Nikon D80 pics revealed

No surprises here, Nikon has merely added a few curves and changed a few lines of their D70/D70s camera bodies, but images of a D80 camera have surfaced, and we thought it'd be nice to share. There are just 14 days left on Nikon's little teaser countdown before we can know what else this 10.2 megapixel DSLR will have in store for us, but it's looking fine from where we're sitting. Keep reading to peep a few more angles.

[Thanks, Brando]

[Jon Himself @ Jul 26th 2006 7:37PM]

Assuming that the features (other than the megapixel upgrade) aren't that much different, this makes me feel a little bit better about my recent d70 purchase. At least the body is basically the same...

[Sindre Strandum @ Jul 26th 2006 8:01PM]

Hope this is just as inexpensive as the a100.
Upgrading my EOS 350D anytime soon :)

[Foof @ Jul 26th 2006 8:02PM]

A few changes. Same plastic body (stamped neckstrap loops), though it looks like it now takes SD cards only, just like the D50. Playback zoom looks to be controlled by the lower-left display buttons.

Also, there's now a soft-button above the DOF-preview. Very nice, hopefully it's programmable, and hopefully we get a few shooting and user banks to select from.

Biggest UI change seems to be the addition of an AF button, which will hopefully let you change M/AF-S/AF-C without digging through the menu.

Hopefully, the ISO cycle will include "Auto" as well.

[Matty J @ Jul 26th 2006 8:23PM]

Although a good lens will make more of a difference than upgrading from a D70 to a D80, that screen does look pretty impressive. I'd rather hang onto my money and the D70s's legendary battery life than upgrade.
This camera joining the D50 and D200 kinda gives Nikon a clear lead in this range of the market.

[Jeff @ Jul 26th 2006 9:03PM]

"Upgrading my EOS 350D anytime soon :)"

So you're changing an entire camera system because the competition has a slightly larger sensor at this moment in time?

Yeah, that makes sense.

[AG @ Jul 26th 2006 9:38PM]

I just got my A100...

Does anyone know if the sensor in the A100 is the same as the new D80 ?

[W Foster Photo @ Jul 26th 2006 10:30PM]

Both Canon and Nikon have been pretty good at adding a few unnecessary changes to an existing camera and putting it on the market as a hot new commodity. Unfortunately, Nikon doesn't have this luxury much longer. If they want to prevent falling any further behind Canon, they need to resist the urge to "upgrade" existing cameras and put the money into heavy R&D.

Placing this camera on the market at this point is kind of like Dodge hoping to sell more of those station wagons just by putting in bigger engines.

[matt @ Jul 26th 2006 11:47PM]

i won't even touch this is if it only uses SD cards. dumb idea if you ask me. i will still be purchasing the D200...

[Andrew @ Jul 26th 2006 11:55PM]

Well, I'm a little insulted having Nikon compared to Dodge, but I'll let it slide.

I do like my D70, but I also get jealous of little digicams with huge lcds on the back compared to the D70's tiny display, looks like this might fix that. The two things I've noticed in comparing my D70 with the Canon 20D is that the D70 has too much noise at high ISO's and long exposures, and isn't quite as good at focusing in low light with comparable lenses. I hope these problems are addressed with the D80.

Other than those few little things, like Matty said, a lens is going to make way more difference than a few extra megapixels. I'd choose to spend a few hundred on a good wide angle before upgrading.

[Brandon @ Jul 27th 2006 12:56AM]

It looks great, but I can't seem to find the Canon logo. I couldn't possibly buy anything but a Canon. Maybe a Leica. Maybe.

[Chad Van Lue @ Jul 27th 2006 1:12AM]

Looks like the D80 will have the same sensor as the D200. This is good and bad, however, much better than anything Canon has produced lately. The 350XT is a real joke in terms of ergonomics and the 30D is a modest upgrade of the 20D, so not much to write home about there. Nikon looks to have the upper hand for now.

[Pip @ Jul 27th 2006 1:19AM]

So...when are we going to see Canon up this ante with a new Digi Rebel? I'm waiting for the XT to get cheap...

[Roger @ Jul 27th 2006 2:17AM]

I still think I am going to buy a D70.

