New digital P80 Arrives

I was discovering the Nikon website for my film SLR body's battery pack, and I found a new camera model which is

not a DSLR but a digital camera with the specifications below.

 

Two important things about this camera are 18x "optical" zoom (more than 400mm) and 12 mp.

 

I surprised, because with our SLRs, we use some wide angles and some telephotos which normaly have range

between 18mm to 300mm, if this camera fullfills more than our needs than why to buy a DSL because maximum

people who are using DSLRs, use autofocus, auto exposure and other auto settings and dont utilize all the things

which can be done manualy. P80 will be cheaper than a DSLR, and there is no need to interchange lenses and

smaller in the size.

 

Due to digital there are all the photos taken on those are digitals and with branded cameras, Picture quality are not

the issue with different models...

 

So discover and discuss.....

 

Worldﾒs smallest*1 18x zoom camera

Powerful 27 to 486mm (35mm format equivalent) 18x optical Zoom-NIKKOR lens

10.1 effective megapixels for high-resolution images

Mode dial provides intuitive operation that makes it easy to achieve the desired shot

VR optical image stabilization

High sensitivity up to ISO 6400*2

Sport Continuous Mode for as many as 30 consecutive pictures*3 at 13 fps

Large 2.7-inch LCD monitor with wide-viewing angle

Electronic viewfinder for sharp, steady shooting

Optimize image (including monochrome filter effect)

Distortion control

Three Unique Nikon Image Innovations for high performance ﾖ

Face-priority AF, In-Camera Red-Eye Fix and D-Lighting<div></div>

Sorry, I wrote wrong, it is 10.1 effective megapixel rather 12...

"if this camera fullfills more than our needs than why to buy a DSLR" Easy. Because even if you only use autofocus and

auto-exposure, the DSLR still has a larger sensor and therefore potentially better image quality, plus the DSLR will be

cleaner at higher ISOs.

Look thru an electronic rangefinder. It looks like a television screen up close. Plus there is a time lag from what the lens sees to when you see it.

 

You are better off with a D60.

I will repeat what the first answer was a bit more bluntly. MP is an advertizing number that is supposed to mean their camera is better than one one than has a smaller number. It is a lie. It is all about sensor size not MP count. It gets more complicated, but all things being equal, bigger is better so long as you have 6MP or more.

 

Furthermore to double the quality, there needs to be 4x the MP count. The change from 8 to 10 is insignificant.

Thanks Peter and Ronald for contributions.

 

You both and others and me too, will always prefer SLRs or DSLRs, but we all know, today with digitals only the picture quality matters, it doesn't matter that with what camera the picture was taken.

 

So supose if this camera performs as what the specifications say, than why this will not start a new trend in photography equipements.

 

Because digital shooters always say one common point in favour of digitals, and that is time factor of output. this camera will save more time, how...? This will save the time of interchanging the lenses, this will perform its best with fully autometic, no need to spend time in a small hole viewfinder.

 

This is well known that the quality of picture taken on digital and film are totaly different. many film cameras produce same results in film category while good digitals get similar results in digital category. some other cameras are also in the market with similar specification with brands like canon.

 

I think this is the best for the amatures and shooters who shoot when they go on holidays, or weekend or family memories.... but this this might be best for pros (Many of those blindly switched on digitals) also...

 

The most benificial point of this camera is its 18x zoom with highest zoom of more than 400mm,

Pankaj,

 

And I GUARANTEE that a photographer who knows what he is doing will get a better image out of a 6MP D40 with the kit lens

every time, because sensor size matters. And that leads to better picture quality.

 

18x zoom? I have an 11x zoom for my D50. There are compromises in that design, so you know there's more compromises in

the 18x zoom (I shudder to think what the distortion might be like). I'm not disputing that it might be a great camera (although

currently Canon Point-and-Shoot cameras are way better than Nikon). A P&S Camera is the right tool for the job often. "I think

this is the best for the amatures and shooters who shoot when they go on holidays, or weekend or family memories...." I agree

wholeheartedly, it might be, although I will stick with my DSLR.

 

"but this this might be best for pros" Absolutely not, and you won't find a pro who will believe that.

Peter, I do agree with you and I am far backward than you and still love my film SLR than DSLRs, so just think why I

like this little cam...?

 

You can not totaly refuse the chances of switching of pros on these kind of point & shoot, If there were not any

chances, than why so many pros have already switched on DSLRs while their film SLRs were doing way much better

job for those than their DSLRs..........????

 

I know personaly the "pros" in my town who use their D70 or D300 like point & shoot, and they don't know the

functions, even they don't know what their small censors produce with their 28-80 or similar lense at the widest and

they don't know what is RAW or JPEG, they shoot only JPEG.

 

All digital pros (Who became pro with digitals and not used films earlier) just know working behind computer screen

they don't know how to perform behind the small hole viewfinder...

 

...So why this (P80) will not change the trend.....??????????

 

We now only and only see DSLRs or compact digital cameras everywhere, and this happened in just last three four

years.

 

Things are changing so quicky, like the instant results coming out from digitals where no place for wasting time for

composing, metering, developing, printing and seeing....

 

Now everybody wants to be faster than other faster one....

 

No place for slowers........

 

Just think twice before answering (If you do have time)........

Pankaj,

 

Pros have switched to DSLRs because their clients demand it and the economies of shooting with digital versus film

have made it cheaper even if the gear costs more at the outset.

 

What if I bet you one billion dollars that the P80 won't reverse the "trend" of pro photographers using serious cameras

such as DSLRs. Would you take that? I bet not.

