D40 or D60?

The VR lens is definitely worth the extra money!!! The quality is so much more amazing! Images taken with VR lenses are so crisp and clear! As for the megapixels... it really depends on what you're going to do with your photos. If you're going to be printing a lot of very large copies of your photos, then you'll probably want to go with the more megapixels. If you only print 8x10s or smaller, or mostly store your photos online... then more megapixels aren't really that much of a necessity, and you may want to go with something cheaper. If you go with either the D40 or the D60, one thing you should keep in mind is that you will only be able to buy Nikkor lenses for your camera. Since the D40 and the D60 don't have an autofocus sensor in the camera, the auto focus will only work with certain lenses. Nikkor lenses are usually much more expensive than third party lenses (Sigma, Tamron, etc.) I personally use third part lenses a lot, because there are some types of lenses Nikkor just doesn't make. So I'd look at what types of lenses you plan on eventually buying for your camera.. and make sure the autofocus will work with the D40 or the D60. If you only plan on using the kit lens that comes with the camera, then this isn't an issue. But if you plan on purchasing lots of other lenses in the future... and a lot of the lenses you want to get won't work with the D40 or the D60, then you may want to think about getting a D80 instead.

I was given the D40 with 2 lenses for Christmas, and I love it, it takes amazing photos, anything from stills to actions shots. My s/o did do his homework before buying me that particular camera, he talked with the guys at work which use the D40 for forensics work. I have looked at the D60, but for the difference I'm pretty sure I would have gone with the D40 if I had bought it for myself. He also gave me a high def printer for Christmas, and all of it because I do scrapbooking, which just got kicked up to a new level thanks to him lol

If you can afford the expense and want to get into amature photography seriously, I would recommend the D60. It will be able to take you further than the D40 will. I have a Cannon Rebel XT and love it. My next one will probably be a Nikon though.

D60 is a much better option to begin with the purchase of a Digital camera as of today. D40 has passed out its time. Hence I suggest you to buy the D60 if you can afford to buy a further more advanced one then go for D300/D400 professional cameras. Infact the most advanced one and recently launched one is D3. Rest left to your choice.

I would recommend that any one thinking seriously about photography buy the most expensive and up to date camera they can afford. If not you will always be thiking about upgrading.