Chuck Hendricks

D3000 Review - 10.2 MP DX

I was destined to get a better camera as far as megapixels than my friend's D40 DSLR. I also wanted something that had at least double the megapixels than my old Kodak Z650 point and shoot. But being a tight wad that I am, I only wanted to spend as little as I could to get a great camera. The D3000 is Nikon's newest DSLR (at least in July of 2009). So I figured jump on the bandwagon and get it.

Some say that the camera is the best thing since sliced bread and some say the image quality is horrible and Nikon should be roasted on an open fire with the camera. I say contrary from using it. You just need to be "smart" when using it. One of the things that it does lack is the high ISO 1600 and 3200 (cryptic at HI-1) image quality. There is a lot of noise in the image. This can be lessened by simply setting the image size to 5.6 MP, or in the image size as "Medium". This will fix the so called noise issue and give great results. I think of it as when doing high ISOs set it like you would a D40 at full resolution.

Nikon built this camera with a decent user interface that most can operate. The menu architecture is sometimes clumsy, but after using it a lot, you will be a whiz at it. Trust me. When I first got the camera, it seemed rather disorganized, but after really doing some long-hard thinking, the menu architecture kind of makes sense. The one thing I do not like is the fact that you can't make a "My Menu" custom menu like in Nikon's more expensive DSLRs. But that is neither here no there. I don't think there are quite enough menu options to really have a need for that, but I might think it would help.

The one thing that really lacks in the D3000 is the aperture dial on the front grip. I'm so used to that with the more professional cameras. Instead you need to hit the aperture button on the camera and use the rear (usually used for the shutter speeds) to select the suitable aperture. Stupid design, but they figure most will use it in Auto. Not for me.

Speaking of Auto. How does it fair? Auto on the D3000 does a pretty decent job. However, I find that using Aperture Priority and letting the camera decide on just the shutter speed is more than enough. Auto is for people that just want to simply point and shoot with no fuss. I notice with some lenses the D3000 has trouble figuring out which aperture would yield the best results. However, with this aside, why the heck would you buy a DSLR if you didn't want to use it to control your photos?! Isn't that the whole point? Of course it is.

Since we are talking auto modes on the D3000, might as well talk a little bit about the White Balance on the camera. The D3000's Auto White Balance feature hasn't failed me yet. I've shot many things keeping it on the Auto, and I've yet to say the camera hasn't gotten stumped on what kind of lighting is in my composition. If you take into account, this camera has seen incandescent, fluorescent, mercury vapor, sodium halide, etc. Nothing has been able to stump it. I just keep it in auto and forget about it as it does what it should. Now unless I am playing with my photos and want to do a freeze blue on something, then I will play with the WB settings to get my composition just right. But like I said, when I'm taking serious photos, the WB stays on auto.

The 11 point focusing system works decently well. Sometimes it gets hung up, sometimes it is blazing fast. The 3D tracking is the best from what I've used. It is the fastest, plus it keeps everything in focus especially with moving objects. I've used center weighted and the other focus settings, and for the most part they work as they should.

<<<More to come>>>

This information can be used for education and non-commercial use ONLY.