Nikon D80 announced.

[Firky]

One gripe about the D80 seems to be a tendency to overexpose.

There seemed to be a few teething troubles with the first shipment to the US too, a lot of dust on the sensor. Hopefully that was just one batch and the rest should be alright.

I may be getting a small windfall from a trust fund in the New Year, and I'm toying with the idea between:

D80 and buying some glass
Stick with my D50 and buy loads more glass
Buy a mac and buy some glass
Pay off debt

Probably going to pay off debt

 

[DarthSydodyas]

Yes -- 60% of DPReview's audience is in North America, so they can't justify the time/resources to review a camera (Olympus E-400 SLR) that most of their readers won't be able to buy!

That sounds like a lemon. People will read it, and some might even go ahead and import it if the camera has strength.

In any case, why would it concern him whether people buy this camera or not...? Is it affecting the guys advertising rates or something? :/

 

[editor]

AP magazine has the Olympus on the cover with the caption, "the new OM1?"

Curse them for making me sit up want the thing now!
Olympus OM1/OM2s rock the mighty massive one in my world.

 

[Hocus Eye.]

Hear hear editor. I still have two OM1s and an OM2 that are waiting to be taken out for a walk. Why couldn't they have made the bayonet fitting backwardly compatible?

 

[editor]

Woohoo! I've just sold two photos, so that D80 could be mine!

 

[Bernie Gunther]

If you sell 3 do you go for a D200 though?

 

[editor]

If you sell 3 do you go for a D200 though?

Nah. the D80 would be fine for me - the smaller the camera the happier I am (hence being tempted by the Olympus).

 

[Bernie Gunther]

It does look quite tiny in that picture above.

 

[Hocus Eye.]

I took a look at a D80 in Jessops window yesterday. It is not tiny at all especially with its kit lens fitted.

 

[Paul Russell]

The D80 is a *bit* smaller than the D70/D70s.

No, it's not what I'd call tiny either. They must get people with huge hands for those pictures!

I took a look at a D80 in Jessops window yesterday. It is not tiny at all especially with its kit lens fitted.

 

[editor]

I bought it! It's noticeably smaller than the D70 but not that much smaller and the LCD monitor is a HUGE improvement.

Haven't used it yet as the fuckers changed the battery from the D70 so I'm still charging it up.

I also got the Sigma 30mm 1.4 which is definitely bigger than I thought it would be and it weighs a ton too!

<editor prepares to cover eyes when bank statement comes in>

 

[Hocus Eye.]

Oooh! <sits on edge of chair waiting for Editor's first pictures to appear>

 

[editor]

Oooh! <sits on edge of chair waiting for Editor's first pictures to appear>

I don't think I'll be publishing my very first pics - I just surprised Eme in the bath

The D80 feels great so far and I'm already noticing some real useful improvements - the LCD seems positively ginormous compared to the D70 and the interface is waaaay slicker.

 

[lobster]

One gripe about the D80 seems to be a tendency to overexpose.

A workaround would be to underexpose slightly, its quite common in the film world to do this as films are not always the same plus the shots have more clarity and colour.

I am of the opinion that a camera that does perfect exposure out-the-box takes away the fun out of playing with settings and all the other experimenting.


As regards to the camera ,i am going to wait until january when the sales start and maybe the d200 will come down to the price of the d80 at the moment.

 

[Firky]

I don't think I'll be publishing my very first pics - I just surprised Eme in the bath

You had a bath?

 

[Robster970]

is the price difference between a d80 and d200 worth it? i've used a d200 and felt that the feedback from the camera was more positive - felt more like a film camera to me. just can't figure out whether the price difference is worth it. would look to buy a d200 body second hand but d80 body new.

 

[editor]

Here's a couple of handheld, hanging-out-the-window shots. All in program mode, 400ISO, -2.25 exp comp, f1.4 Sigma 30mm. Looks lovely at full res!

 

[Vintage Paw]

Here's a couple of handheld, hanging-out-the-window shots. All in program mode, 400ISO, -2.25 exp comp, f1.4 Sigma 30mm. Looks lovely at full res!

