Nikon D80 review

At the moment Nikon D80 is an outdated camera, but many amateur and professional photographers continue to use it. The camera was released in the fall of 2006, but is still popular, this is due to the huge set of useful functions and its trouble-free operation. The camera usually comes with one of 3 lenses

  1. Nikkor AF-S DX 18-135 / 3.5-5.6 G IF-EDthat was announced with the camera
  2. Nikkor 18-70mm f3.5-4.5G ED-IF AF-S DX, one of the best station wagons
  3. Nikon AF-S DX 18-55 F3.5-5.6G, a pretty whale lens.
Nikon D80 body

Nikon D80 body

Advantages of the device to which you should pay attention:

  1. An excellent viewfinder, more than its predecessors, but still does not provide 100% coverage.
  2. Optional liquid crystal display. This is not a relic of the past, but a convenient thing that allows you to quickly configure the necessary little things and save battery in contrast to the large main display. Also, there is a backlight mode, which is very easily turned on by the on / off button of the camera.
  3. Focusing drive. He is "engine"In common people or" screwdriver "- will work with all lenses from Nikon that have autofocus. This will significantly expand the range of possible optics and save some money. The motor turns focus pretty quickly on my Nikkor 50mm F1.8 D.
  4. Matrix in 10MP, type of CCD sensor, working with different cameras, I can say that CCD has sometimes more pleasant colors than CMOS. Also about 10MP - today it is not much and not a little. Don't chase megapixels at all, even professional full-frame cameras Nikon D3, Nikon D700, Nikon D3s have 12MP. I advise my article Battle of Megapixels.
  5. Many focus points (areas) (total 11 zones), as much as in the newer Nikon D90 or old semi-professional Nikon D200This is a really useful feature when taking pictures. After 3 focus points on Nikon D40, 11 points on the D80 are just a huge amount.
  6. The custom menu, it would seem a trifle, but you can customize the menu for yourself. I usually put out there ISO control functions, the built-in flash mode, battery power and shooting modes (portrait, standard).
  7. Great battery, same as in nikon d200, d300(s) D90, D700 making it easy to change batteries between cameras. On average, the battery can withstand 1000 to 1500 frames, depending on the lens and shooting method.
  8. FP Flash Sync Modeallowing you to shoot with an external flash with shutter speed up to 1/4000. An indispensable function, how to use, read in my article "how to take pictures with flash during the day»
  9. External flash control mode. An indispensable feature - allows you to remotely control external flash units at a distance in i-TTL mode. SB-600, SB-700, SB-800, SB-900 и SB-910 Ideal for such control. It is enough to switch the built-in flash to the control mode (C - Comand Mode) and set the synchronization settings.
  10. A programmable button on which you can hang a number of functions, I personally set it to focus modes - by point, auto, dynamic zone.
  11. A separate button for bracketing will always allow you to simplify the setup and selection of the frame with a successful exposure. By the way, there is an opportunity bracketing by BB and by flash.

Disadvantages:

  1. Joystick (multi selector) without central button - quite unusual for our time. This slightly reduces the ergonomics of the camera. Even on small Nikon D40 the joystick has a central OK button. In the D80, the "OK" button is taken out separately and to press it, you need to move your fingers from one place to another.
  2. Metering does not work exposure with manual lenses, a rather inconvenient thing if you, for example, use Soviet optics. And any manual optics from Nikon will work only in manual mode - this means that the camera cannot measure exposure with lenses that do not have a chip.
  3. The camera does not show as fast a reaction as we would like it to be (although this does not apply to the shooting process itself). There is no info button. The overall reaction speed (menu, switching modes) as in Nikon D40. But then, navigation on the secondary display is just great.
  4. Not necessary and not programmable button for viewing depth of field. On the cropped matrix, it does not really allow you to peer into the DOF (DOF). It would be better if the company spent on such a pleasant trifle as vibrational cleaning of the matrix or increased the shutter speed to 1/8000.
  5. On my copy, after 20.000 frames, the gum on the rear panel began to peel off - most Nikon's problem. It is solved by repeated gluing, and sometimes by complete removal from the camera. After 128.000 frames on the camera, the frame counter turns off and starts counting in the opposite direction. But the mileage of over 100.000 on my copy only says that the camera is really very high quality.

