The Nikon D80 is the first sub-$1000 SLR camera by Nikon since the release of the D50. In many ways the D80 is the direct successor of the slightly older D70, with a few major updates and upgrades. First and foremost is the new 10.2-megapixel CCD imaging sensor, which is a significant improvement over the 8-megapixel sensor found on the D70. At 10.2 megapixels, the D80's image sensor can produce extraordinarily high-resolution images for a camera in this relatively low price range.

In addition to the new imaging sensor, the D80 also has an improved 11-area AF system (compared with only 5 on the D70), a larger LCD screen (2.5 inches compared with 2), and a variety of custom options not found on its predecessor. The D80 appears to be nearly the perfect camera for SLR newbies all the way to experienced photo enthusiasts.



Although the overall design is much the same, the actual size of the camera body is slightly smaller than that of the D70s. The various dials, buttons, and adjustments are largely in the same place and orientation. To the left of the LCD screen you will find a fairly common line-up of buttons used to adjust white balance, ISO speed, and image quality. You can also make these adjustments through the standard menu, but these buttons certainly save you some time. There is also a series of buttons near the shutter than allow you to alter your exposure compensation, metering mode, drive mode, and AF mode.

The mode dial is located on the top left of the camera. It contains 11 modes in all, including six preset modes (portrait, landscape, close up, sports, night landscape, and night portrait), an auto mode, and four manual modes: programmed auto [P], shutter-priority auto [S], aperture-priority auto [A] and fully manual [M]. Two additional dials, located near the top right of the camera, allow for the adjustment of shutter speed and aperture.

The D80's new 2.5-inch 230,000-dot high-resolution LCD display is indeed impressive to look at. It boasts an ultra-wide 170 degree viewing angle, allowing for crisp resolution from nearly all directions. This can certainly be helpful when previewing photos, which can now be magnified up to 25 times using the new dedicated zoom buttons.

Adjustments to the camera's menu interface has made it even easier to navigate. There is now a Simple menu option, which is basically a shortened version of the full menu. It contains a few basic parameters that Nikon has selected as being most important. For those who are not yet terribly familiar with this type of camera, the Simple menu can provide an easy and pain-free way to get started. For those of us with more experience, there is a My Menu option that allows you to choose which menu items are displayed (presumably whichever items you adjust most often).

There is also a new retouch menu that allows you to edit your photos right there on the camera. You can remove red-eye, resize and crop the photo, use filter options, and even switch from color to monochrome.

Like the D70, the D80 has a fairly powerful built-in flash with i-TTL flash control. The flash control can make a significant difference under certain low light conditions, such as inadequate backlighting, by adding appropriate fill flash. The i-TTL flash also allows for features such as repeating flash function for creating stroboscopic effects and the modeling flash, which allows you check overall lighting and shadow conditions before taking the photo. There is also complete support for the advanced wireless lighting system, which allows the built-in flash to act as a remote commander for control wireless Nikon SB-800 or SB-600 speedlights.

The D80 is compatible with SD memory cards and has SD-HC support, so that you can use SD cards with over 2GB of storage space if you wish.
As far as batteries are concerned, the D80 is a bit picky. The camera is only compatible with the Nikon EN-EL3e rechargeable lithium-ion battery.


The viewfinder on the D80 is essentially the same one you will find on the more expensive D200. The pentaprism viewfinder has a relatively large 0.94x magnification and optional integrated grid display that helps you develop your composition. The diopter control knob can also be used to make additional fine adjustments.

The Nikon D80 often comes with a 18-135mm 7.5x zoom Nikkor lens. This is truly a great default lens that works quite well over a wide range of conditions. It can certainly be used as a low-end telephoto lens, which is good news for the photographer on a tight budget. Among its many positive features, the Nikkor lens has an internal focus (IF) system that provides quick and seamless auto-focusing that does not require manual lens length adjustments.

The overall performance of the D80 is just as good or better than any other camera in its price class. Performance was among the fastest we've seen so far. The D80 took only 0.15 seconds to switch on and take the first photo. Using high quality format, additional shots took just under 1.1 seconds with flash and 0.3 seconds without. Times were just about the same in RAW mode. Shutter speed was adjustable and ranged from 30 to 1/4,000 seconds. Shutter lag was minimal and ranged from anywhere between 0.4 to 0.85 seconds (largely depending on contrast).




The continuous shooting feature worked about as well as expected. The D80 shot just under 3 frames per second on average, giving us a total of 100 continuous JPEG (and 6 RAW) images in total. This is certainly an advancement over the D70 thanks to improved processing speed, faster memory, and higher data transfer rates.

The overal image quality produced by the Nikon D80 was quite good. Supported by a broad ISO range, an advanced auto white balance (AWB), and a sensitive and well adjusted light meter, the colors came out true and accurate. The camera only had problems in situations with very little light or a lot of shadow. In such cases the +/- 5EV exposure should be used for compensation.

With an ISO range from 100 to 1600, one would expect to see quite a bit of noise with a camera in this price range. However, from ISO 100 all the way to 800, there was hardly any noise at all. Only at ISO 1600 did the speckles become apparent, and even then they were not as noticeable as we expected.

The bottom line is that the Nikon D80 is a very well rounded camera that anyone looking in the sub-$1000 SLR market should seriously consider. The camera will be a strong competitor for Canon's Rebel XTi and Sony's new Alpha DSLR-A100.

