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Nikon D80

Digital Camera Review

Previous: Page 7

Image Parameters

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Overall Impressions
December 13, 2006 By Patrick Singleton
4 Comments
(add your own)


Connectivity
Software (7.25)
The D80 includes Nikon’s PictureProject software for downloading, reviewing, printing and organizing images. It also creates animated slide shows – either simple or stylized. One of the stylized shows is supposed to look like a scratched up old movie or music video. Other styles are available too. All the slide shows pan and zoom images, can incorporate video and music, and can be exported to CD-ROM. The editing tools for single images are limited – brightness, sharpening, D-lighting, saturation and rotation are available, but clumsy. Cropping and resizing work just fine. The interface is bad: the tools and menus take up more space than the image being edited.
 
Nikon Capture NX, the excellent software for converting and editing RAW files, is not included with the D80 but is available for purchase from the manufacturer’s web site.
 
Jacks, Ports, Plugs (7.75)
The Nikon D80 has ports for USB 2.0, analog video output, remote control via a wire, and an external power supply. There’s an infrared receiver for cordless remote control, and a dedicated hot shoe. The D80 can accept an external battery pack as well.

Direct Print Options (8.5)
The Nikon D80 is PictBridge and DPOF compliant, which means that it can be connected directly to compatible printers, or create print orders on the SD card for download to a commercial printer. Direct printing standards only accept JPEG images, so the D80 can’t print RAW files. The D80 can create index prints. It can specify print size, whether the print will have borders, the number of copies, whether to print the capture date and time, and how to crop the image. The D80 allows the user to select a number of images to print at once, for both PictBridge and DPOF printing.
 
Battery (8.0)
The D80 uses a rechargeable lithium-ion battery. The EN-EL3e battery is also compatible with the D50, D70, D100 and D200. Lithium-ion batteries are popular in digital cameras because they have a large power capacity for their size and weight, and they maintain their capacity over the course of many charges. Nikon promises many hundreds of exposures per charge, or even thousands. We can’t verify those claims, but the battery lasted well in our testing and use of the camera.

Memory (3.0)
The D80 takes SD cards, which are the most popular format of memory in point-and-shoot cameras. Most DSLRs accept CompactFlash cards, and some models even have dual slots. The D80 has only one slot for the SD card though, a characteristic that distinguishes it from the CF-compliant Nikon D200. SD cards are small and available in a range of sizes. The D80 accepts cards up to at least 4 gigabytes. Nikon doesn’t mention 8GB cards in its literature, and we don’t have one for testing. Other Nikon DSLRs, except for the D50 and the upcoming D40, use CompactFlash cards.

Other Features (7.0)
Multiple Exposure Mode – The D80 can take two or three frames and combine them in a single image. It’s a fun feature that may prompt nostalgia in old film shooters.
 
Legacy Lens Compatibility – There are 30-year-old lenses that can be used on the D80, though the camera won’t meter exposure if the lens is faster than f/5.6. The D80 will confirm focus though.
 
FUNC Button – The customizable button within easy reach allows users to tailor the D80 to their shooting styles.
 
Help System – The menus’ help screens are informative, and should be useful to beginning and experienced users alike.

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Nikon D80
Digital Camera Review
4 Comments
(add your own)

Previous: Page 7

Image Parameters

Previous: Page 9

Overall Impressions