Nikon D80 + 2 lenses (For Real)

[Rex914]

http://www.nikon.com.my/pages/my/articles/91/d80_title.jpg

http://dc.watch.impress.co.jp/cda/static/image/2006/08/09/d80_1l.jpg
10.2 Megapixel CCD (3872 x 2592)
3 frames/sec (23 JPEG / 6 RAW)
Instant power-up (0.18 seconds)
Improved 11-point AF system
Now supports ISO 100 - 3200 (with boost)
Larger 2.5" LCD display (230k pixels with 170 degree viewing angle)
Viewfinder Magnification: .94x (Up from .75x)
Takes EN-EL3e battery (Same as D200)
Supports a vertical grip! (MB-D80)
Size: 132mm × 77mm × 103mm
Weight: 585g
Ships September 1st (According to Japanese press release)
Priced at $999 (£699) for the body only or $1299 (£949) for the body plus an AF-S DX 18 - 135 mm lens (Exchange rate caused US price to bump up by $100 over D70s)Official booklet! (With sample images) (http://www.nikonusa.com/fileuploads/pdfs/D80_brochure.pdf)


Moving on to the lenses... there are two being introduced.

AF-S DX Nikkor 18 - 135mm f/3.5-5.6 ($485 - Yes, the press release said so... / £299)

- 15 elements in 13 groups (1 ED element)
- Size: 73.5mm × 86.5mm
- Weight: 385g
- Minimum Focusing Distance: .45m
- Filter Size: 67mm

http://dc.watch.impress.co.jp/cda/static/image/2006/08/09/18_135l.jpg
[Picture of the 18-135 lens]

AF-S VR Nikkor 70 - 300mm f/4.5-5.6 ($669/£399)

Remember this one that was leaked at the beginning of the year? Has "version 2" of Nikon's VR system, boasting a 4 stop advantage! Available October 2006.

- 17 elements in 12 groups (2 ED elements)
- Size: 80mm × 143.5mm
- Weight: 745g
- Minimum Focusing Distance: 1.5m
- Filter Size: 67mm

http://dc.watch.impress.co.jp/cda/static/image/2006/08/09/70-300l.jpg
[Picture of 70-300 lens]

Vertical Grip MB-D80

http://dc.watch.impress.co.jp/cda/static/image/2006/08/09/d80_6l.jpg
[Picture of D80 with grip]

[coldrain]

Lets hope Nikon upgraded the optics of that 70-300 G a lot, and that it will preform close to what the excellent Canon EF 70-300 IS USM can do.
Then this lens should be a succes.

Very low price for the D80. This will put some pressure on the market (and on Pentax and Canon).

[RichNY]

3fps- dissapointing.

Is Nikon positioning the D80 more to compete with Sony than the Canon 30D?

I'd love to see kits go away and just have the mfg. put a $100 coupon towards the purchase of any of their lenses.

[K1W1]

I was hoping that the 18-135 was going to be a VR lens. Still it will be worth looking at in lieu of the Sigma 18-135 as it will be nice and versatile range wise - as long as the optics are good.

[timmciglobal]

The d200 is gonna get a price drop I bet.

Tim

[RichNY]

The d200 is gonna get a price drop I bet.
Tim

What's your prediction on how much the D200 and 30D will drop?

[Rex914]

What's your prediction on how much the D200 and 30D will drop?

I don't see why the D200 would price drop (not even the same class of camera), but if it did, $1499 would be a good bet.

30D? What's that got to do with this at all?

[RichNY]

I don't see why the D200 would price drop (not even the same class of camera), but if it did, $1499 would be a good bet.
30D? What's that got to do with this at all?

If the D200 didn't drop in price there would be a pretty significant price delta between it and the D80. I just can't see that happening. When I was playing crystal ball earlier tonight I also came up with a $1499 price for the D200 by September.

If the D200 dropped to $1499 it would have a BH selling price a small amount less than the 30D. Today there is a $450 price difference between the 30D and D200. I might be wrong but I don't see the 30D competing well without a lower selling point, lets say a $999 BH price.

I'm at the top of the waiting list at a local camera store for the D80. I figured I go ahead and order one just in case it turns out to be the right choice. It will be interesting to see if the dealer is correct that they will have stock by the end of next month.

[erichlund]

As far as I can tell, it's a D200 junior. They removed a bunch of direct access buttons, but those items are mostly available in the menus (Jeff will be ecstatic, but I like the direct access better). Dumbed down a few things, but retained a surprising amount of the good stuff. This clearly replaces the D70s, especially with the $899 price point. If it handles the AI and AI-S lenses like the D200, Rhys will have even fewer excuses. :)

[Ray Schnoor]

Nikondigital.com lists the ESP as $999 US(body only) and $1299 US (body with 18-135mm lens).

Ray.

[Esoterra]

1. Does the D200 offer more features/quality to warrant paying an extra $500 if they drop the price to $1499 as people are suggesting?

