Nikon D80

[caniswolfie]

This idea is good to a point. In most cases there is enough of an advance in the technology, capacity, functionality to make the jump worth it. The jump from Laserdisc to DVD with much greater capacity, smaller size, more features. I know it's fun when the laserdisc needs to be flipped (even though some players did that for you).

The change in floppies went from a easily damaged case to smaller hard case and a slight bump in capacity.

In some cases it seems the market doesn't need the new technology and won't support it. For example, DVD audio discs has been around for a while and seemed to have died a quiet death.

In the case of SD vs CF I don't see the advantage of switching between the two in most applications that would merit people dumping their current tech and going with another if you already have a decent amount of equipment using the preferred format.

In terms of size, they are both pretty small and not really that bulky. Capacity is pretty close with CF having an upper hand. Transmission speed I'm not sure, but I haven't heard anyone claiming that the either one is too slow for their needs (and aren't limited by other technologies that would make a faster transmission speed irrellevant, such as USB speed, camera processing, etc.). Price isn't that huge of a difference.

The only thing I can see that may really sway a person is if the devices that use the format start to decrease in frequency and you are forced to switch eventually. Sort of the situation between VHS and Beta. Or now with DVD and VHS (the difficulty of finding VHS movies nowadays).

 

[handicap18]

SD cards are getting bigger (capacity wise). Thats generally what happens in electronics. Things get smaller and can hold more. Electronic Evolution. I do understand the initial hesitation. I guess only the future will tell.

Look at it this way. With the way camcorders are going, how long will it be before digital still cameras have a built in hard drive? Then ALL cards will be deemed no good.

Can you see in 5 years or so. 15.4MG Nikon D300 with a 10GIG built in hard drive. Or the Canon 14.1MG 60D with a 12GIG built in hard drive. Not to far fetched? Is it?

 

[Anewman]

Also pros are using CF cards. If a start anew then it's fine, but say for a photographer like me with more than 10 Gb of CF cards... what should I do? chuck all of them away and re-buy 2 Gb SD cards?

No you should not throw them all away, but maybe you should consider who this camera is targeted at.

I really do not think it is the pro market or towards those that already have 10gb of CF cards.

 

[Kelly Grannell]

OIC, I guess I misunderstood then. I thought this camera is to be the higher end version of D70. My bad.

 

[Anewman]

OIC, I guess I misunderstood then. I thought this camera is to be the higher end version of D70. My bad.

NO, you made no bad at all.

When we use Canon some feel it lines up against the 30D, but in reality it is a tweener with a $999 msrp. Not exactly a REBEL XT competitor nor a 30D competitor.

It is some good marketing Nikon has going on, the price is closer to the 30D but they compare it spec wise vs the XT. Same with the D200, the 30D is priced closer to the D80 but Nikon wants it compared to the D200 spec wise.

 

[lovingmy2boys]

Well my Canon S2 was stolen 2 days ago and now I am going to savce for the Nikon D70 Or D80. I have a Nikon N70 so I already have the lenes and filters.

Does anyone have either the D70 or D80 and can tell me which they prefer. I see that the D80 had a 10MP vs 6.1 MP on the D70.

Thanks!

 

[ducklite]

D70 user here. I'd save a bit more and go for a D200. D70 gets very noisy at high ISO. Any lens that will work with a D-70 will work with any other Nikon digital. Some of you N70 lenses might not work with the digital intergrated autofocus systems.

Anne

 

[fitzperry]

I've had a D70 for about 2 years now. As ducklite pointed out, noise at higher ISO's is its primary drawback. Other than that, I love it. Is the D70 (or D70s) even in production anymore?

Check the reviews, but I believe with the newer sensor, the D80 should perform better at high ISO's. The larger lcd and viewfinder are also nice. The 6.1 mp on the D70 has always been plenty for me. I've printed up to 16x20, and they look great. Honestly, I figure anything more is probably just wasting hard drive space (though I'd take it in exchange for less noisy high ISO shots).

Also, this is a useful source for checking the compatibility of your older lenses: http://www.nikonians.org/nikon/slr-lens.html

 

[Furgus]

I have a D50, and so do a couple of my co-workers. I love the camera and it takes some great pictures. If you don't need the extra Megapixles go with the D50. The D80 is a very nice camera and I have a friend who has it and he loves it. I guess any of those cameras are nice, and if you buy a D200 I will trade my D50 for it

 

[YEKCIM]

I'm not a Nikon guy, yet, but most likely will be within the next month or so. I'm leaning strongly toward the D50 due to three things, primarily:

1. Out of camera JPEG's are very good quality
2. Current price ($450 online, body only; can buy TWO D50's for cost of one D80)
3. Comparison photos of same subject on www.dcresource.com made by either camera, printed as 8X10's look great with either camera and, IMO, the ones made with the D50 look better. Check the D50 and D80 reviews on this site and see what you think. I bet you will be impressed by the D50 shots.