[Ben Garmisa @ Jul 27th 2006 2:32AM]

AG: Sony has put out a press release stating that the sensors in the D200/D80 are *not* the same as the a100 :-)

[?? @ Jul 27th 2006 2:42AM]

This is a professional camera, I'm looking for having it for a long time.

[spaceboy @ Jul 27th 2006 2:50AM]

"AG: Sony has put out a press release stating that the sensors in the D200/D80 are *not* the same as the a100 :-)"

Good! Cause the initial reviews have shown that high ISO noise is pretty bad on the a100 compared even to the D200! Is it too much to hope that high ISO performance is improved in the D80 and closer to what we've seen with the D50 (near-Canon like noise performance)?

[Porkchop Flavored Cupcake @ Jul 27th 2006 3:17AM]

The D200 sensor is 4 channel, the D80 will likely be 2 channel like the A100.
I definitely like that the size of the VF appears to be identical to the one on the D200.
The new lens also has me interested.
As for anyone trying to go and get themselves a new D70s or D50 had better go and get it quick; most authorized dealers are nearly out of stock.

[Praveen @ Jul 27th 2006 4:41AM]

send me some nice photos

[Greg @ Jul 27th 2006 5:50AM]

You Nikonians make me laugh. Hilarious: "This camera joining the D50 and D200 kinda gives Nikon a clear lead in this range of the market" and "Nikon looks to have the upper hand for now". The grain in your high-ISO or long exposure pics must have clearly fogged your brains up too. LOL!

Image quality is all that matters, which means good lenses and good sensors. I grant Nikon has produced some exceptionally fine lenses, but it stops right there... They should kick Sony in the butt and try to produce some themselves. That is, if they even want to have a chance to beat Canon.

[UT_Photog @ Jul 27th 2006 6:47AM]

I don't want to fan the fanboy flames because I truly think both Canons and Nikons are great cameras, but personally i'd never buy a Nikon until they match (or beat) Canon's superior high-ISO performance.

In addition, I have also decided my next camera must be a full-frame DSLR, for even better low-light performance (therefore, the 5D is at the top of my wishlist!). In the meantime i'll continue to use my XT and 20D.

In the end, like people have mentioned before, it's the glass (canon OR nikon) that makes the most difference. I think you would be better off only upgrading camera bodies once every other (or even every 3rd) camera cycle, and spending the money earned on nicer lenses.

[Wayne @ Jul 27th 2006 8:53AM]

"In the end, like people have mentioned before, it's the glass (canon OR nikon) that makes the most difference. I think you would be better off only upgrading camera bodies once every other (or even every 3rd) camera cycle, and spending the money earned on nicer lenses."

DITTO

[Porkchop Flavored Cupcake @ Jul 27th 2006 8:56AM]

Greg,
Nikon designs their own sensors; Sony just does the fabrication for them.
Nikon has a lot of interconnected relationships with other manufacturers.
If a fabrication deal went sour between Nikon and Sony, they'd have at least several other alternatives to consider, like Fuji, Kodak, even themselves if need be.
It’s unclear if Canon can manage this same task quite as easily as Nikon, considering they've sort of isolated themselves from everyone else. It’s provided well for them now, but I’d be skeptical how well this approach works out for them in the future.

[jasin @ Jul 27th 2006 9:08AM]

Hmm the constant cry for high iso is lazy photography in my opinion!
This looks like it will be a great little camera!
GOODONYA Nikon seems you have won the race for now.

[morgan @ Jul 27th 2006 9:35AM]

How is shooting in low light situations lazy? The amount of light is what it is. Lazy is using a long telephoto instead of getting close to your subject with a 50mm.

Sounds like a fanboy statement to me.

[Wtf @ Jul 27th 2006 10:29AM]

There are a few extra buttons on the camera, such as a physical self timer, IR remote button, an autofocus button, and it looks like the D80 uses SD flash memory cards instead of the CompactFlash cards used on its predecessor.

[Lemming51 @ Jul 27th 2006 10:43AM]

I don't think these photos are real. If so, riddle me this -
Why have the ISO/Thumbnail and WB/Help/Protect buttons swapped position from where they are on the D50, D70, and D200? What is the OK button about?

