Which to choose - D80 or D200??

dougdarter

dougdarter

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Douglas
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Hmm,

I was looking for a D100, or a D70s as a lightweight do it all backup to the D2X's and the D1X, which can get a bit heavy after a days toting, but when looking at what is available reasonably cheaply, I've decided to go for either the D80 or D200.

Has anybody owned both of these cameras?? Is anybody able to dispassionately discuss the pro's and con's of either??

It seems to me that whilst different, there is little to choose between the two. The D100 has a better body, whilst I think the D80 has a better feature set, though I'm not convinced that I need all the 'extra' facilities offered by either.

I get the feeling that the D200 will turn out to be a 'smaller' version of the D2X, but almost as capable. Am I correct??

Thanks for your help.

Doug

PS.... I'll be buying one soon (second hand), so if anybody cares to tempt me, PM please.
 
I think he meant that at first he considered the D70 and D100 but then realised that in his budget he could get either the D80 or the D200.

To be honest I only really know about the D80. What I do know is that the D200 has better weather sealing. Also correct me if wrong but the D200 can do 5 fps whilst the D80 is only 3fps.
Both are 10.2 MP so its down to the extras and if you deem them to justify the differentiation between the prices of the two camera bodies.
 
I am confused, what are you comparing? I have the D200 and have used the D80. I would certainly pick the D200 over the D80 any day! Now that the D300 is out you can get D200 at a really keen price too. I remember a D200 with battery grip on here last month for £400 which I would have bought myself (I wanted a battery grip anyway and I I took off the price of the grip I could have a second body on the cheap!)

Anyway thats my tupeneth so to speak!
 
I would certainly pick the D200 over the D80 any day!

Likewise - I wasn't super keen on the D80. It had the D200 image quality issues at high ISO, but lacked the lovely body.

I also found is felt unbalanced with the big lenses I was totting at the time.

The D200 isn't a mini D2X though. It blows the D200 away for image accuity (its naively much sharper due to a weak AA filter), its ISO100 performance still hasn't been bettered, and personally I prefer the focusing to the D300 or D700 due to the more distributed "+" AF points in the viewfinder, as opposed to the bunched formation we have now. Focusing on the outer sensors vs. the D200 is night and day different.

The viewfinder is WAY better, and so is battery life on the D2X too. Definitely not a mini-D2X but very good in its own terms.
 
Let's see...I have a D200 (the famous £400 one :LOL:) and a D70 (and a D70s come to that) and I used to have a D80......

To be honest I wouldn't pick either of them as a "lightweight back up", I'd buy a D40/x or D60. I know they lack a lot of features, but if it's not your main camera and just needs to be light and Nikon, then you'll not get anything lighter in a Nikon mount......
 
Thats why I have a D60.

I have all the "Pro" stuff in my other bodies.
 
Of your original choices, I'd pick the D80...

The D200 is a heavy beast compared to the D80. Personally, I'm looking for a black D50 or D70s as a second body...
 
D70s is nicer to use than the D50 (I've had a couple of those too), but it's still a decent old camera...
 
I have 2 D200s and an S5 Pro (based on the D200) and I've recently sold my D80 on to a new home and I've found both to be really good cameras. However the big difference I've found is that it's so much easier to use the D200 than the D80 and change things like the metering, focus slection as they are all on dials on the back on the D200 whereas on the D80 you need to get in to menus or push a button whilst turning a dial and can be a bit "faffy". I've also found that the metering appears to be better in the D200 than the D80 (although with -0.7 Exposure Compensation the D80 is damn good).

I suspect that if you are used to the D2X you would be more at home with the D200 than the D80 but as I've never seen a D2X in the flesh let alone used one I don't think it's fair to comment further.
 
I really don't think you'll be disappointed with a D80 personally. It's a cracking package for the money. Small, light, and very capable imho. :)
 
Fuji S5 Pro is £430 at the fuji refurb shop at the moment with 6 months warranty
 
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