400D vs D80

[rcb25]

OK I have decided to upgrade my old film slr to a digital one and I think iv narrowed it down to either the Canon 400d or the Nikon D80. Iv read loads of reviews on each but would love some input from you guys.

I already have two canon lenses so I was swaying that way and just buying body only, and the cash back deal on canon is looking quite good just now. Then again the nikon seems to be coming up top in the reviews...

so I open the floor..

cheers guys

Robin

[Alan W]

Owners of each will recommend their own. Both are very capable cameras. The best thing for you to do would be to go into a shop and handle both and go with the one that feels right in your hand. Don't be steered by a salesperson who may try to steer you towards either one (they have targets) or even another model. Either camera will give you lovely images.

[StuG]

Well I own a Sony & a Minolta so I have no preference for Canon or Nikon.
Alan's advice is sound but I'd have thought if cost is an issue the canon would be ano brainer.
Warehouse express has the 400d Body @ £348.99
and the d80 @ £479......and presumably you'd need lenses for the Nikon which would push the price till higher.

[rcb25]

well my dad has the D70 and my old slr is a canon so im pretty use to both styles. I think overall the feel of the nikon is nicer, with the two jog wheels, but as you say the Canon is a great deal cheaper and i wouldnt really need another lens. Just looking for some opinions on quality really.

Thanks for the input Alan and stu.

[Alan W]

I have just sold a secondhand 400D body for £275 and it really was a cracking little camera (I was actually sad to see it go and I might get another one later just to keep in the boot of the car). I can't comment about the Nikon D80 as I have no personal experience but I have seen positive feedback from owners of both bodies. But yes looking at the Warehouse Express website price does make it a no brainer - not only is the 400D £348.99 there is £45 cashback to come off of this price too!

[rcb25]

right. Well lets say I went for the canon would it be worth getting the lens kit (EF 18-55) or stick with body only? My current lenses are canon EF 35-105 and 75-200.

Does anyone have any experience of the stock lens, as the reviews I have read about it say its pretty poor...

[PHIL THE FRAME]

hi i bought this on ebay for £335.00
CANON EOS Rebel XTi EOS 400D 10.1MP *Deluxe* Kit!

SLR Digital Camera Body w/ 18-55mm Canon EF-S Lens

Continuous Shooting at 3.0 Frames per Second, E-TTL2 Auto Flash
Compact Design, Light Weight, PictBridge Support, 9-Point Auto Focus

6 Bonus:

1. New *4GB* CF Memory Card
2. 5-piece Deluxe Lens Cleaning Kit
3. CF Memory Card Reader
4. *Extra* New High Capacity Li-ion Battery
5. Deluxe Camera Case
6. Mini Tripod
all arrived in perfect nick too, bargin, oh and its a cracker camera, the results are posted on here:ok:

[tinysmall]

Im a nikon user but I imagine this will apply to canon users too. The kit lenses really do produce good quality images. The two things that make them not as good as other lenses are the maximum aperture (kit lens apertures usually start at about f3.5 at the short end where as other lenses usually start at f2.8 and carry that through the focal range) and the build quality, so unless you plan to give it some heavy usage or require very shallow depth of field, the kit lens should be fine. When it comes to other stuff like chromatic abberation, any lens can suffer from it (I just read a review on the new nikon 16 to 85mm f2.8 which is supposed to be the new high spec wide angle and that suffered quite badly with chromatic abberation) so don't be put off the kit lenses by stuff like that. At the end of the day, its another perfectly usable lens in your bag at not a huge price.