Nikon D80 opinions

Alfie1

I'm thinking of getting a DSLR and after some research I've more or less decided to go for the following :

Nikon D80 kit including either

1: AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-70mm f/3.5-4.5G IF-ED lens

or

2: AF-S DX 18-135 mm f/3.5-5.6G IF-ED


and the 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G AF-S VR Zoom-Nikkor Telephoto Zoom Lens

I plan on using the camera for everything including motorsport. Is the autofocus fast enough for this (read somewhere that this could be a problem)

Has anyone got any comments (good or bad) on this setup. Also the kit choice is the same price so which lens would you go with the 18-70 or the 18-135, i'm leaning towards the 18-135 just because it will reduce the amount of time i'd be changing the lens.

Any advice appreciated

isadub

I have a D80 and it's fine.

I think lenses are much more important since the light is so bad in Ireland. You'll need good lenses if you're going to photograph motorsports.

You could try www.kenrockwell.com for reviews. In a nutshell, he reckons the camera is irrelevant since they're all equally good for the majority of photographers.

He reckons the D80 is 'old' and recommends the D40 (not D40x) and the D200 (expensive).

HTH

bp_me

Alfie1 wrote:

I plan on using the camera for everything including motorsport. Is the autofocus fast enough for this

Yes. Yes it is.

Alfie1 wrote:

Has anyone got any comments (good or bad) on this setup. Also the kit choice is the same price so which lens would you go with the 18-70 or the 18-135, i'm leaning towards the 18-135 just because it will reduce the amount of time i'd be changing the lens.
Any advice appreciated

I have the 18-135 and it's ok... its a bit slow though. In fact it's slower at 70mm than the 18-70 is. It's a handy walkabout lens though giving you an effective 27-202mm zoom lense which is alright for most things.

mathias

You could try www.kenrockwell.com for reviews. In a nutshell, he reckons the camera is irrelevant since they're all equally good for the majority of photographers.

Couple of points ........ Ken Rockwell is to Photography reviews as the Sun is to quality journalism , he is a ( sometimes funny ) loon !!

Second the D40 ( New as it may be ) has a big issue , and thats no auto focus with a lot of Nikon lenses ,

From Dpreview

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/nikond40/

Perhaps the biggest negative on the D40 is that it doesn't have an internal focus drive motor and hence no mechanical focus drive pin, instead it only has CPU contacts which means it can only Auto Focus with AF-S and AF-I lenses (those with built-in focus motors). Indeed our 'standard' lens the Nikkor 50 mm F1.8D (and the F1.4D) are manual focus only on the D40. The images below show the difference between the mount on the D40 and D80, the D80 has a mechanical focus drive pin at about the 7 o'clock position.

So if thats important to you obviously the D40 is out ......

So much for Mr Rockwells recommendation ,

The D80 is an excellent camera , despite Mr Rockwells glaring oversight.

isadub

http://www.nikoncafe.com/vforums/index.php

run_Forrest_run

I have the D80 with 18-135 lens and I love it. Mind U I have not shot anything like motor sports etc so I wouldn't know about the suitability of the lens.

Alfie1

Thanks for all the advice so far.

Here's a few more questions :

I got a Nikon F60 with a sigma 70-300 zoom in 2000 and used that a lot mostly for rallying and point and shoot but it cost me a fortune in development costs. The last few years I've been mostly just using my brothers Konica Minolta Z6 for rallying and kayaking. Now I'd like something better/faster. One of the things I think is missing from the D80 is 5fps, will 3 be enough ? Also am I going overkill completely and will the D80 be too much for me, or should I consider the D200 (is this even more above my skills) even though this would cost me a lot more (but possibly long term be cheaper as wouldn't need to upgrade body again)

Lense wise are the 2 I listed fast enough or should I be lookin at xxxx f2.8 (I think I'd really be blowing my budget at this stage considering I was originally considering a fujifilm 9600 :rolleyes: as I also like taking video clips )

Again all comment appreciated.

bp_me

I thought the 3fps wouldnt be enough, but really it is. 5fps would be nice but 3fps in JPG gives you enough to cover the cars passing through a corner or where-ever else you are trying to take the photos from. The lenses will be fast enough on a bright day (last day I was doing this I was using f13 all day), but on a dull day you may be left to bump the ISO.