[Ryan @ Jul 27th 2006 10:52AM]

In response to claims that Nikon sensors are "noisy," I would like to point out that it's either noise or loss of detail. Which one would you rather have in the trade off? In order to reduce noise, Canon has created a larger sensor. However, this larger sensor is a joke in terms of light fall-off at the edges of the sensor. Nikon's designed a much clearer sensor, and I have never really been bothered by the noise generated from my camera. Besides, I can easily get rid of the low amount of noise generated with PS.

[Chris @ Jul 27th 2006 11:03AM]

SD card? aw...

A salesperson at a camera store told me that the reason you can rarely ever find non-pro cameras with CF instead of SD anymore is because people jumping on the digicam bandwagon would buy 8MP cameras, put 1x cheapo CF cards in them and then return the camera because it was "too slow".

Since no pro cameras were getting returned for this reason, they usually still run on CF.

[Greg @ Jul 27th 2006 11:22AM]

Porkchop, thanks. I actually didn't know Nikon designs their own. Thought they just got 'm off the shelves. So I humbly revoke that part of my statement.

For the rest, I'm still laughing though. Have had some experience shooting a Nikon D70 in low light conditions at a wedding. Jasin, please make me laugh even harder by calling that lazy shooting - at your wedding I'll bring some lighting equipment to add to the atmosphere. Anyway, nice camera but the noise was totally unbearable. No way you could get rid of that even when stacking Photoshops noise reduction on Noise Ninja and Neat Image.

And so I gladly cling to my lazy shooting with a large fullframe 5D with apparantly laughable light fall-off at the edges which is another thing I learned today as it hadn't come to my attention the last few thousand shots... (if you listen very carefully you can hear another burst of laughing right NOW).

Happy shooting!

[Joe @ Jul 27th 2006 1:49PM]

I'd just like to add that despite this D80 looking like it will replace the D70/D70s that it is kind of odd to assume that this camera will have a sensor just as noisy as the D70. If you think about it, the D70 is basically two or three generations old in terms of Nikon's product line. The D50, to my understanding, came out after the original D70 and the D50 is known for having much reduced high ISO noise. And then there is the D200 which, while noisier than a Canon 5D at high ISO, still tends to compare fairly well in the reviews that I've seen despite costing significantly less.

And the people saying this camera intro will be pointless unless it has an all new sensor are kind of missing the boat. Nikon isn't trying to upstage the D200, outshine the Canon 5D, or even entice D70 owners to upgrade by introducing this D80. I think their worry is more that the D70 no longer compares well against Canon products in a similar price range. So for the sake of being able to lure newer buyers, they pretty much *needed* a replacement/upgrade to the D70.

And as far as demanding a full frame sensor on your digital SLR, well, that's all kind of arbitrary, isn't it especially for newer buyers with no existing lens set? Why is it that a 35mm sized sensor has to be the best? Why not a larger sensor with an all new set of lenses to go with it? Hint: maybe image quality at any cost isn't realistic in order to sell cameras in the real world? Come on, people! The D50 is one of the best selling DSLRs out there, its fairly inexpensive, and it gets great quality photos in the right hands. So instead of the constant back and forth bitching of Nikon vs. Canon, maybe we all should just go take more photos and learn more about the equipment we already have and photography in general? Another way to say this: I can take shitty photos with $1000 worth of camera equipment and I can take just as shitty photos with $5000 worth of camera equipment.

[Ken @ Jul 27th 2006 1:49PM]

Until Nikon at least gives the OPTION for a full frame camera they will never lead this market. I guess cropped cameras are fine for people who shoot birds or their cats, but for me shooting people I want to shoot WIDE.

Having said that, the D80 does not compete with Canon's full-frame cameras. I think in the low-end DSLR market Nikon and Canon both have their pros and cons. In this price range you could really go either way.

I was a Nikon 35mm user, with a Nikon F4. I decided to change systems to Canon because of their sensors. I fully understand why people love Nikons, the way they feel and the way they're built but I personally feel that they are letting their customers down by not at least OFFERING a full frame camera. Maybe not all their customers, but certainly me.

