HI i have been bird watching for a while now and i have got the chance to buy a nikon d60 with 55-200mm vr lens will this combination be ok for a novice photographer. thankyou for any advice john.
My $0.02,
Nikon's D40s and D60 are missing a few things I consider important.
The missing AF-drive and no LCD status window are major drawbacks.
Since the D90 was announced/introduced the price for the D80 has dropped further and I wouldn't be surprised to see used ones showing up in numbers as people upgrade to the D90.
The D80 is in my eyes a way superior option then the D60, if the D90 is not in the budget.
The 50-200mm lens is with 200mm to short for most bird photography. You will have to get real close to get something recognizable on the picture. On the other end it is not really short enough for non-bird photograpy (family pictures, scenery etc.). Very soon you would probably want a lens to cover the short side, like a affordable 18 - 55mm. Then the combination of the two lenses would cover 95% of non-Wildlife photography.
Something with a focal length up to 400mm or more for the birds is desirable, and here the lack of an built in AF drive in the D60 will make most 2nd hand long lenses manual focus only.
Ulli
P.S. I am using a D80 and started out with a D50. Just to put things in perspective (I am not a Nikon opponent).