Nikon D80 pics revealed

No surprises here, Nikon has merely added a few curves and changed a few lines of their D70/D70s camera bodies, but images of a D80 camera have surfaced, and we thought it'd be nice to share. There are just 14 days left on Nikon's little teaser countdown before we can know what else this 10.2 megapixel DSLR will have in store for us, but it's looking fine from where we're sitting. Keep reading to peep a few more angles.

[Thanks, Brando]

[Paul Treacy @ Jul 31st 2006 11:23PM]

I'm a photojournalist and I'm still shooting with my old trusty and somewhat battered D100. I love it. Faults and all. I rarely shoot over 320 iso and I shoot a lot of low light stuff.

I never shoot raw and why should I? I nail my exposures and know how to use PS properly. I can stretch my images to make gorgeous 16"x20" prints and my images are published regularly. The trick for me is using old AI primes. They work just fine on the D100 but will not meter. However, experience has not failed me yet in guessing the exposures. I have a handheld meter but never use it. In fact, I don't even take it with me anymore. One can become so sensitive to light levels as to be able to immediately know what the exposure should be. It's instinctive now.

Mind you, I'm keen on this D80 I must say. Maybe it's time to retire my old pal though it continues to serve me well.

My old primes are the 24mm f2.8, 35mm f2 and 50mm f1.8. I keeps 'em small so as to be able to blend in and not offend. Nobody likes a frying pan stuck in their faces.

I do have one request of Nikon and that is that they design and build some gorgeous new fast small DX primes. Then they'd be kicking ass.

[Kenny @ Aug 1st 2006 12:42PM]

The D80 looks to be a great camera for the experienced amature to the professional. As an amature, I've been looking at the D50 with some quality lenses, as I like the feel, picture quality, ease of use, and use od SD cards. It appears that Nikon has me in a bind as the D80 is everything and way more.

To the person who said they'd never use SD cards: high speed cards can be purchased for either SD or CF cards, but the average read/write speed on a standard SD card is 1.67 times faster. But the big improvement is that SD cards use less power to read and write the same amount of information, which equates to a longer battery life. Hmmm, faster and more pictures per charge...sounds like a winning combo to me. No wonder Nikon went SD with the D80.

[ShutUp @ Aug 1st 2006 2:41PM]

My Nikon is better than your Canon.
My Canon is better than your Nikon.
My car is faster than your car.
I am more childish than you.
No you're not.
Yes I am.
Not
Am.
Not.

The fact is Canon make great cameras and so do Nikon.
Use them to take photographs and not as pseudo penis comparisons

[delsol @ Aug 3rd 2006 3:26AM]

I note that Jasin has not been participating in this thread anymore. I guess he's too busy working real hard trying to shoot his pictures at low ISO-setting in extremely low-light conditions.

:)

[kieran @ Aug 3rd 2006 2:05PM]

I don't think these photo's are real,buttons moved and re named?,switching form cf to sd?, it's all hipe to get the world talking about it, i use my d70&18-125 as a point and shoot and would consider the d80 but i might wait for the d80s, if i am spending soon it will be on a nikon 18-200.

[Geoff @ Aug 3rd 2006 3:59PM]

Andrew,

I saw the shot of the cat with high ISO....the first thing that caught my eye was the banding in the dark area at the foot of the photo. YUK
You can use high ISO`s with the D50 and get great images.Less noise and smooth tones, and if needed can be sharpened in PS giving first class results.

[Randy @ Aug 4th 2006 10:08PM]

Uh, hello! The banding at the bottom of the cat photo is the grain of the CLOTH, not high ISO noise. Look at the black area in the bottom right corner. Duh.

