D80 Feel: Questions

[miancu]

Interesting to see how already a few responders prefer the D80 over
the D200 which is supposed to be the king in ergonomics.

It still is but, again, for my hands is too big which is a bit cumbersome.

I was a P*ntax guy (film) and waited for the announced K10D to see if I would go after P*ntax. I still use my P*ntax ZX-M which is a beautiful camera in its simplicity. Anyway, finally I decided switching to Nikon after I found out that K10D has some unsupported features for flash use (and some other) and I like to use flash for creative fills (actually my immediately next investment will be a SB800). Another very important reasons to switch were the availability of cameras and service and the "wider gamut" of lenses, accesories etc, from Nikon and other vendors (though this may change in the near future in the P*entax case).

However, what finally made me to go for Nikon was just the feeling when I hold D80 in my hands and that hooked me. I am not a brand addict and IMO all cameras are beautiful pieces of technology - and that make me always think about people behind them (research, production etc) - that need a master hand to get their best and not the best technology to make a master hand... C*non was not an option since I really didn't like the Rebels (and their kit lenses) and their only other candidate for me was a 30D but they sold it with that cheap kit lens and the next glass was an expensive IS, the price would have gone somewehere over my budget.

But even so, after months of net research, just getting in the shop and touching them makes a whole a lot of difference.

Anyway, I'm raved by the images I get from this Nikon.

I took a look through the D200 the other day and it didn't seem a
whole lot different compared to the D70, but that was probably
because I was judging the D70 from memory.

Please test the viewfinders one after another. D200 is very close to the 5D from C*non (they had those expensive cameras in stock in that shop !), D80 is similar to D200 (probably the same ??), but all are very large compared to D70s and Rebels. (A comment: I was very unpleasantly suprised by the total lack of P*ntax cameras in shops. The only one that had a P*ntax K100D was the central Saturn in Munchen. None in Vienna, nor in Nurnberg).

I've been using the D70 and D50 for a year and a half now so I
think I should do fine. Like you I'm also having trouble
remembering which dial does what, I guess I just don't have much
physical memory.

My buffer is also low and constantly overflowing, but I'm finally getting to remember...

The difference was the Kodak
would bring up a menu that filled up the entire screen every time I
wanted to adjust anything other than shutter speed and aperture.
This may seem cumbersome to some but I quickly got used to it. When
I started using the D70 I went from that to adjusting everything
from the top LCD instead except exposure comensation. I just
completely stopped using the viewfinder info because it was too
hard to read. That said I don't find taking my eye away from the VF
and looking at the top LCD to be a nuisance at all. I guess it's
just a matter of adaptability and preference.

Oh, well, I forgot to tell how wonderful the menus looks !! And the big back LCD !! I used a A80 P&S with a tiny LCD. D80 is like IMax compared to that.

Overall I'm very satisfied with it and with the IQ considering that
I own a "poor"-rated lens (28-200 3.5-5.6 D). This is very good
starter camera but I think we'll get together for a long while, I
hope its guts will last (electronics & mechanics).

It certainly will, trust me on that

I have a friend that owned a D70 (not "s") for some years now and he is constantly amazed (still) by his camera. That was another reason to lean towards Nikon: references.

BTW: I like your signature logo.

miancu

--
'Life is not measured by how many breaths you take, but by how many
moments that take your breath away.' - A friend

--
-------------
http://medinfo.umft.ro:8084

 

[J Mankila]

My only regret is that I lack the fine
crafting skills to replace the rubber grip on that to more closely
resemble the give, grip and softness of the D200 one.

I have read many reports on the D200 having slightly weak sticky tapes holding the rubber grip and that after heavy (but not out of place) use it will start to loosen. That means either that you'd have to use your fine crafting skills (that I happen to lack) to put another back on or send it to Nikon, which always takes time.

I once thought about putting a new grip on the D70 - abandoned the idea when I remembered that the grip was already that big

Hmm, from what I hear sounds like Nikon did these little
adjustments that went into improving the feel of the D80 over the
D70, but hasn't been widely appreciated.

Oh, I forgot the scroll dials altogether! They're very much like in D200 and I like it far better than the sometimes slippery D70 dials. The only thing that bugs me is that the front dial is situated a bit to the right compared to D70, which I will have to get used to...

And one more thing.. I don't like the material on the internal flash. It feels too light - of course it means faster response when it jumps up. And... Perhaps it goes to tell something about the build quality that I'm complaining about something like this..

