Nikon D80 DSLR officially announced.

[fuzzybabybunny]

Originally posted by: Mrvile

Originally posted by: tfinch2

Originally posted by: virtualgames0
all about the superzooms now eh?

Is there something wrong with that?

Changing lenses sucks. If I could get a 10-400mm f/2.8 macro zoom and sacrifice 5-7% IQ over three comparable zooms I'd go for it.

10-400mm f/2.8 and sacrifice 5-7% IQ? Hmm...

You can't even get an 18-200 f/4-5.6 these days that barely has half the IQ of a combination of, say, a 17-55 f/2.8 IS and 70-200 f/2.8. The best image you can get out of any kind of superzoom these days is the Sigma 50-500 f/4-6.3 that costs a thousand bucks and is the size of your arm. A lens that was 18-200 f/2.8 would cost $4000 and be the size of a small child. I doubt we'll be seeing any good superzooms for a VERY long time...

With tfinch's Oly system it is actually possible to make some very interesting super zooms. 10-400mm might be a stretch because of the wide end, but 20-400mm f/2.8 is certainly possible due to the fact that it'd be essentially a 10-200mm f/2.8 due to Oly's 2x crop factor. If they could figure out a way to make a 5mm wide end, then I guess 10-400mm would also be possible.

For all other brands, I dunno...

Didn't the Nikon 18-200mm get rave reviews, like they couldn't keep up with demand?

 

[foghorn67]

Originally posted by: Mrvile

Originally posted by: tfinch2

Originally posted by: Mrvile
:Q

"11-area AF system"

Still, however many megapixels Nikon wants to stuff into their CCD's, they'll never have anything on my XT's beautifully clean CMOS.

Most people I've talked to use center AF anyways, myself included.

Have you developed carpel tunnel from shooting with that XT yet?

A lot of bird shooters at DPR use all 45 points of the 1D's AF system...don't know how that works for them, but apparently they don't have time to get the center point placed on the birds eye while shooting, so I guess the camera magically does it for them. I want a 1D now

I have small hands, and I have the battery grip, but this thing is still way too small Heck, with the grip it's now taller than it is wide

this would work with the dreb as well. granted it's only 7 AF points, but it does rather well against a sky. Keeping a bird in the viewfinder, AND in center is really hard.

 

[UNCjigga]

Not really my hobby, but the specs on that thing seem pretty effing nice for an "entry-level" D-SLR. One question--how much do 4GB SD-HC cards cost compared to the 4GB CF cards? More expensive, no?

Now I'm waiting for the version that'll fit in my pocket (seriously, why don't we have electrically adjustable liquid/mercury lenses yet? Fixed glass is so 19th century.)

 

[randomlinh]

the d70/80 is a step over an entry dSLR.. it competes along the scale of the 20/30D on the canon end.

 

[PricklyPete]

Looks nice. If I was in the Nikon world...I'd be very interseted. Since I've been invested in Canon glass for many years, this doesn't really excite me except that I know Canon will really have to step it up with the replacement for the 30D. I was underwhelmed by the 30D as I see it as being a barely better model of the 20D I own. Sure a 2.5" screen would be nice, but the only real feature I see as worthwhile is the spot metering...but not worthwhile enough to buy a new camera.

Competition is awesome!

On a side note, my sister recently bought a 5D for her photography business and I got to play with it some the other day. Fantastic camera. I like the size of it much more than the size of the 5D...reminds me of my old EOS-5. It is also nice to have a full-frame sensor again. Sure the 70-200 doesn't reach as far as it does on my 20D...but I rarely used it at that length. What's nice is that my 24-70 was finally wide again. I didn't have to carry two lenses around.

 

[ZetaEpyon]

Now that it's been officially announced, is there any word on when this thing will actually be available?

The specs look very good, and frustrate me a bit, having just purchased a D70s six months ago. I would seriously consider upgrading to this, since I only have one CF card at the moment, but I'm leaving for a two week vacation to Japan at the end of September!

Edit: Found it on Nikon USA's site. Apparently September 2006... gah!!

 

[aphex]

wonder if we can preorder anywhere yet, i am very interested in getting one....

 

[virtuamike]

Originally posted by: fuzzybabybunny
Didn't the Nikon 18-200mm get rave reviews, like they couldn't keep up with demand?

It depends on who you ask. If you want maximum flexibility in focal lengths then yes, it's something to rave about. But f/5.6 from 135mm on up isn't exactly what I consider fast, and nothing about the optics really stand out (it's not bad, but do you really want to spend $700 on mediocre?). VR is nice but it's no replacement for fast optics, and it definitely won't do any good on moving subjects in semi challenging lighting conditions.

Yes, there are a lot of people buying the 18-200, but the only thing that says is that Nikon has figured out a way to tap into consumer demand across a generalized audience. I doubt you'd see the 18-200 being used professionally. Personally I'd stick with the lenses I already have. Then again I'm an optics snob and I push my equipment hard - 17-55/2.8 and 85/1.4 are my bread and butter combo. And other than my 55/3.5 macro and 180/2.8, everything else is f/1.8 and faster

 

[Lucky]

Looks like it would be a good backup for the D200. At least it uses the same battery.

I doubt you'd see the 18-200 being used professionally.

I use the 18-200 sigma professionally. It's a very versatile, lightweight, compact, unobtrusive lens. That said, it's not a lens I use heavily everyday (I'd much rather stick my 17-55 on as a standard lens).

