Life after the Nikon D80 - Help me....

[cobra kid]

Evening all,

My inherited Nikon D80 went to Nikon to be repaired recently and we got the quote of £188 to get it done. I don't think the body is worth much more than that, so it got me thinking.

I want a decent zoom - I only have the 18 - 70mm lens with the D80 and can't be bothered with the hassle of carting stuff round. I've seen a nice Nikon digital with 26x optical zoom I think.

I want decent quality resolution so I reckon 15+MP would be adequate

I'm not after a tiny point and squirt.

I've seen this at Ron Harrisons in Sheffield and it looked a decent candidate at first glance;

http://www.harrisoncameras.co.uk/Shop/Digital+Comp...

It seems a good all rounder to me. I'm not a badge snob so would anybody recommend this or warn me off it? I'm open to suggestions as to other cameras and brands so if anyone has any thoughts.......fire away....


Thanks for listening.

[blugnu]

I haven't used a bridge camera for a while, but the thing that annoys me about them the most is the electronic viewfinder. No EVF is even half as good as an optical one. I notice the Coolpix you've linked to doesn't even have an EVF, just a screen - that would make it unusable for me - especially so on sunny days.

Technology wise it'll be ahead of the D80 I guess, but technology doesn't trump the laws of physics - a smaller sensor (which this has) will not be as good as a larger sensor with the same technology. Whether or not that means this is better than your D80, or good enough I don't know. It will also not have the depth of field control of your D80 because of the sensor size.

EDIT - might be worth having a look at Sheffield Camera Centre on Ecclesall Road too?

[cobra kid]

Thanks for that. I only really scratched the surface of it this morning and that one jumped out at me. I'll give Eccy Road a look as well. I appreciate the subtleties of it all but I'm not what you would call an enthusiast.

[blugnu]

I came from a film SLR to a digital 'bridge' camera, and found the EVF useless for following anything moving - nephews, wildlife, cars - the lag was just slightly too long.

I like an eyepiece personally - it feels like having the camera in two hands and touching your face stabilises it much more than holding it at arms length does, but I accept that having an SLR means spending more on lenses and carrying about more kit!

Remember the best camera is the one you have with you - it's what you point them out that matters

[Rufus]

Just bought my son one of these for when I'm using the Nikon DSLR and the lenses etc, he captured some nice shots at the festival of speed and I have had a quick point about with it and it seems like a nice enough piece of kit, however I'm still not tempted to do role reversal and use it and give him the DSLR.

http://www.whatdigitalcamera.com/equipment/reviews...

[Turn7]

EVF and Shutterlag is all you need to know to pass it by is my experience.

[cobra kid]

D

Turn7 said:

EVF and Shutterlag is all you need to know to pass it by is my experience.

Do you mean for digitals in general or just the one I listed above? I'm aware of the lag.

[Turn7]

cobra kid said:

D

Turn7 said:

EVF and Shutterlag is all you need to know to pass it by is my experience.

Do you mean for digitals in general or just the one I listed above? I'm aware of the lag.

For me, point & squirts just dont cut it at all, due to the reasons above. Decent pictures need a camera that can capture the moment,and whilst bridge's are geting close, they will nver match a DSLR.

[Hoofa]

I just got the Sony nex7 with the zeiss optics lense, great little camera. Used when I don't want to carry a brick around