Oh God! WHY did they shrink the D80 from D70 dimensions??!

The size of a D50??? Why? Do they anticipate more women than men
buying it?
Why on EARTH would anyone want it that small? This is classed as an
above entry level camera so what is with with the P&S size reasoning?
Big mistake, IMO. The D70 is a MUCH
more handle-friendly camera than the D50.

from dpreview:

Body & Design

Sticking with what people find familiar (and works) the D80 pretty much
follows the design of the D70/D70s, albeit with a few tweaks, mostly
softening of lines, with a more rounded top and molding around the
shutter release. Dimensionally however the D80 is quite a bit smaller,
virtually the same size as the D50.

RichA wrote:
The size of a D50??? Why? Do they anticipate more women than men
buying it?


Oh God! WHY does RichA care??! He'll never own a DSLR!!!

Greg

--
"All my time I spent in heaven
Revelries of dance and wine
Waking to the sound of laughter
Up I'd rise and kiss the sky" - The Mekons

One of the two points about the D80 that have prevented me rushing out to
'upgrade' from the D70, is the size reduction - I have big hands.

Secondly, why adopt sd cards for storage, compact flash is easier to handle
and more durable.


"RichA" wrote in message
ups.com...
The size of a D50??? Why? Do they anticipate more women than men
buying it?
Why on EARTH would anyone want it that small? This is classed as an
above entry level camera so what is with with the P&S size reasoning?
Big mistake, IMO. The D70 is a MUCH
more handle-friendly camera than the D50.

from dpreview:

Body & Design

Sticking with what people find familiar (and works) the D80 pretty much
follows the design of the D70/D70s, albeit with a few tweaks, mostly
softening of lines, with a more rounded top and molding around the
shutter release. Dimensionally however the D80 is quite a bit smaller,
virtually the same size as the D50.

Nigel Cummings wrote:
One of the two points about the D80 that have prevented me rushing
out to 'upgrade' from the D70, is the size reduction - I have big
hands.

Were I buying a DSLR, I would probably look for a more compact size.
After all, the sensor is only 2/3 the size of a 35mm frame, so it would
nice if everything else were 2/3 the size (where possible). Have you
actually tried holding a D80?

Secondly, why adopt sd cards for storage, compact flash is easier to
handle and more durable.

What evidence is there that CF is more durable, especially if you include
the fragile multi-pin connector? I suspect that SD now provides
compatibility with a greater number and range of devices. In any case,
you would be buying new memory for your new camera, wouldn't you, and
selling off the old?

David

"Nigel Cummings" wrote in message
k...
One of the two points about the D80 that have prevented me rushing out to
'upgrade' from the D70, is the size reduction - I have big hands.

Secondly, why adopt sd cards for storage, compact flash is easier to
handle and more durable.

I don't see how CF is any more durable than SD. Isn't there a controller of
some type in a CF card? An SD is a simple flash memory card, seems to be
very durable to me. I've had no problems with either.

According to David J Taylor :
Nigel Cummings wrote:

[ ... ]

Secondly, why adopt sd cards for storage, compact flash is easier to
handle and more durable.

What evidence is there that CF is more durable, especially if you include
the fragile multi-pin connector?

The CF card (with its female connector) should well be more
durable. What may not be so is the male connector in the camera, if
someone is not sufficiently careful in inserting it. There are
sufficient clues as to the proper orientation so it *should* not be a
problem to anyone who uses it and pays *any* attention to the markings
adjacent to the camera's slot (at least based on the Nikon D70) and the
tactile cues on the CF card itself.

The *only* time that I have put a CF card in wrong was when I
was experimenting to see what was possible. You can't push it in all
the way with the card wrong side to -- the guides prevent that. You
can't push it in at all with the connector edge out. You *can* push it
too far with a side edge first -- but that feels so wrong that I find it
difficult to imagine *anyone* pushing it in far enough to damage the
pins in the camera's socket.

I suspect that SD now provides
compatibility with a greater number and range of devices.

