D80 Arrived today

My D80 arrived today . . . EARLY! Is this a first for Nikon?

Now, when will Ike have a housing?

I have only taken a quick look at it. I will play a bit with it this evening.

Price was $999.99 not $1200 like I'd read a few places.

SD

999 with the 18-135 or the 18 - 55 DX lens?! That is a good price for the 18- 135 combo.

999 with the 18-135 or the 18 - 55 DX lens?! That is a good price for the 18- 135 combo.

Body only.

SD

I've got to play with the D80 for a while last week. I think you'll be pretty happy with it...

Now the wait for a housing begins...

Please post your experiences and reviews.

I'm wondering about which 'kit' lens to buy with mine. I do need a zoom telephoto, general purpose lens, to start with for topside use.

Jack

Please post your experiences and reviews.

 

I'm wondering about which 'kit' lens to buy with mine. I do need a zoom telephoto, general purpose lens, to start with for topside use.

 

Jack

So - have you tried to figure out how to get one of your excisting housings to work with your new D80?

Andy

So - have you tried to figure out how to get one of your excisting housings to work with your new D80?

Andy

My existing housing is for a Fuji E900 digicam system. Yeah, I'm bummed I wouldn't be able to house a D80 before my Truk trip in November, but right now I can only justify it for above water use anyway. I don't feel that buying an older d70s or Canon 350 is the right move either.

Jack

My existing housing is for a Fuji E900 digicam system. Yeah, I'm bummed I wouldn't be able to house a D80 before my Truk trip in November, but right now I can only justify it for above water use anyway. I don't feel that buying an older d70s or Canon 350 is the right move either.

 

Jack

I asked Ike when a D80 housing would be available and he thought it MIGHT be as early as October. Ikelite just got their D 80 and need to do some testing to make sure there have been no changes in the iTTL.

A couple quick comments about the camera. The pop up flash jumps up when the camera determines the exposure level is no appropriate. My D200 doesn't do that. The ability to magnify and examine pictures on the LCD is the nicest I've seen on a Nikon camera. One hits the magnifying glass multiple times and each push of the button zooms in more. One can navigate the picture using the toggle button and there is a mini view of the photo in the lower right corner that shows you what portion of the photo you are looking at and as a guide to navigating the picture.

Otherwise it reminds me a lot of the D70 (I've never had a D50 in my hands).

SD

Sea & Sea is working on a housing for the D80 that is slated to be out sometime in the fall so at least one option will be available quickly!!!!

The pop up flash jumps up when the camera determines the exposure level is no appropriate. My D200 doesn't do that.

SD

I don't have a D80 but from my experience with the D70 I'd bet that it only does that in the dumb green auto everything mode. I bet in P mode, or A/S/M modes it doesn't do that. The D200 doesn't have a dumb green mode. Don't shoot in the dumb green mode. It's dumb.

I do like having it though because I set it to that whenever I hand my camera to my wife so that something like aperture, FEC or EC won't fowl her up.

Please post your experiences and reviews.

 

I'm wondering about which 'kit' lens to buy with mine. I do need a zoom telephoto, general purpose lens, to start with for topside use.

 

Jack

I would get the 18-200mm if possible. I have one and love it. The performance is fantastic for a zoom much more a super zoom. With all the junk you lug around on trips its nice to have one thing simplified for travel. Its strictly for topside use though.

For underwater the best value is the 60mm macro. Its my favorite lens and only ~$350. After that the Tokina/Nikon 12-24mm are great dependingupon your budget. The 105mm, 15mm Sigma, and 10.5mm should be next on your list.

I don't have a D80 but from my experience with the D70 I'd bet that it only does that in the dumb green auto everything mode. I bet in P mode, or A/S/M modes it doesn't do that. The D200 doesn't have a dumb green mode. Don't shoot in the dumb green mode. It's dumb.

 

I do like having it though because I set it to that whenever I hand my camera to my wife so that something like aperture, FEC or EC won't fowl her up.

I would get the 18-200mm if possible. I have one and love it. The performance is fantastic for a zoom much more a super zoom. With all the junk you lug around on trips its nice to have one thing simplified for travel. Its strictly for topside use though.

 

For underwater the best value is the 60mm macro. Its my favorite lens and only ~$350. After that the Tokina/Nikon 12-24mm are great dependingupon your budget. The 105mm, 15mm Sigma, and 10.5mm should be next on your list.

Yeah, it is in the P mode and I never shot that with a D70. It is nice for someone like my wife who really doesn't understand f stops and shutterspeed (not that I really do either, lol).

I second the 18-200 lens for topside.

SD

I agree with the 18-200 DX VR recommendation...it is a really, really cool lens to have.. The VR feature almost makes it too easy to shoot great photos...actually had to read the manual for this lens...

Sea & Sea is working on a housing for the D80 that is slated to be out sometime in the fall so at least one option will be available quickly!!!!

That's interesting, but where do you get a hint like that. Is this just speculation?

With the D200 out now I was not sure who apart from Ikelite would tool up to make a housing for the D80.

Hi this is Lee, from earlier, We actually have a couple pre-ordered already, some people seeing the demand for the D200 rush decided to hop in early and get theirs as soon as they could.

Yeah, it is in the P mode and I never shot that with a D70. It is nice for someone like my wife who really doesn't understand f stops and shutterspeed (not that I really do either, lol).

 

SD

Are you sure that the flash is popping up in the P mode? My D70 flash never pops up automatically in the P mode, but it does in the auto-everything green mode or in certain scene modes. The D200 has the P mode too, but no green mode.

Just set it to M....

Are you sure that the flash is popping up in the P mode? My D70 flash never pops up automatically in the P mode, but it does in the auto-everything green mode or in certain scene modes. The D200 has the P mode too, but no green mode.

 

Just set it to M....

Sorry, it's the Green Auto Everything mode

SD

Sorry, it's the Green Auto Everything mode

 

SD

Back to my earlier question - with all of these D80's around - has anybody actually tried to see how it fits in a D70 or other prexisting housing? I would love to be able to buy just a new Aquatica back or insert for my D70 housing (just kidding - it couldn't be that simple or inexpensive but certainly was worth a shot).

Thanks.

Andy

I've played with the D80. I think it's a pretty decent camera for the price you pay. It's definitely not as good as the D200. The exposure's a little different on the D80. The feel is also not as good. The D200 feels very solid in my hands, but the D80 feels more like the D50. That said, it is a pretty small and nice camera. It would definitely be one of the best cameras to take underwater given the price and quality.

I'm pretty sure Sea and Sea is coming out with a housing for D80 this year. probably in fall. There's already photos of it on the japanese sea and sea forums. The pictures shows a D80 housing which is blue in color.

Here is a picture of Sea & Sea's DX-D80 housing off a japanese web site.

The picture is not too revealing but a few things may be of interest to those keen on the Nikon D80 and like Sea & Sea housings.

It looks like the front part of the housing is aluminium and the rear is plastic. This makes it similar to the D50 housing and cheaper than the all aluminium D200 housing. I think this is confirmed by shape of the rear section and the third clasping lock on the top of the housing.

Unlike the D50 housing there is now an additional control knob by the shutter release - presumably allowing seperate controls for shutter speed and aperture.

The housing lever for activating the AE-L, AF-L button is missing - this may be of no benefit to many.

That's all I can tell though - but at least it is a strong indication that one of the leading manufactures is likely to launch a housing for this interesting looking camera.

Very nice Trevor, thanks for posting! MediaSub/Bruder has also announced a D80 housing, manufacturers were quick with this one.

http://www.digifish.nl/en/news0115.html

Luiz