[shaolin101]

Hi all,

I am wondering which to get - was planning on the D80 - but is it still worth looking at the D50 as they are cheap, or the D40. It is mostly for family pics - but i like them to look good!

if the D80 is clearly better I would pay the extra - but if there is not much in it i might get a different model - a d70s perhaps too.

Also, where is the best place to get one (well the cheapest). Doesn't have to come with a lens as i could get the 50mm to go with it seeing as its fairly cheap.

thanks

[Yandros]

Ok, there are three grades of nikon to consider

D40
D50/D70s
D80

The D40 is the most user friendly of the set, and will probably produce the best A4 jpg images 'straight out the box'. The disadvantage is the lack of support for non-AFS lenses (for example the Nikon 50mm 1.8 you mention). It's also small, light and feels cheaper than the D70s/D80. It's only 2.5 FPS vs the 3fps of the others

The D50 and D70s are very close in terms of features. The D70s has a depth of field preview button, remote flash commander, and uses CF cards. The D50 produces slightly nicer jpgs, uses SD cards, and is slightly smaller, lighter and flimsier.

The D80 has a nicer viewfinder and bigger screen than the D50/D70s, and moves up to a 10MP sensor. The AF engine is improved, and you get a 100 ISO minimum (vs 200).

For sheer value for money and flexibility, a D50 or D70s at a clearance price would be very tempting. If you're likely to shop around for various lenses, avoid the D40. If you want the best by a fair margin in terms of features, then the D80 is the way to go.

As for lenses - the 50mm 1.8 is a very nice portrait and low light lens, but not much use for everyday pics. Get a 18-55 or 18-70 kit lens for starters. If you're doing lots of available light family shots, a Nikon 50mm f1.8, 35mm f2 or Sigma 30mm f1.4 would be good choices, and you can gauge which length would be best for you once you've played around with the kit lens for a bit.

[shaolin101]

thanks for the help.

i will avoid the 40 then. Will see what prices the d70s and d80 go for and make a decision based on price i think.

unless anyone can say that the d80 is immensly better than the d70s! Then i would just look for the cheapest d80 kit with the possibilty of getting the 50mm to go with it.

[1LeeDenton]

Regarding prices, keep your eye on www.camerapricebuster.co.uk which gives up-to-date prices for most, if not all, of the popular Nikon/Canon kit (bodies, lenses, mempory cards, flash etc). Very good website...

[Yandros]

Handy d70s/d80 comparison table ahoy!

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

As for best prices...

http://www.camerapricebuster.co.uk/

Note that you can pick up a D50+18-55 for silly money (£299). I can't see many good deals on the D70s+kit at the moment, but since they're both on clearance, prices are all over the place.

Personally I prefer the feel and size of the D70s, but in terms of jpg image quality, the D50 is actually slightly better (slightly newer processing engine). To be honest though, it's mostly just splitting hairs.


The D80 offers upgrades all round over the D50/70s. The viewfinder is bigger, the sensor is bigger, the lcd is bigger and higher resolution. The AF is improved, the low and high ISO is better. Whether these upgrades are worth £330 quid over a D50 kit is up to you, particularly that's the price of a nice extra lens.

[py6km]

If it's any help.....I've very recently (last few weeks) moved from a D50 to a D80. I went for the 18-135mm kit lens becuase the idea of having a single lens that covers a lot of the range that I usually shoot in appeals to me. My D50 had the 18-55 kit lens, which was good, but I augmented it with a Nikkor 55-200mm.

My first impressions so far with regards the D80 (against my D50) are that the overall 'feel' of the camera is about the same, if not slightly better than the D50 - they are both well built, solid cameras. They've got the same sort of chassis (as opposed to the D200 which is metal I believe). I think they feel better than comparable Canon machines, which is why I went for them in the end, but it's worth playing with a Canon as you may feel differently.

I like the extra pixels to play with - I don't need (yet) a longer zoom as I can simply pull detail out of an image without any significant loss of quality, which is nice until I get a better telephoto.

The D80 has a nicer (bigger, and seems sharper) screen than the D50. The menu system is also improved and pretty much one of the best around I think.

