Nikon D80 Hands-on Preview

http://www.dpreview.com/articles/nikond80/

What we have here is a fully featured smaller 3fps D200 . . . . at half
the price.
Production of 1,000,000 a year will not meet demand.

Nikon have raised the bar.

In the UK the Sony Alpha A100 after 7 days had the price discounted by up to
20 percent.

If Sony intend to grab DSLR market share they will have to flood the market
with cut-price entry level DSLR's.

Deryck

The Sony Alpha A100 is a fine camera in many ways - I find image quality to
be very good and the integrated anti-shake is a definite bonus, though at
longer shutter speeds it does introduce a noticeable shutter lag effect.

The A100 has been cut in price ando so will the D80 soon after it arrives in
a month's time. All new models end up cheaper to buy than the manufacturer
guide prices. Nevertheless, it looks like the D80 will be nominally more
expensive than the A100 after the discounting has settled down.

For me, the biggest issues with the A100 are the lack of quiet autofocus
lenses and and the mechanically unrefined sound the camera makes when you
press the shutter release. Apart from that, it gets the thumbs up from me.

Ian

Digital Photography Now
http://dpnow.com

"deryck lant" wrote in message
...
http://www.dpreview.com/articles/nikond80/

What we have here is a fully featured smaller 3fps D200 . . . . at half
the price.
Production of 1,000,000 a year will not meet demand.

Nikon have raised the bar.

In the UK the Sony Alpha A100 after 7 days had the price discounted by up
to
20 percent.

If Sony intend to grab DSLR market share they will have to flood the
market
with cut-price entry level DSLR's.

Deryck
.

I think you either like Canon's handling or you don't - and I think it's the
same with Nikon. Personally, I like Canon's way of doing things, but I know
if you are used to Nikon you will find issue with the Canon interface. But
that doesn't mean it's 'wrong'.

Apart from that - I'm intrigued by your views on the D200 vs 30D feel. The
D200 is physically quite large (the D80 in my hands was noticebly smaller -
much more like a 30D, in fact). Is your view relating to the size and
solidity or something else.

Ian

Digital Photography Now
http://dpnow.com

"Gisle Hannemyr" wrote in message
...
deryck lant writes:

http://www.dpreview.com/articles/nikond80/

I recently test-drove the D200 and EOS 30D, and the difference in
handling is amazing. I know this is subjective, but the 30D feels
like a toy camera compared to the D200. If the D80 also handles like
the D200, Nikon has got another winner

I am still waiting for Canon's response to the D200. I really would
like something with the handling characteristics of D200, and the
high ISO low noise and tonal range of the 30D or 5D. I am finally
about to replace the Sigma, but will not buy anything until after
Photokina.
--
- gisle hannemyr [ gisle{at}hannemyr.no - http://hannemyr.com/photo/ ]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sigma SD10, Kodak DCS460, Canon Powershot G5, Olympus 2020Z
------------------------------------------------------------------------

The message
from "Digital Photography Now" contains
these words:

The Sony Alpha A100 is a fine camera in many ways - I find image quality to
be very good and the integrated anti-shake is a definite bonus, though at
longer shutter speeds it does introduce a noticeable shutter lag effect.

The A100 has been cut in price ando so will the D80 soon after it
arrives in
a month's time. All new models end up cheaper to buy than the manufacturer
guide prices. Nevertheless, it looks like the D80 will be nominally more
expensive than the A100 after the discounting has settled down.

For me, the biggest issues with the A100 are the lack of quiet autofocus
lenses and and the mechanically unrefined sound the camera makes when you
press the shutter release. Apart from that, it gets the thumbs up from me.

Ian

Digital Photography Now
http://dpnow.com

"deryck lant" wrote in message
...
http://www.dpreview.com/articles/nikond80/

What we have here is a fully featured smaller 3fps D200 . . . . at half
the price.
Production of 1,000,000 a year will not meet demand.

Nikon have raised the bar.

In the UK the Sony Alpha A100 after 7 days had the price discounted by up
to
20 percent.

If Sony intend to grab DSLR market share they will have to flood the
market
with cut-price entry level DSLR's.

Demand for the D80 willl be huge - so I'm afraid there will be no need
for discounted prices for quite some time.

Deryck

The message
from Gisle Hannemyr contains these words:

deryck lant writes:

http://www.dpreview.com/articles/nikond80/

What we have here is a fully featured smaller 3fps D200 . . . . at
half the price.

Alas, no AI metering coupling (I know DPreview claims it has one.
They are wrong (as is obvious from the images).

You are right - Nikon only claim full compatibility with AF and DX lenses.

If it had AI metering, it would be a D200-killer, and Nikon
wouldn't want that.

Nikon have raised the bar.

This is a very nice camera indeed. I can't wait to get my hands on
it.

I recently test-drove the D200 and EOS 30D, and the difference in
handling is amazing. I know this is subjective, but the 30D feels
like a toy camera compared to the D200. If the D80 also handles like
the D200, Nikon has got another winner

I am still waiting for Canon's response to the D200. I really would
like something with the handling characteristics of D200, and the
high ISO low noise and tonal range of the 30D or 5D. I am finally
about to replace the Sigma, but will not buy anything until after
Photokina.

Nikon is an engineering led company - Canon is a marketing led company.

The Nikon system is an integrated system and you know nothing is going to be
made obsolete by future developments.

Deryck
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Don't underestimate the sheer marketing muscle of Sony. Nikon is a tiny
company by comparison and traditional photo outlets are not the mainstay of
DSLRs any more.

