Nikon D50 vs D80

Markvs

Markvs

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Mark
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Need some advice
I bought a D80 to upgrade from the D50 I was using
I know both still old cameras but Im beginning. My initial thought is not much difference except size of file that will allow larger prints

What makes things worse is I think I prefer the D50 camera shot as it has only 5 focus points that makes things easy

Not really sure what I expected but is MP really that important or should sell both and get another nikon spec

D50
8056989942_04b40c9ff2_b.jpg


D80
8056990753_994894e4a7_b.jpg
 
Mp mean nothing in reality unless you are printing massive. Both cameras should print a decent A3 size.

The d80 has slighter better high ISO, the d50 starts to get very noisy above 400.
If you prefer the d50, then stick with that. The d80 only really adds better build quality and. Few other features that probably aren't very important to you yet.
 
The D3 is still serious money though.

I'd say stick with the D80. It's a generation later than the D50. It's faster, cleaner, can trigger wireless flash, has a higher resolution screen, a proper pentaprism viewfinder, better colour depth and dynamic range, and makes you more sexually attractive.
 
daugirdas said:
errr, looking at the 2 above, are there any Nikon's without built in flash? (apart from D3) You should get that or failing that the old Canon 5D or 1D2
Click to expand...

Well that was an informative post, you're saying he should get a Canon because he used the inbuilt flash?

Back to the topic, D80 has a larger LCD and as said before better noise handling. Although still an old camera it's still a bit more advanced that the D50. Pretty sure the viewfinder is more coverage/is larger too. D50 has a higher flash sync but not much else going for it over the D80. If you are looking to make a bit more of an advance try and sell them both a get a D90 or D5100.
 
Personally, I find my D700's in body flash perfetly adequate for most of my needs (basic fill flash in less than perfect natural light and as a main flash fo pix in the dark.) I do have an SB-600 but it rarely gets used since it takes up room in the bag that's better used by a lens!

Nikon DSLRs without in body flash? Only the top of the range Pro models IIRC and the OP wasn't asking about them!

Back on topic!

If the D50 delivers enough MP for the maximum size prints you want, you may as well stick with that. If you need the extra features the D80 needs, go for that. It's all down to your personal choice.
 
The Hassleblad H3DII-31 has a pop up flash.. I dont really see the relevence a pop up flash has to the OP's question?
 
TCR4x4 said:
The Hassleblad H3DII-31 has a pop up flash.. I dont really see the relevence a pop up flash has to the OP's question?
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I haven't quite explained it then. Well the flash is clearly to blame for the poor pics above, and one could one presume for many others in question. If it was used as 'fill in' that would be fine, but I guess very few non-pros or serious enthusiasts even know what that means, and that's the problem. Less is more sometimes. I'd be tempted to suggest some gaffer tape to disable the thing at the very least, and investing some money to good books
 
thanks for the replies but having used the D80 today at a zoo its going back on ebay.
Maybe a dodgy one I bought but something is really not right with it, todays pictures were awful I get better shots with my iPhone
The LCD is nicer yes but thats so unimportant to me as I prefer to take many and delete from the laptop not the camera.
I may do as someone suggested go for the D90
 
My D80 when fitted with my Nikon 50mm 1.8D is a pretty nice combination, and I have taken some decent photos with it. I am keeping the combo I have, as it is cheap and cheerful, and the images it produces are pretty good. My D80 does produce better photos than my iphone 4s, just probably your settings need tweaking :thinking:
 
daugirdas said:
I haven't quite explained it then. Well the flash is clearly to blame for the poor pics above, and one could one presume for many others in question. If it was used as 'fill in' that would be fine, but I guess very few non-pros or serious enthusiasts even know what that means, and that's the problem. Less is more sometimes. I'd be tempted to suggest some gaffer tape to disable the thing at the very least, and investing some money to good books
Click to expand...
Alternatively he could just put it in any of the PSAM modes and the flash wouldn't pop up unless he wanted it to.

What was wrong with the zoo pics, Mark?
 
HMansfield said:
What was wrong with the zoo pics, Mark?
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I had 2 main issues.

1st was the sunlight. (pic 1-4) I found not only subject but the background was too bright. On penguin picture his friends behind him look luminescent
I changed various settings (pic 5) but Im still learning how to handle sunlight

2nd was the focus area. (pic 4) Many shots of a static subject came out blurred much worse than picture 4 that Ive never had with the D50 Even on the AUTO setting

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The side of the elephant is in shadow, and the background is in direct sunlight. The difference in brightness would be too much for a lot of cameras, not just the D80. The D50 has a smaller dynamic range, so would had struggled even more with that shot.

