Thinking of getting the Nikon D80. Anyone got any experience of it?

Question

Already have lenses so will be wanting to get a Nikon .

Answer 1

The D80 is a great, solid camera. It is in NO way equivalent to the D200. Anyone that thinks the D80 is 'just as good' as the D200 needs to spend more time with the D200 and use more than the 'basic control functions'. I could make an exhaustive list of the differences, but that would waste your time.

In a nutshell; very, very serious enthusiasts or starting level professionals that want to shoot Nikon should get a D200. Everyone else should look to the D40 or D80. If you've never shot an SLR before, then look to the D40. If you have existing experience with Nikon SLRs and have existing lenses, look to the D80.

The D80 has the convenient (and pretty cool) Retouch Menu (as does the D40), but it's like a limited version of PhotoShop Elements, and you can't apply multiple effects to the same shot. Being able to copy & resize multiple pictures is cool,and makes dowloading for email easier & faster. It's also a great way to create 'proof CDs' if you are shooting professionally,so that your clients can review the pictures they want, but not get quality prints if they try to take the CD to a photofinisher.

The D80 is an excellent camera. It's lighter than the D200, making it more portable, and you might not ever miss the difference in features. It also costs about $700 less, so that is an important consideration. Uses SD cards versus CF, so that's not a big deal.

Talk to your local Ritz/Wolf Camera store and try out all three cameras. Be aware that non AF-S or AF-I lenses will not work properly on the D40, and some manual lenses lose some function on the D80.

Answer 2

We have several members here who own D80's, so I know they will respond. Here are a couple of my canned answers to amuse you while you wait, though.

Answer One
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I own a D70s and D200, so I can't really comment on the D80, but between the size and feel of the D70s and the sensor and processing of the D200, I have formed an opinion. One of these articles is subtitled, "Psst - Want a D200 at half the price?" If the D80 came out before I bought my D200, I may have bought that and been happy enough to stick with it. There are only a few tricks the D200 can do that the D80 can't and the D80 can even do a couple that the D200 can't. Here are a few links, in case you have not seen this material yet. They will give you more pros and cons than I could dream of.

http://www.popphoto.com/cameras/3476/editors-choice-10mp-dslrs.html

http://www.popphoto.com/cameras/3231/camera-test-nikon-d80.html

http://www.popphoto.com/cameras/3157/nikon-d80-competitive-set.html

http://www.popphoto.com/cameras/2794/hands-on-nikon-d80-dslr.html

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/specs/Nikon/nikon_d80.asp

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/nikond80/
(Note: There are 30 pages to this article. Don't stop after reading page 1.)

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/read_opinions.asp?prodkey=nikon_d80
(Note: There are over 60 owner opinions, including pros and cons in almost all of them.)

http://www.steves-digicams.com/2006_reviews/nikon_d80.html
(Note: There are 11 pages to this article. Don't stop after reading page 1.)

http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/d80.htm

Answer Two
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The February 2007 issue of Popular Photography has an article where they compared the top 10 MP DSLR's.

I took the scores and ranked the cameras similar to the way Formula 1 gives championship points. I just gave 5 for 1st place down to 1 for last place, splitting the difference when cameras tied in their catagories.

They evaluated Image Quality (giving this twice as much weight as anything else), Ease of Use, Control, and System Flexibility.

The final order and my scores are:

Nikon D80 - 17.5 points
- BEST in Image Quality, Control and System Flexibility
Canon Rebel XTi (400D) - 13.5 points
- Tied for best in System Flexibility
Pentax K10D - 11 points
- Tied for best in Ease of Use
Samsung GX10 - 11 points
- Tied for best in Ease of Use
Sony Alpha 100 - 7 points
- LAST in Image Quality, Ease of Use and System Flexibility."

Go to the original question and read the responses for more opinions.
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AiG00eHyd0oq5b.X7J.jiULzy6IX?qid=20070113133139AAHWJY0

If you want to get the "best" for the real world, consider the Nikon D200 or Canon 30D if you can afford it. For about $300-500 less, look at the results of the recent PopPhoto test and choose from that list accoriding to your taste.

Personally, I use a Nikon D200 and would recommend it without hesitation to someone who has some knowledge of photography. For someone who wants the "best," but is starting with somewhat of an "entry level" knowledge base, I'd suggest the Nikon D80.

There are people out there who will state their preference for the Canon cameras and I will not argue with them. The Canon 30D and 400D are excellent cameras as well. You would have to visit a camera store or camera department and pick them up and see what you think.

Then again, the same magazine that put the Sony Alpha 100 dead last in this comparison named it the camera of the year in the previous issue!

This review is now available online at: http://www.popphoto.com/cameras/3569/10mp-dslr-shootout.html

Answer 3

I have one. It's great, though I'm still finding new stuff it can do (had it since July).

Immediate thoughts....

It's very quick (shutter speed of up to 1/4000 sec), it takes extremely high-res pictures, you can take black-and-white images, it allows manual focus, and the view-screen is big and bright.

Answer 4

Check out www.KenRockwell.com . He has a review of it and the cheaper D40.

Answer 5

Love mine only complaint is 2.5 lcd on camera only displays captured image can't use to compose next shot..all else is great