Nikon N65 or Nikon N80 for a beginner

Question, for a beginner with some photography class experience would

everyone recommend the Nikon N65 or the Nikon N80 and why? Would the

N80 be too confusing to use for a beginner? Would the N65 let me

learn easier? thanks

I recently bought an N65 for my wife and love it. I actually prefer to use it over my F5 (which I'm selling) because with a 50mm f1.8 lens attached it only weighs about 16 ounces.

 

The N80 is really nice, but has more features than the average beginner needs or will use. Both are superb cameras. The N65 is almost as feature packed and significantly cheaper.

 

I was also impressed by the metal lensmount and solid construction for a camera in this price range.

 

Disclaimer: I'm not selling the F5 because I got the N65. I actually prefer to shoot with a manual camera (FM2, etc).

N80.

 

You sort of NEED it to be confusing to some extent. If it is TOO easy, too P&S like, then you won't learn much. You will just shoot and let the camera do the work. Plus the N80 will take you farther than the N65 by far.

I own both cameras: the N80 is my main shooter, the N65 is my backup. If price isn't an factor, go with the N80. As a previous post noted, the camera offers more features that can be used as a photographer becomes more experienced. If price is a factor, you can't go wrong with the N65. Either camera will be "confusing" to a new photographer; heck, I've been shooting seriously for a long time, and I don't use all of the features on either camera. Regardless of the camera, you might want to start out with the body on manual mode. As someone who only moved to Auto Exposure/Auto Focus SLRs a couple of years ago, neither body is as intuitive in this mode as traditional manual focus SLR body. Then again, if you don't have the baggage of an "I learned on a Nikon F" attitude, it may not make a difference. As noted in similar posts, a decision as important as "which body" is "which lens." You can't go wrong with the Nikkor 50mm, f/1.8D. It has been mentioned many times before, including by me: when you're learning the basic, trust one camera, one lens, one film.

What kind of photography are you going to be working on? What is your budget? If you are interested in learning the "craft" of photography, I'd say yous should get an all maunal camera with a normal lens and a ton of film. If you are looking for a camera that is going to take great photos right out of the box, I'd go for either of the Nikon bodies you mentioned. As an aside, lens choice is going to matter a lot. Some of the lower end zooms are really bad. Read up before you make your decission.

 

Good luck,

Brian

 

 

<a href="http://bmacphoto.com">http://bmacphoto.com</a>

Nothing wrong with the N65. And you have to spend a lot more than the N80 to get things like mirror lock-up, threaded cable release, 100% viewfinder. Find out what the N80 has that the N65 hasn't, then find out what these are used for and how often and whether you can get by without them. Then decide.

 

The N65 is lighter, too, so good if you just want to take it out sightseeing or to the park rather than on a serious photography expedition.

 

Research is good. When I first saw the N65, I thought "Ooh, it's got all those little pictures on the P-A-S-M dial." But once I'd done my research and went to buy it, I knew exactly why I didn't need them.

The N80 DOES have a threaded cable release.

If you are in the 'want-to-learn' stage about photography, why not get a manual camera (i.e., the Nikon FM2, FM2n, or FM3A) which will require you to think about taking the photo. The lighting and timing that goes into a good photograph requires you to do some thinking, too. A camera that requires a 'battery' to do most of the thinking should get a good grade in the class, but will you really be the one to learn about photography?

One big advantage of N80 over N65 is spot metering. You may not need to use it now but if you continue shooting for some time , you will eventually need spotmetering. I've N65 myself and it's a great camera within it's limitation, but I wish I had bought N80 first time.

Hope this helps.

I'd say that the big advantage that the N80 has over the N65 is that it gives you the OPTION to pretend that's it's an all manual camera. You can use the AF and Matrix metering whenever you want to do snapshots and don't want to fool with it. However, for a beginner, this is a great camera, as it can be a valuable teaching tool. With spot metering, depth of field preview, threaded shutter release, more flash options, and much nicer ergonomics, the 80 is a much better deal, IMO. You also have a camera that is much more similar to its big brothers in the F100 and F5, so if you ever want to upgrade, you don't have to go through the learning curve all over again. Of course, it all depends on what you want to do. I just started about a year and a half ago with photography with my F80. I love it, and I don't regret the decision. However, I really want to step up to the F100. However, I think if someone was serious about learning photography, they would want to step up from the 65 much sooner than that year and a half...it just doesn't have enough features. On the other hand, if you just want a nice point and shoot style to take family prints with, go with the cheaper one. It's all about how you plan to use it. A happy F80 user (granted, lusting after that F5, but who isn't?!) Michael D. Bradigan, Okayama Japan.

Lynn,

 

One advantage of the N80 over the N65 that I have not seen mentioned is that you can set the film speed manually. The N80 allows you to override the DX coding of the film canister, the N65 does not.

