Well, that's mostly the case. But the penalty for all that user-friendliness is a set of manual controls that's buried just slightly too deep. You can see straight away what the white balance, ISO and other settings are, but it takes just a few too many button clicks to change them. It was just the same with the D60.
What this means is that, although the D3000 is good, you could very quickly outgrow it. There's no problem at all with the picture quality, even if the D3000 does have a comparatively low-tech sensor. But, if you want your camera to be a learning tool rather than just something to grab snaps with, the D3000's control system could soon start getting on your nerves.
Conclusion
The Nikon D3000 is very middle-of-the-road, but its pictures are great, its technology is perfectly adequate and it's as simple to use as Nikon says it is. Even the price is alright -- it's much more than you might have paid for a starter dSLR a couple of years ago, but rivals have gone up in price too.
Edited by Charles Kloet
Android App 
RSS Feeds 
iPhone App 
Newsletters
User reviews4
Add your review
JamieCampbell 23 April 2011
Comment: First things first - build quality is excellent, no squeaks, rattles, loose parts etc, so that's a real plus! (Not many things these days come that are of such a high quality!) Assembly wise, all you have to do is fit the lens and the carrying strap. Both are extremely easy to do, and only take a matter of minutes, if the quick setup guide is followed. The battery charges relatively quickly (around 2 hours, so about the same for most compacts I've had in the past).
The pictures that this camera takes are also of similar quality. One of the first things I noticed was that when using the flash, the pictures don't appear washed out, as they do on some cameras. The flash, by the way, pops up from the top of the camera when required.
This camera is extremely easy to use straight out of the box, as the automatic mode would do everything that the basic camera user would want. In fact, unless your a professional, I can't see why some of the features would even be required, when the automatic mode is so good. However, it's good to see they've catered for both markets.
The lens which comes as standard with the camera isn't a very powerful zoom, but I'm sure better lenses can be bought for this job if required. Out of the box, I estimated that the zoom power would be equivalent to the basic compact, however the beauty of this camera (and most SLR's) is that nearly any sort of lens you would ever need can be fitted.
Another thing I was very impressed with was how quickly you can take multiple shots. The specifications state that up to 3 frames per second can be snapped; and it's true! This cuts out the annoying waits for the camera to reload, especially if you're trying to capture something that's about to disappear!
The picture quality is further enhanced by the VR lens and dust particle cleaner. VR lenses (Vibration Reduction) are designed so that in dim light conditions, the picture quality is still sharp. The camera also prevents dust from ruining your pictures by vibrating at exactly the same frequency so that the dust falls off! Clever!
Overall, very good camera, well built, and is suited to virtually any type of photographer. I highly recommend it!
Hugh Morley 23 July 2010
Good: Excellent image quality, good sturdy build, guide mode is useful
Bad: No live view
Comment: Moved up to a D3000 from a Panasonic FZ-28 Lumix bridge camera, and I was not disappointed. The lack of live view is hard to compensate for if, like me, you're used to snapping photos from the LCD rather than the viewfinder, but the crystal clear image offered through the finder on this SLR is more than enough to convince even the most ardent point-and-clicker to take more time in setting up a shot.
A good investment if you want to get to grips with photographic techniques, and it's not pricey at all these days.
AddyWaddy 29 March 2010
Good: Small, light, fits all AFS nikon lens, fast enough 3fps, artistic grain effect in monochrome B/W, Battery life
Bad: LCD a bit grainy compared to D90/D300, highest ISO 1600 (3200) with boost good but not great!
Comment: I've had several Nikon digital SLR's over the years and I have to say I love the D3000. It's so small and compact and let’s me get those great shots without having a 4lb weight on my shoulder (Nikon D300 + Lens). It takes really excellent pictures with great colours and sharpness and with a 10.2 mp censor means you can blow up your shots to a decent size too (I would recommend the AFS 35mm f1.8 fixed lens… sharp sharp sharp). I use a Nikon D300 as my main camera which is fantastic, but since I got this I can’t put it down, it really puts the fun back into SLR photography for me, I know some will say it’s not got Live View or a movie mode but I can live without these as they seem somewhat tagged on at the moment on the D5000 and D90. I'm not saying that the D5000 and D90 aren't better all round cameras it’s just so much fun to chuck the D3000 in your bag and start shooting! Great.
See all 4 user reviews