Nikon D80 vs Nikon D200

In article <1181919423.994873.69280 DeleteThis @g4g2000hsf.googlegroups.com>,
davek57 <davek57 DeleteThis @gmail.com> wrote:

> I have a D50 and love its light weight and stellar metering. But I'm
> not sure it's a combat-ready body. I'm considering the D80 for its
> better metering, or the D200 so I don't have to worry about bonking it
> about. Any thoughts, opinions, watch-outs would be helpful.

The largest difference between the D50 and the 80/200 is the improved
viewfinder. The biggest plus to the D200 is a sturdier body, but it's
at the cost of about 1/2 lb. weight - and somewhere around 300 bucks.

You really shouldn't be banging them around anyway; much as I like the
D200 I think the D80 is a better value.
 >> Stay informed about: Nikon D80 vs Nikon D200 

This message is not archived
 >> Stay informed about: Nikon D80 vs Nikon D200 

On Fri, 15 Jun 2007 11:42:26 -0400, Scott Schuckert <not.DeleteThis@aol.com>
wrote:

>In article <1181919423.994873.69280.DeleteThis@g4g2000hsf.googlegroups.com>,
>davek57 <davek57.DeleteThis@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> I have a D50 and love its light weight and stellar metering. But I'm
>> not sure it's a combat-ready body. I'm considering the D80 for its
>> better metering, or the D200 so I don't have to worry about bonking it
>> about. Any thoughts, opinions, watch-outs would be helpful.
>
>The largest difference between the D50 and the 80/200 is the improved
>viewfinder. The biggest plus to the D200 is a sturdier body, but it's
>at the cost of about 1/2 lb. weight - and somewhere around 300 bucks.
>
>You really shouldn't be banging them around anyway; much as I like the
>D200 I think the D80 is a better value.

And if you are wearing it around your neck for long, the weight
difference is noticeable.
 >> Stay informed about: Nikon D80 vs Nikon D200 

"Scott Schuckert" <not.TakeThisOut@aol.com> wrote in message news:150620071142266094%not@aol.com...
> In article <1181919423.994873.69280.TakeThisOut@g4g2000hsf.googlegroups.com>,
> davek57 <davek57.TakeThisOut@gmail.com> wrote:

>> I have a D50 and love its light weight and stellar metering. But I'm
>> not sure it's a combat-ready body. I'm considering the D80 for its
>> better metering, or the D200 so I don't have to worry about bonking it
>> about. Any thoughts, opinions, watch-outs would be helpful.

> The largest difference between the D50 and the 80/200 is the improved
> viewfinder. The biggest plus to the D200 is a sturdier body, but it's
> at the cost of about 1/2 lb. weight - and somewhere around 300 bucks.

The D200 can also meter with MF Nikkors, important for those of
us with large collections of these (unlikely true for the OP, though - but
there are many fine used MF Nikkors available at good prices).

> You really shouldn't be banging them around anyway; much as I like the
> D200 I think the D80 is a better value.

And I prefer its smaller size and lower weight in addition to its "lighter"
price...
--
David Ruether
d_ruether.TakeThisOut@hotmail.com
http://www.donferrario.com/ruether
 >> Stay informed about: Nikon D80 vs Nikon D200 

On Fri, 15 Jun 2007, David Ruether <rpn1 DeleteThis @no-junk.cornell.edu> wrote:

>"Scott Schuckert" <not DeleteThis @aol.com> wrote:
>> The largest difference between the D50 and the 80/200 is the improved
>> viewfinder. The biggest plus to the D200 is a sturdier body, but it's
>> at the cost of about 1/2 lb. weight - and somewhere around 300 bucks.
>
>The D200 can also meter with MF Nikkors, important for those of
>us with large collections of these (unlikely true for the OP, though - but
>there are many fine used MF Nikkors available at good prices).

I have a D200 and I do not have any old lens. The camera is heavy. Because
of this I'm considering downgrading to a D80. Or wait for the D80
successor. My suggestion to the OP is to only buy a D200 if you have old
lens.

David. I was up in Ithaca this past weekend. I did take some pictures.
Eventually I'll get them on the web. I tried getting some birds in
Sapsucker Woods, but 300 equivalent is not enough when out in the woods.

Don <www.donwiss.com/pictures/> (e-mail link at page bottoms).
 >> Stay informed about: Nikon D80 vs Nikon D200 

davek57 wrote:
> I'm considering the D80 for its
> better metering.

