Which camera (D80 v D90)

alter200

Hi,

new to this forum and looking for advice (apologies for yet another "what camera should I get?" thread)

Like many others, I started with P&S shoot cameras but decided to trade up due to poor quality and control options. I did get myself a Panasonic FZ18 Bridge camera last year and while it was a step up from the bog standard P&S, I'm now hoping to make the step up to a DSLR.

I've just come back fromn travelling with a friend and I was very impressed by the quality of pics taken by his Nikon D80 and the level of control he was able to exercise. Also, the quality and size (much bigger than A4) of the prints he made was great.

He had a Nkon D80 with the 18-200 mm VR lens (and a nifty fifty too) and I'm looking at getting a similar setup myself. Doing a bit of investigation, I see that the D80 has been superceded by the D90 (although it may be available elsewhere). I will be travelling to South America next month and will be stopping over in New York and have been checking out the prices online at B&H. Their D90 body alone is 879 USD (€676) and with the kit lens it's USD 1139 (876 euro). They do have a bundle with the 18-200 mm VR lens that is approx 1500 USD (1153 euro).

However, while browsing their site I saw they also had the D80 available in a bundle with 18-55 mm VR and 55 - 200 mm VR lenses http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/582224-REG/Nikon_9658_D80_SLR_Digital_Camera.html

While I can afford the D90 bundle, at the same time this bundle is only 800 USD which is approx €615 - not much more than half the price of the D90 with 18-200 mm VR. I've seen the D80 in action and know that's more than capable of filling my needs.

So- any thoughts from the crowd on what I should do? I want to get a decent camera that will be of use for a long time (i.e. won't need to upgrade in a year's time) but don't want to unecessarily overspend on features that I may never use. I will mainly use it for travelling (which I do a lot) but also some everyday use (I find I bring a camera with me now pretty much all the time)


Regarding lenses, I have heard that the 18-200 mm VR is a good everyday lens. How about the regular 18-105 mm VR kit lens for the D90?
Regarding the 18-55 and 55-200 with the D80 - how do they stack up against the 18-200?

thanks in advance,

Al

coylemj

By coincidence I read this review just before spotting your post. This guy reviews the D90 and makes lots of comparisons with the D80.

http://www.bythom.com/nikond90review.htm

AnimalRights

After Reading that review it has to be the 40D...er I mean the D90!

alter200

any thoughts on lens?

Thirdfox

I have a D40 (for the last 2 years now - great camera and not going to get rid of it) along with the 18-55 (non-vr) and 55-200 (vr) lenses (along with others and as of today the FE film camera too).

I have been quite satisfied by the 2 lens combo, though you have to keep in mind that these lenses are the micro-motor type AFS lenses (focusing slower, no full time manual override) compared to the 18-200 (which also has the convenience of the zoom range in one body and probably better build quality too).

The image quality of the two lenses...that could be a different story - I had heard (but seen no empirical proof that the IQ delivered by the 2 lens combo is better than the all in one zoom... since each lens has less to do). Of course, since I don't own a 18-200 I can't give a personal comparison. But I can say that I have printed above A4 on my 6mp D40 with photos taken by these lenses and I have been very satisfied (and some photos have won awards so I'm not the only person who thinks so ).

My photo gallery has photos mostly taken with the 18-55 II or the 55-200 vr (I have some with the 50mm f2 H too but that needn't concern you since that lens will not mount on either the D80 or D90). You can get the 50mm f1.8 instead.

alter200

thanks for reply third fox. Got any of your pics online?

Thirdfox

Most of them are in the link in my signature. Some shots were just for snaps of friends, but some were for work/comptitions etc.

This photo is my most viewed (though it might not be the "best"):


It was taken with the 55-200 vr at around 135 if I recall properly.

alter200

fyi - I got the D90

thanks for advice and comments guys