2. Does the D200 offer more features/ quality to warrant paying an extra $700 if the price doesnt drop??

3. the D80 includes: In-Camera Image Editing with Retouching Menu: Highly versatile in-camera editing features include Nikon D-lighting, Red-eye Correction, Image Trimming, Image Overlay, Monochrome Black and White, Sepia and Cyanotype along with Skylight, Warm Tone and Custom Color filter effects.http://www.nikonusa.com/images/common/spacer.gifhttp://www.nikonusa.com/images/common/spacer.gif
http://www.nikonusa.com/images/common/thinln.gif
How does the D200 compare?

As far as quality I am curious to see if this new D80 has better noise control at higher ISO

Guess we will find out more.

Feeback and opinions are appreciated

[D70FAN]

I was hoping that the 18-135 was going to be a VR lens. Still it will be worth looking at in lieu of the Sigma 18-135 as it will be nice and versatile range wise - as long as the optics are good.

For the record... the Sigma stops at 125mm and f/5.6 vs. 135mm (oh yeah!) and f/4.5. If the optical quality is on par with the Sigma, and they have found a way to improve distortion and vignetting this will be the most popular lens in Nikons DX line. I'll reserve my kudos until someone reviews it.

[coldrain]

1. Does the D200 offer more features/quality to warrant paying an extra $500 if they drop the price to $1499 as people are suggesting?

2. Does the D200 offer more features/ quality to warrant paying an extra $700 if the price doesnt drop??

As far as quality I am curious to see if this new D80 has better noise control at higher ISO

Guess we will find out more.

Feeback and opinions are appreciated
The Nikon D200 actually went up in price considerably in Europe after introduction, due to shortage, when they upped the production.

I do not think it will go down a lot, since it already is not very expensive for a weather sealed body.

The D200 already filters a lot of noise from the sensor, as you can see when you see results from the Sony A100 next to it (that one has a lot more colour noise, the Nikon makes the colour noise one colour, making the characteristic D200 noise patern).
So I do not think that they will be able to do a lot more, because that will make the photos a lot softer.

[Blob]

I'm going to adorama and get on the list for the 18-135. I can't believe Nikon would make a "bad" lens and put it on their new body. The price they are asking seems reasonable considering the features included in the lens.

Bob

[AmateurDean]

Is the grip a Nikon product or third party? The one's made for my D70 were not that great. In the pic the grip almost looks like part of the camera.

[Ray Schnoor]

Is the grip a Nikon product or third party? The one's made for my D70 were not that great. In the pic the grip almost looks like part of the camera.
Nikon will be providing part # MB-D80 as an optional accessory for the D80. It is a battery grip which will accept 2 EN-EL3e batteries or 6 AA batteries.

Ray.

[sherlock]

That predicted price drop on the D200 is very good news :D

[wh0128]

are there any opinions based on the 70-300mm. I need a zoom lense in that range, and it doesn't seem to be that expensive. So if there are any criticisms on this lense I'd like to here some predictions for it. Hopefully i will have the money to buy it when it comes out. Thanks

[Esoterra]

I see that the D80 doesnt suppport any AI lenses (no auto focus and doesnt meter thru lens) , which are manual focus lens' correct?

Will my current lenses (see list below) that fully function my D70s, also work and fully function on a D80?

[Ray Schnoor]

I see that the D80 doesnt suppport any AI lenses (no auto focus and doesnt meter thru lens) , which are manual focus lens' correct?

Will my current lenses (see list below) that fully function my D70s, also work and fully function on a D80?
I would assume so. The D80 just will not have the metering capability with AI lenses that the D200 does. They had to keep some of the D200 capabilities away from the D80 to justify the price difference.

Ray.

[coldrain]

The "funny" thing is that any Canon EOS can meter with those Nikon AI lenses (when you have the right adapter to mount them of course). I do not know why Nikon can not achieve the same thing.

[Ray Schnoor]

The "funny" thing is that any Canon EOS can meter with those Nikon AI lenses (when you have the right adapter to mount them of course). I do not know why Nikon can not achieve the same thing.
They can and have achieved metering with AI lenses on the D200 and I believe the D2X series cameras. Just because they choose not to enable metering on the D50, D70, D70s, D100 doesn't mean that they can't achieve metering with AI lenses.

Ray.

[ryan112ryan]

What's your prediction on how much the D200 and 30D will drop?

nah the price woln't drop but the did annouce a huge discount for associate purchase at ritz camera :D

[TNB]

nah the price woln't drop but the did annouce a huge discount for associate purchase at ritz camera :D
Umm, perhaps that's one reason one of the employees informed me that she was picking up a D200 yesterday when I purchased a new lens. Of course, it may have just been because I was looking at it as well. Perhaps, not.

[wh0128]

shows on kitscameras.com that the new 70-300mm VR is coming soon and for 529.99$ so its even cheaper than the one posted for 699$. Free shipping also.

[Esoterra]

shows on kitscameras.com that the new 70-300mm VR is coming soon and for 529.99$ so its even cheaper than the one posted for 699$. Free shipping also.

Has anyone seen a review on the lens?

[K1W1]

Has anyone seen a review on the lens?


It is brand new I don't think there will be any reviews of production models for some time yet. I'm not even sure that there is a real ETA yet.