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Gadgets Nikon D80 D-SLR Announced
Brandon Hill (Blog) - August 9, 2006 9:00 AM
Print E-mail del.icio.us 24 comment(s) - last by lemonadesoda.. on Aug 11 at 5:22 PM

Image courtesy dpreview.com

Image courtesy dpreview.com

AF-S VR Zoom-Nikkor 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G IF-ED - Image courtesy dpreview.com
Nikon announces its 10.2MP followup to the D70s

Nikon has just announced its new 10.2MP D70 D-SLR camera. Nikon first teased us 20 days again with a flash animation foreshadowing the release of the D80 and a few days later, the first images of the camera leaked onto the web. Now everything has come into full focus with the official announcement. The body only price of the new camera will be $999 USD and it will launch this September.

The camera will feature a 10.2MP DX format CCD sensor and a Nikon F bayonet lens mount to ensure compatibility with AF and DX Nikkor lenses. The D80 features a pentaprism viewfinder with 0.94x magnification, a 12-bit image processor, 3D Color Matrix Metering II, and an 11-area AF system thanks to a revised version of Nikon's Multi-CAM 1000 AF sensor module. The camera also offers up seven Digital Vari-Programs including Auto, Portrait, Landscape, Close Up, Sports, Night Landscape and Night Portrait. Performance wise, the camera powers up in 0.08 seconds and can capture up to 100 JPEG images at 3 FPS.

Digital SLR enthusiasts may balk, but the D80 now uses Secure Digital storage instead of CompactFlash. Using the smaller SD form-factor has allowed Nikon to trim down the size of the D80 in comparison to the D70/D70s. Also new is a 2.5" LCD screen (230k pixels) with a 170 degree viewing angle. The pop-up flash uses Nikon’s i-TTL flash control and is fully compatible with the Advanced Wireless Lighting System used by the SB-800 and SB-600 speedlights. Power comes via Nikon's EN-EL3e rechargeable lithium-ion battery which allows users to shot up to 2,700 images on a charge. Options for the D80 include the new MB-D80 Multi-Power Battery Pack, Wireless ML-L3 (IR) Remote Control and the MC-DC1 Remote Cord.

Nikon has also announced two new lenses to go along with the D80. First up is the new $700 AF-S VR Zoom-Nikkor 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G IF-ED lens which features Nikon's new Vibration Reduction (VRII) system. It allows users to snap pictures at up to 4 stops slower than otherwise possible. It will be available in October of this year. Also new is the $300 AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6G IF-ED lens which will be available in September along with the D80.

For those that would like to see the new camera in action, Digital Photography Review has posted its preview of the new camera.

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Uninformed responses
By HeavyB on 8/10/2006 9:07:51 AM , Rating: 2
You can tell this is a computer hardware site and not a photography community from the responses here. 8MP vs 10MP makes very little positive difference, especially considering that increasing pixel density increases noise in the image. Bells and whistles like dust removal and in-camera IS and CF vs SD storage should be secondary to the comparisons of image quality of Canon vs Nikon and the price of the glass you would likely use. I'd even put the # of frames per second and ergonomics ahead of he bells and whistles in terms of importance in a decision.




RE: Uninformed responses
By DLeRium on 8/10/2006 3:42:02 PM , Rating: 2
Uhhhh 10MP makes a huge difference. If you make prints you will know. Of course most people are idiots and think that their 4MP is sufficient. Making prints on my Powershot G3 was hard enough and it required fat borders and still I was at a low DPI. Going to 6MP changed things, but I didn't increase print sizes. DPI just went up, and now it's decent. I hope I can one day afford this camera =)


RE: Uninformed responses
By TomZ on 8/10/2006 4:12:11 PM , Rating: 2
Agreed, that the difference between 4MP and 10MP would be substantial. The OP was suggesting, however, there was little difference between 8MP and 10MP.


