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Photo Forum / Digital Photography / DSLR Cameras / January 2007Buying a digita camera = Nikon l D80
I went to buy a D80 and walked away the camera just felt very plastic very disappointing and the thought of having to remove dust from the sensor put me right off I could be looking to sell my Nikon film lens and camera bodies The school kids selling them in the high street shops did not help >I went to buy a D80 and walked away the camera just felt very plastic very >disappointing > and the thought of having to remove dust from the sensor put me right off > I could be looking to sell my Nikon film lens and camera bodies > > The school kids selling them in the high street shops did not help You get what you pay for. For the money, the D80 is a damn good camera, probably the best DSLR in its price range. If dust cleaning bothers you so much, then go for the even cheaper, even more plastic Canon 400D. Cleaning the sensor is a fairly easy process so long as you take care and there are a couple of really good online articles explaining how to do it. Trying not to change your lenses in the middle of a dust storm helps too! If you want a high quality chassis then spend double the money the D80 costs. Unless you spend a huge amount moe, the camera you choose probably won't take much better pictures than the D80, but your metal fetish will be satisfied :) >>I went to buy a D80 and walked away the camera just felt very plastic >>very disappointing [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > You get what you pay for. For the money, the D80 is a damn good > camera, probably the best DSLR in its price range. I agree. I switched from Canon to Nikon to get the D80 since it has a better viewfinder, better ergonomics, and better performance. Yes it has a polycarbonate body over a metal frame, but so do most consumer cameras including the Canon XTi, Pentax K10D, and Sony A100. Plastic bodies are not an issue like the plastics of years ago - these things are pretty solid and tough. The kit lenses (18-70 and 18-135) are much better than the Canon 18-55 as well, and Canon has nothing in the 18-70 range that comes close to it's performance at a reasonable price. The Canon 17-85 is very poor by comparison yet costs a lot more. The only camera that matches the D80 is the Pentax K10D, however reports are that the image quality is not up to the others even though it uses the same 10mp sensor as the Sony and Nikon. It might just be a firmware issue though. > If dust cleaning bothers you so much, then go for the even cheaper, > even more plastic Canon 400D. Cleaning the sensor is a fairly easy > process so long as you take care and there are a couple of really good > online articles explaining how to do it. Trying not to change your > lenses in the middle of a dust storm helps too! And don't be fooled into thinking that the so-called self cleaning sensors means you won't have to clean the sensor. None of the cameras with a cleaning mode work effectively. Read the reviews of the cameras at the site below for sensor cleaning results: http://www.ephotozine.com/equipment/tests/index.cfm Hit the drop-down list and select "Digital SLRs", then click on the various reviews. About half way down in each you'll see the results of the sensor cleaning features and how they don't really work that well. They may help to remove some dust, but if you want a clean sensor, you WILL have to do it manually with any DSLR. And it's not hard to do either: http://www.cleaningdigitalcameras.com/ > If you want a high quality chassis then spend double the money the D80 > costs. Unless you spend a huge amount moe, the camera you choose > probably won't take much better pictures than the D80, but your metal > fetish will be satisfied :) That's why I bought the D80. It has almost all of the features from the D200 but costs half as much, and it takes great pictures. What features are missing on the D80 that the D200 has? >>>I went to buy a D80 and walked away the camera just felt very plastic >>>very disappointing [quoted text clipped - 53 lines] > That's why I bought the D80. It has almost all of the features from the > D200 but costs half as much, and it takes great pictures. According to Dave Phillips <dpdesoto@comcast.net>: > What features are missing on the D80 that the D200 has? The most important from *my* point of view is the ability to meter through AI lenses. That is what I miss in my D70, and I would not consider a move to a D80 enough for that reason. I would have to dig through the manuals for both (downloaded PDF files, of course) to determine all of the other things which I would consider important. I do know that the mode selector knob to the left of the pentaprism on the D200 has a latch so you don't accidentally shift it. My D70 does not, and every once in a while I discover too late that the quick shot I was expecting to take was lost because I was in perhaps "M" (manual) mode when I expected "P" (program) mode as my default. Mostly, the shift occurs while I am driving with the camera under my right elbow. Enjoy, DoN.  