Buying my first DSLR - Advice needed

Hi all,

I am wanting to purchase my first DSLR and so far I have only really looked at the Nikon range, mainly the D60 and the D80. I am from Melbourne, VIC Australia and it seems that unless you are going to buy from the actual shop you walk in to, I can't seem to get any solid answers out of anyone.. and a lot of other retail stores really don't know much about the products they are selling? Unless I am just going to all of the wrong places? From what I read Nikon and Canon seem to be the way to go..

Anyhow, I am looking to only spend about $1300 max. I can get a D60 with two lenses (A AF-S 18-55mm ED VR and an AF-S 55-200mm ED VR lens) for ~$1100 from JB-hifi, or I can get a D80 with a 18-135mm lens for $1300. I browsed online stores and found a D80 with a 70-300mm lens for $1000, but after reading reviews on some of the lenses, I read mostly that at 300mm zoom or something, the images aren't crisp. The type of lens and filter that came with that package was (70-300mm AF Zoom-Nikkor lens and 62mm Hoya UV-Filter) The other one I believe just says (Nikon D80 + AF-S 18-135mm Lens Kit)

There was also this one for ~1200 after cash back (Nikon D80 Camera Body with Nikkor AF-S DX 18-55mm f3.5-5.6 GF ED II Lens kit.)

I am mainly going to be using it as an all-round camera, generally for night shots, pictures of cars and scenery etc. Does anyone have any recommendations or experience with either of these cameras or other cameras for a similar price range? Am I better off buying a body only and going for a particular brand/type of lens to match it and not get it in a bundle?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

If it were me, I'd go for the D60 :thumbsup:
Its newer & has a few improvements over the D80
The D60 was released in Jan of 2008
D80 came out in 2006...its due for an update/redesign soon.
So yes, I'd go with the D60 two lens kit. for $1100.
The VR lenes are good and have image stabilization.

On a personal note...I don't use filters to protect my lens.
Nikon engineers spent a lot of time designing the glass,
why spoil all that technology with a $10 filter?

good luck & post up when you buy your camera
cheers Hollis

Well after much re-searching, I bought niether :) I ended up buying a Canon 400D. I haven't had the chance to play around with it yet as the battery is still charging. Am looking forward to using it :)