D80 vs D200

[sassan]

You're welcome Railman.

I am one hundred percent with Duncan.

[Don Hoey]

I have to agree with Duncan and Sassan here.

Railman,

I have had a D100 and can still use Stevies. Swapped my D100 for an X as I found the eye relief a bit short for me on the D200 as I wear glasses.

To take advantage of the increased resolution you really do need good glass. I have a mix of quality manual focus AIS lenses, and mid priced AF lenses. With the mid priced lenses on a high mp camera I find I have to shoot at f8 - f11 to max the image sharpness, but at times that can be a pain, so end up using M/F lenses if I have to go with a wider aperture.

Are you using RAW or Jpeg in the D100. I found a large quality increase when I had sufficient computer power to go to RAW. D100 obviously prefers RAW.

D80 or D200, then I would say D200 unless you do not require the extra features.

For images with a D200 and good glass, look at Avi and Leifs galleries.

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Ollie,

In your case the lens IS the weakest link. A move to D80 will not, I believe, give you any improvement that you will see in terms of image quality. The D80 sensor will out resolve your current lens.

Don

[Railman]

I have done some comparisons against both the D50 and the D70 (as other members of my family own these) in Jpg mode and the D100 loses when it comes to grain in the image. I will try Raw and see if there is an improvement in the quality.

[prostie1200]

Took delivery of my D200 yesterday, and my word what a difference in performance compared to my D70 in lens action.
After a work out with the 18-70 and then the 105, went outside with the AFS 300 f4, a piece of kit which gave spasmodic, good - bad results on the old camera ( I had jammed the gap between the barrel and foot and have been considering buying the NC300) the first thing I noticed was the super fast AF lock on to the subjects (small birds) and when I uploaded the files to the PC was delighted with the consistent sharpness and colour , not a hint of vibration.
Just waiting for the rain clouds to pass and take it for a walk in the country.

I have also tried low light shots indoors at ISO1600 - no flash 8sec exposure and was amazed at the complete absence of noise and also the cameras ability to AF in extremely low light conditions.

I have an idea that when the weather is a little better, and I can venture out, I shall be able to produce some really acceptable images from the 70-200 with the TC 1.7 attached using ISO 800 at say f8 - f11 at speeds of around 300-1000 even in overcast conditions.

Brian

[sassan]

Congratulations Brian.

Now that you have all plans for the clear days, did you think about moon too?

Have fun and treat us with the image to come soon.

[Leif]

Hello Railman

The two cameras look close on paper, but in practice I am not so sure. Others have told you about AF speed. The D200 gives a higher frame rate (not that I care about that) and a better build, although Nikon cameras are all well built anyway. Where the D200 really scores IMO is the true mirror lock up. I doubt I could get as many sharp images without it. I know the D80 has a mirror lock up that can be combined with the self timer to fire 0.4 seconds before the exposure, but it's not the same as the subject might move and 0.4" is not always enough time to allow vibrations to die away.

However, by all accounts the D80 is a brilliant camera, and if money is tight, well you will get good results.

BTW I do not photograph birds, so if that is you key interest, take my comments with a pinch of salt. I tend to photograph insects, fungi and landscapes, and my needs might be different to yours.