Janne Mankila

 

[dirtee1]

I have read many reports on the D200 having slightly weak sticky
tapes holding the rubber grip and that after heavy (but not out of
place) use it will start to loosen. That means either that you'd
have to use your fine crafting skills (that I happen to lack) to
put another back on or send it to Nikon, which always takes time.

I'd use some UHU on that grip to hold it down for good. Haha.

I once thought about putting a new grip on the D70 - abandoned the
idea when I remembered that the grip was already that big

I see.

Oh, I forgot the scroll dials altogether! They're very much like in
D200 and I like it far better than the sometimes slippery D70
dials. The only thing that bugs me is that the front dial is
situated a bit to the right compared to D70, which I will have to
get used to...

To the right of the front of the camera or the opposite?

And one more thing.. I don't like the material on the internal
flash. It feels too light - of course it means faster response when
it jumps up. And... Perhaps it goes to tell something about the
build quality that I'm complaining about something like this..

You mean on the D80? How would the material there be any different from the rest of the body?

--

'Life is not measured by how many breaths you take, but by how many moments that take your breath away.' - A friend

 

[dirtee1]

Interesting to see how already a few responders prefer the D80 over
the D200 which is supposed to be the king in ergonomics.

It still is but, again, for my hands is too big which is a bit
cumbersome.
I was a P*ntax guy (film) and waited for the announced K10D to see
if I would go after P*ntax. I still use my P*ntax ZX-M which is a
beautiful camera in its simplicity. Anyway, finally I decided
switching to Nikon after I found out that K10D has some unsupported
features for flash use (and some other) and I like to use flash for
creative fills (actually my immediately next investment will be a
SB800). Another very important reasons to switch were the
availability of cameras and service and the "wider gamut" of
lenses, accesories etc, from Nikon and other vendors (though this
may change in the near future in the P*entax case).

Yeah, any brand besides N and C appear to have a meagre range of products in comparison.

But even so, after months of net research, just getting in the shop
and touching them makes a whole a lot of difference.

Ouch, I hope I won't be disspointed. My D80 is coming in by Monday.

Please test the viewfinders one after another. D200 is very close
to the 5D from C*non (they had those expensive cameras in stock in
that shop !), D80 is similar to D200 (probably the same ??), but
all are very large compared to D70s and Rebels. (A comment: I was
very unpleasantly suprised by the total lack of P*ntax cameras in
shops. The only one that had a P*ntax K100D was the central Saturn
in Munchen. None in Vienna, nor in Nurnberg).

I have the D70 with me now so I can compare them side by side when my D80 arrives. Yeah that's the other thing, you can't expect the less popular brands to be widely available everywhere, whereas nearly everyone's heard of Canon and Nikon to a lesser extent.

My buffer is also low and constantly overflowing, but I'm finally
getting to remember...

Lol I don't use continuous shooting much. Do you shoot raw? You must be for the buffer to overflow that soon.

Oh, well, I forgot to tell how wonderful the menus looks !! And the
big back LCD !! I used a A80 P&S with a tiny LCD. D80 is like IMax
compared to that.

Lol look forward to it. The thing looks huge.

I have a friend that owned a D70 (not "s") for some years now and
he is constantly amazed (still) by his camera. That was another
reason to lean towards Nikon: references.

I must still be on the learning curve - I can't coax much performance out of the D70. I shoot almost exlusively jpeg.

BTW: I like your signature logo.

miancu

--
'Life is not measured by how many breaths you take, but by how many
moments that take your breath away.' - A friend

--
-------------
http://medinfo.umft.ro:8084

--

'Life is not measured by how many breaths you take, but by how many moments that take your breath away.' - A friend

 

[J Mankila]

Oh, I forgot the scroll dials altogether! They're very much like in
D200 and I like it far better than the sometimes slippery D70
dials. The only thing that bugs me is that the front dial is
situated a bit to the right compared to D70, which I will have to
get used to...

To the right of the front of the camera or the opposite?

I meant the right hand side from the back of the camera A bit confusing, eh..

And one more thing.. I don't like the material on the internal
flash. It feels too light - of course it means faster response when
it jumps up. And... Perhaps it goes to tell something about the
build quality that I'm complaining about something like this..

You mean on the D80? How would the material there be any different
from the rest of the body?

It is plastic, that's for sure. So is the rest of the body too, I think. But there is a difference. For instance, when you look at it in a good light, you can see that the flash piece material looks a bit lighter. I usually tap everything with a fingernail to hear how it sounds - weird, I know - and the flash piece sounds a bit lighter, too.

Ohh! But it doesn't affect anything!

Janne Mankila