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NIKON D80?????
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I am looking at buyin a digital SLR. Have never owned a digital camera b4. Currently have a Nikon F55 which i use on auto as i dont know much about it. Doing basic film course 2hrs a week to get to grips with the f55. Have been looking at getting Nikon d80 as i could use my flash gun and lenses….but it has mixed reviews. :? Can anyone recommend this or another digital camera. Have great interest in photography just find the ” science” bit hard to understand!!Thanks
First of all welcome to the site. :)
I had the D70 and last year upgraded to the D200. Both excellent cameras.
You will not be unhappy with the D80. Had it been available at the time of my upgrade
I’d have probably bought it. From what I see its getting good reviews.As you have Nikon lens (are they mf or af?) it makes sense to stick with Nikon.
Enjoy
Ciara,
The problem with reading review after review is that every little real or imagined flaw with a product is going to be dug through and magnified. I’ve read quite a lot of reviews of the D80 and seen the shots produced with it here on this site..and I seriously doubt you would be disappointed from a quality point of view. I imagine all the other similar level major manufacturer models will be similar too. Since you already have a collection of Nikon lenses..it makes sense to move that way with your DSLR.
I just wish I had the same choice to make right now… :cry:
I have to wait at least another 7 or 8 months before i’ll be in a position to afford one.
Best of luck with the new purchase if you go ahead :D
Robbie
Ciara
I got the D80 at Christmas and although I haven’t had the chance to use it too much what I have seen of it is brilliant.
I was down to a choice of the 400D or the D80 and made my choice based on a couple of reviews not all in favor of the D80 but enough to sway me. My main test was to go and try each of the cameras and I personally thought the 400 was too small (highlighted in most reviews) compared to how good a quality the D80 felt. I cannot wait to really get using my camera properly I really believe that I have made the right choice. Good luck on what ever you decide hope I’ve helped a bit.
SodaHi just wondering what difference between af and mf is. I have 2 Af lenses 28-100mm and 100-300mm. Was looking at buying Nikon d80 with 18-135mm lense
CiaraHi Ciara,
I’m pretty much a novice as well..and anything I know I have learned from this site in the past couple of weeks.
As far as I know…AF is Auto Focus…which means the lens is motorised and can automatically focus itself…MF would be manual focus..which I think means you have to manually turn the focus ring on the lens to bring subjects into focus. I think the D80 can use both.
Hey..I answered my first technical question….hehe!!
Probably totally wrong!!!
Robbie glad you got in before me, I was going to say the same thing, if you have the 2 Nikon lenses then then i don’t really think there is much point in looking at another make as you have the start to a good kit. I got the 18-135mm lens kit and I am totaly amazed by it, I have been “messing around” with it an some of the results are brilliant and I don’t know what I am doing. Good luck Ciara and if you get the D80 enjoy yourself, others might be able to give you advice on the lens which could save you money by buying body only.
SodaI also took the plunge and treated myself to the D80 over Christmas. It just feels so good. [now now, calm down]
I checked out the 400D as in -I did the rounds of the shops and handled both cameras.I must say I Iliked the neat size and weight of the Canon, but the large clear Nikon viewfinder was very persuasive. Feature-wise the Nikon has everything, but then so has every camera in this range.
Best of luck with whichever you choose.
just out of curiosity – where have you read a mixed review of the D80 and what was it that made the reviewer feel the camera wasn’t up for it?
Hi eas read my reviews on “dpreview.com”. Alot of people complained of the lack of sharpness with the d80 and reckoned the d70 was a better model. There were a total of 62 reviews and while alot of positive reviews, its alot of money for me to spend and want to spend it wisely.
Thanks for that Robbie…goes to show i am a true novice!! Have a tonne of basic questions like that….for example What does it mean when something is “exposed” for the sky, water etc….when taking a shot? what is white balance all about? jpegs and RAW???? Also what memory card should i purchase for best quality? Forgot to mention i am buying camera in b&h in NY, can you buy an international warranty?
Welcome Ciara. You’ll quickly learn a lot if you hang around this site. I have seeped up knowledge without realising it, just by checking in now and again.
greeneciara wrote:
Thanks for that Robbie…goes to show i am a true novice!! Have a tonne of basic questions like that….for example What does it mean when something is “exposed” for the sky, water etc….when taking a shot? what is white balance all about? jpegs and RAW???? Also what memory card should i purchase for best quality? Forgot to mention i am buying camera in b&h in NY, can you buy an international warranty?
A camera has a limited range of light whch it can display. Our eyes onthe other hand are very good at being able to see detail in both light and dark things at the same time. A classic example is that we can see features on someone’s face, even if the sun is behind them. If you were to shoot that same scene on a camera, either they would be a sillhouette, or the sky would be completely white (or overexposed). Different scenes present different lighting challenges. If you expose for the sky, basically, you adjust the exposure so that the sky is exposed correctly. Depending on the light, this may mean that the landscape/foreground is correctly exposed, but more often than not, the land will be underexposed…even though to your eye, the land does not look dark.
Different types of lighting give off colour casts which show up on film (or digital). Tungsten lighting has a warm orangey light. Cloudy days look bluish. Flourescent can be greenish. Our eyes are very good at adapting and making it look normal. Normally your camera will auto correct this with its ‘auto white balance’ setting which is why you’ve probably not noticed it. However some lighting situations can confuse the camera.. Using the presents for ‘tungsten’, ‘sunny’, ‘flourescent’, etc, you can get more accurate and natural looking colour.
jpegs make an actual picture based on all the settings in camera. RAW records only the data that hit the sensor. With RAW you can make many adjustments later. You will need the sooftware that came with the camera in order to view the RAW images. There is a lot more info on RAW around here if you search for it.
Memory cards won’t affect your picture quality. Just make sure that you get a brand name one. You don’t want it to wipe your pictures!
Not sure on the international warranty tbh. warranty can often be a pretty grey area that way.
Now, I better get on my way to work…. all the best.
Hi greeneciara
greeneciara wrote:
Hi eas read my reviews on “dpreview.com”. Alot of people complained of the lack of sharpness with the d80 and reckoned the d70 was a better model. There were a total of 62 reviews and while alot of positive reviews, its alot of money for me to spend and want to spend it wisely.
bah – don’t mind those people…… The reason I asked where you read the reviews was because that I’ve not read a bad review about it anywhere. TBH I’m not going to read the user reviews you mention above.
I’m sure you read Phils review on dpreview? http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/nikond80/
Forgot to mention i am buying camera in b&h in NY, can you buy an international warranty?
Someone may correct me on this, but AFAIK Nikon Cameras are covered by a geographic warrantee, as in if you buy your camera in the US the warrantee will not be valid in Europe. In fact, I understand that Nikon repair centres will not look at a camera if it’s from another region under any circumstances :( .
Cheers ead decided to bite the bullet and go ahead and get the D80. Cant wait. Warranty wont really matter , there is always someone i know going to NY who could bring it back to be repaired if needed
Ciara
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