SignatureEmail: <dnichols@d-and-d.com> | Voice (all times): (703) 938-4564 (too) near Washington D.C. | http://www.d-and-d.com/dnichols/DoN.html --- Black Holes are where God is dividing by zero --- >> That's why I bought the D80. It has almost all of the features from >> the D200 but costs half as much, and it takes great pictures. > What features are missing on the D80 that the D200 has? The big differences are magnesium body, higher performance (5fps, shorter lag time and shutter blackout), and more direct controls on the body. But there are lots of little differences too: http://www.slrtoday.com/articles/133/1/The-Nikon-D80-vs-The-Nikon-D200/Nikon-D80 -vs-Nikon-D200---A-Side-by-Side-Comparison.html > What features are missing on the D80 that the D200 has? AI meter coupling, Weather & dust seals, CF cards, 5 fps motor, magnesium body. PC Terminal for studio flash. 10.2 megapixel 4 channel output. The D80 is the D50 replacement. >>I went to buy a D80 and walked away the camera just felt very plastic >>very disappointing [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > You get what you pay for. For the money, the D80 is a damn good camera, > probably the best DSLR in its price range. [ . . . ] It sure looks damn good to me, and will be my next dSLR. My 35mm SLRs for the last 20+ years have been polycarbonate over a metal chassis too, and as far as I'm concerned that works just fine. Neil Having a bad hair day? > I went to buy a D80 and walked away the camera just felt very plastic > very disappointing > and the thought of having to remove dust from the sensor put me right off > I could be looking to sell my Nikon film lens and camera bodies > > The school kids selling them in the high street shops did not help Nice try, troll >> I went to buy a D80 and walked away the camera just felt very >> plastic very disappointing [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > > Nice try, troll Dang, I didn't recognize the name so I presumed it was a serious post, but you could be right. Oh well, maybe other people got something out of the thread. :-) >> I went to buy a D80 and walked away the camera just felt very plastic >> very disappointing [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > > Nice try, troll Well, now. Several bit. Signaturelsmft I really do not understand the "very plastic" statement. I have owned the very best quality cameras (e.g. medium format Hasselblad and Pentax) and I am totally pleased with the quality of the D80. It feels very solid, and it is beautifully made and a joy to hold and use. As 'plastic' bodies go the D80 is among the best. DPReview says of the D80 "Nobody quite does a quality plastic body like Nikon, it feels tight and solid, wrapped around a good metal chassis." However, since you are not satisfied with the body you may want to consider the Nikon D200 or Canon 30D. These have magnesium bodies. If you really need dust removal you may also want to consider the Pentax 10D which has a body more like the D80, but has dust removal and stabilization and weather sealing. Each of these cameras has a decent sized viewfinder, which I believe is very important to good composition. I have the D80, as overall I think it is the best camera (except for the D200 which is too heavy for me) and because I have the 18-200VR lens which I love. > I went to buy a D80 and walked away the camera just felt very plastic very > disappointing > and the thought of having to remove dust from the sensor put me right off > I could be looking to sell my Nikon film lens and camera bodies > > The school kids selling them in the high street shops did not help > I went to buy a D80 and walked away the camera just felt very plastic very > disappointing > and the thought of having to remove dust from the sensor put me right off > I could be looking to sell my Nikon film lens and camera bodies > > The school kids selling them in the high street shops did not help Sure, "Bob." Or should I say RichA? Well, anyway, you do not have to remove dust from the sensor. It is unlikely to get any dust on it in the first place unless you work in really filthy conditions. The "plastic" is nearly indestructible. But if you want a finely crafted metal body and a real work of art, go for the Leica M8. You get what you pay for. > I went to buy a D80 and walked away the camera just felt very plastic very > disappointing > and the thought of having to remove dust from the sensor put me right off > I could be looking to sell my Nikon film lens and camera bodies > > The school kids selling them in the high street