[Randy]

Finally planning on making the digital switch, and have decided to go with the Nikon D-60. I have used Nikon SLRs for years starting with a Nikormat I prefer to stick with the brand. Now, since I am also nearly a computer illiterate, I would like advice on what accessories I need to pick up along with the camera. I assume the 18-55 usually offered with the camera is a good choice. Any advice is welcome.

[BradJudy]

I think the biggest items for someone new to digital photography are software to organize, label and backup your photos.  You'll probably get better tips from some of the more experienced folks here, but I'm just using Picasa (free from Google) to browse and label images.  I only do simplistic organization with folders by date. 

For backup, I use a program called SyncBack (a free version is available) to copy to an external drive and occasionally burn DVDs for a second backup. 

There's also digital post-processing, but I do very little of that, so I'll let others discuss their favorites.

[JohnR]

Cool.

My main advice would be to buy from a reputable vendor who won't switch lenses to older/cheaper versions of the kit lens(es) or sell you useless "bundles" of stuff. I don't think you need to get anything other than the camera, lens, and a memory card. A rocket blower is useful for sensor cleaning, and of course some lens cleaning tissues and a carry case of some kind.

After that I would suggest looking into software before getting more hardware (or was that the question ...?)

[nathanm]

I would recommend getting Adobe Lightroom.  Then get the Luminous Landscape video tutorials for it. 
http://www.luminous-landscape.com/videos/LR2.shtml

I know this may be overkill as it doesn't really jive with your "computer illiterate" claim (which probably isn't entirely true I'm guessing) but let's face it, you can't shoot digital photos and truly be computer illiterate at the same time! Heh!

Lightroom will keep you organized and allow you to batch-process stuff with great speed.  Organization and keywording is very critical as photo collections grow.  You can weed out the junk and keep the winners very quickly.

[drphoto]

I suppose it depends on your shooting style. Even though I'm a pro, I never batch process. I record RAW & jpeg at the same time, in case the client wants to look at the jpegs for picks or someother reason (some of them don't have pro imaging software and can only view jpegs)  I then manually convert the RAW's to photoshop for post work. I do my editing w/ a program called 'photo mechanic', but you can easily edit using the 'image ready' portion of pshop.

Even though I tend to be a disorganized slob by nature, I've never found it a problem to keep track of files, without any sort of automated process. But I don't shoot tons of images. Generally I know what I want when I shoot, and delete the duds as I go along.

In other words, good 'ole pshop may be all you need. But get the real version, not one of those stripped down consumer products like 'elements'.

[Randy]

Thanks, fellas. I use a Mac leopard, now, upgraded from an ancient OS - 9 iMac. What a difference, and a big learning curve for me.

Any further suggestions are very welcome.

[ooheadsoo]

Are those videos really worth that much money?  Lightroom seems fairly straightforward vs. pshop.

[nathanm]

Absolutely.  I was able to get the hang of Lightroom much quicker after watching that.  Photoshop and Lightroom are two entirely different animals.  It took me awhile to understand what Lightroom was up to, but now I totally get it.  It's a different paradigm, but one that serves global-edit photography tasks better than Photoshop does. 

There are also Lightroom podcasts available through iTunes which are also useful.

Main reason Lightroom is great: non-destructive edits!  You can't screw up unless you really try and you can always go back to where you were.

[Randy]

I saw this on Amazon. Can anyone explain what this means? Are Photoshop and Lightroom the type of software the poster is talking about?  Someone on Amazon also said old Nikkor lenses, non autofocus, will work with the D-60. Is that true?



"Warning to anyone buying a Nikon D60 and expecting it to come with processing software. You, like me, may be sorely disappointed. I used a Nikon D50 for years (it was stolen) and thought I was replacing it with an "upgrade." The old D50 came with a decent if simple processing software program called Picture Project which allowed you to edit pictures (crop, tweak, etc.). THE D60 DOES NOT! No one tells you this in advance. The D60 comes with a completely inadequate program for "viewing" pictures but not editing them--ViewNX. It's good for nothing. When I found this out the hard way and called Nikon they told me I would have to buy their new Capture software for $179. If you are about the spend $700 on this camera, be prepared: if you want to edit your pictures on your computer (and not just on the tiny LCD screen on the camera), you'd better budget another $179. Nikon should be ashamed of themselves. Let the buyer beware."

[Tubo]

Randy,

If you have a current Mac, then you have iPhoto which is sufficient to organize your photos and do some limited editing such as cropping, resizing and adjusting color, exposure and contrast. If you want to do more than that then you need something more sophisticated like Photoshop, Aperture, Lightroom, etc.

As for using older lenses, some can be used and some need modification. Consult the following website before attaching your old lenses to your D60:

http://www.aiconversions.com/index.html

[Randy]

Tubo - thanks very much. Your info will come in handy.

[JohnR]

Non-AI lenses don' t need to be converted for the D60.