At the moment this is Nikon's cheapest and most practical DSLR APS-C camera, which will allow you to get almost all the necessary functions of a professional camera. At the moment, there are practically no new cameras on sale, but in the secondary market you can find a huge offer of Nikon D80. If the functionality is very important at work for minimal funds, then the Nikon D80 is the best option.

Nikon D80 rear view

Nikon D80 rear view

A brief comparison with a relative Nikon D90:

Nikon D80 has a basic ISO of 100, against Nikon D90 with his lo1. I Nikon D90 the maximum ISO is raised by one step, which is 6400. The Nikon D80 has a 2,5 inch screen with 230 thousand pixels, versus 3 inch with 920.000 pixels D90. And of course, D90 there is a Live View mode and video shooting. Nikon D90 also wins in terms of speed - 4.5 fps versus 3 fps. Otherwise, the cameras are very similar. I do not recommend upgrading from Nikon D80 to Nikon D90, D300, D300s without emergency. If you go already, then on Nikon D7000 or full frame Nikon D700 and others like that.

Here link to the archive with the originals - 586 MB, 73 photos in .NEF format (RAW) from the Nikon D80 camera.

Brief comparison with ancestor Nikon D200:

Nikon D80 same matrix as semi-professional camera Nikon D200. The only difference is the matrix kit, Nikon D200 it is double, which allows you to do 5 frames per second, while the Nikon D80 is single, which allows you to do only 3 frames per second. In general, they say that the matrices are different. The picture quality is very, very similar, I used a long time Nikon D200 and D80. Also, Nikon D200 has dust and moisture protection, it has more functionality, can work with manual lenses of the type AI-S, the shutter speed is half as fast as the Nikon D80 - 1/8000c versus 1/4000c. Also, the Nikon D200 has a 1,005 sensor, versus 420 for the Nikon D80. Nikon D80 uses SD cards, against big ones CF from Nikon D200. Well, the ergonomics are different. With Nikon D80 you will get the same picture as Nikon D200. When choosing between Nikon D80 and Nikon D200, the decisive factor was the battery life, which runs out very quickly on the two hundred. I do not recommend upgrading from Nikon D80 to Nikon D200.

Nikon D70(s), in my humble opinion, to compare is not practical due to the large difference in functionality. From D70 he took his classic design.

Sample photos on Nikon D80

All photos in this review without treatment. Size reduced to 2 or 3 MP and data from EXIF.

Features and recommendations for the use of Nikon D80:

The camera can very accurately show the number of spent frames for each battery and show the battery charge level with an accuracy of one percent. By the way, the battery is the same as the Nikon D90, D700, D200, D300, D300s, it’s convenient for me to change batteries between my D90 and D80 cameras.

Tips:

  • I advise you to program a function button to select the focus mode, this will help you quickly switch between automatic and spot focus mode. Also turn off high ISO and long shutter noise reduction functions, since they greatly reduce the number of frames in the buffer, there are about three of them. With disabled features you can achieve 6 frames in RAW in the buffer.
  • I use Nikon D80 and 32GB Class 10 without any problems SD HC memory card, this means that the camera works adequately with new memory cards, so you don’t have to worry about the age and compatibility of the camera.
  • Since this is still a DX camera, I do not advise buying expensive DX lenses for it, then you still have to switch to a full frame. Well, if the DX format is fine, then Nikon 35mm F1.8, Nikon 55-200 and classic Nikon 50mm f / 1.8D AF Nikkor will be a great addition to the camera for little money.

Prices for modern Nikon cameras in popular stores can look at this link.

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Conclusions:

Nikon D80 - an obsolete miracle of camera manufacturing with great functionality. Suitable for both amateurs and professionals. Recommended as a budget option for any need.

I advise you to look at the page recommendations for choosing an amateur Nikon camera.

Material prepared Arkady Shapoval.

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Comments: 706, on the topic: Review of Nikon D80

  • Dima

    It is quite possible to shoot with the camera today, but as a second one for the soul)

  • Dima

    d80 b 18-55

  • Dima

    d80

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