Nikon D80

[Soulfly]

Hello all,

Time has come to upgrade the old Nikon Coolpix 995 that has treated me so good over the years which I bought just as they came out. So I'm looking at the D80 and can get a new one at what I think is a pretty good price, $500 shipped which includes a 2gb SD card, usb card reader, tripod, case and one Nikon 28-80mm lens (a few other things as well, basically a "starter package").

Should I jump on it or is there another camera I should consider? I have just been totally impressed with my Coolpix, the thing has truly been bullet proof and I've read a lot of good things about the D80. I won't be leaving for my Central/South America & Africa Expedition until the first of 09 so I will have plenty of time to get familiar with it as well as buy an assortment of lenses...

Thanks in advance for any and all comments, suggestions etc!

Happy trails,

Josh
CASA-RICA 09/10
Central America/South America - Africa 2009-2010

[jkrijt]

$500 is a bargain for the complete set you describe.

I am the happy owner of a D70, one of my sons has a D50. I have it with me on my trips on the BMW F650GS and the GoldWing but my son takes it with him in the topcase of his Tomos moped for a few years and it still works fine ........... I am sure the D80 is a very good choice and for that price.......
Here in the Netherlands, a D80 body alone will cost you € 600 (that is about $900)

[Bjorn]

Go to the shop, and take the camera in your hands. VERY important if you want to enjoy using it. (For example, I was tempted to get a Canon 350D once but when I tried to use it I soon realized it was FAR too small for my hands and I didn't like the interface either).
Also important: Look through the viewfinder. I remember the D70 viewfinder being quite different to what I was used to from my old FE2 and F90x cameras.

One really cool thing about the D70: you can trick the camera's flash sync time, because it uses an electronic shutter. With an external flash gun it is possible to sync down to 1/2000 or shorter. (Maybe a bit 'advanced' but it can be important to some people. See this post: Strobist: Control Your World With Ultra-High Sync

[BlackBeast]

I have the D80 as well & love it. I moved from a SLR to a DSLR. Best thing would be as someone previously stated, go into a photo show & play with the Nikon & I belive that Canon has a new 12meg model out now as well. It has to feel right & confortable in your hands.

[teflon]

You may want to check out the newer 18-55 and 55-200 VR lenses. The 28-80 you mentioned was great for 35mm, but is biased towards telephoto for the camera you're considering - probably why it's being bundled. I'd also consider a D40 or D70 body (assuming VR lenses work on them) but check out screen sizes, I think they're smaller. They're practically disposable now but have faster sync speeds (1/500th).

Just my thoughts. Good luck.

[Soulfly]

Many thanks for everyone's replies! I did as suggested and went and tried it out, it fit/feels really good! So I went ahead and ordered it!

Teflon: I took your advice on lenses, the package I ended up getting has both a 18-50mm & 55-200mm.

Still included everything else I previously mentioned, 2gb sd, usb card reader, case, tripod etc and was $569 shipped next day air! They even threw in a free Belkin cable so I can download pics to my iPhone in a pinch... I think it would be hard to beat that deal!! Not to mention, I had a tracking number within an hour of online purchase!

That's one item I can mark off the list! Now I just need to get the GPS sorted and I'll be golden!!

-Josh

[BlackBeast]

It's like xmas in the summer