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Which Nikon D80 Package?

deluca
 
Posts: 2

Which Nikon D80 Package?

Post Sun Mar 23, 2008 9:02 am


I was wanting to invest into a Nikon D80. I've been getting really interested into photography and was wanting to start. The point of the post was to ask for peoples opinions that have enough experience to actually talk about the camera and not just copy and paste some reviews they found on google.

I also wanted to know if it was possible to use lenses off of my dad's Nikon F70 and put them on a D80. I know that if it does work the lens will act a little bit different. What types of things would it effect?

I will be most likely purchasing it from B&H (http://www.bhphotovideo.com/). On the site there are 2 options I'm deciding between. They are:
D80 SLR Digital Camera Kit with 18-135mm Lens $1009.95
- Nikon AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6G IF-ED Lens

OR

D80 SLR Digital Camera Kit with 18-55mm VR Lens $889.95
- Nikon 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G VR AF-S DX Lens

So I'm leaning towards the 18-135mm lens because it will give me a lot more versatility but I'm worried that the 18-135mm lens won't be as good quality as the 18-55m with vibration reduction. My suspicion becomes even greater when the difference of the packages is only $120. I would think that a 18-135mm would be a lot more expensive than a 18-55mm lens but I may be wrong. If someone that is very knowledgeable in this area, I would love to hear your opinions.


thanks so much.

prinothcat
 
Posts: 662

Re: Which Nikon D80 Package?

Post Sun Mar 23, 2008 3:47 pm


deluca wrote:I was wanting to invest into a Nikon D80.

...

I also wanted to know if it was possible to use lenses off of my dad's Nikon F70 and put them on a D80. I know that if it does work the lens will act a little bit different. What types of things would it effect?

...

thanks so much.


The older Nikkor lenses may work provided they are AI lenses or newer. If they were built prior to 1980 they most likely will not. Two pages that might be of use to you are Nikon System Compatibility and Nikor Lens Compatibility. There are other bits and pieces of interest on that site.

Lenses. First, both are consumer grade lenses. Optically they will be very similar. The 18-55 VR is a new release while the 18-135 has been around for a while. The 18-55 has VR, which is probably not really necessary at it's length, but it's a nice feature. Both are DX meaning they will not work on FX (full frame digital or film). I personally own an 18-135. I normally use it at short focal lengths. It needs VR at the long end. It's plenty sharp, but the build is suspect. Mine is barely a year old and the zoom is starting to creep. The 18-135 gets about 50% longer as it zooms. Image quality is good, but if one looks, it shows off some fairly profound lateral fringing toward the edges. It also shows off some barrel distortion (non parallel and curved lines that should otherwise be straight) at the short end. F/5.6 is pretty doggone slow for a 135mm as well. That being said that's not particularly speedy for a 55mm either. The down side is that there are very few choices for wides on DX in the Nikkor line up. The point here is to remember that the D80 is a DX sized sensor, so the 18 mm covers about what a 24 would cover on film. So whereas one used a 50 mm as a standard lens in 35mm one now looks at 30mm range as "standard" on DX. While the 135mm may provide more versatility, I find I rarely use this lens at this range, since I have better options past 70mm. If I had done better research when I bought my base setup last spring, I would have passed on the 18-135, and gone 18-55 or 18-70, and added a tele to run 70mm and longer. My current experience have lead me to believe that I would have really wanted to go with something like the 18-24 from Tokina, and a 70-200 or 80-200 then fill in the gap between as best I cold. I find most of the subjects I want to shoot in the 24-70mm range can be had by simply walking closer. Once I reach the short tele range (for me around 70mm) I find I can't walk closer or I want the flat DOF that a fast ( f/2.8 ) tele/zoom gives. Another thing I found is that I frequently cannot back far enough away from some things that I want to capture at wide angle with the 18's. As a result of all this, I'm looking into a new Nikkor 16-85mm f/3.5-5.6G DX ED VR. I get a little wider, overlaps with my 80-200, and is sharper all around. Another do all option that many people look at is the Nikkor 18-200 VR. The two are compared side by side here. I know you didn't want to see cut and pastes, but I read this guy regularly and think he's pretty on the ball. Other people hate him. I also likeThom Hogan's opinions.

finally here's what Pbase users have to say about:
The D80
The 18-135 My comments here should have been made after more time had been spent withthis lens.
The 18-55 VR apparently no one has anything to say about this one yet....

jestev
 
Posts: 398
Location: Dallas, TX

Re: Which Nikon D80 Package?

Post Sun Mar 23, 2008 5:47 pm


Most likely any lenses you had for your F70 are going to be better quality than either of those kit lenses. You may want to replace it fairly soon, so the 18-55 VR may be the better option simply because it is cheaper. Some people swear by it (like Ken Rockwell), but I really think it's not very good (I also don't think Rockwell knows what he's talking about).

What lenses do you have on the F70? We can tell you if they'll work (probably will) and if they're better than those kit lenses. Some of the best lenses I have are AI and AI-S manual lenses from the 70's-80's. They may not meter, but you could just get an accessory meter. Also, once you know your camera better and better you find you really don't need a meter. You can also just guess and check using the LCD screen.
John Stevenson
http://www.pbase.com/jestev
Nikon N70, N6006; D300, D50
Lenses (of 20): Nikkor AF-S 17-55mm f/2.8G ED-IF, Tokina AT-X 12-24 f/4 AF PRO, Nikkor 80-200mm f/2.8D ED AF, Nikkor 50mm f/1.8D AF, Micro-Nikkor 55mm f/3.5 AI
Canon S1 IS
Minolta XG-7


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