I've owned my Nikon N-60 for about a year now and have to say that it's a great camera. The things that most set Nikon apart from other cameras are picture quality, ease of use and camera quality. You will find that Nikon cameras weigh more than comparable cameras of other brands because their construction is sturdier and meant to last for years. As for picture quality, I can only say that when the photographer who was supposed to take my brother's wedding pictures got drunk and failed to show (!), the pictures I took with my Nikon made a most acceptable wedding album. Being strictly an amateur, I've not yet learned to develop my own photos, but my Nikon's pictures can be blown up to 11"x16" by a mail-in developer with no fuzziness or loss of clarity. And of course, once you get the camera, it's so easy to use you have to start buying lenses and filters! So far I have the basic 38:80 lens and a 100:300 zoom, which adjusts for macro @ 300 to take portraits. Whether using the fully automatic mode or switching to the manual and playing, you'll definitely get your money's worth out of this camera. And by the way, I paid $ for mine (which included the basic lens) and can't regret it, so $ is a real bargain!