It's Upgrade Time; Your Suggestions?

[jpeyton]

I currently have a D80 (just sold my D50) and a stable of Nikon glass. I'd like to avoid switching to another brand because my GF also uses a Nikon body and we like to share lenses.

Option 1: Keep my D80 for now, sell it an upgrade to a D90 later this year (if/when it is announced).

Option 2: Sell my D80, get a D300.

Option 3: Sell my D80/lenses, get a _______.

Budget for the body is under $2000; I'm salivating over the 5DMk2 specs just like the rest of you, but there is no way I can afford a $3000+ body.

 

[GTaudiophile]

You can't go wrong with a D300.

 

[jpeyton]

I've pored over every D300 review I can get my hands on, and yes, it looks like a bullet-proof choice.

I'll take all your suggestions for another few hours, then it's time to head to the camera store.

 

[GTaudiophile]

The 5D MkII is still a rumor, not even vaporware. Actually, it's more of a pipe dream. Even if it does debut next month, it will be another few months before it becomes available here. And then you have to worry about stock shortages, etc. It would also require you to sell all your glass. All for a camera that wants to be a FF version of the D300. If you don't need FF, it would be easiest just to buy the D300.

By the time you want to rid yourself of the D300, an FF replacement will cost much less.

Have you held a D300 yet? It's a beast compared to the D80. At least in my hands.

 

[jpeyton]

Originally posted by: GTaudiophile
Have you held a D300 yet? It's a beast compared to the D80. At least in my hands.

I have; it's uncomfortable compared to the D80, because my pinky has a harder time wrapping around the larger grip. If I got it, I would have to buy the battery grip for it; the grip distributes the weight of the camera more evenly across your entire palm making it easier to hold.

 

[GTaudiophile]

Too bad the constant rumors about the D90 are not more concrete. It could be a baby D300 for all we know.

 

[jpeyton]

Originally posted by: GTaudiophile
Too bad the constant rumors about the D90 are not more concrete. It could be a baby D300 for all we know.

It pretty much has to be; Nikon will price it squarely between the XSi and 40D, so it has to compete well with both.

12MP, 4FPS, 3" VGA, EXSPEED, at least ~20-30 AF points, live view, dust removal, better battery life.

But there will be an incentive to get the D300, just like there was for people to get the D200 vs. D80.

 

[jpeyton]

Alright, off to the camera store. We'll see what happens. Might have to post in the "gear porn" thread here pretty soon.

 

[soydios]

the D300 really ought to be in the >$2k price bracket based on its features. the only reason I can think of that it isn't is because Nikon wants it to compete with the Olympus E3, and they might have a full-frame D300x on the way at the $3k price point.

I'm expecting the D90 to be a baby (read: crippled) D300. if I had the money, I would buy the D300 now.

 

[ElFenix]

the D300 is an upgrade, but unless you've got money burning a hole in your pocket i'd hold off. that's a ton of money for a camera that is only marginally better than a 40D in any particular, other than the better LCD and contrast live view AF (canon pretty much miscalculated with that last one, no reason it shouldn't be there and they could probably enable it with firmware if they wanted, but they won't).

wait for the D90. heck, there could be a 7D at photokina (that'd make the $2000 price point very interesting)

 

[DrPizza]

Why can't you use Nikon glass with a Canon camera and an adaptor? (Sorry if this sounds like a noob question.) But, I was under the impression that it's easier to adapt Nikon lenses to Canon bodies than going in the opposite direction.

 

[foghorn67]

Wait for Photokina. I'm sure most manufacturers will have something.

 

[jpeyton]

Originally posted by: DrPizza
Why can't you use Nikon glass with a Canon camera and an adaptor? (Sorry if this sounds like a noob question.) But, I was under the impression that it's easier to adapt Nikon lenses to Canon bodies than going in the opposite direction.

You can mount Nikon lenses with an adapter, but they will require you to 1) manually focus (even for AF lenses) and 2) manual exposure or aperture priority with stop-down metering.

Say hello!

The user manual is a beast. I'm going to need to spend some time learning the controls; this isn't anything like my move from a D50-->D80, the learning curve on this camera is steep. One cool feature is that I can enter lens data for my non-CPU lenses so they work in aperture priority mode (the D80 can't do that, and my guess is the D90 won't do that either).