[photo dude @ Aug 5th 2006 8:50PM]

First of all, I have to call out Paul Treacy as being full of s***. My ass you can guess every exposure without failing. Maybe you bracket and take 100 shots and one of them works. Give us all a break and spare the "I'm a photo/light God" routine.
Having gotten that off my chest, I have to say that high-end Nikon and Canon cameras are equally good.
I own two D2x which I love. I recently got a staff job where they supplied me two Canon Mk IIn. I like both the D2x and the MkII equally. The ergonomics of the D2x are better, in my opinion, and the colours are a bit better.
Also, I find Nikon optics to be just a tad sharper.
The canon, however, has slightly faster autofocus and the shutter speed of 8.5 fps is unrivalled.
Really, unless you are a super-picky photog, any camera is going to work. It's the person behind the lens, not the body it's attached to.
One can only assume that the d80 will have better quality than the d200, which is already extremely impressive.
ALso, just to stoke the fanboy fires and piss off all the condescending canon lovers, check out all the reviews of the d70 vs canon's counterpart - the rebel.
Now, check out d200 reviews vs the 30d.
Hhmmm...goes against what a lot of you have been claiming, huh.
P.S. How does using high-ISOs constitute lazy photography? Some people like the natural look of shooting ambient light rather than using flash or strobes -- especially a lot of photo editors I've dealt with throughout my career.

[Paul Treacy @ Feb 10th 2007 12:34AM]

So who is Photo Dude? reveal yourself. You say I'm full of shit. How dare you. I said I can nail an exposure most of the time without taking a measurement and I mean it. Most pros who've been studying light as it rises and falls, day in day out absolutely can. I know what I'm talking about. Here are a couple of links for you to see...
http://www.paultreacy.com
http://www.yellowbellybooks.com
Venture a gander why don't you. You might learn something.

[c saunders @ Aug 6th 2006 7:38AM]

I have both a D70 and D200 and have been really pleased with both of them. I personally don't have any problem with the "noise" factor as I rarely shoot at high ISO and even if I did there are many things available to get rid of this. I'm not sure why Nikon have brought out this D80 apart from the different memory cards and larger lcd screen which the D200 has. All I wish is they would bring out a 100/400 F4 then my dream would come true!

[c saunders @ Aug 6th 2006 7:40AM]

Good site, good comments. I'm a Nikon shooter, D70 and D200

[Billy @ Aug 6th 2006 8:36PM]

Looks like a PS blend of the D50 and the D70s... I seriously doubt Nikon would go SD instead of CF on this model.

I jumped off the Nikon bandwagon for the Canon 30D in hopes of finding the low noise nirvana. While I did indeed get slightly lower noise at 800+ ISO, my images were very soft and lacked the vibrant color tone and clarity w/o spending extra time in PS than I was having to with the Nikon. USM was needed to get the sharpness and guess what? There was the same amount of noise I got with the Nikon. There was no nirvana, just extra time spent in PS to get the quality I'd get at high ISO with Nikon and a little NR.

They are both great brands and take quality shots. I will say, however, the Nikon D200 is a tank compared to the 30D. It feels so much more substantial than the 30D which felt, for lack of a better word, cheap.

[Kristian Bertel @ Aug 7th 2006 9:52AM]

I'm going for a US trip in september, but I need a new camera before going. My plan was to buy Nikon D70s, but now the news of the D80? I have no clue of the waiting time for the D80, but it will probably take some months before it hits stores.
What do you recommend me to buy? Wait for D80 or buy D70s?
Please give your advice.

[Billy @ Aug 7th 2006 10:24AM]

Get the D70s... it's a great DSLR and you can get nearly as much as you paid for it if you want to sell and get the new model.

[Darren S @ Aug 7th 2006 1:41PM]

SD card? What about all the CF cards I have been collecting over the years?

[camera monkey @ Aug 8th 2006 7:45AM]

Canon make good camera's but shame about the lense's

[Mr. Nikon @ Aug 8th 2006 5:19PM]

Sorry, Nikon, I'm not buying any DSLR until you make a full-frame sensor.

I've spent the better part of 20 years building my lens collection, and each has been bought for a reason.

To have Nikon tell me to bump up everything by a factor of 1.5 because they don't feel like making a FF sensor?

Oh, and my SB80DX flash won't work either because the DSLRs use a new protocol?