Nikon D80 Specifications

• Camera type: Single-lens reflex digital camera
• Effective pixels: 10.2 million
• Image sensor: RGB CCD, 23.6 x 15.8mm; total pixels: 10.75 million, Nikon DX format
• Image size (pixels): 3,872 x 2,592 [L], 2,896 x 1,944 [M], 1,936 x 1,296 [S]
• ISO sensitivity (Recommended Exposure Index): 100 to 1600 (ISO equivalent) in steps of 1/3 EV, plus HI-0.3, HI-0.7 and HI-1
• Storage media: SD memory card
• File system: Exif 2.21, Compliant DCF 2.0 and DPOF
• Storage system: Compressed NEF (RAW): 12-bit compression, JPEG: JPEG baseline-compliant
• White balance: Auto (TTL white balance with 420-pixel RGB sensor), six manual modes with fine-tuning, color temperature setting (Kelvin), preset white balance; white balance bracketing also available
• LCD monitor: 2.5-inch TFT LCD with brightness adjustment; allows up to 170-degree viewing angle
• Playback function: Full frame; Thumbnail (4 or 9 segments); Zoom; Slideshow (Standard or Pictmotion); RGB histogram indication; Shooting data; Highlight point display; Auto image rotation
• Delete function: Card format, All photographs delete, Selected photographs delete
• Interface: USB 2.0 (Hi-speed) (mini-B connector); SD card slot: supports firmware updates via SD cards
• Text input: Up to 36 characters of alphanumeric text input available with LCD monitor and multi-selector; stored in Exif header
• Compatible lenses: Nikon F mount (with AF coupling and AF contacts)
• Picture angle: Equivalent in 35mm [135] format is approximately 1.5x lens focal length
• Viewfinder: Fixed eye-level pentaprism; built-in diopter adjustment (-2.0 to +1.0m-1)
• Eyepoint: 19.5mm (-1.0m-1)
• Focusing screen: Type-B BriteView Clear Matte screen Mark II with superimposed focus brackets and On-Demand grid lines
• Viewfinder frame coverage: Approx. 95 percent (vertical and horizontal)
• Viewfinder magnification: Approx. 0.94x with 50mm lens at infinity; -1.0m-1
• Viewfinder information: Focus indications, Metering system, AE/FV lock indicator, Flash sync indicator, Shutter speed, Aperture value, Exposure/Exposure compensation indicator, ISO sensitivity, Exposure mode, Flash output level compensation, Exposure compensation, Number of remaining exposures
• Autofocus: TTL phase detection by Nikon Multi-CAM 1000 autofocus module with AF-assist illuminator (approx. 0.5m to 3.0m); Detection range: EV -1 to +19 (ISO 100 equivalent, at normal temperature: 20°C/68°F)
• Lens servo: Instant single-servo (AF-S); continuous-servo (AF-C); auto AF-S/AF-C selection (AF-A); manual (M); predictive focus tracking automatically activated according to subject status in continuous-servo AF
• Focus areas: 11 areas; any single area can be selected; center focus area can be switched from normal to wide-frame
• AF Area modes: 1) Single Area AF: Focuses only on subjects in the selected area. Selection can be made from any one of the eleven AF spot sensors. 2) Dynamic Area AF: Focuses on subject in the selected area, but follows the subject if it moves from its original position, shifting instantly and automatically to the focus area into which the subject has moved. 3) Auto-area AF: measures all 11 focus areas, automatically determines which of them are on the primary subject, and activates only those areas.
• Focus lock: Focus can be locked by pressing shutter-release button halfway (single-servo AF) or by pressing AE-L/AF-L button
• Exposure metering range (ISO 100, f/1.4 lens): EV 0-20 (3D Color Matrix or center-weighted metering); EV 2-20 (spot metering)
• Exposure meter Coupling: CPU coupling
• Exposure modes: Digital Vari-Program (Auto, Portrait, Landscape, Macro Close up, Sports, Night Landscape, Night Portrait); Programmed Auto [P] with flexible program; Shutter-Priority Auto [S]; Aperture Priority Auto [A]; Manual [M]
• Exposure compensation: +/-5 EV in increments of 1/3 or 1/2 EV
• Exposure lock: Luminosity locked at detected value with AE-L/AF-L button
• Auto exposure and flash bracketing: 2 to 3 exposures in increments between 1/3 to 2.0 EV
• Shooting modes: Single frame; Continuous (approximately 3 fps); Self-timer; Delayed remote; Quick-response remote
• Shutter: Electronically-controlled vertical-travel focal plane shutter, 30 to 1/4000 seconds in steps of 1/3 or 1/2 EV, bulb
• Sync contact: X-contact only; flash synchronization at up to 1/200 sec.
• Flash sync modes: ) Auto; Fill-in flash; Red-eye Reduction; Red-eye Reduction with SlowSync; SlowSync; Rear-curtain Sync
• Built-in flash: (Auto, Portrait, Macro Close up, Night Portrait) auto flash with auto pop-up; Manual pop-up with button releaseGuide number (ISO 100, m/ft.): approx. 13/42
• Flash compensation: -3 to +1 EV in increments of 1/3 or 1/2 EV
• Dimensions (W x H x D): 5.2 x 4.1 x 3.0 inches (132 x 103 x 77mm)
• Weight: 1 pound, 5 ounces excluding battery, memory card, body cap, or monitor cover