious. If you find that photography is not a hobby for you but just a means to an end, then you have a camera that you can throw into full-auto mode and take better pics than your standard P&S, and it didn't set you back a ton of $$$.

I bought my D3000 on Friday and took it to the mountains over the weekend. This is my first ever SLR, I upgraded from a simple point and shoot. I could not believe how easy this camera is to use. It took fabulous pictures right out of the box. I do still have alot to learn about all the features and settings, but you don't need to have an knowledge about SLR cameras to take gorgeous photos with this camera!