You know, for a company that has in part built their fame on never obsoleting old equipment, it seems odd that my entire glass collection's focal length has to suddenly change and my flash just won't work.

If I have to buy a new (D)SLR body, flash, and low-end glass, why wouldn't I just go with Canon who, say what you will, seems to be much more in tune with what customers want?

[Sam Lee @ Aug 8th 2006 6:43PM]

Good site, good comments. I'm a Nikon shooter, D70 and D200(2)

[Fernando @ Aug 8th 2006 9:07PM]

I use an 350D ,i read almost all the reviews on internet about 350D/50D/70D. But in my opinion 350D is slighty better. But i must confess, i'm a nikonean... But i also know that is not the camera that takes the photos, is who is behind the camera. It doesn't matter if it's nikon, canon, sony, olympus, samsung etc... I've seen photografers with a lot beter pics that me taken with a tiny digital. I believe that dispite this madness with the high-noise, this cam is very capable, but it's your're imagination that does the diference.

[Jacqui McGowan @ Aug 8th 2006 9:43PM]

What about dust on the censor. Will Nikon or Canon make a camera with vibration for dust removal? How much of a problem is it with the D200 Nikon compared to D 30 Canon?

[Robert Campbell @ Jun 3rd 2007 12:06PM]

Well Jacqui,
I'm not an expert photographer, but I can tell you the sand over here in Afghanistan is so fine I don't think it would make a difference. I would email you directly with my thoughts, but you apparently changed it while I was in Iraq. I look forward to reconnecting and reading your response.

[Nigel @ Aug 9th 2006 7:58AM]

Why would anyone with a Canon want to change for a Nikon. Canon are superior on picture quality, particularly on higher ISO settings, have faster focus and are the choice of most photographers who put photo quality ahead of snobbish brand image. The only downside I can see is that the EOS350D is not as robustly built as the 30D and Nikon models. Hopefully they will put this right when they replace the 350D. The future is clearly in full frame sensors (I pity those foolish masses who have spent their hard earned cash on lenses designed exclusively for APS sized sensors). Sony have made clear that they will go down this route whilst we understand that Nikon cannot follow without a total redesign of the lense mounts. Rumour had it that Nikon considered a sellout to Sony before Konica Minolta came along. No wonder, as Canon leave them further behind. Let's wait and see what they bring out for Photokina. There is a lot of downward pressure on prices. I hope for an EOS5D replacement around the £1000/1200 price bracket. That would really put Nikon on the spot.

[Billie Bob @ Aug 9th 2006 9:15PM]

I'm a working photographer, not a guy pointing a DSLR at aunt May then showing her the pic on the LCD display.

I don't use Canon, wanna know why? My buddy and I were working in the Canadian North doing some work for the National Research Council. They were paying for research, and we got a 6 week gig, a cold gig. He shoots Canon, I use Nikon.

To make a long story short, his Canon's didn't produce a bit of noise, because these things don't like cold climate. He shot 5,000 images during a 6 week assignment, for us that like changing the Boston Marathon to 5K. He was ticked off, and lost huge incentive bonus dollars due to lost results.

I shot 17,000 frames, and never missed a beat with my reliable, tried and true Nikons.

If you want the money shot, you have to be able to bring it home.

I use Nikon and Leica rangefinders, and I get paid.

[astrnmr @ Aug 12th 2006 2:20AM]

I've used both Canon and Nikon. I've used Canon for extreme astrophotography. Now I've switched to try and use the Nikon with all the manual lenses I have. Nikon had a problem with HIGH ISO banding on the cameras, but have since found that one of the capacitors (sp?) was causing a problem with the image while being transfered from the chip to the processor. This has since be corrected by updating the capacitor to a newer one. Since then, the noise has been eliminated at HIGH ISO settings. One thing about CCD vs. CMOS.. well, 2 things actually. A CCD chip has a higher definition image than CMOS... why do you think they strictly use them for HIGH END Astro cameras? CCD also has a fixed noise pattern in the pixels which can be corrected with flat frame imaging and bias images taken at the same or near same temperature range as the original image. CMOS sensors have random noise patterns and require a greater deal of correction to remove the noise especially in longer images such as astronomy. CMOS usually requires multiple exposures stacked to get the same images as a single CCD camera. CCD also has a true ISO setting where CMOS does not. ISO 100 on a CCD chip is ISO 100. ISO 100 on a CMOS is the equivalent of ISO 150. ISO 1600 on a CCD is truely ISO 1600 while the CMOS is actually being shot at ISO 3200 or if using the gain to get 3200 you are actually shooting more closely to that of 6400 or higher. That is why a CMOS camera can get lower light levels faster than a CCD. However, a CCD will always have a higher definition image than CMOS and will also have a truer natural color to its images.

