Nikon D80 reviews are coming in...

[RichNY]

Here are the three... I found a very detailed one this morning that I can't find again now... it's driving me crazy.. botom line of the review was 'Highly Recommended'

http://review.zdnet.com/Nikon_D80/4505-6501_16-32004258.html

http://www.ephotozine.com/equipment/tests/testdetail.cfm?test_id=474

http://www.outbackphoto.com/reviews/equipment/nikon_d80/Nikon_d80.html

[Tweek]

I hope the DCResource review is up soon.

[kevikens]

I don't pretend to be anything other than a hobbyist but I have been in photography as a hobby for more than fifty years and I have always liked Nikon. I recently switched to digital, d50, d70s and two weeks a ago d80. I am not all that impressed with the d80. I do not think it represents much of an advance over the d70s except in the megapixel department. The kit lens, 18-135 produces mushy images compared to the 35-70 2.8D that I prefer on my Nikon bodies. Also the information displayed in the viewfinder is so faint compared to the d50 and d70s I can hardly read it except indoors. ( Question: is there anyway to make that display in the viewfinder brighter ? There is so much info in the manual I may have missed it). The camera may be worth it but that lens I bought with the body is not a very good one in my opinion.

[jcon]

Very interesting, thanks for sharing your opinion. Cant wait to hear more of them from users like you in the next comming weeks.

There should be a way to adjust the brightness display setting. I know the D50 has one.

[kevikens]

Yes, there ought to be a way (at $999) to adjust the brightness of that view finder. I just can't find it.

[Esoterra]

Jcon, I get the impression that you are seriously considering the D80 from your previous posts but you want to wait and see what the verdict is on quality and performance... and depending on your budget, I would almost argue that you should keep enjoying your D50 and save up money to buy a D200. You will most likley be happier getting more than you think you need, than getting something that meets your needs but leaving you wondering if you should have gotten something better in the first place. Not only will this save you money in the long run, but by the time you save up money to buy the D200 (assuming that you are poor like me :) ), Nikon will be announcing some new Camera that is even better than the D200... who knows. Just and idea

[jcon]

Yes and no, Chris. I am very intersted to see the D80 to see in which direction Nikon is going. My plan as of now is to save for the D200, yea, Im poor too:D and keep my D50 as a back up. I am hoping to become a much more serious pro in the near future. The D50 has served me wonderfully for my first 2 weddings but would like to have something with vertical grip and more pixels for cropping. As it stands right now, my plan is to get the D200 a few months from now, or wait till there is something better than that released.

[K1W1]

Yes, there ought to be a way (at $999) to adjust the brightness of that view finder. I just can't find it.

There is no way to adjust the brightness in the viewfinder but you can adjust the brightness of the rear LCD.

[Esoterra]

Yes and no, Chris. I am very intersted to see the D80 to see in which direction Nikon is going. My plan as of now is to save for the D200, yea, Im poor too:D and keep my D50 as a back up. I am hoping to become a much more serious pro in the near future. The D50 has served me wonderfully for my first 2 weddings but would like to have something with vertical grip and more pixels for cropping. As it stands right now, my plan is to get the D200 a few months from now, or wait till there is something better than that released.

You are in the same boat as me.... the race is on! lol :D

[kevikens]

I don't knoe if any other folks using this forum have actually experienced any of these problems but I am wondering if I bought a problem camera that is just a freakish error or the D80 model has problems or I am doing something wrong. As mentioned earlier the l.e.d viewfinder is not very bright and I am having a hard time reading it when photographing in bright daylight. Apparently it is not adustable. I cannot get the thing to take pictures at any frame speed that comes close to the advertised 3fps despite tinkering with everything in the manual about shooting modes. It is not only much slower than my D70s but slower than my D50. Also the actual autofocusing is pretty slow again no matter what focusing mode I employ and what lens I use on it. If I cannot rectify these problems I am going to have purchased a camera that cannot take pictures better than one at half its price. I need a camera that autofocuses fast, takes a number of frames quicly and lets me read the viewfinder ( I photograph fast moving trains). I would really appreciate it if some of you perhaps more experienced photographers who may have similar experiences with the D80 or perhaps have a D80 with none of these problems can tell me what I might be able to do clear up these glitches. By the way the D80 manual says you can get up to 3fps if you employ the camera in MANUAL focus. Why would I buy an auto focus camera to use in MANUAL focus mode ? My D70s and D50 have none of these problems and work well. I purchased the D80 for the higher resolution of the 10 megapixels and a bigger screen image but if I cannot get the camera to take the pictures I need to take none of this matters. If any of the people reading this can direct me to someone more familiar with this new camera I would really be thankful.

[buruburu]

3 FPS is the fastest that that the D80 can take pictures it, and the reason why the manual say that you need to be in manual mode is that it simply keeps the camera from trying to reacquire the focus lock before firing off another shot. If you set the AF to AF-C, you can get the 3FPS and still auto focus.

Also, you need to turn off Long Exposure Noise Reduction.

[kevikens]

I have that noise item turned offalready. It's the default position anyway. I'll try going from AF-A or AF-S to see if that speeds it up. For whatever reason this is not a problem with my D70s and D50. They both operate at 2.5 to 3 fps and the settings are AF-S .

[K1W1]

I have that noise item turned offalready. It's the default position anyway. I'll try going from AF-A or AF-S to see if that speeds it up. For whatever reason this is not a problem with my D70s and D50. They both operate at 2.5 to 3 fps and the settings are AF-S .

What type of SD card are you using and what type of image saving (jpeg / Raw) are you using?
With 10MP images if you have an old SD card you may be stressing the data transfer rate.

What lenses are you using that you cannot get focus lock on?

[kevikens]

I am using a Sandisk 2 G SD, brand new with the purchase. I shoot jpeg at the fine setting, large image. As for the lens it does not seem to matter. My favorite is the 35-70 2.8D but I have the same problem with the kit lens, the 18-135, my 70-210 AF F4, 70-300 ed and my AF 85 1.8. What bothers me is that I use the same settings on my D70s and D 50 and have no problems with focus acqusition or the advertised fps. There is something else going on here with this model.Also the viewfinder LED information is plenty bright in those two cameras but dim in the D80. For what it is worth some Nikonians are reporting problems with their cameras as well. I guess what I am trying to find out is whether or not I am doing something wrong ( I do read the manuals and I am experienced with cameras, but maybe...), my individual model has a problem or this new D80 has design flaws that make it less of a picture taker than other models. I appreciate anyone who is using this camera addreesing my concerns.