shops did not help If you don't like the D80 try the D200, a faster more solid camera, feels a lot like my old Canon F1AE. The dust thing is a big non issue, with my D200 it took 8 months of not being very careful about changing lenses. Had the camera on a beach in St. John and in the desert in Nevada. I've blown out the camera once, 2 blow from a Rocket Blower and the dust bunny was gone. Nikon does have an antistatic coating on their AA filter (the area you clean). It has been a great camera. I don't like the camera stores where I live, 2 within a 50 mile radius, so I just buy from Levine Camera in Boston or B&H in New York. Tom Thank you this is the sort of constructive reply I was expecting.. .. I am a film user and looking to buy my first DSLR .. it is a big step so I am cautious. >> I went to buy a D80 and walked away the camera just felt very plastic >> very [quoted text clipped - 16 lines] > > Tom >Thank you this is the sort of constructive reply I was expecting.. >.. I am a film user and looking to buy my first DSLR .. it is a big step so >I am cautious. I'll second the notion that sensor cleaning is no big deal. You *do* need to buy the equipment necessary to do it though. Most of the time it is exceedingly easy, because just a couple blasts of air from a Rocket Blower is enough. But when you do eventually end up trying to do a wet mop cleanup, it might take a bit of practice to get the hang of it. Regardless, the dust only shows up when you take shots with the lense stopped way down and have a high key area where the dust shows up. Hence this time of year, when most of what I do is with the lens wide open (the sun won't come up for another 10 days here), I wouldn't notice if there was anything less than a *huge* chunk of something on the sensor! And, fortunately, most dust spots can be removed with post editing anyway. Hence when you do get one it won't ruin the whole shoot. (Compare that to having a grain of sand lodge in a film camera in such a way that it scatches the film...) Essentially, it can be annoying until you get it all figured out, and after that it amounts to nothing. >>> I went to buy a D80 and walked away the camera just felt very plastic >>> very [quoted text clipped - 16 lines] >> >> Tom SignatureFloyd L. Davidson <http://www.apaflo.com/floyd_davidson> Ukpeagvik (Barrow, Alaska) floyd@apaflo.com > Thank you this is the sort of constructive reply I was expecting.. > .. I am a film user and looking to buy my first DSLR .. it is a big step so > I am cautious. You were mistaken for our resident troll, RichA, who is constantly making inane posts about plastic cameras. However, plastic really is not a problem. I used the D70 for years in conditions ranging from tropical to arctic, in typhoons and in all other kinds of weather. It held up very well and I still use the camera, even though I now have a D200. There are photos of D70s and other Nikon plastic cameras that have been run over by vehicles; the body survived, although the metal lens mount, the pop-up flash, and buttons were destroyed. As for the D200 suggested, this is an excellent camera. Controls are well laid out. You don't have to navigate through several menus to reach most features. You could probably drive tent pegs with it. It is weather sealed, unlike the D80. It would take a lot to make me part with the D200. However, I suspect that it would not survive being run over by a truck. These are tough cameras. I would suggest that, since your first impression of the D80 was not so good, that you look at the D200 and compare them. D80 vs D200 Somewhere in this thread somebody asked what the actual differences between the D200 & D80 are, a few that I'm aware of; D200 1/8000 shutter, D80 1/4000 shutter D200 has Kelvin WB setting, D80 does not D200 has an external hot shoe sync connector, D80 does not D200 5 fps, D80 3 fps D200 variable self timer from 2 to 20 sec., D80 has 4 pre-set intervals D200 uses CF cards, D80 uses SD cards D200 magnesium body, D80 plastic D200 is weather sealed, D80 is not Other than these few items the specs are virtually the same and by all accounts both are great cameras. The price difference is not quite double for a D200 here in Canada, but you could buy a good quality lens for the price differential. I agree wholeheartedly with others regarding plastic bodies, plastic is not what is used to be (taken a close look at your car lately) and is not worth getting bent out of shape over... plastic over metal would not rank very high on my priority list if making this decision. The D200 has an amazing feel, but the D80 sure is lighter and therefore easier to carry around. The weight difference is less than 10 oz. between the two cameras, but after a long day of hiking rough terrain, 10 oz. may seem more like 10 tons. |
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