I like them both. But as a pro told me, its not what type of equipment you have, its how you use it.

[Bill Carberry @ Nov 18th 2006 9:41AM]

I am making the plunge to a digital SLR (from film) and based on price range and astrophotography with general family pictures, etc I've narrowed my preference down to the Cannon EOS 20D (or Da if I can find one for the right price) and the Nikon D80. Do you have a preference as far as these 2 go, or do you have a better recommendation in the price range for someone just starting in astrophotography?

Thanks for any help you can offer.

[R. Kelly Liggin @ Aug 14th 2006 1:19PM]

Oh, waiter! One order of boat, please.

I’m sorry, Mousier, but you seemed to have missed it.

While all the thinly-veiled flak over whose dick is bigger (MY Nikon can beat up YOUR Canon) is, at best, entertaining—it misses entirely the point. Discussions about ANY entry-level DSLR retain value and relevance ONLY in the face of considering the product’s intended market. If D80 buyers wanted a full-on professional model camera, they’d sell their wives (or their husbands, or their Porsches, or whatever) and mortgage their entire futures so that they can buy the latest ga-billion D from PHOTOGOD.com. Hint: There is a REASON this new camera is under a thou.

The point? I suspect that most—if not every single—potential D80 buyer is, like myself, exactly what Nikon is targeting: the ENTRY-level DSLR consumer. We have never owned a DSLR—probably never owned a film SLR. We’ve likely owned a small but woefully underwhelming collection point-and-shoots and are looking to BREAK IN to something more pro oriented. Do we NEED the hottest do-das from the greatest of all camera deities? No, certainly not. But therein lies the saddest part of this whole experience. Were we to plunk down the 5 large for today’s biggest and best camera, we’d be vilified as poser yuppie tourists by the VERY SAME BULLIES on this board who wail about high ISO noise and blah-bu-blah-bu-blahblahblah.

Yes the D80, despite whatever new bells and whistles, is bound to fall short of the absolute topped-out luxury-line flagship models. That. Is. The. Point. This and respective cameras (the D70s, Rebels, 30Ds…even the D200) are inherently COMPROMISE cameras. The tenor of the arguments here seem to suggest that everyone wants every storied feature of every superlative camera jammed into a five dollar (and not five thousand dollar) package.

Wake up, insert real world. The bottom line is that entry-level camera buyers are principally (or at least mostly-partially) concerned with the bottom line. WE ARE NOT looking to BE professional photographers with these units; rather, we hope to find an economical path to BECOMING one. On that day that we exhaust the features and find the limitations of a thousand dollar price point DSLR, then we’ll be ready to trade up. I suspect that buy then BOTH Canon and Nikon will be making thousand dollar cameras that simply shame today’s flagship models.

So be it.

What guys like myself are looking for NOW, however, is clear, cogent, INSIGHTFUL discussion from real-world photographers in the field about the virtues vs. shortcomings of today’s entry-level DSLRs with the idea forever in mind that yes, we ALREADY understand that these are NOT the world’s finest photo machines. We get that, we accept that—not interested in paying for more. Yet.