Originally posted by: foghorn67
Wait for Photokina. I'm sure most manufacturers will have something.

I expect that; Nikon will most likely introduce a D80 replacement, and Canon will announce their 5D replacement. The former will be a nice camera; a neutered D300. The 5DMk2 sounds like the perfect camera (from the rumored specs) but I'm not spending $3000+ on a body. Everything else (7D, D300x) is still too fresh in the rumor mill to materialize this year. That's my take, anyways.

 

[soydios]

so jealous right now.

the D300 and the 40D are in entirely different price and features brackets. the D300 is basically a D2Xs with the D3's screen and AF crammed into a D200 body.

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

I wish I shot Nikon

 

[jpeyton]

Originally posted by: fuzzybabybunny
I wish I shot Nikon

Canon and Nikon are more similar than they are different. Can't go wrong with either one, IMO. If I didn't have so many Nikon lenses, I would've given the 40D more serious consideration.

I've read through a few parts of the manual, but no action with the D300 yet...still need a CF card Doh! Every camera I've bought in the last 3 years (P&S and DSLRs) have used SD memory (had a couple Fuji xD cameras before that), and Fry's was closed for Easter (seriously weak).

I'll pick up a cheap 8GB CF card tomorrow. I don't do any serious burst shooting, so the D300's buffer will be more than enough for my needs; no need for a UDMA 266x card.

 

[Heidfirst]

Originally posted by: jpeyton
I expect that; Nikon will most likely introduce a D80 replacement, and Canon will announce their 5D replacement. The former will be a nice camera; a neutered D300. The 5DMk2 sounds like the perfect camera (from the rumored specs) but I'm not spending $3000+ on a body. Everything else (7D, D300x) is still too fresh in the rumor mill to materialize this year. That's my take, anyways.

Sony should have their FF plus some more new lenses.

 

[ElFenix]

i'm glad you took my suggestion to jump on that D300

 

[jpeyton]

Originally posted by: Heidfirst
Sony should have their FF plus some more new lenses.

Sony is still almost a generation behind in noise performance. A FF sensor will help, but they need to improve their image processing engine, which is a big part of the equation. From the A700 review:

At ISO 800 the DSLR-A700 begins to exhibit some chroma (blotchy color) noise, the cleanest of the remaining three appears to be the D300 followed by the EOS 40D and then E-3. At ISO 1600 the DSLR-A700's noise reduction appears to become stronger and while noise is still noticeable it's less pronounced, although this at the expense of image detail which is beginning to soften. By this point the E-3 is beginning to look quite grainy and has also lost some image detail to noise reduction, the EOS 40D has some chroma noise and the D300 remains fairly clean and detailed (thanks to Nikon's emphasis on chroma noise reduction). At ISO 3200 the DSLR-A700 image has become quite soft from noise reduction and large blotches of chroma noise can be seen across the image. Again the cleanest image at this sensitivity comes from the D300 with the best detail coming from the EOS 40D (although distracting chroma noise is visible), the E-3 is struggling at this point. Surprisingly at ISO 6400 the D300's image could be considered 'usable' although very noisy, the same could not really be said for the DSLR-A700.

 

[ElFenix]

Originally posted by: jpeyton

By this point the E-3 is beginning to look quite grainy and has also lost some image detail to noise reduction, the EOS 40D has some chroma noise and the D300 remains fairly clean and detailed (thanks to Nikon's emphasis on chroma noise reduction). At ISO 3200 the DSLR-A700 image has become quite soft from noise reduction and large blotches of chroma noise can be seen across the image. Again the cleanest image at this sensitivity comes from the D300 with the best detail coming from the EOS 40D (although distracting chroma noise is visible)

of course the 40D is going to show more noise (but more detail) than the D300, the D300's NR was on while the 40D's was off.

i don't understand the testing at default settings. the RAW test controls for that but i don't always shoot RAW (10MP images just take too much space).

and despite the bitching that happens in the olympus forum, dpreview did explore all the various filter settings for the e410/510/3 reviews and compared using the 'best' combination.

 

[GTaudiophile]

Congrats on the purchase. I think you made the right move.