On such a bright day, try dialing in -0.7 exposure compensation as standard to protect your bright areas.

Picture 5 looks fine on my screen. Plenty of detail in the fur, gradual fading to black in his chest area with no obvious blocking.

Emu's face is sharp. Gopher's front foot is sharp. There's some issues with exposure (which is mostly down to the lighting conditions) but I don't see any obvious problem with the camera.
 
I'm inclined to agree - those shots look pretty good to me and the camera has done a good job of guessing the exposure in tricky conditions.

That said, the D50 does actually have a better meter system than the D80 so that's why you may be seeing a difference (D50 was early enough that they just used the pro metering system of the time whereas by the time the D80 came along they had developed cheaper systems for the consumer cameras).
 
I can't see a lot wrong with those either considering quite tricky lighting conditions.

I'd just suggest sticking with it to be honest...
 
thanks again for the info and comments
I think bottom line my experience is more at fault than the camera
D50 was my first SLR 2 months ago and I was amazed by it and the D80 having more buttons, probably more combinations? I need to play a bit more.

I did take some pictures of the moon again last night (edited in NX2) and compared to D50 shot about 2 weeks ago and again, sorry expected better results. Im thinking at entry level the lens is maybe more important than body?
I basically want to be able to take great pictures crisp and detailed without noise but its trickier than I thought. But some shots on TP and Flickr by amateurs are amazing

D50
8030445255_c831f08b80_b.jpg

D80
8062394656_44195fd817_b.jpg
 
Last edited:
HMansfield said:
Emu's face is sharp.
Click to expand...

Just to be a pedantic Australian...

That is not an emu. I'm pretty sure it is a rhea.

I agree though - decent shots given what a pain bright sunlight is in these situations.
 
Markvs said:
thanks again for the info and comments
I think bottom line my experience is more at fault than the camera
D50 was my first SLR 2 months ago and I was amazed by it and the D80 having more buttons, probably more combinations? I need to play a bit more.

I did take some pictures of the moon again last night (edited in NX2) and compared to D50 shot about 2 weeks ago and again, sorry expected better results. Im thinking at entry level the lens is maybe more important than body?
I basically want to be able to take great pictures crisp and detailed without noise but its trickier than I thought. But some shots on TP and Flickr by amateurs are amazing
Click to expand...

DSLR cameras are a bit like racing cars, sure they are faster but in order to be able to get them around the track without crashing - you need a certain level of skill.

Also you are right, lenses are very important and arguably much more important than the body, at any level of camera.

The difference in your moon shot could be due to a few things, it could have mis-focused, it could be that the extra MP of the D80 is showing up the flaws in the lens or maybe the shutter speed wasn't high enough.
 
OK so I sold the D80 and bought a D90 which I like however same lens Sigma APO 135-400mm same settings except I needed to turn up the shutter speed on the D90

Read some reviews on the lens sayin it has a soft effect, which I take means nogood at focus which I noticed the other day long distance

Kept my D50 the top picture, and the better one than the lower picture from D90

Is the D50 just a brilliant camera that most people dont give credit or am I doing something wrong here

8331161845_1e74ace724_b.jpg
 
Having used all three of the cameras you have mentioned I have to say that the D50 although a decent camera is not by any means the best of the 3

What settings are you using ?

ISO
Metering
Shutter Speed
Aperture
Focus Point

Instead of reducing the shuttter speed, which could have caused camera shake, try turning down the ISO or decreasing the aperture

In the animal pictures if you metered off the dark parts of the animals then you will blow the background and whites, try matrix metering across the whole frame, or spot off the a mid range part

I've also found that some Nikon cameras don't like certain lenses as much as others do, my D200 gave some awful results with a sigma lens I had but the D300 was ok with it, so perhaps the lens is part of the problem :shrug:
 
As shown, on the D90 if the shutter speed was the same the image was blown in parts so increased to reduce light



Jpeg Fine (8-bit)
Nikon D50
135-400mm f/4.5-5.6D
400mm
AF-A
Dynamic
f/16
1/320s
ISO 800

Jpeg Fine (8-bit)
Nikon D90
135-400mm f/4.5-5.6D
400mm
AF-A
Auto
f/16
1/4000s
ISO 800
 
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