Nikon D80 v D90

chrism_scotland

chrism_scotland

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Looking to get back into photography, miss having my camera with me and it looks like I'm moving permanently to London giving me more time for togging and more to shoot!!

Been looking at Nikon mainly and probably the D90 as I can't really justify the D300! But I've also noticed a lot of D80's in the classifieds, how does the D80 compare to the D90? Is it a good body?
 
The D80 is a good camera but it uses a CCD chip compared to the CMOS one in the D90 and hence control of noise is not as good. There are a few other differences but overall the D90 is a much better camera. I don't think the D300 would make much difference to you for what you shoot so I wouldn't worry about it.
Get a D90 and banish those Sony memories:lol:
 
Hi

I have a D90 as my backup body, my main body is a D300.

The D90 is an excellent camera and in terms of features and quality of images is very similar to my D300. The D300 is just better built, more robust and feels heavier. I actually prefer the D90 because I have very small hands and find that its easier for me to handle.

Hope this helps you.

Clare
 
I do love my D80 but in all honesty if you can afford it you should go for the D90. I got my D80 just as the D90 was coming in at Jessops for £391 with the kit lens, I was well impressed :) I would love a D90 but at this rate I think I'll wait until the next pro-sumer DSLR from Nikon is released.
 
The D80 is an old, old camera now - it shares a lot of it's technology with the D200 (as with the D90/300) but loses out to it on build quality and features.

If it was me I'd spend the extra few quid and get a D200 or a D90 before considering a D80...
 
+1 for D90. It's newer technology, includes video, much better sensor, IQ identically if not superior in ISO to D300. Go for it!
 
I recently upgraded my D80 to a D90. Althought the D80 was a more than capable camera, I wanted the better noise control of the newer CMOS sensor in the D90.
I don't use the video feature at all but live view is handy at times without a doubt.
If I were you, having experienced both cams, go for the D90 - you won't regret it.
Also, I don't see the point of a D200 as its pretty much the same as a D80 but better built - it uses the same CCD sensor so is as noisy as a D80.
Another also - the D80 can shoot at 3 frames per second whereas the D90 shoots at 4 frames and also seems to have a bigger buffer so you can shoot longer before the camera slows down (in my experience anyway)
 
The 17-50/2.8 is considered a very nice lens -- you'd be getting a constant f2.8 lens, the downside being that, depending on your preference, you might need another lens to cover the long end.
 
I wanted the D90, wallet said no so I have a D80 its a great camera but the D90 is a whole new generation (live view, video, most importantly handles high iso so much better with much less noise) and well well worth getting if you can. infact as you asked the question it implies its not out of the question, so go get one.
 
Nikon lenses are good. So is the D80. The D90 is better, but the D100 [or whichever name Nikon choose, given that 'D100' is already taken] will be even better.

If you gave a D80 to any one of the world's leading photographers, they'd come up with better images than yours or mine. Likewise, a D80 with a 200 f/2 will be better than a D90 with the 18-200.

If budget allows, go for the newest and best you can afford. If a used D80 frees up £300 for a classy lens out of an otherwise constrained budget, then it's the better buy. Just remember that the body - any camera body - is less important than what's mounted to it, and who's stood behind it.
 
As a relatively inexperienced phot bloke, I recently upgraded to a D90 from a D40. I also use a D80 at work sometimes. In terms of images i really don't see a huge difference between the 3 cameras but then I'm not pixel-peeping.
The 2 main reasons I upgraded were to allow the use of more lenses and to get a bigger LCD screen. Everything else for me was gravy.
Having said that, what I've particularly grown to like is the instant access to change things by dedicated buttons rather than scrolling thru menus.

When I go back to the D80 now (use one at work), it really feels "old"!
 
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