RE: Uninformed responses
By HeavyB on 8/10/2006 6:21:01 PM , Rating: 2
10MP vs 8MP makes very little if any difference. Where the hell did you pull the 4MP figure from? I compared 10MP vs 8MP. I make plenty of prints with my 8MP Canon 20D and they will look no different at large print sizes compared to this Nikon (many will say they look better due to the low noise of the CMOS sensor vs CCD). Sure 10MP makes a huge difference vs 4MP, and guess what, it makes an even bigger difference vs 2MP. Thanks for stating the obvious. Like I said, it is clear this is not a photog site....


RE: Uninformed responses
By lemonadesoda on 8/10/2006 6:49:14 PM , Rating: 2
8MP to 10MP is a 25% increase. That means, you could, after taking the picture, edit the photo and crop up to 25% of the picture, zoom by 25%, and have no loss of quality compared to 8MP. (Assuming new 10MP has no additional noise compared to 8MP. This is a key assumption).

If you are a point and shoot snapper, do no editing, and no cropping, or print up to A4 and smaller, then I agree, there is "no difference" between 8MP and 10MP. However, if you do any kind of editing, there is an advantage. And anyone interested in a D80 is not a point-and-shoot-snapper!

We have to be careful about "marginal" comparisons. I'll give you an example:

1./ If 10MP is no better than 8MP, then you can equally argue that
2./ 12MP is no better than 10MP, in which case you could conclude that
3./ 12MP is no better than 8MP

And if anyone went around this forum, or any photog site, saying things like 12MP is no better than 8MP, then you'd pretty quickly lose the respect of other forum members.


RE: Uninformed responses
By TomZ on 8/10/2006 9:00:22 PM , Rating: 2
lemonadesoda, you're being silly. "About the same as" is not a transitive relationship. Obviously you could use the same line of reasoning to "prove" that 2MP is about the same as 40MP, which is silly.

Anyway, I give you this quote:

Next we'll talk megapixels, or I guess the marketeers would like that, but to be frank there's really little to gain or lose in two megapixels either way, hence in a neutral comparison (as we did here, shooting RAW and using the same converter) you really can't see any significant advantage or disadvantage going either way (8 to 10 or 10 to 12). You really wouldn't be able to see a difference in print even at very large sizes.
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/nikond200/page31.a...

Call that "opinion" if you like, but dpreview is a pretty well-respected source.


RE: Uninformed responses
By HeavyB on 8/10/2006 9:14:39 PM , Rating: 2
TomZ,
Well put. These loons just prove my point and feed the megapixels marketing machine. Quoting the great Nigel Tufnel "These go to eleven". The ironic thing is that most people that bean-count megapixels probably use crap lenses that couldn't take advantage of the small resolution improvement.



RE: Uninformed responses
By lemonadesoda on 8/11/2006 5:22:06 PM , Rating: 2
Hey Listen! I have a custom Marshall amp too! LOL


RE: Uninformed responses
By lemonadesoda on 8/11/2006 5:20:58 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
Obviously you could use the same line of reasoning to "prove" that 2MP is about the same as 40MP, which is silly


Eh? That's EXACTLY what I was doing in my post. Showing how silly it was to make that comparison.

***

My main point is in the first paragraph. The point stands. 25% increase in pixel count. It will give you a lot more flexibility. You can't deny it.

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/nikond200/page25.a...

While I fully agree with your "transitive" comment, technology is rarely revolutionary. It is mostly incremental. And marketing-spin or not... the fact is that incremental change, over time, can take us a long way. Simply pooh-poohing incremental change (ie. 8MP to 10MP) is psychologically standing in the way of progress.

This reasoning applies equally to increases in HDD size or CPU frequency.


Looks pretty nice!
By jamesbond007 on 8/9/2006 10:16:03 AM , Rating: 2
I'm a big SLR fan and the camera seems pretty nice. I'm a Canon shooter, however, and can't believe how much Nikon wants for the 70-300 VR lens! Canon's 'equivalent' 70-300 with Image Stabilization can be had for less than $500.

I wouldn't buy either lens, but that's an outrageous price. If they want $700, I would have expected something in the f/2.8-f/4 range or so. Maybe even a fixed f/4...




