Nikon D80

[MorningDusk]

well I was thinking about purchasing a NIkon D80.
Currently right now I own a Nikon D40, but I've been second guessing myself whether or not to sell my D40 to get a D80. What do ya'll think for those of ya'll who have a D80.
I think I might ask my uncle (who's a pro. photographer) what he thinks and help me dicide, but I would really love other peoples two cents on this.

[james23p]

I have a D80 some of the advantages are as follow:

Much brighter and larger Viewfinder, two jog wheels and more direct input vs menu driven on the D40, will auto-focus with all AF lens designed for the Nikon F mount, 10mp vs 6mp, overall faster camera and faster AF system 11 AF areas vs 3, has Nikon branded battery pack with vertical shutter release, the onboard flash is CLS capable meaning you can use the onboard flash to fire off remotely other SB-600/800 , if you like larger it is larger and it has a top LCD.

There are other differences I am sure but these are the ones that mattered to me. Everyone is different and will like each model for different reasons. I am a big fan of my D80 and the fact I can slap on an older AF-D or plain AF lens and it will auto-focus is a major plus.

But I always tell people first go and try the camera and see if it feels good and if it meets your expectations. When I bought my D80 I had and still do a D50 and I never regretted upgrading for many of the reasons above.

Last the price of the D80 has dropped to almost $700 new in the US that's a good deal, but that said there are alot of mint D200's out there for around $1000 I guess it depends if you prefer to buy new and your budget. I was thinking of a D300 but I could not justify the price as my D80 does everything I need but if locally a mint D200 shows up under a $1000 I might jump as my daughter takes my D50 all the time and I need a backup so a D80/D200 combo sounds good to me I am not concerned they use different cards as they take up no space and I have a multi card reader.

Jim

[MorningDusk]

Thank you ever so much for your input Jim. Its greatly apreaciated. One of my friends told me that the D80 has a faster shutter release than her D50. She loved it even better than her D50.
I shoot mainly in autofocus, and my main subject of photography is horses.

I don't know why I've been having second guesses on the D80. Maybe I have grown attatched to my D40 haha.

[james23p]

You will love the speed of the D80 for horse shots. My daughter has horses(well I do write the checks but she rides and takes care of them). Taken shortly after getting my D80 of Felicia riding Buster and one of our horse Red. I plan on doing some better shots next weekend if the weather permits.

These were shot at ISO 320 for Buster and Felicia and 250 for Red. I wish I had bumped up to ISO 400 for a tad faster shutter speed. But sometimes I forget I can up the ISO as I still shoot alot of film and my mindset forgets to change with the format.

[MorningDusk]

Your daughter has lovely horses, and I too ride english as well (:

Thank you for your input once again, as now I'm slightly leaning for the D80 once more. As a matter of fact while I was shooting at the horse show yesterday the D40 was a little slow autofocusing even in pretty good lighting. (:

[RangemasterP226]

I love my D80, it does everything I want it to do. For what its worth, my friend has a D200 and I'm really glad I went with the D80 because the D200 seems much heavier and therefore more unwieldy. Just my .02