 

[NFS4]

Originally posted by: aphex
wonder if we can preorder anywhere yet, i am very interested in getting one....

http://www.ritzcamera.com/product/541530127.htm

 

[Jawo]

Gee... I have been looking at the d50/d70 for awhile, but never had the money. Hopefully the d80 won't be too bad so I can get it!

But then I think about all of the shots I have missed waiting for the canon a series to start up!

 

[AndrewR]

As is mentioned above, it's a direct competitor to the Sony A100 which has SSS with every lens and an anti-dust feature. It seems like Sony wins this segment based on the paper specs. It's about time that Nikon updated the D70 though -- that's been around forever in DSLR terms.

I wonder if it's the same sensor as the Alpha, since Sony supplies chips to Nikon?

 

[6000SUX]

Originally posted by: fuzzybabybunny

Originally posted by: Mrvile

Originally posted by: tfinch2

Originally posted by: virtualgames0
all about the superzooms now eh?

Is there something wrong with that?

Changing lenses sucks. If I could get a 10-400mm f/2.8 macro zoom and sacrifice 5-7% IQ over three comparable zooms I'd go for it.

10-400mm f/2.8 and sacrifice 5-7% IQ? Hmm...

You can't even get an 18-200 f/4-5.6 these days that barely has half the IQ of a combination of, say, a 17-55 f/2.8 IS and 70-200 f/2.8. The best image you can get out of any kind of superzoom these days is the Sigma 50-500 f/4-6.3 that costs a thousand bucks and is the size of your arm. A lens that was 18-200 f/2.8 would cost $4000 and be the size of a small child. I doubt we'll be seeing any good superzooms for a VERY long time...

With tfinch's Oly system it is actually possible to make some very interesting super zooms. 10-400mm might be a stretch because of the wide end, but 20-400mm f/2.8 is certainly possible due to the fact that it'd be essentially a 10-200mm f/2.8 due to Oly's 2x crop factor. If they could figure out a way to make a 5mm wide end, then I guess 10-400mm would also be possible.

For all other brands, I dunno...

Didn't the Nikon 18-200mm get rave reviews, like they couldn't keep up with demand?

You're smoking crack. The lens would be too huge to handhold.

 

[6000SUX]

Originally posted by: AndrewR
As is mentioned above, it's a direct competitor to the Sony A100 which has SSS with every lens and an anti-dust feature. It seems like Sony wins this segment based on the paper specs. It's about time that Nikon updated the D70 though -- that's been around forever in DSLR terms.

I wonder if it's the same sensor as the Alpha, since Sony supplies chips to Nikon?

Lots of D70 owners are griping about the change to SD media, which is slightly odd. Someone wrote that it seems like Nikon wants D50 users to upgrade to the D80, and D70 users to upgrade to the D200. It's pretty easy to invest hundreds or thousands of dollars in media if you're a pro doing weddings or even a serious amateur.

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: 6000SUX

Originally posted by: AndrewR
As is mentioned above, it's a direct competitor to the Sony A100 which has SSS with every lens and an anti-dust feature. It seems like Sony wins this segment based on the paper specs. It's about time that Nikon updated the D70 though -- that's been around forever in DSLR terms.

I wonder if it's the same sensor as the Alpha, since Sony supplies chips to Nikon?

Lots of D70 owners are griping about the change to SD media, which is slightly odd. Someone wrote that it seems like Nikon wants D50 users to upgrade to the D80, and D70 users to upgrade to the D200. It's pretty easy to invest hundreds or thousands of dollars in media if you're a pro doing weddings or even a serious amateur.

Man, flash memory is so cheap now though... My wife's two 1 GB CF cards cost like $250 each a few years ago. THAT's a lot to blow on storage. I think she paid $75 for each of her 2 GB cards.

 

[AndrewR]

Originally posted by: mugs

Originally posted by: 6000SUX

Originally posted by: AndrewR
As is mentioned above, it's a direct competitor to the Sony A100 which has SSS with every lens and an anti-dust feature. It seems like Sony wins this segment based on the paper specs. It's about time that Nikon updated the D70 though -- that's been around forever in DSLR terms.

I wonder if it's the same sensor as the Alpha, since Sony supplies chips to Nikon?

Lots of D70 owners are griping about the change to SD media, which is slightly odd. Someone wrote that it seems like Nikon wants D50 users to upgrade to the D80, and D70 users to upgrade to the D200. It's pretty easy to invest hundreds or thousands of dollars in media if you're a pro doing weddings or even a serious amateur.

Man, flash memory is so cheap now though... My wife's two 1 GB CF cards cost like $250 each a few years ago. THAT's a lot to blow on storage. I think she paid $75 for each of her 2 GB cards.

Especially SD these days -- I've been amazed at some of the prices I've seen. Right now, I have 2.5GB of CF storage (1GB 80x, 1GB 40x, and a 512MB slow one), and I only paid a grand total of $90 for it.

But, I didn't see the change to SD, which is somewhat surprising but not shocking to me. I'm still amazed that no one has created a SD to CF adapter, like Sony did with the Memory Stick Duo to CF adapter in the Alpha release. Maybe the SD port is cheaper to implement than the CF -- it's certainly smaller and perhaps that's the basis. What's strange is that Nikon is eliminating its own professionals from considering the D80 as a backup camera because of the storage, unless they are planning a full switch to SD use?

I very seriously considered both the D70 and the D50. The D50 felt like a toy though. D70 is nice but was dated. Maxxum 7D is my baby these days.