The D80 appears to me to be better than the D50 when it comes to speed of AF and speed of reeling shots of. I've not checked the specs, but I can definitely feel a difference there.

I think you can get a D80 + 18-135mm for about £650 now. Mine was about £680, but I decided to get it at my local Jessops (reserve online first to get best price though) in case anything went wrong - I like being to walk into the place I bought something from in such circumstances, and £680 is a fair whack really.

I would say that, overall, I'm very pleased with my upgrade, and I would recommend the D80. However, it depends what you're coming from.....do you have a dSLR (or similar) at the moment? If not, perhaps the D80 is overkill, and you'd be better off starting with a D50. If you do, then does the D80 provide you with any features over and above what you already have to warrant the purchase ?

For me, I could have stayed with my D50 in all honesty, but every now and again, I get a gadget itch that needs to be scratched !

[SomeVorn]

Heylo

I (about 12 hours ago) bought the D80 (18-70mm Kit) through warehouseexpress and I cannot wait. I've been reading all of the opinions on this forum and decided that this is a good choice for me. I've had a Olympus Sp500 for about 2 years and its been great. Bought a polarising filter, a super wide angle lens and come to the conclusion that if I'm buying such equipment, I really should be buying into a more flexible system.
The D80 is past/present/future proof. The D40 is reasonably future proof but you're missing out on decades of lenses (I happen to know a place where there are top-draw second hand lenses for about 40 pounds - ah village shops are great).
The D50/70 are both great cameras and the value for money is excellent (from the reviews I've studied) but the lack of 10mp means you are missing out a bit.

I also ordered a Sigma 70-300mm macro APO DG - purely on the opinions and some of the fantastic images posted on this forum.
Oh yeah i got the interest free for 12 months thing, I did pay 150 pounds deposit though so I don't feel too bad. Only 650 to go.

[jonnypb]

i'm sure you'll enjoy your new purchase very much

although......

Originally Posted by SomeVorn

Only 650 to go.

you might as well add a few hundred more onto that cos i'm sure once you get addicted to dslr it'll be spend spend spend on new lenses

[bibamus]

Not sure about the D40 / D40X with the lens issues, it will restrict you in the future, but if all you want is Nikon AF-S lenses, its probably the easiest to work.
I had the D50 when they first came out and it is a brilliant camera. Not at all flimsy, very well built and when I sold it after almost 2 years use, it still looked and felt brand new. Photos were excellent, probably slightly better out of the cam than the D70/s.

I bought the D70s next. Slightly bigger than the D50 but with a very similar feel. CF card instead of SD but that wasnt an issue. Its a more refined camera with a lot more user adjustable settings. 2 of the features I like over the D50 were the grid lines in the viewfinder and top display can be lit. Otherwise, photos were almost the same.

Now I have the D80. Similar size to the D50 and back to SD cards again. Apart from the 10mp ccd, the most immediately noticeable differences are the bigger lcd screen and much better viewfinder. There is a lot more control over the settings on this camera, some may find it complicated but I actually think it is easier to use than i first thought. Sure, theres plenty of scope to get it wrong ( as in all three) but you still get the full auto mode for when the brain overloads.

Just one word of caution though, you need to put in a little more effort using a dslr, but the results are well worth the effort. A lot of people seem to have a hang up with post processing, but you are missing out on a dslr`s potential if you dont fiddle with the end results.

You cant go wrong with the 50 70 or 80, but if its the extra bells and whistles you want, go for the D80 and persevere.

Allan

[shaolin101]

cheers everyone - have dslr experience so i dont mind going through menus etc and like to fiddle with photo processing too.

I reckon it will be the D80 then - being the newest, and that is SD card - i already have some. And the fact it may have something i want to use later and i wont need another upgrade!

[mjw123]

Originally Posted by shaolin101

thanks for the help.

i will avoid the 40 then. .

Can i ask why ?

[Radiohead]

The D70s is old now and not worth buying new.

My money would go firmly in the direction of the D80.