 

One reason to set the film speed yourself would be if you decide to purchase your film in bulk and load your own canisters. The reloadable canisters are usually not DX coded so you either have to purchase DX labels or be able to set the film speed manually.

 

Another reason would be if you need a faster film than you have on hand. I have had good results rating Fuji NPZ at 1600 when the light level was too low for the standard rating (800) of this film.

 

This may or may not be important to you, but you should be aware of it.

 

As was mentioned above, the N80 has the ability to use a mechanical shutter release cable. The N65 does not. It requires a more expensive electronic release.

 

I hope this helps.

 

Vernon

Besides the differences already mentioned, the N80 has a faster shutter speed (1/4000) than the N65 (1/2000), it has two dials to control shutter speed and aperture separately instead of one dial on the N65, and it has the option to display grid lines in the view finder. I don't use the faster shutter speed or the grid lines every time I use the camera, but I have used them enough to know that I would have missed them had I bought the N65. Having separate dials for shutter speed and aperture makes a world of difference as I found it to be a much more natural interface than the N65, but it still took a little getting used to since I've used only manual cameras in the past. In the three months that I've had the camera, I've taken approximately 98% of my pictures on the manual setting, but it's nice knowing that I can put the camera into an automatic mode when I want to.

N80 (or F80) for the reason stated in the photo.net review.

 

http://www.photo.net/nikon/n65

 

If you want other reasons, they're there, but this should be enough!

I am also a beginner and had to make this same decision. Mine came down to the fact that the N65 does not support cable release. So basicly I paid more money for a little hole :)

A friend who repairs cameras has seen a number of N65(s) with

broken latches and he says the backs (that's the part that breaks) are

"always on backorder." If you buy an N65 treat the back

kindly.<br>

<br>

The N80 has an interface that is quite close to the F100. It uses

two command dials one for the shutter and one for the aperture.

This is much easier to use than the one command dial interface of

the N65.<br>

<br>

I draw the same conclusion that Phil did. For a few more dollars

you can get the N80, a much better camera.<br>

<br>

<a href="http://www.photo.net/nikon/n65" target="_new">http://www.photo.net/nikon/n65</a>

<br>

<br>

---<br>

<br>

I personally recommend a Nikon FM3a. Its a much better

built camera than either the N65 or N80. Id buy a used 50/1.8

AI, L37c 52mm filter, HN-30 lens hood and Tupperware® Cap #G (no

kidding). This is a classic camera design, an updated Nikon FE2.

Its a sweet handling camera with TTL flash and Aperture

Preferred auto exposure and full manual even without batteries.<br>

<br>

I own several FE2(s) and love them I use them mostly in manual mode.

Auto-Focus and Auto-Exposure is in many cases over-rated (and in

some not). Basically a Nikon FM3a of FE2 is fully auto-focus,

auto-exposure camera in skilled hands by virtue of the

photographers reflexes. Birds in flight? Not that fast.<br>

<br>

Another option is the FM2n. This is a sweet camera also but lacks

TTL flash. With TTL flash you change your aperture and keep

shooting. With non-TTL auto flash you change your aperture and

then your flash to match. Every once in a while you check to see

that they are in sync. That's better than full manual flash but

more prone to error. Thats why I recommend the FM3a first.<br>

<br>

The FM3a, I understand was requested by, the late Galen Rowell

and other mountaineers and expedition photographers.<br>

<br>

Hope this helps,

Apart from some idiot who said the N80 didn't have a threaded cable-release socket, all the advice above is good, and the sort of thing I read before I made my decision to get the N65.

 

The N65's as far as I want to go with autofocus. I have my heart set on an FM3a or FM2n (David is not the only person to make this recommendation, and it seems quite sound from my research): I'd still use the F65 as an all-purpose camera (it's my only camera, apart from an old Praktica I picked up for the 50mm lens, to use as a loupe), but I'd keep the manual-focus camera for more studied work. I prefer MF, and the feel of a metal case, and the auto-AF assist illuminator is as annoying on the N80 as on the N65, and I can never remember how to turn it off.

 

There's no right answer to your question, and no perfect camera. A lot of pros keep an old Nikkormat or something because it gives them, for instance, a flash synch speed they otherwise wouldn't have.

 

If you get the N80, you may start worrying about not having the F100...or the F5!

 

Whatever you get, I think we'd all be interested to find out why you got what you did. We all work differently and need different tools. 1/4000 shutter speed? I scoffed at that, but I rarely go above ISO 400 - it's usually 50 or 100. And ten-minute-long exposures. I'm pretty sure the N80 drains the batteries as much as the N65 during long exposures, but I needed a camera for travel and knew the N80 didn't have everything I wanted. So I got the cheaper one that would do everything I needed of it, even if I wanted more. And it's serious money here in the UK, about $230 more than the N65. I knew I'd be better off putting the difference towards film, slide projector, light table, lenses, filters....