Nikon D3000 - Worth buying? Any recommended lenses?

I think I'm buying a Nikon D3000. Has anyone got one? If so, what's it like?
I'm also wanting to do some macro photography, what would be the best lens to use with the D3000 to do so?

D3000 is a nice and affordable starter camera. Quite outclassed by the d3100 though.

For macro you could look at nikon's 85mm f3.5

It's alright, but it's an entry level DSLR, so you're lacking some stuff that you'd see on an advanced DSLR.

I'm personally be more inclined to get either a Nikon D80 18-90mm kit or Canon EOS 30D 17-85mm kit. They work better if you're going to do macro, as you'll often need manual mode because you get some challenging lighting at times as well as some odd equipment.

As for a macro lens, I'm thinking for Nikon a Sigma 105mm or 150mm macro, or a 50mm f1.8 D and a set of bellows. For Canon you should look at the the same sigma lenses or an M42 50mm lens and a bellow unit.

I like the bellows unit because you can get some really good magnifications on them, and very fine control.

The Nikon D3000 is a very basic DSLR. In my opinion you can spend the same amount of money and get quite a few more features with the Pentax K-x. The K-x was chosen by the 'Technical Image
Press Association' as the 2010 "Best DSLR Entry Level". Here is what it offers:

1) A CMOS sensor which gives superior performance at high ISO settings and in low-light.

2) Live View.

3) HD Video.

4) Double/multiple exposure capability of from 2 to 9 with Auto EV Compensation. This is a feature seldom found in cameras costing 3 to 4 times more than the K-x and opens up a whole new world of creative possibilities.

5) A focusing motor in the camera body so any Pentax AF lens ever made will auto focus on it as it should.

6) In camera Image Stabilization so any lens used becomes, in effect, an IS lens.

The Nikon D3000 has exactly NONE of those features. NONE! You might find a bargain on an older Nikon AF lens but since the D3000 doesn't have a focusing motor in the camera it won't auto focus. If you want auto focus you need Nikon's AF-I or AF-S lenses. Only Nikon lenses with VR (Nikon's version of IS) will be stabilized. So you pay again and again for the auto focus capability and the VR. The CCD sensor of the D3000 performs poorly at higher ISO settings and in low-light.

At B&H - http://www.bhphotovideo.com/...ovideo.com - here are the current prices for the two cameras with the usual 18-55mm lens:

Pentax K-x, $499.70

Nikon D3000, $549.95

So you can actually pay LESS for the Pentax K-x and have all its features or pay MORE for the Nikon D3000 and have NONE of the features of the K-x. In my world paying LESS for MORE is the way to go.

Did I mention the K-x comes in COLORS? Http://www.pentaximaging.com/slr

Few people know that in 1952 Pentax introduced the first Japanese-made 35mm Single lens Reflex (SLR) camera. Not Nikon. Not Canon. Pentax. One could reasonably say Pentax has more experience with the SLR style camera.

Since the K-x uses the Pentax "K" lens mount that dates back to 1975 any K-mount lens ever made can be used on it. Of course there are limitations when using a 35 year old lens on a 2010 DSLR but that's covered in the Owner's Manual. At least that legacy lens will be stabilized.

For macro photography you'll want a true macro lens. Pentax made a couple for their 35mm film cameras so finding a good used one shouldn't be too difficult. Of course, you can always buy the latest one from Pentax or look at the Tamron 90mm macro lens. B&H has a used Pentax 50mm manual focus macro lens for $279.00 and a new Pentax 50mm auto focus macro lens for $419.95.

The D 3100 will be out any day now, save your bucks for that because it has many improvements over the D 3000 like a newer digital processing engine