6. Working with Lenses

If Nikon has one advantage over many of the other vendors of digital SLRs (other than making great, affordable cameras), it’s the mind-bending assortment of high-quality lenses available to enhance the capabilities of cameras like the Nikon D60. You can use thousands of current and older lenses introduced by Nikon and third-party vendors since 1959 (although lenses made before 1977 may need an inexpensive modification for use with cameras other than the Nikon D60, D40, and D40x—more on this later). These can give you a wider view, bring distant subjects closer, let you focus closer, shoot under lower light conditions, or provide a more detailed, sharper image for critical work. Other than the sensor itself, the lens you choose for your dSLR is the most important component in determining image quality and perspective of your images.

This chapter explains how to select the best lenses for the kinds of photography you want to do.