Beautiful

*me wants*

 

[editor]

I took some pics around town today and have noticed it has a bit of a tendency to over-expose; or rather it gives that appearance by perfectly exposing some parts of the scene at the expense of others.

There's a lot of chat about it on the dpreview forums and it seems that it's just something you've got to get used to because the camera meters differently from its predecessor.

 

[lobster]

I took some pics around town today and have noticed it has a bit of a tendency to over-expose; or rather it gives that appearance by perfectly exposing some parts of the scene at the expense of others.

There's a lot of chat about it on the dpreview forums and it seems that it's just something you've got to get used to because the camera meters differently from its predecessor.

have you got anything to share as i considering buying the camera.
if you don't mind that is.........

 

[editor]

Look at this for a howler (and I don't just mean the rubbish composition!).

It's completely over-exposed, despite the scene being relatively flat-lit. I think I'll move over to centre-weighted metering until Nikon come up with some firmware to fix this.

I should point out that only a few pics were over exposed, but there's endless discussion (and fixes) about this issue on the dpreview forums.

 

[cybertect]

Was that matrix metering then?

 

[editor]

Was that matrix metering then?

Yep.
I'll post up some more examples later.

Sometimes you can see why it's over-exposed parts of the scene - you may have the foreground absolutely perfectly exposed at the expense of a complete white-out elsewhere, for example/

It does seem to lean a bit too readily towards over-exposure though.

 

[dlx1]

Ed

as I siad in pm
over exposed is this ment to be a plus ? or something that will get fixed.

is this the olny down side so you found on D80?

 

[editor]

Ed

as I siad in pm
over exposed is this ment to be a plus ? or something that will get fixed.

is this the olny down side so you found on D80?

I'm loving it apart from the few images that have come out a bit over exposed. It's a beaut of a camera.

 

[Bernie Gunther]

Interesting. Particularly if it's not happening consistently, which I'd think would make it more of a problem rather than less of one.

Wasn't the metering the one important thing substantially lower spec than the D200. Using 400 segments vs 1000 or something like that?

I'd think that wouldn't make a huge difference though, if one imagines slicing that shopfront scene into 400 segments, you'd think it'd be easily enough.

 

[Bernie Gunther]

I just did a bit of digging on the exposure issue. Nikon pundit Thom Hogan suggests that the problem isn't that it's not working properly, but that it's working slightly differently to other Nikons. He suggests that it's predictable once you know what's happening.

... the matrix meter is more sensitive to what's going on in the central area.

Say what? That's bad news? Yes, it is for those of you who've shot with the D70, D100, D200, D1 series, D2 series, or any of the Nikon film bodies. That's because all those other bodies are remarkably good at not being coerced into changing exposure based upon smallish non-middle gray things in the central area of the frame. The D50 was prone to changing exposure in those situations, and the D80 is even more prone to changing exposure due to middle subject tonal value. If you're not following me, try the following: cut a diamond shape (like the AF sensor pattern) out of white paper, middle gray paper, and black paper. (I'm having you use a diamond shape so that you'll frame them the same.) Now place each of those against a middle gray background, carefully framing so that the diamond exactly fits the AF sensor pattern. Voila: the gray background is underexposed with the white diamond in the center, properly exposed with the gray diamond in the center, and overexposed with the black diamond in the center. It's that last one that's problematic, in my mind. Overexposure means blown highlights that can't be recovered, and the D80 is going to be prone to do just that with the matrix metering system any time you've got darker-than-middle-gray subjects in the center of the frame. <snip>

The center-weighted and spot meters are their usual excellent selves, and the matrix meter, while a bit different than those that came before it, is predictable once you know what it's doing.

source

 

[cybertect]

But if it's centre-wighting the matrix metering, doesn't that rather miss the point of having a separate metering mode? If you choose matrix, you want to take account of the whole frame

 

[editor]

Some D80 photos here http://www.urban75.org/london/photos-nov2006.html
I was using the Sigma 30mm f1.4 lens so I had to get in close to the subjects, but the camera performed pretty well.

 

[Kanda]

I picked a D80 up today with the 18-135 lens, as a relative beginner to photography, it's a fucking daunting beast

Can't wait to get out and about with it tomorrow