The D80 does offer some advantages, such as viewfinder, LCD, buttons, flash commander, etc, but I don't see the "extra" megapixels as that big a deal. As I said, the 8X10's are great from either one, and it is rare that I even print that size, much less larger.

My $0.02.

~YEKCIM

 

[Groucho]

My understanding is that the D80 is definitely the hot Nikon at the moment, and doesn't have any serious noise issues (if anything, the noise reduction is slightly overaggressive at high ISOs.)

The D50 is pretty nice too if you can give up a few features and want to save a pile of cash.

At Beach, for body-only, a D50 is $454, a D70s is $649, a D80 is $949, and a D200 is $1,318.

Given the big spread between the D70s and the D80, you're probably right to make sure that the extra $300 is worth it.

 

[lovingmy2boys]

Thank you everyone. I didn't even think to look at the D50. I honestly don't really need the extra MP that the D80 offers. The D50 or the D70s would work fine. I am just strting to get really get into photography as i have been shooting with my N70 for a little over a year.

I will look into the other options. Can anyone share some photos with me that you have taken with your Nikons?

 

[Furgus]

Here is a link to my blog. Anything after April, minus the Disney Photos were taken with my D50.

My Blog

 

[lovingmy2boys]

Very nice! Thanks for sharing.

 

[safetymom]

I have a D70s and love it.

 

[Groucho]

Thank you everyone. I didn't even think to look at the D50. I honestly don't really need the extra MP that the D80 offers. The D50 or the D70s would work fine. I am just strting to get really get into photography as i have been shooting with my N70 for a little over a year.

From what I've seen, you won't be unhappy with the image quality of the D50. The only reason to go to a higher model is if there are features that you require (or at least desire!) that are not available on the D50.

Since you're coming off a film SLR, chances are that most any DSLR will match or beat what you're used to in terms of functionality.

 

[ducklite]

I will look into the other options. Can anyone share some photos with me that you have taken with your Nikons?

www.flamingolegs.com

Anne

 

[Anewman]

I agree with Groucho(yes its true).
The D50 equals the image quality of the d70(s), only difference comes in the features and speed.

Buydig currently has the D50(refurbished) @ $359.

http://www.buydig.com/shop/product.aspx?sku=NKD50RB

 

[handicap18]

I was an N70 user for just about 10 years. Loved that camera. I still have it but it is currently being stored in my closet. I went digital about 4 1/2 years ago with a P&S, but still used the N70 occassionally. I finally tired of the limitations of the P&S and went and got myself the D50 back in January. Basically for the month of December last year I reasearched high and low for which Nikon dSLR I was going to get. Going into it I was convinced that the D70 or D70s was what I was going to get. It didn't take too long to realize just how good the D50 was/is and it was a lot less money (more than $300 at the time). It doesn't have some features of the D70s, like the extra command dial, DOF preview, backlit status LCD, and a few other small things, but neither does the N70, or if it did, I never used it so I wouldn't miss it. The sensor on the D50 is an upgrade from the D70 (not completely sure about the D70s as Nikon did make some modifications). The sensor is also one of the best performers for high ISO. I absolutly love my D50 and am very happy with it. I would love to get a D80 with the 2 1/2" LCD and the extra command dial, but the 10MP vs 6MP doesn't do a lot for me especially when the price is $500 more.

I just recently enlarged a few pic's I took of the kids last weekend to 8x10 and 11x14. I also croped them to about 75% of the original file and they still look awesome when enlarged. The 11x14 print is VERY sharp. I am extremely happy with the results.

In my signature there are 2 links to my 2 photo galleries. For the Disney one, all the June 2006 Trip pictures were taken with my D50. In the Misc Pictures one, I would say 99% of the pictures there were taken with my D50. Feel free to look around both galleries.

Happy shopping.

 

[fitzperry]

FWIW, I did miss the extra command dial when I played with a friend's D50, but then again I'm used to the controls on the D70. If you shoot a lot in manual mode, I believe you'll have to use the menus more to make adjustments than you would with a D70 or 80. That said, if I were buying my first dslr, I'd probably go with the D50 for the reasons others have mentioned--newer generation sensor, better high ISO performance and, of course, price. I'd take the savings and apply it to better lenses.