So? So Romper Room was fun at five, but where (where else, that is) can a fellow find this Nirvana of e-information? I’ll admit there are a handful of helpful posters here, Greg, Joe, and (gasp! says the vegetarian) Porkchop Flavored Cupcake among them—but not enough. Most of what I read here reduces to cheap and comically transparent self-promotion from small dogs who bark loudly from behind tall fences. If I wanted posturing and sandbox shakedowns, I’d create me a MySpace account. What I want instead are worthwhile but intelligent opinions from worthwhile and intelligent photographers who can help me make a purchase decision.

Understand, I’m NOT asking anyone to make that decision FOR ME, I never do. Rather, I’m in the research phase here and am trying to collect those cogent, clear, and insightful comments. Any suggestions for THAT? Or am I dreaming…?

Lastly, how about discussion boards on glass? Seems like the best comments here suggest that lens limitations are far more important at this price point than anything else. Canon vs. Nikkor?

Ugh. Let a new round of posturing begin…

R. Kelly Liggin

[John Sheppard @ Aug 14th 2006 6:34PM]

I switched from the 20D Canon and all my nice lenses to the Nikon D-200. I made the right choice to be sure!!! I NEVER got accurate flash shots with any of the Canons i have owned -- 10D and 20D. The Nikon D-200, D-70 and the D-50 are all spot-on. Better color, better everything inmy opinion. The top of the line Canons which cost $8,000 are superb however. But teh Nikkor lenses STILL beat Canon lenses for over all quality and sharpness.

SO....I would choose the new Nikon if I had a choice. I like the 18-200 VR ED lens as it will cover 80% of my shooting. The other needs are met by the new 105 ED VR Macro lens and a Sigma 80-400. The Sigmas was a bad choice however. Shoulda stuck with Nikkor lenses, but I was trying to save money.

SHEP in San Diego, Calif., USA

[Charles Cleworth @ Aug 17th 2006 5:37PM]

Whatever you end up with just remember...'Real photographers don't use Sonys'

[Bill Breite @ Aug 17th 2006 6:15PM]

I don't see the need to upgrade from my D70. I had the new firmware added, so some improvement were made there. When Nikon adds vibration cleaning and live LCD like the Olympus E330, I might consider buying a new Nikon then. Until some technoligical improvements are made, at a reasonable price, I am perfectly satisfied with my D70.

[James Kilog @ Aug 17th 2006 11:33PM]

For those of you complaining about SD cards versus CF, forget it. I work in that industry. CF is history. The new standard will be SDHD which the D80 supports. SDHD will be super fast and support up to 64 GB! RIP CF.

[alfio @ Aug 22nd 2006 11:26AM]

I got my brand new Canon rebel XT and my two objectives stolen two weeks ago.
before I had no doubt on what to buy for the budget I had. Today I have a lot of doubt between Canon, Nikon and (maybe) Sony.
I understand the disputes for the level of noise but I can not follow the issue between CF and SD. 6 years ago they had the smart media (very fragile) than the CF (easy to bend the pins). My PC swallow parcticaly any kind of card and evry week th eprice of the card per MB goes down.

[Lolek @ Aug 24th 2006 5:48PM]

Nikon D80 Description
The Nikon D80 packs high performance and high resolution into a body that is more compact and slimmer than previous Nikon digital SLR cameras. True to Nikon’s commitment to intuitive operation, the size, layout and operation of all buttons and controls are designed for maximum ease of use.10.2 effective megapixel Nikon DX format CCD Optimized to capture sharp details, the 10.2 effective megapixel CCD image sensor yields extraordinarily high-resolution images, providing plenty of freedom to crop creatively or print impressive enlargements.Advanced Auto Exposure system Consistently dependable exposure is the hallmark of Nikon’s exclusive . . .

http://www.redopinion.com/digital-camera/category/nikon/d80/

_

[David Chin @ Nov 2nd 2006 11:55AM]

I like to read debates on the image quality of the Nikon D80 ... in addition to actually collecting links to great photography by D80 owners :> http://nikond80.dpnotes.com/category/amazing-nikon-d80-image-samples/

[Paul Treacy @ Oct 25th 2007 12:21AM]

I'm shooting with the D200 now and only shoot raw. I've been converted.
http://www.photohumorist.com