Nikon D80 Camera Review

Review by Uspshooter

The D80 is a decent body with 10.2 MP. The only thing I haven't liked about it is the auto white balance, which seems to be inconsistent. I can take multiple shots of the same thing and sometimes get differing color settings. Other than that the camera works great. I also have an MB-D80 battery grip, 70-210mm f4-5.6D AF lens, and SB-800 flash (among other little goodies). (Oh, and I suppose the frame rate could be a little faster too, but that is certainly not a complaint, just run into a couple times where faster would have been nice.)

The D80 has worked good in S and A modes with and without flash, and M mode in the studio.

I run in RAW mode and save any exposure/WB changes into a TIFF file. Then make any other adjustments when I create a JPG. This camera uses SD cards and with 133x cards I can sustain 2fps up to like 99 RAW images then have to let off the shutter. Why I would fire off 99 in a row is beyond me so not a limitation at all.

One thing I like about the D80 over the D70 and D70s is the auto ISO. You can set the upper limit and shutter speed at which to increase the ISO. Then set the low ISO setting and the camera does it automatically. I run ISO100 (the lowest) and the upper at ISO800, noise isn't bad at all at 800 so why not let the camera adjust it. One caveat, though. When in Manual mode you still have to shut off the auto ISO in the menu. If you don't it still auto-adjusts! What's up with that?

A feature request? That would have to be a couple memories for saving specific camera settings in all the menus. Then, I can save all the settings I'd use in the studio and all the settings I'd use on location and just recall them from a menu on demand. That would make it much more difficult to forget the one setting that can ruin your well-planned shot.

Review by Brian

I own the Nikon D50 and love it. The D80 replaced the D50 and comes with a 10.2 Megapixel sensor instead of 6.1 for the D50.  The rest of the features seem to be upgraded as well.  What set this kit apart from the rest is the two lenses that come with it.  The 18-135mm lens will handle 90% of most photographic situations beautifully.  18-135mm is the same as about a 28-200mm focal length for a film camera.  This gives a photographer the range from wide to 4x telephoto all in one lens.

When the photographer needs to zoom in even further, the 70-300mm VR lens is a great tool for the job.  At a 450mm effective focal length, the subject is 9 times closer than normal.  Normally, a long telephoto requires a tripod or a really bright day to shoot with it effectively, but the vibration reduction in this lens really helps increase its versatility. Normally, to shoot hand-held, a person needs to shoot at a fraction of a second faster than the lens' effective focal length.  For example, at 50mm, a person needs to shoot at 1/50 sec or faster for a crisp shot.  At 450mm, you'd need to shoot at 1/450 or faster, which is hard to do except in bright sunlight.  The VR feature of this lens allows you to slow it down by 4 stops, and thus you could shoot at around 1/125 at 450mm.  Of course, you could always use a tripod to ensure the camera takes a crisp picture, but you won't always have to.

Some of the features of the D80 SLR Digital Camera are 10.2 Megapixel, ISO 1600 Sensitivity, 2.5" LCD Monitor, Instant Start Up, 3 fps Burst, 11-area AF System, 7 Digital Vari-Programs, Built-in Speedlight, In-camera Image Editing, and PictBridge Direct Printing.

Review by Art57

Have only had the equipment a week and I am still learning. I have been very happy with the results so far though I only have the kit lenses as of yet.