[Nathaniel @ Jul 27th 2006 2:11PM]

I just bought a D70s back in April and I love it. 6MP is perfectly fine with me for the time being especially because I can write to my 6GB Microdrive and never run out of space, SD cards just don't appeal to me. As for the Canon debate the price equivalent Canon's just don't feel like cameras and the buttons aren't positioned in a way I find comfortable.

[John @ Jul 27th 2006 3:28PM]

Sold My D200 because the Noise was unacceptable at ISO over 320. This will be the same. What a waste. Nikon has great everything except there Noise at High ISO.

Until they get that under control, I will be living in the Canon Camp...

[Oery @ Jul 27th 2006 3:38PM]

Still no original Nikon VG? High-noise ISO? (came with same D200/A100 CCD sensor).....
It will be make a notice, if it is came with anti-dust system :)

[Digital Cameras @ Jul 27th 2006 9:54PM]

I had the same noise problem with my D200. I too will wait to buy a Nikon until they get this fixed.

[Nick @ Jul 28th 2006 2:06AM]

I am actually looking to buy a camera!

Without starting a huge debate, I wanted to know which to buy, Nikon or Canon... so where should I get reviews? dpreview is down right now, but that is probably temporary. Is it the best? Is there anywhere else that does good reviews?

Please help...

P.S. I live in Montreal just incase you were going to suggest B&H in NYC.

[Nick @ Jul 28th 2006 2:12AM]

I am also taking a two week intensive course in photography, and have already done similar ones. I am looking for any information on digital cameras, and photography in general. If you have any suggestions of where I should go, click on my name and follow the button on my site that says "e-mail me"

[Nick @ Jul 28th 2006 2:13AM]

Whoops!

There we go...

[James Bailey @ Jul 28th 2006 3:02AM]

I am a Canon 350D owner who has been considering switching to the new Sony A100 or, now, the Nikon D80. While I completely agree that the high ISO noise performance of the 350D is truly outstanding, it does not make up for my three major complaints with the camera: 1) frequent Auto White Balance errors in daylight and lackluster color performance as a result, 2) pics not as sharp as those of the D70, and 3) limited dynamic range in hight contrast light (e.g. blown highlights, etc.). I might be able to get sharper pics with an L series lens, but I'm not sure I want to put $2,000 worth of glass on a $800 camera that has the other two problems. I will be very interested to see the image quality coming out of both the A100 and the D80.

[Greg @ Jul 28th 2006 3:35AM]

To the last posters: I find the information on www.fredmiranda.com more reliable than on dpreview, as it is provided by (mostly) professional users. It has forums for both Canon and Nikon users. Excellent review section as well.

James, it usually boils down to the choice of glass. The quality of the Nikon kit lens (18-75 I believe) is far superior to the Canon 18-55, which might explain the difference sharpness-wise. Not surprisingly so, as the Canon is only $100. In the end you get what you pay for.
For both brands, the best lenses with the most resolution power, contrast and the best colour rendition are usually the ones that will cost you dearly. That said, the EF 17-40L f/4 has all those qualities at an affordable price level ($600). It is however not a fast lens (f/2.8 or better). Extreme sharpness can be had with primes like the 50/1.4 or 85/1.8, which are both less than $400. So it isn't necessary to buy the venerable 70-200L f/2.8 IS for $1800 to get extremely satisfying results. The better lenses have a great resale value as well, be it Canon or Nikon. You might want to check out the EFS 10-22 as well - it had me blown away with high sharpness and contrast on my 350D. I'm afraid I haven't got the comparable stack of Nikons but I'm sure you can find the info on the internet; www.photozone.de might be a good starting point.
In the end, if you buy quality lenses, it's the lenses you keep and the bodies you change. Happy hunting for a new set!

[James Bailey @ Jul 28th 2006 3:50AM]

Greg - Thanks for the info and recommendations. I am a frequent reader of dpreview, but I did not know about fredmiranda.com. Some of my enthusiast friends have also recommended that I get a new lens or two rather than a new camera, so maybe that is the direction to go. JB

[Greg @ Jul 28th 2006 4:42AM]

In the end it is a tough decision to make. Don't take the things I wrote way back up there too seriously as I was only hanging on the breaks to give another view. I hate it when people in a clearly biased way say that one brand or another is clearly superior.

