Nikon D80 10.2 MP Digital SLR Camera - Black (Body Only)

I am an experienced photographer and this is an amazing piece of equipment I love! I own a D80 and sometimes use a D40X at work. If you want a very nice point and shoot with the ability to change lenses buy the D40X. If you want a well-priced professional camera with the ability to change settings while looking through the viewfinder, then get the D80 (you can not do this with the D40X) I have not been disappointed with my D80 and would not spend the money on a D200 (Same Megapixles and same processor. If I had the money, I would go for the D300 -12 mp). The top mounted LCD screen is also a great addition to this camera. There are plenty of technical reviews so I will not go into that. My advice is to buy the D80 with the Nikon 18-200 lens and then buy a Nikon 50 mm 1.4 lens for portrait work. These are the only two lenses you will really need, anything else is just fluff. I love my 50mm and use it at least 50% of the time. I also purchased a battery grip, 4-2GB SD Ultra II Cards, a wireless remote, Nikon SB200 (great, small flash) and SB600 flashes (With the camera on commander mode, the SB 600 act as a remote Slave - great simple portable studio set-up), a tripod ball head (allows you to position the camera on any angle possible) and a camera/laptop backpack. My advice is to also buy a good, lightweight but very solid tripod. Otherwise the shutter will blur the image on very slow shutter speeds. If you do studio work, then you will also need a good set of studio strobes with modeling lights. Drawback - Raw image processing software is extra but I do not use this feature so this does not matter to me.

This camera is a great camera, though increasingly harder to find. I was told at a camera shop that they had to send all of their stock of the d80 back to Nikon because Nikon was longer selling them. The salesman theorized this was due to the d90's much higher price without a vast difference between the two. Honestly I do not know for sure but at this point that seems reasonable. In comparison to other brands it performs at or exceeds over the Sony or the Canon. Many features seem to be quite standard with the ability to take Black and White photos, the camera adjusts the pictures automatically based on the cameras orientation when the photo was shot, very high resolution capabilities, the ability to quickly change color values on screen, and many other features used most often that are accessible through the menu(the long way) or with quick buttons. With the right SD card(Extreme 3) this camera can fire off perhaps two shots every second without the flash, but with flash it will take a couple seconds in between.

The only qualm is that the auto focus does not always work with the included lens. This is a fairly common problem but if someone is just getting into photography I think it is good for you to have to go the manual route. However, if sometime in the future you buy another lens I have heard they will work, it has something to do with the contacts with the included lens.

All in all if you're considering a camera in this price range I have found that in my research the d80 is a great buy and now is the time to get one. They originally sold for around 679.00 I believe. I recommend that you do your research and do no just take my word or someone else s on this camera or any other. But if you have researched you know that there are differences and what really makes someone buy a professional camera is what brand it is and the model is what features they have. The Nikon d80 is a great camera and has many features and is very intuitive. By no means are you required to read through the manual to figure out how to use the camera effectively, though it would help you use it more efficiently. Beginners and veterans of photography who use SLR can all agree that this a good camera despite their brand biases.

I'm a semi-retired photojournalist and bought this mostly for the increased resolution (I already have a D70 and high-end Nikon lenses.)

Higher resolution means I can crop more heavily, eliminating (for me) the need for a zoom lens that goes above 300mm. The D70 already produced excellent quality images - the D80 is better.

I picked the D80 in part because most of the controls are the same as the D70 - these are very complicated cameras if you don't just set them to "snap-shot" mode - using two for professional work with different sets of basic features and controls is not to be considered.

The bundle I bought included some inexpensive lenses which turned out to be useful in some situations because they are so light. They also make a good starter kit. To match the capabilities of this camera you will want at least one high-end motorized, VR Nikon lens.

I especially like the camera's extensive internal editing features which save me loading every image into PhotoShop.

The only thing I didn't like was the new storage media physical format but that is minor and only because I already standardized on the older size.

Ok, this is a great camera. I'm not going to cover the features of this camera, other reviewers did that well. Let me point out a few things to watch out for.

*****LOUSY LENS KITS**** The Nikon D80 is a fantastic camera, but lots of sellers will try to getcha by bundling a $775 camera body with one or more really mediocre lens. If you're going to spend that kind of money on a camera, don't get seduced by these horrible lens kits.

