Nikon D80 vs. D200, the differences?

[pyro]

There's some price difference, less plastic and more magnesium, of course. What else is there to gain, feature-wise? Anything useful?

[Scream And Fly]

Chad, off the top of my head:

• D200 is magnesium-alloy, D80 is polycarbonate
• D200 is weather sealed, the D80 is not
• D200 has 4-channel output and shoots at 5.5 FPS, D80 has 2-channel output and shoots at 3 (with noise reduction off)
• D200 can meter AI/AIS (old, non-CPU) lenses, D80 cannot
• D200 has better metering capability - 1005 segment meter on the D200 vs. 420 segment meter on the D80
• D200 has wide-area selectable auto focus with selectable focus priority, D80 does not
• D200 top shutter speed of 1/8000 sec., D80 top shutter speed of 1/4000 sec.
• D200 has Kelvin white balance override, D80 does not
• D200 flash sync at 1/250 sec., D80 flash sync at 1/200 sec.
• D200 displays more data in the viewfinder (exposure, ISO)
• D200 has a GPS option, D80 does not
• D200 has a Wi-Fi option, D80 does not
• D200 has custom shooting banks, D80 does not
• D200 has true mirror lock-up, D80 does not
• D200 can perform time-lapse exposures, D80 cannot
• D200 has a larger image buffer than the D80
• D80 has "scene mode" auto modes, D200 does not
• D200 has separate, programmable AF-ON and AE-lock
• D200 uses CF cards (at least an Ultra II is needed), D80 uses SD cards
• Other minor differences

Most of what is said above will not matter for most people. The D200 does not have the auto modes that the D80 does. They both produce the same image quality. Some feel that the D80's processing engine delivers better JPEG images out-of-camera. The D200 has the same controls and menus as the D2Xs, the D80's controls are similar to those on the D70/D50. The D200 is larger and much heavier.

I use a D200 most of the time - even more than the D2Xs. If I had a D80, I would produce the same exact result as I do with the D200 or D2Xs. I prefer the D200 over the D80 because it is slightly faster, has more "hot" buttons, and is more programmable. I like it more than the D2Xs because it's lighter with the same controls. Heck, give me a D40 and one of my lenses and I'll produce the same result as well.

If you're on a budget, the spending priority should be the lens, not the body, unless the body has something you specifically need.

Greg

[pyro]

Thanks. I did some more searching, and found some more comparisons too.

[hsbob]

its a little faster as well. you can also use a lot of the professional assessories. one that i use is the added battery pack for the flash attachment. i can take over 100 flash shots with no wait time. its heavy but when uou put a large lens there no warpage in the frame........

its really worth the extra price.

[Scream And Fly]

Yes, the D200 has less shutter lag and a shorter mirror blackout time. But the average user will never notice the difference - we're talking milliseconds here. I would shoot an assignment with a D80 and be just as comfortable with it as with my D200 or D2Xs.

There is a battery pack available for the D80 - the Nikon MB-D80. Which flash attachment are you referring to? Both the D80 and D200 can use Nikon speedlights (SB400, SB600, SB800, and remote trigger). They are also both capable of operating in flash commander mode.

Yes, the mag-allow lens mount is stronger on the D200, but I never heard of any warping on a D50, D70, or D80. Proper precautions must be observed with any camera body with a heavy lens mounted. Of course, if you drop a plastic camera with a very heavy lens on it, it could break the mounting ring off the body. In that case, it might be blessing, since it can save the (usually more expensive) lens from getting damaged.

[Hottrucks]

Hey Greg I need to buy a digital camera I want to spend a couple of hundred $$$. What i have learned is I want at least a 10X optical zoom ( learned that at the Romp it's hard to get close at speed) a good battery life and nothing to big or it's a pain to carry around....... I would love some guidance
Thanx
Jeff

Oh and I want to do so movie stuff too

[Scream And Fly]

Jeff, are you looking for a digital SLR or point and shoot?

[hsbob]

for speed i was referring to the write speed to memory more than the picture speed whick is minmiumal. the d100 i picked up was dead slow as compared to my d1x and d200. it was mainly the write speed.


i have a battery pack that holds 10 AA batteries. it plugs directly in to the off camera falsh and also plugs into the cameras flash connector. it directly charges the capacitor in the flash unit [s?-80]. may even work on the 80, but i dont think so.

[jphii]

Hey Greg, when you set my camera up at RRII it was workin great. Of course, the other day I was screwin with it and changed it. How should it be set for shootin boats?

[Hottrucks]

Jeff, are you looking for a digital SLR or point and shoot?

Point and shoot digital
thanx

[Scream And Fly]

Joe, the camera settings will depend on the lighting conditions and other things. But for shooting action, set the focus on AF-C, and shoot in "P" mode for now, locking the center focus point.

Jeff,

There are some pretty good "superzoom" models out now - right now I think one of the better models in your price range is the Canon Powershot S3 IS.

It has a 12X zoom and and an optical image stabilizer. For its price, it can't be beat.

Greg

[STV_Keith]

Hottrucks, I will also suggest something in the Panasonic Lumix lineup. I bought a DMC-FZ7 for shooting stills at work and I'm quite impressed with the quality of the pictures for a relatively inexpensive camera. I believe we paid around $400 shipped for the camera, extra mem card, extra battery, extra charger, case, UV filters, etc. One thing I really like is the shutter release time. Even on my (now older) Nikon 5700, the time from when you depress the shutter release until the shutter actually takes the picture is a little long...the Panasonic is very quick.

Here's a review of it over here: http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/panasonicfz7/

It's a year or two old now, so I'm sure there is a more up-to-date model, but I'm very pleased with what it does.

[Fish]

I am no expert, but at river ranch I stood next to Greg with my d80 after he helped set my camera up for the conditions. We shot many of the same shots, and my shots cannot compare with his shots even though they are essentially the same pics. Granted, Greg is a great photographer (I am not), greg has really good lenses (I do not) etc, but it was really discouraging. I am also sure he could have gotten much better pics with my camera had we swapped.

you might want to check out this too:

http://www.nikonians.org/cgi-bin/dcf...m=DCForumID236

[hsbob]

olymous just released a 18x super zoom. i have a 10x PnS and several other olympus cameras that are very good as well. goto the dpreview about if info.

[STV_Keith]

Here's another page you can check out reviews from: http://dpreview.com/reviews/