The Nikon D50 clearly has its virtues when looking at the price level, the D200 seems to be an interesting camera, solidly built, and if the D80 gets rid of the D70's noise problem it should be a hit as well. Then again, I like Canons line-up as well. Have both the 5D and 30D and they produce some lovely images. I shoot a lot of low light and that's where especially the 5D shines. The amount of megapixels is far less important to me.
It's like Joe said: no matter the amount of money you spend on your gear, it is allways possible to produce shit with it! However, if you spend more, you know who to blame for it ;)

[James Bailey @ Jul 28th 2006 5:46AM]

See:
Nikon D70 vs Canon 350D Shootout
http://www.pbase.com/wheatfield/d70vs350d
Password: santafe

[Joseph @ Jul 28th 2006 8:57AM]

Oh great, another consumer's entry level, plastic bodied, non weather/dust sealed DSLR. What a waste of research and development on Nikon's part. How about dumping the crappy Sony sensors and developing a new sensor in-house that will compete with the Canon sensors for low noise and high ISO performance, hello Nikon, there are digital Nikonians who'd like to do astrophotography without the noise. Maybe make a model without the darn IR filter over the sensor so Nikonians can better do some digital near-IR photography. Nikon needs to quit worrying about trying to fill minature or non-existant model gaps in their line and work on improving the very real performance gaps in their products.

[Andrew @ Jul 28th 2006 10:07AM]

For all those complaining about "terrible" high ISO noise performance in Nikons, have you even tried to shoot Neopan 1600 or push Tri-x two stops? Digital is a lot cleaner than most people give credit for - however, it certainly isn't as attractive as film grain, so that's really the issue as opposed to the actual digital noise appearance itself. If digital noise looked more like film grain, then there might be less debate over this. Canons certainly have less appearance of noise, but there's not enough to convince me that it is much greater than Nikon.

How do you Canon folk (ones complaining about Nikon's high ISO) shot the image? I hope you expose for shadows and then are using Nikon Capture to process, or else you definitely will get noise ridden images of terror (ACR isn't great dealing with high ISO).

To prove my point, just take a look at this D200 flickr discussion on high ISO: http://flickr.com/groups/d200/discuss/72057594086639228/?search=high+iso

IMO, the images don't look bad at all. Just take a look at the image pushed to 6400 - doesn't look bad at all considering how ridiculously high that is. Sure, there are colorsplotches and the like, but the noise doesn't get in the way of the photo.

My $0.02.

[Richard Lai @ Jul 28th 2006 11:09AM]

Jasin, another point about the high-iso and lazy photography: I find that stage photography requires a fairly high iso level, and this is NOT lazy photography. I used to have a D50 and it did well.

When the D80 is available in the shops, I will definitely go and check it out.

[Greg @ Jul 28th 2006 3:45PM]

Andrew, I enjoyed your website. Whose Canon did you borrow? ;-)

[Duncan @ Jul 29th 2006 1:22PM]

The Nikon D50 has one of the lowest noise sensors available, and certainly does not give up anything, to any model Canon DSLR including the 5D. In fact the D50 may be the lowest noise DSLR ever produced, to date.

[purezerg @ Jul 29th 2006 4:42PM]

i never had a complain for noise.. in fact my images has the same noise as a leaf22 at iso50.

what i do is just HDR my 9 frames.

[David @ Jul 30th 2006 10:37PM]

Looks like the D80 will be a nice addition to Nikon's lineup. Owning a D200, I would see this as a nice camera to introduce my wife to digital, assuming it's priced right. I look forward to seeing it.

I could care less about the Nikon/Canon wars myself as both make great gear, but after trying out some Canon gear (30D, 5D, & 1DMkII) and comparing the shots taken with my D200 at the same time, I was happy with my choice (the D200 shots looked better to me.) This was in bright sun light, so Canon's high ISO supremacy was negated, but that's where much of my work is done in the first place, including when I shoot film. While I certainly see no reason to knock their gear, I also didn't see anything that blew me away.