[PDONSHIK@SNET.NET]

Interested in buying a new camera. I am trying to decide between the D80 and D200- I plan to get the 18-200mm Niikkor Lens. Would like your thoughts on the difference

[stepheno]

Hello PDONSHIK@SNET.NET and welcome to Pixalo. We have a Welcome Forum where you might care to introduce yourself? By the way, if your username is your real email addy then you are open to all sorts of spam etc - not a good idea.

On to the question. I don't use Nikon so, off the top of my head, I can only say that the D200 is a better spec camera than the D80. They are both excellent cameras. From your question it appears that money isn't an issue so the answer is simple, get the d200

[Dave]

Hi & welcome to pixalo

The Nikon D80 features the same sensor resolution & metering system as the Nikon D200. What sets apart the more expensive camera is their durability & ease with which the manual settting can be accessed / changed.

Therefore according to the type & frequency of your photo taking, this decides which system to go for. In terms of image quality the D80 will do just fine.

Hope that helps.

[VinnyP]

The D80 with the same lens and settings will produce identical images. The D200 will probably handle better for most people, it definitely does things quicker but you pay for that with much worse battery life. It adds a few useful features and some of less use. Shooting banks, custom banks and a lot more information in the viewfinder are examples of very useful. If you shoot in a studio a PC socket makes life easier and mirror lock up has it's place. The metering is actually slightly different, the D200 has over twice as many RGB matrix segments, in the real world I have no idea how much difference this would make almost certainly none.

[Soupdragon]

I have a D80 and owned for a very short time, a D200.
The things I liked about the D200 were:
Uncompressed raw files.
True mirror lock up.
Better grip and sealing.
High frame rate.
Viewfinder information.

I wound up with a D80 because both the D200 bodies I tried could not focus correctly.
I also got fed up with the sheer weight of the D200, it's a lot of camera to lug around.

[Dave]

Originally Posted by Soupdragon

I wound up with a D80 because both the D200 bodies I tried could not focus correctly.

Tell us more

[silver]

the d80 and d200 have slightly different metering systems,. but it's not a deciding factor for most ppl

handle them both,. both are capable cameras, the major difference is really in build and the speed of use (more buttons on the d200)

Sil