First, decide if you are planning on using a camera bag everywhere you go or not. This is important. Unless you are planning on taking a camera bag with you everywhere, you do NOT want 4 lenses -- 3 of the 4 will just stay home 95 percent of the time. What you will need in this case is ONE REALLY GREAT LENS.

The most common lenses offered with this camera is an 18-55mm lens bundled with a 70-300mm lens. Now the 18-55mm a really nice wide angle lens down at 18mm. However, you really get very poor (55mm) telephoto capacity with that lens. If you're looking for a great all purpose lens, 18-55mm is not it.

Next, you'll see the 70-300mm lens. That's a great telephoto zoom and gives you lots of pretty nice range. But keep in mind that 70mm is NOT wide angle. That means you'll struggle to shoot close-ups of anything. No wide-angle shots of buildings, landscapes, mountains, or even large groups of people at the dinner table. A great second lens, but not a great single all-purpose lens.

Any lens kit that mixes up 2 or 3 of the above lenses are still leaving you short of ONE GREAT all-purpose lens.

The best value in an all-purpose lens out there is the somewhat rarely offered Nikon 18-135mm zoom. 18mm is plenty wide-angle enough for anyone. And 135mm gives you enough zoom lens to shoot the kids soccer game close-up from across the entire field. With 10MP, you can still crop down for a nice close-up and get great high-quality prints. With this lens, you won't need a camera bag for 90% of you who are buying this camera for non-professional work.

If you have the bucks, then spend upwards of $700 for the 18-200mm, and get the best all-purpose lens you can get for the D40x. You'll pay as much for that lens than the camera body itself.

***BE AWARE*** Many sellers package non-Nikon lenses with this camera. Do yourself a favor and buy a great genuine Nikon Lens.

Next, a lot of sellers advertise four lenses, but really give you two lenses and then two "over" lenses that give you extra wide-angle or telephoto capacity. Avoid these lens correctors that screw into the end of your lens and give you more or less "magnification". These lenses are uniformly lousy.

Also, the "bonus" items in these kits, like the tripods and camera cases are cheap, cheap, cheap. Lowepro makes good camera bags. If the camera bag is not a name brand bag, it is the bottom-of-the-line junk. Better to buy these components separately. Same goes with the tripod.

On the whole, I recommend buying the camera body and 18-135mm lens and THAT'S IT. Buy your memory cards, straps, cases, tripods, filters and other accessories separately and as you need them. 99 percent of people won't carry around all that stuff anyhow.

Last, there's a great product out there called "Camera Armor" that I recommend. It is a custom made rubber housing that fits like a glove over the camera's body. It does a nice job of keeping your camera from getting banged up or badly scratched.

***PLEASE VOTE for my review if you found it helpful***

Great product and the absolute best choice if you want a semi-pro Nikon DSLR. It is approximately the same price as D60 and same resolution (megapixels). The issue to consider relates to the lenses you plan to use or currently have. With the D60 and other base models, you must use the AF-S or digital lenses----(these lenses have the focusing motor inside the lenses and there is no "screw" or focusing motor on the camera). Many telephoto or specialty lenses will be manual focus only with the D60 or others. The D80 has the ability to facilitate the AF function of a very broad range of lenses and can still handle the newer digital focus (motor on lense) lenses.
Bottom line---If you are looking for a semi-pro camera that allows you to use the broadest range of lenses while still being affordable the D80 is the best choice. The models D80 and "above" (D90-D3-D7...) have the ability to handle the wide range of lenses but the D80 currently is the most cost affordable. I have both the D60 and D80 as well as several film Nikons and Canons. The D80 is my workhorse and go to camera for any serious project. I like the D60 for small size but the D80 remains my primary tool of choice. The D80 allows me to fill my bag with several lenses and all work AF and fast with the D80. I highly recommend the D80 to anyone wanting a "real" camera (beyond just shooting several pics of the family at the park, beach, vacation etc.....)
One other key recomendation.... READ THE MANUALs. So many people give a poor review of complex tech tools and often they failed to learn how to accurately use the device. The D80 has a broad range of features and functions and works perfectly for almost any condition but you need to learn how to use it. My advice, get the camera...wait until the house is quiet and open the box, plug the battery in to charge, and spend a couple of hours reading the manual and take some notes. I used note cards when getting started so I could put them in my camera bag for reference. If you will take the time to read and learn the camera you will be very pleased with the D80.