RE: Looks pretty nice!
By VooDooAddict on 8/9/2006 1:03:48 PM , Rating: 2
I've always prefered Canons with the point and shoots. Recently browsing Digital SLRs I was been torn between Nikon and Canon. I'm wondering if either would be beginner friendly with profesional capabilities.


RE: Looks pretty nice!
By NagoyaX on 8/9/2006 1:19:01 PM , Rating: 2
Both of them are good camera, but i find that nikons menus are ezer to deal with.

As for the D80 its missing alot of features like image stabliztion and dust reduction. Mind you DSLR are fast enough not to need image stabilztion but i really wish it had dust reduction...

I might have to get the sony alpha after all... quite disapotined with nikon this time


RE: Looks pretty nice!
By andrewrocks on 8/9/2006 2:33:41 PM , Rating: 2
have you guys played with the alpha yet? oh man it is super sweet

i am very tempted to pick one up


RE: Looks pretty nice!
By NagoyaX on 8/9/2006 6:32:31 PM , Rating: 2
I would, i play with it all the time @ work. The image stabliztion is a big selling feature... but what i find most important is dust reduction... nikon doesnt have ne thing close to that... they really should too...


RE: Looks pretty nice!
By TomZ on 8/10/2006 7:59:07 AM , Rating: 2
I've shot with SLR's and DSLR's for many years. Image stabilization and dust reduction being prime features? What are you talking about? Dust reduction is helpful if you are changing lenses a lot in dusty environments - how often is that? Image stabilization may be helpful when using a long lens, but for the types of photos most people shoot, IS is a non-feature.


RE: Looks pretty nice!
By Mojo the Monkey on 8/9/2006 6:06:43 PM , Rating: 2
I did a massive amount of research before buying a few cameras recently. for the point and click i ended up with the canon, (like you), but I decided to go with Nikon for my SLR.

In the end, really just focus on the main feature that sets the type of camera apart for you, then look at price. some of these sites with 200 page reviews per sub-model get a bit daunting. in the end, they can do the same things and are of virtually identical quality. In the end, I went with the D50 (which has many of the same important internals as the more expensive models) and spent the rest on a nice lense.


Cool but...
By ncage on 8/9/2006 7:22:22 PM , Rating: 2
Cool i have a d50 which i absolutly love. The idea to go with SD is a smart one i think. Its small and takes less power. Only feature that is missing which i would upgrade if they had was a way to protect dust from getting in the camera. A major problem with dSLR. Sony new dSLR has this feature but i want to keep with nikon lenses.




Try going to a wedding with a Sony
By Cunthor01 on 8/9/2006 8:07:37 PM , Rating: 2
... you will be laught at.

Sony is still aimed at those coming from DSC-F828 or F717 (I think those are the model names). For anyone that had any shooting experience whatsoever (real photography, not your snapshooter) Canon or Nikon SLRs all the way.

I personally use D70, and have been now for nearly two years. New D80 seems to me like an upgrade path to all D50 owners, since most D70 owners will progress to D200 sooner or later. If you dont believe me, look at SD slot on D80 and all the in camera processing like D-Lighting. Those of us who shoot RAW will know that you can do that with (probably) better precision in Nikon's software in post processing.

Can't wait to see what Canon will do this time. It just happens to be the time Nikon leapfrogs Canon.


By Cunthor01 on 8/9/2006 8:12:07 PM , Rating: 2
... forgot to add that I would rather have fixed CCD/CMOS then something mechanical with dust reduction. Think of the cost if something goes wrong to repair it! Same goes with VR or IS system - it works better when its in the lens. Have a look at dpreview.com for conclusion on Sony A100 if you dont believe me.


arge, price tag of 999?
By irev210 on 8/9/2006 4:57:19 PM , Rating: 2
That is pretty depressing. I just purchased a 30D for 1100 and I thought I got a decent price.


Im sure the prices of canon will come down in response to Nikon.

Hurray for comp, boo for bad time to buy.




RE: arge, price tag of 999?