Ian

Digital Photography Now
http://dpnow.com

"deryck lant" wrote in message
...
The message
from "Digital Photography Now" contains
these words:

The Sony Alpha A100 is a fine camera in many ways - I find image quality
to
be very good and the integrated anti-shake is a definite bonus, though at
longer shutter speeds it does introduce a noticeable shutter lag effect.

The A100 has been cut in price ando so will the D80 soon after it
arrives in
a month's time. All new models end up cheaper to buy than the
manufacturer
guide prices. Nevertheless, it looks like the D80 will be nominally more
expensive than the A100 after the discounting has settled down.

For me, the biggest issues with the A100 are the lack of quiet autofocus
lenses and and the mechanically unrefined sound the camera makes when you
press the shutter release. Apart from that, it gets the thumbs up from
me.

Ian

Digital Photography Now
http://dpnow.com

"deryck lant" wrote in message
...
http://www.dpreview.com/articles/nikond80/

What we have here is a fully featured smaller 3fps D200 . . . . at half
the price.
Production of 1,000,000 a year will not meet demand.

Nikon have raised the bar.

In the UK the Sony Alpha A100 after 7 days had the price discounted by
up
to
20 percent.

If Sony intend to grab DSLR market share they will have to flood the
market
with cut-price entry level DSLR's.

Demand for the D80 willl be huge - so I'm afraid there will be no need
for discounted prices for quite some time.

Deryck

"deryck lant" wrote in message
...
I recently test-drove the D200 and EOS 30D, and the difference in
handling is amazing. I know this is subjective, but the 30D feels
like a toy camera compared to the D200. If the D80 also handles like
the D200, Nikon has got another winner

I am still waiting for Canon's response to the D200. I really would
like something with the handling characteristics of D200, and the
high ISO low noise and tonal range of the 30D or 5D. I am finally
about to replace the Sigma, but will not buy anything until after
Photokina.

Nikon is an engineering led company - Canon is a marketing led company.

Few would disagree that Nikon needs more marketing skills. I think you are
in a minority to think that Canon is short on engineering skills. USM is
still the best AF motor in the business and it's available in cheaper Canon
lenses too. Canon also makes its own CMOS sensors, Nikon only specifies its
sensors and then Sony makes them.


The Nikon system is an integrated system and you know nothing is going to
be
made obsolete by future developments.

Well, that's wrong for a start because you have already recognised that AI
metering, an obsolete system, is not supported in the D80.

Sticking to old values compromises a product and the relatively small Nikon
lens mount doesn't do it any favours.


Deryck
------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ian

Digital Photography Now
http://dpnow.com

The message
from "Digital Photography Now" contains
these words:


"deryck lant" wrote in message
...
I recently test-drove the D200 and EOS 30D, and the difference in
handling is amazing. I know this is subjective, but the 30D feels
like a toy camera compared to the D200. If the D80 also handles like
the D200, Nikon has got another winner

I am still waiting for Canon's response to the D200. I really would
like something with the handling characteristics of D200, and the
high ISO low noise and tonal range of the 30D or 5D. I am finally
about to replace the Sigma, but will not buy anything until after
Photokina.

Nikon is an engineering led company - Canon is a marketing led company.

Few would disagree that Nikon needs more marketing skills. I think you are
in a minority to think that Canon is short on engineering skills. USM is
still the best AF motor in the business and it's available in cheaper Canon
lenses too. Canon also makes its own CMOS sensors, Nikon only specifies its
sensors and then Sony makes them.

Nobody is saying that Canon is short of engineering skills - they make some
very fine sensors.

Canon makes marketing led decisions on the design of cameras.
Nikon include as many features as possible for the price.

There is a lot of Nikon research in the sensors made for them by Sony.


The Nikon system is an integrated system and you know nothing is going to
be
made obsolete by future developments.

Well, that's wrong for a start because you have already recognised that AI
metering, an obsolete system, is not supported in the D80.

When Canon introduced the EOS system with the EF lens mount they overnight
made many millions of FD mount lenses quite obsolete.

The Nikon D80 will mount all the untold millions of AI Nikkor lenses
using manual
exposure control. You can still use electronic focus confirmation.

Sticking to old values compromises a product and the relatively small Nikon
lens mount doesn't do it any favours.

Tell that to the millions of Canon FD camera and lens owners. Nikon camera
owners seem to be happy.

Ian I am not going to be drawn into a cat fight. You prefer Canon Cameras -
thats fine with me.

Cheers

Deryck

On the contrary, I'm not pro-Canon, just respectfully pointing out what I
think are anomalies in your argument. I respect both companies for their
undoubted strengths - both have interesting weaknesses too, as do all camera
manufacturers of course.

Ian

Digital Photography Now
http://dpnow.com

"deryck lant" wrote in message
...
The message
from "Digital Photography Now" contains
these words:

Ian I am not going to be drawn into a cat fight. You prefer Canon
Cameras -
thats fine with me.

Cheers

Deryck

"Digital Photography Now" wrote in message
news
Don't underestimate the sheer marketing muscle of Sony. Nikon is a tiny
company by comparison and traditional photo outlets are not the mainstay
of DSLRs any more.

Ian

True but Nikon and Canon are huge in SLR cameras and have top notch lens
lines to back it up. Most consumers are familiar with Nikon and Canon's Pro
use underpinnings. I can't see a pro walking around with a Sony dSLR. If
Sony chooses to push their line to several models and a full lens line, they
may have something. They seem to be now skimming the popular low end dSLR
market now.
-S