"Devices"? You mean cameras -- or card readers? I find the CF
easier to deal with on my older Sun computers, which do not offer USB
interfaces at all. The newer ones do offer them, but I am not using one
as my current deskside computer at present.

In any case,
you would be buying new memory for your new camera, wouldn't you, and
selling off the old?

Well ... this would rather *force* him into buying new memory
for the D80, even if he had a D70 and wished to continue to use it as
well.

When I finally get a D200, I do not expect to sell my D70, nor
do I expect to get rid of my current CF cards. The 4GB one will
certainly work well in the D200, and the 1GB ones will be good for short
shoots at least. (As for the ancient CF cards which I have, 48 MB,
16MB, and even one 8MB -- they would hardly sell for enough to make them
worth selling -- and I do use them occasionally to move files between
two computers one of which doesn't happen to be currently networked.
They hold a lot more than a floppy, and I already have them, so why get
rid of them?

And the SD cards seem to be too small and too light -- easy for
one to blow away if set down outdoors, or to have it slip out of my
fingers and perhaps become lost in leaves and other ground debris.

Enjoy,
DoN.
--
Email: | 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 ---

DoN. Nichols wrote:
[]
And the SD cards seem to be too small and too light -- easy for
one to blow away if set down outdoors, or to have it slip out of my
fingers and perhaps become lost in leaves and other ground debris.

Enjoy,
DoN.

I must confess that, while this has never happened to me, I can see that
the cards may be too small for some people. At least with the Nikon range
you now have a choice.

Cheers,
David

Why are you asking GOD? Did He reply?


"RichA" wrote in message
ups.com...
The size of a D50??? Why? Do they anticipate more women than men
buying it?
Why on EARTH would anyone want it that small? This is classed as an
above entry level camera so what is with with the P&S size reasoning?
Big mistake, IMO. The D70 is a MUCH
more handle-friendly camera than the D50.

from dpreview:

Body & Design

Sticking with what people find familiar (and works) the D80 pretty much
follows the design of the D70/D70s, albeit with a few tweaks, mostly
softening of lines, with a more rounded top and molding around the
shutter release. Dimensionally however the D80 is quite a bit smaller,
virtually the same size as the D50.

"David J Taylor"
wrote in message . uk...
Nigel Cummings wrote:
One of the two points about the D80 that have prevented me rushing
out to 'upgrade' from the D70, is the size reduction - I have big
hands.

Were I buying a DSLR, I would probably look for a more compact size. After
all, the sensor is only 2/3 the size of a 35mm frame, so it would nice if
everything else were 2/3 the size (where possible). Have you actually
tried holding a D80?

Secondly, why adopt sd cards for storage, compact flash is easier to
handle and more durable.

What evidence is there that CF is more durable, especially if you include
the fragile multi-pin connector? I suspect that SD now provides
compatibility with a greater number and range of devices. In any case,
you would be buying new memory for your new camera, wouldn't you, and
selling off the old?

David
I saw a test of different cards, and CF seems to win out when it comes to
durability. Everything from heat to cold to running the things through a
washing machine to driving a car over them. I will admit the pins look a
little fragile, but I've never heard of anyone having a problem with them.

I suspect the same thing you do, that they are trying to make SD the new
standard. Plus, it gives the designers more room inside the camera to
either add stuff or make the camera smaller.

In article . com,
"RichA" wrote:

The size of a D50??? Why? Do they anticipate more women than men
buying it?
Why on EARTH would anyone want it that small? This is classed as an
above entry level camera so what is with with the P&S size reasoning?
Big mistake, IMO. The D70 is a MUCH
more handle-friendly camera than the D50.

from dpreview:

Body & Design

Sticking with what people find familiar (and works) the D80 pretty much
follows the design of the D70/D70s, albeit with a few tweaks, mostly
softening of lines, with a more rounded top and molding around the
shutter release. Dimensionally however the D80 is quite a bit smaller,
virtually the same size as the D50.

Another bigger issue is the the change rom CF to sd (Suc D) cards
fumble those with big man fingers !!!! Won't be buying the D80.
--
Reality-Is finding that perfect picture
and never looking back.

www.gregblankphoto.com