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D40 vs. D80

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DLim98

Weaksauce
Joined
Oct 18, 2007
Messages
86
Hey guys,
I have been wanting to get into the digital SLR scene and was looking for my first SLR. I have read up on reviews and I think that I have narrowed it down to the D40 and the D80. I was just wondering on which camera would be the better investment. I am fairly new to digital slr, but I love photography and I'm young so I would like a camera for the future also. This is why I am considering the D80. I figure getting a D80 now would be better than getting a D40 now and lusting/eventually getting a D80 or a similar model in the future. I would love any input and also I was wondering if you guys knew of any books or websites that would be good for a new aspiring photographer! Thank you all in advance!
 
Books: Bryan Peterson's Understanding Exposure is pretty good all around.

Regarding D80 vs. D40. I am pretty biased against the D40 because I have lenses that aren't AF-S or AF-I. That is a big difference between the D80 and D40. The D40/D40x are entry-level or whatever they call that market segment, so they assume you are just getting into photography and don't have any lenses already. So the D40/D40x lack a screw drive motor, which is needed to autofocus lenses that don't have internal autofocus drive systems, like my 80-200/2.8 lens or many of the older Nikon lenses.

AF-S lenses are slowly replacing the Nikon line, but the older lenses are cheaper too. My 80-200/2.8 was $800 new. The 70-200/2.8 with Vibration Reduction sells for $1500 - 1700. However, the all in one lens 18-200 VR Nikkor is AF-S, so it depends on what lenses you hope to be getting. 3rd party lens makers also produce many lenses that have internal focusing systems.

Both cameras produce nice images. I don't know the price difference between both.
 
Hello,

Personally I use a Canon 40D, but a good site to check for information about any/all cameras out there is: http://www.dpreview.com/

You might also search their forum as I bet this has been discussed before!

Enjoy
AMDbuilder
 
I posted this on another forum and it's appropriate here:

Having used pretty much every Nikon DSLR (except a D2H) I'd recommend you stay away from the D40. I would try and get a used D50 or D70. You can find bodies for $400 easily. I really don't like the D40/x for a few reasons:

no motor-drive - the D40 is a budget/starter camera, but there pretty much aren't many budget AF-S lenses. There are tons of great, relatively inexpensive lenses you can get for the Nikon AF mount, but they're all screw-driven. The viewfinder on the D40 is crappy enough that you're not really going to be able to manually focus well.
no top display - this is a simple one, but on the D40 the LCD doesn't come on whenever you change a setting right away. It has about a half-second lag. You have to look through the viewfinder or wait for the screen to turn on. All Nikons w/ a top LCD show your settings on the top LCD whenever you trigger the meter (usually a half-press of the shutter) but in this case the D40 only shows the settings in the viewfinder.
poor control scheme - there are certain basic functions that should have dedicated buttons on DSLRs such as ISO, WB, and image size. The D40 IIRC has none of these. It has one func button that can be assigned to these options, but even if you assign it to ISO (the most command change) it's less than ideal. Also, it doesn't have a front command dial, which is a simple but nice thing to have.

The D80 also has a larger viewfinder, which is a step up from the D40.

The D80 is a real set-up from a D40/50/70, but it's such a large price jump that it's hard to justify it for your first SLR. All that said, a DSLR is any form is a huge step up from *any* fixed-lens camera because of RAW performance, shutter lag and low noise at high ISOs.
 
Thank you very much for all your help. I think I have a better understanding of the differences between the D40 and D80. I'm pretty sure I'm going to go with the D80 because it will give me a lot of room to grow into and I might be able to gain the money back with older lenses in the future. Please feel free to add any more insights. Thank you all once again!
 
My advice would make sure to go to a store and hold all of them, including the Canons and see what you like.

The canon XT/XTI tend to feel a bit cheaper (but just in feel...they are still very capable cameras) and the 30D/40D from canon is where you step up in build quality.

Compare to the Nikons and see what you like.

Personally I am a Canon shooter and thus am bias towards them...
 
DLim98 said:
Thank you very much for all your help. I think I have a better understanding of the differences between the D40 and D80. I'm pretty sure I'm going to go with the D80 because it will give me a lot of room to grow into and I might be able to gain the money back with older lenses in the future. Please feel free to add any more insights. Thank you all once again!
Click to expand...

Good move. I have a D80 myself and, love it. I came up from the D50 to it. The only thing is dont use the presets to me they stink, I really only shoot in Manual or, Apeture Priority.
 
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