Does the D80 have "better metering" than the D50?
I thought that they had the same system.
Perhaps the D200 has a slightly better system for matrix / 3d colour
matrix with more sensors.
Perhaps the D80/D200 is better than the D50/70 for spot metering as it
has more focus points (measured spot follows focus point selection with
Nikon - depending on AF mode).
Certainly the D200 has better metering for use with old MF AI lenses.
I have read some negative comments about the D80 overexposing - but
don't know if this is because default exposure is less conservative than
for the D70/D200 (therefore more like the D50), or whether there's some
reliability problem in some situations. If the former, then that's
easily adjusted for. If the latter (which I doubt), then that's perhaps
another reason to consider the D200. Testing with a borrowed D80, I
couldn't see any problem at all.
I've been using a D70, and as much as I'd like a D200, the faster frame
rate, AF-s / AF-c selector, and metal body etc is of no benefit to me at
all. The D70 has survived over two years of use/abuse with never a hint
of a problem. But the higher res rear LCD with faster zoom/preview,
shutter delay mode, and much better viewfinder are compelling reasons to
get either the D80 or D200. Reviewing raw D70, D80, and D200 images,
the D200 and D80 are AFAICT the same - and with good lenses they are
very good indeed at low ISO, and options for NR in PP are better than
two years ago for occasional high iso shooting. There's almost nothing
at all in extra detail captured over the D70, but the almost complete
absence of moire, aliasing, and demoisaicing artifacts seems to justify
the higher resolution when printing large.
 >> Stay informed about: Nikon D80 vs Nikon D200 

On Fri, 15 Jun 2007 14:57:03 -0000, davek57 <davek57.RemoveThis@gmail.com> wrote:

> I'm considering the D80 for its
>better metering, or the D200 so I don't have to worry about bonking it
>about. Any thoughts, opinions, watch-outs would be helpful.

I've come across another advantage to a D80 over a D200. I have a new
laptop. The laptop has an Express Card slot instead of the usual PCMCIA
slot. See: http://www.expresscard.org/web/site/

In summary the slot is smaller and faster. The laptop came with a card that
reads SD and similar memory cards. But Compact Flash cards are too big (the
laptop has to read through a USB card reader). So a good reason for me to
switch to an SD camera.

Don <www.donwiss.com/pictures/> (e-mail link at page bottoms).
 >> Stay informed about: Nikon D80 vs Nikon D200 

The sensor is the same size, just more pixels.

--
Joan
http://www.flickr.com/photos/joan-in-manly

"nsag" <fac DeleteThis @hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:57yci.3983$c06.980@newssvr22.news.prodigy.net...
: The D200 may survive a tad more abuse than a D50 but that is not why
most
: users would consider the upgrade.
: If you are satisfied with your D50 the two main differences you will
find in
: the D80/200 are the vastly, vastly improved viewing system (worth
the
: upgrade to me) and the larger sensor (which is not necessarily so
: overwhelmingly better for most uses that it justifies the upgrade).
: Focusing and metering systems will not be better if you are already
: satisfied with what you get in your D50. The options for jpeg
processing are
: more sophisticated in 80/200s but if you shoot raw then you don't
care about
: that either.
:
:
 >> Stay informed about: Nikon D80 vs Nikon D200 

"Don Wiss" <donwiss DeleteThis @no_spam.com> wrote in message news:fh4673t7agcl31lqatk679f9uvfu2nt0b8@4ax.com...
> On Fri, 15 Jun 2007, David Ruether <rpn1 DeleteThis @no-junk.cornell.edu> wrote:
>>"Scott Schuckert" <not DeleteThis @aol.com> wrote:

>>> The largest difference between the D50 and the 80/200 is the improved
>>> viewfinder. The biggest plus to the D200 is a sturdier body, but it's
>>> at the cost of about 1/2 lb. weight - and somewhere around 300 bucks.

>>The D200 can also meter with MF Nikkors, important for those of
>>us with large collections of these (unlikely true for the OP, though - but
>>there are many fine used MF Nikkors available at good prices).

> I have a D200 and I do not have any old lens. The camera is heavy. Because
> of this I'm considering downgrading to a D80. Or wait for the D80
> successor. My suggestion to the OP is to only buy a D200 if you have old
> lens.
>
> David. I was up in Ithaca this past weekend. I did take some pictures.
> Eventually I'll get them on the web. I tried getting some birds in
> Sapsucker Woods, but 300 equivalent is not enough when out in the woods.
>
> Don <www.donwiss.com/pictures/> (e-mail link at page bottoms)

