In addition to professional reviews, it’s often helpful to read about user reports and their experiences with the camera and thoughts. Gathered here are links that point to user impressions of the Nikon D80 which I’ve found to be of great reading value.
- Buying the Nikon D80 – A first-time shopper for a Digital SLR relates his experience and opinions on the D200 vs D80 vs D70s vs D50 at the store.
- Why Walter prefers the D80 over the Canon 5D and Fuji S3 for lowlight wedding photography, and his advice for obtaining stunning ISO1600 images with it. He also thinks that the D80 images have the best colours, irrespective of ISO levels, of all Nikon DSLRs to-date. The Fuji S3 still does better in strong, outdoor lighting with its superior dynamic range. After shooting another wedding, Walter reiterates his preference for the ISO1600 images from the D80 vs those from the Canon 5D in terms of colour and saturation; the slightly higher noise in the D80 images were insignificant to be noticed.
- Despite having relatively large hands, feeling the D80 body made him forget about getting the D200
- Sam Stern’s among the first individuals in the US to receive his new D80 (Wednesday, 6-Sep-2006, from Ritzcamera.com), and he reports his initial impressions of it … noticeably faster in operation than the D50 since there’s less need to go into the menu to change settings. The ability to dial in Kelvin values for setting the white balance is also a great feature for use in the studio.
- The Nikon D80 is similar in size, concept and weight to the N80 film SLR, and how this fits in with Galen Rowell’s idea of a light photographic arsenal.
- A nice, long essay by a New Zealander about his new D80, having decided to buy it over competing 10MP digital SLRs such as the Sony A100 and Nikon D200, and other DSLRs.
- Olympus E-1 owner shares his thoughts on the Nikon D80
- What a 6′ 5″ inch man thinks of his new D80; notes the improvements in viewfinder, autofocus speed, noise levels and shutter response times over his D70. Kezzer comments also on the fit between the D80 and Sigma 80-400 OS, and shares a nice picture of a dragonfly.
- The D80 viewfinder feels really huge vs the D50’s. Vladik also summarizes the advantages of the D80 vs the D50.
- A D200 and D70 user who’s just bought a new D80 lists the advantages the Nikon D80 has over the D70s
- First impressions of the Nikon D80 from a user of Canon AT-1 and AE-1 film cameras.
- Alex is happy that his new D80 does not exhibit any of the D70’s flaws, eg better in-camera tone curve means he doesn’t have to resort to custom curves, and better auto-white balance. The improved viewfinder, bigger LCD screen are othe plusses.
- Battery life on the D80 seems equal to the D50, if not better
- A Nikon D2X user adds a D80 as a backup camera and shares his thoughts on it.
- 5 minutes of handling the Nikon D80 + Nikkor 18-135mm lens sold Mike Woodland on the kit. Mike also includes links to three, full-sized image samples. Similar to the image samples I’ve seen on 2 Japanese review sites (first, second), the D80 + 18-135mm combo seems to produce images with excellent colour, detail (I can almost feel the texture of the metal objects in the pictures) and corner-to-corner sharpness. You also get an idea of the amount of noise (which is nonexistent to my eyes) in pictures of blue skies at ISO100.
- In the hand, the D80 feels slightly smaller than the D70 and much better than the D50.
- Ex-Canon 5D owner sells off $18,000+ worth of equipment and gets the Nikon D80. He shares his thoughts on the D80 and 4 ISO800 images of a frog + links to 2 full-sized images.
- Shiny new Nikon D80 replaces his August ‘83 Canon A-1; and he thinks the gorgeous D80 offers so much for under $1000
- Why he left his 300D and Canon for the Nikon D80.