Nikon D80

Hello all please can you all give me some advice. I’m about to buy a new SLR very soon. I’ve been looking at buying a Nikon D80 with an 18 to 135 lens. I know this camera has been out for some time now but the price has come down a bit. I take this is because there is a newer model out. I’m not too bothered about having an older model because you can get some great deals on older models and I can’t see the point in buying the latest model and paying top price. So my question is would you buy one or not and why.

Thanks

 

I haven't used a D80 but have heard good things about them. I have used its' smaller brother the D40 and now have its big brother the D200 - both were very good although the D40 had certain limitations particuarly on multiple shots.

Biggest changes with newer Nikons as far as railway photography is concerned is less noise at higher ISOs.

I would recommend you spend as much as you can afford on a lense. You can always swap the body but still have a good quality lenses for the future.

Regards,

 

Three things:

1) Perhaps not Nikon, but one problem with end of range models is that models which have failed, straight out of the box, are often ‘refurbished’ and sold as new. Not always a good idea to buy one of these.

Moral, buy from a reputable firm such as Warehouse Express, Park Cameras etc.

2) If you are technically minded and want to compare Cameras (via a sensor evaluation) there is a professional comparison site at:

http://www.dxomark.com/index.php/eng/DxOMark-Sensor

Here you can see camera by camera evaluations for,

(Sensor) DxO Mark; Colour Depth; Dynamic Range; and ISO performance

The bottom line is that each batch of new cameras trounces previously issued models.

The D60 is often better than the D200 and D300

The D90 is often better than the D200 and D300

The D80 is very much inferior to the D60.

Moral. Buy as new a model as you can.

If you want to look at Lens performance there is a comparison site at:

http://www.photozone.de/

The Nikon 18 – 135 has fantastic resolution which is better than most lenses costing up to £500. Review at:

http://www.photozone.de/nikon--nikkor-a ... est-report

3) If you simply want to see what sort of pictures the Nikon D80 and 18 – 135 takes there are several examples on my Fotopic Site at:

http://steampassed.fotopic.net/

The sections headed West Coast open Day and Steam As It Is Now were all taken with the Nikon D80 with an 18 - 135 lens

Hope this helps.









Hope this helps

 

Have to disagree about the d80 inferior to the d60 ! - the d60 is limited to lenses with a motor built into the lense unless using manual focus - very limiting for moving targets! and fast lenses (low F stops) hard to comeby for it. They would also be out of balane due to the weight of the lense and the smaller size and weight of the camera.

Picture quality should be approxiamately the same as the D60 -

If you could - pick up a d200 instead of the d80 if he prices are nearly the same

john

 

I just looked on a price comparison site and the Canon 450D is £100 less than the D80, both "highly recommended".

D80 review

450D review

 

John, where did I say that the D80 was inferior to the D60?

I did not compare any cameras but provided links to enable 73129 to make comparisons between cameras and lenses available for himself.

The comment you are referring to was that the dxomark site indicated that, as far as the sensor is concerned, the D80 sensor was often inferior to the D60 sensor.

Now you have mentioned it though I do have to say that the D60 is a very good camera. See this site:

http://www.aportraitofsteam.com/gallery.html

The vast majority of the pictures were taken with a D60 and quite a few were published in steam magazines, One as a cover shot and another a a centre spread.

Not a bad little camera.

As to the D200 I don't think Nikon are now supplying these cameras to retailers any more, and 73129 wanted to buy a new camera.

I have been very happy with my D80 and the lens is a cracker. There is no shutter lag and the autofocus (in follow focus mode) is brilliant. Much better than you can get with Canon Cameras. Most budget Canons are sold with the inferior kit lenses compared with Nikon. To match the current D80 price you would have to buy one with an 18 - 55 lens which is no match for the 18 - 135 Nikon on magnification or resolution (see the Parazone site).

One problem I do find with the D80 is that it underexposes most pictures where there is even a small element of sky and you need to increase the exposure suggested by the camera by 2/3 of a stop. Other than that it is a very good buy at the current price.

Hope this helps

 

Thanks for all the info.
:smt023

 

Std Nikon problem with the sky especially with the cheaper versions. Go back to the traditional method of a spot of the ground and you won't go far wrong. Very happy with my D200.

 

If you haven't yet bought a Nikon D80, 73129, there may be a problem.

In the last two days a couple of photo magazines popped through my letter box and neither contained adverts for the sale of a D80 (or a D200 for that matter).

If you are 'stymied' can I suggest an alternative solution.

There is another camera in the same position as the D80, in that it is cheap because it is at the end of its production run.

The Fujifilm Finepix S5 Pro DSLR has much to recommend it. It has a Nikon D200 body which is metal compared with the plastic D80 one. It has the autofocus and exposure systems from the D200 which are better than those in the D80. However, instead of the Sensor in the Nikon it has the much praised Fuji sensor which has a fine reputation for superb colour and improved tonal range.

Obviously, having a Nikon mount means that it will take new and old Nikon lenses - the old lenses being readily available at very good prices. You can still get a Nikon 18 -135 which is very cheap for such an excellent lens.

Is the camera any good?

There is a retail camera site which is geared to professionals called Calumet (http://www.calumet.co.uk) and, in the past two months, sales of this camera have been in the top three of all the cameras sold at Calumet. Reason being it is a good back up camera for Nikon owners, and it's superb colour and high tonal range makes the camera ideal for weddings and landscape photography.

You can see samples of pictures at:

http://www.steves-digicams.com/2007_rev ... mples.html

I think these are very good.

The full review is at:

http://www.steves-digicams.com/2007_rev ... s5pro.html

The S5 Pro DSLR can be purchased from a number of reputable dealers. For example:

From Warehouse Express:

http://www.warehouseexpress.com/categor ... 5&brand=84

and from Park Cameras (including an 18 - 135 offer) at;

http://www.parkcameras.com/5162/Fujifil ... 5-Pro.html

Cheers

 

:-D

 

Personally , I love Nikon SLR's - But find the D2X too bulky! The D70's or the D80 are perfect! I have played with these cameras and both are fantastic - It is personal choice in my opinion and what ever you can afford and also what ever you plan to use them for? Professional or personal use?
Me and a colleague are currently looking into going into this professionally in the near future! So Nikons on a whole are perfect for the job! But as someone else has already said - It is certainly worth buying the right Lens even if you plan on using it on a different camera Make/Model etc in the future!

 

Hi all once again thanks for all the in put about buying a D80. One reason for considering a D80 package is that it comes with an 18 to 135 lens. Which for me is right just. No need to keep changing lenses.

 

Well best if luck with it mate! They are fab cameras! Would certainly be my choice!!