The "nasty joke" around here is that the bird sanctuaries don't have any
birds in them - we go to them for the beautiful woods and board-walks
over swamps... Cornell's "Bird Lab" is a great one, though, with a
wonderful collection of bird and other sounds. Cornell's gardens and
plantations are also notable and we visit them often, but the main attractions
are the countless multitudes of waterfalls and the glens and gorges all
over the place (I also like the rolling hills and farmlands) - with four
amazing state parks in Ithaca and another in nearby Watkins Glen. I
think this area should have been a national park - its scenic feature
density and numbers exceed those of several eastern national parks,
with only Maine's Acadia and New York's Niagara Falls really able
to compete with this area for number of natural items to see (and one
of our waterfalls is considerably higher than Niagara, with two others
close.... The scenery is why I kept returning to Ithaca to live and
finally "stuck" here, even though the weather is terrible... BTW,
if you return to Ithaca and aren't familiar with the area, holler and I can
tell you the best places to go (but not for birds - the dumpster at the
old Bird Lab used to be the best place for that....
--
David Ruether
d_ruether DeleteThis @hotmail.com
http://www.donferrario.com/ruether
 >> Stay informed about: Nikon D80 vs Nikon D200 

"Don Wiss" <donwiss.TakeThisOut@no_spam.com> wrote in message
news:t2j6735eg85pbqd7gl388u8lc4d7cj3fhk@4ax.com...
> On Fri, 15 Jun 2007 14:57:03 -0000, davek57 <davek57.TakeThisOut@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> I'm considering the D80 for its
>>better metering, or the D200 so I don't have to worry about bonking it
>>about. Any thoughts, opinions, watch-outs would be helpful.
>
> I've come across another advantage to a D80 over a D200. I have a new
> laptop. The laptop has an Express Card slot instead of the usual PCMCIA
> slot. See: http://www.expresscard.org/web/site/
>
> In summary the slot is smaller and faster. The laptop came with a card
> that
> reads SD and similar memory cards. But Compact Flash cards are too big
> (the
> laptop has to read through a USB card reader). So a good reason for me to
> switch to an SD camera.

Also, many laptops now come with slots that accept SD cards and some similar
memory cards directly. My new Acer laptop has that and it's really the most
convenient thing for digital camera use. My nephew's laptop (a year or so
old) has a slot for an SD card too.

Neil
 >> Stay informed about: Nikon D80 vs Nikon D200 

On Sat, 16 Jun 2007 18:16:39 +1000, "oan <Joan.TakeThisOut@home.t2> wrote:

>Check whether the express card reads SDHC before buying any for the
>D80.

It looks like it does not:

Multimedia Card Reader Supports Memory Stick Duo™ media with MagicGate®
functionality ExpressCard™/34 Slot: 5-in-1 Memory Card Adaptor (VGP-MCA20)
supporting Memory Stick®, Memory Stick PRO™, Secure Digital, xD-Picture
Card, and MultiMediaCard (MMC)

I've only had Compact Flash. I do not know the differences between the
others. Is the SDHC larger?

Don <www.donwiss.com/pictures/> (e-mail link at page bottoms).
 >> Stay informed about: Nikon D80 vs Nikon D200 

On Fri, 15 Jun 2007 16:27:47 -0400, "David Ruether"
<rpn1.DeleteThis@no-junk.cornell.edu> wrote:

>
>
>"Scott Schuckert" <not.DeleteThis@aol.com> wrote in message news:150620071142266094%not@aol.com...
>> In article <1181919423.994873.69280.DeleteThis@g4g2000hsf.googlegroups.com>,
>> davek57 <davek57.DeleteThis@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>>> I have a D50 and love its light weight and stellar metering. But I'm
>>> not sure it's a combat-ready body. I'm considering the D80 for its
>>> better metering, or the D200 so I don't have to worry about bonking it
>>> about. Any thoughts, opinions, watch-outs would be helpful.
>
>> The largest difference between the D50 and the 80/200 is the improved
>> viewfinder. The biggest plus to the D200 is a sturdier body, but it's
>> at the cost of about 1/2 lb. weight - and somewhere around 300 bucks.
>
>The D200 can also meter with MF Nikkors, important for those of
>us with large collections of these (unlikely true for the OP, though - but
>there are many fine used MF Nikkors available at good prices).
>
>> You really shouldn't be banging them around anyway; much as I like the
>> D200 I think the D80 is a better value.
>
>And I prefer its smaller size and lower weight in addition to its "lighter"
>price...


I bought a D80 body and a 70-300 VR II lense for about the price of a
D200 body. Lens I tend to keep a while but bodies get changed with
some frequency.
 >> Stay informed about: Nikon D80 vs Nikon D200 

Don Wiss wrote:
> I've only had Compact Flash. I do not know the differences between the
> others. Is the SDHC larger?

Yepp, that is the curse of inferiour technology. The CF card interface is
the same as PCMCIA and thus can accomodate pretty much any memory size.
The SD card interface on the other hand is based on the ancient floppy disc
standard. Therefore every single time when memory technology unexpectedly
reaches the next level you need a new updated standard to accomodate those
new unexpected sizes.

A sure way to cause a lot of confusion and to wash money into manufacturers
and dealers pockets because people need to by new equiqment because the old
equipment doesn't know how to handle the new standard.

jue
 >> Stay informed about: Nikon D80 vs Nikon D200