[shaolin101]

Originally Posted by mjw123

Can i ask why ?

just because of what was said about the lenses. I would rather have the option of what to use - whether or not i do, the choice is there just in case.

[martin greaves]

I wouldn't reject the D40 straight away. The D40 can use nearly all Nikon lenses, it just can't autofocus with some of the older lenses. The advantage of the D40 is its size which makes it easier to carry around. Its no good having a great camera if you never have it with you as its too bulky. It is well worth visting your local camera store and having a play with a few diffferent cameras to see how they feel in your hands.

[Yandros]

Originally Posted by martin greaves

I wouldn't reject the D40 straight away. The D40 can use nearly all Nikon lenses, it just can't autofocus with some of the older lenses. The advantage of the D40 is its size which makes it easier to carry around. Its no good having a great camera if you never have it with you as its too bulky. It is well worth visting your local camera store and having a play with a few diffferent cameras to see how they feel in your hands.

Umm, if you consider that this rules out the 28,35,50,85 primes and almost ALL 3rd party lenses (apart from a couple of Sigma HSMs), it's pretty serious.

For example find me a 2.8 zoom in the 17-70 range for the D40 (for less than £800). Or how about a macro lens (or even pseudo-macro) for under £500?

[martin greaves]

This doesn't entirely rule out most lenses, it just means that you have to focus manually. The OP is looking at a decent camera for taking family photos, and so portability may be a higher priority than being able to autofocus with all lenses. I have seen comments from a few people on other sites where they have access to a D40 and a D80 and they tend to use the D40 most of the time due to its better portability.

[lmccauley]

A Canon 400D (or discounted 350D) may be a good option if portability is a big concern.

[Radiohead]

Originally Posted by martin greaves

This doesn't entirely rule out most lenses, it just means that you have to focus manually. The OP is looking at a decent camera for taking family photos, and so portability may be a higher priority than being able to autofocus with all lenses. I have seen comments from a few people on other sites where they have access to a D40 and a D80 and they tend to use the D40 most of the time due to its better portability.

I get what you're driving at but a D40 is hardly pocketable so I'm not convinced. If outright portability is an issue get a compact and accept the compromise.

The idea of aiming a camera at beginners and then asking them to suddenly master MF seems slightly perverse.

The D40 is a camera crying out for a raft of new AF-S lenses for me.

[lmccauley]

Originally Posted by Radiohead

The D40 is a camera crying out for a raft of new AF-S lenses for me.

Thom Hogan's latest analysis of Nikon's predicted sales and revenues over the next year indicates that this may well happen.

[Radiohead]

Originally Posted by lmccauley

Thom Hogan's latest analysis of Nikon's predicted sales and revenues over the next year indicates that this may well happen.

If they're looking to drive sales of new lenses then it makes sense to lose in-camera motors.

[shaolin101]

Hi,

Thankfully the size isn't really an issue - i was used to borrowing a D50 a while ago and prefered the larger size to a canon which was a bit fiddly in my hands.

i hope to use it a bit more for pictures that are not just happy snaps like you would take on a disposable camera for example but something that will ultimately look good - depending on what photography skills i learn of course!

And if its a good'un the ability to print it large without distortion would be a bonus (largest being around 20x30 - but rarely).

I think auto focus will be useful for me to have - sometimes i need to take a picture quick and if the focus is out it can take me a while to manually get it correct - think i need new glasses as i am a bit slow on the manual focus!

[martin greaves]

If you weren't happy with a Canon then it sounds like the D80 is the camera for you. On camerapricebuster.co.uk the best UK price for body-only seems to be ~£520 from Jessops with a discount code. Or you could try someone like DigitalRev on Ebay for £430 (from Hong Kong, but they will pay the VAT/Duty) - they seem to have a resonable reputation, but I haven't used them personally.

[shaolin101]

thanks, i am always weary of purchasing from china - i have this wrong image that everything is gonna be dodgy! (moody DVD's and sweat shop produced fake designer clothes etc)

A D80 case with some old photo equipment inside - will have a look though.

[Radiohead]

The likes of DigitalRev, Onestop-Digital and URGalaxy have hard-earned reputations that mean you can use them with confidence.