 

Nope, sensor size is just one problem (strobe compatibility, lens distortion -i suspect-, low-light ability, hand-hold-ability

are others), but "pros" and even serious amateurs are not going to dump their DSLRs for P80s any time soon. It looks

like a great camera (useless to me without a hotshoe for a SB600 though) but pro? No way. Somebody tells me they're

going to shoot my wedding with this and I'm going to pay them? No way.

 

Again... a 6MP camera will make better 8x10s and even 11x14s than this camera (both in the same hands), even if this

camera had 20MP.

The sensor might be 10 mp but it's a small sensor and technology still has not solved the noise problem on small sensors at higher ISOs. Above 200-400 ISO the picture turns to cr@p quickly. As others have pointed out, a 6 mp- D40 is going to give you A LOT better inage than a 10 mp P80

The P80 is an updated Coolpix 8800. Same problems kept that camera from soaring: Electronic viewfinder,

viewfinder delay, noisy high ISOs, mediocre optics. The P80 is simply a super dooper consumer camera with the

numbers to hook the masses. Sure hooked you. :)

 

I'd like a little of Peter's action. But I only have a mere $1,000,000 that says the P80 won't "reverse the trend".

If small censor is a big problem, than why most of you are using DX crop format censor,

 

I forgot to mention one thing, and that would be interesting. It says : "smallest*1 18x zoom camera Powerful 27 to 486mm (35mm format equivalent) 18x optical Zoom-NIKKOR lens"

 

Peter you say :- "Pros have switched to DSLRs because their clients demand it and the economies of shooting with digital versus film have made it cheaper even if the gear costs more at the outset."

 

If cost is only the factor, than I think your mathemetics are week, (Sorry to say hard words, please don't take this otherwise) Have you ever calculeted the real cost difference between these two mediums...?

 

Say : you spent $5000 (Lowest price I know) for a FX censor D3 which can be compared to 35 mm film and compare if you spend $600 for a high end film SLR and how much you would spend extra on buying and developing films, will you spend $4500 for 1500 rolls.... (As averagely costing me per roll less than $3)? No, much less than that, and shooting of 1500 rolls means 45000 pictures/shutter clicks.

 

So think will you can still carry perfectly your DSLR after clicking about 50,000, answer is uncertain, you might have to change the body.

 

So much still to calculate.

 

I am totaly refuse the cost factor, but I still believe the time factor and if that is there, than more things are to invent and to come in trends.......

 

Just WAIT for a couple o years...........

Pankaj,

 

Go ahead and buy a P80 and try to do some real paying "pro" work with it, and get back to me.

 

Sure, we'll wait a couple years and we'll see if the pros start buying them. I think not.

a woman at work was shopping for a new digital camera. she had high expectations: 12mp, long zoom, good low-light capability (she didn't put it that way, but that's what she meant). she said she wanted a camera like mine (i have a D300) -- i told her i didn't think so. i pointed her to the P80 instead, and she is very pleased with it. she's not the type who knows what a megapixel really is, or about the difference in sensors. and yet she had relatively high expectations and was willing to spend $400USD to get what she was after. i believe that she is the type of user for whom the P80 makes perfect sense. while i might love to have a 400mm zoom, am i going to rush out and buy a P80? are you kidding?

If people are talking on the manner of ISO speeds, than still there is no perfect solution on low lights to capture the actual lighting and scene..... So this point os also neglagible......

In a forum post a few weeks ago I said the same thing. For most people, not pros or very serious amateurs, the new P& S will devastate the interchangeable lens market. I have been shooting a P80 since April. For almost everything most people would want, it's wonderful and when you factor in size, weight, costs (and no additional lenses) I like it a lot.

 

Am I going to sell my D300? No. There are times when that's all that will do. But I choose carefully now and weigh the tradeoffs and there aren't that many, and the P80 wins a lot.

 

The problem here on PN is that you are talking to the high end very dedicated crowd. And that's not the market. A whole lot of those buying lower end dSLRs are going to weary of carrying them and their peripheral gear around and having to keep an eye on it. It will become something that sits on the shelf at home that they used to use a lot when they first got it.

 

I have had a P5000 which I gave away when I got a P5100. Now I have the P5100, P80 and a P60. I have started selling some of my lenses and a backup D70s. I had already let my D299 go when I got my D300.

 

In April, I carried my D300 a 17-55 2.8 and the P80 or P5100 and took side-by-side shots for comparison. Depending on the subject, there was little or no visible difference when I printed the pics. Since 99%+ don't ever get printed by the great shooting public, the size, convenience and cost will convert most of them.

 

If you haven't used one of these in the field and printed them, you have a treat coming. This is especially true when transporting gear is getting more and more difficult.

 

And remember a few years ago when a pro shot a film P&S on the Sports Illustrated shoot and almost no one noticed?

 

If you are shooting sports, flying birds or dark nightclubs, then it's not for you. But that doesn't even scratch most of the buying public.

 

This reminds me of the early film v digital discussions when almost all believed that digital would never overtake film. And we know how that came out.

 

Conni

Although I love the responsiveness of my D200 (and my wife's D300..) I am still looking around for a good compact. 10-12 MPix or so. One the FITS IN MY POCKET.

 

I think the P80 is a lovely camera for people that want a lot in one package (as William points out in his example). For me it 'would not fit the bill'. Too big for a compact. Not as responsive (= fast reacting, clear viewdiner, and MF, when I want it) as a DSLR. Probably not as good high-ISO performance - sure the D300 is addictive in that respect (and there I disagree with you, Pankaj!) !!

No, no chance at all, I hate all digitals (Even DSLRs), I hate digital black grey noise all around, I hate digital eating of details, I hate Digital post processing time (Which digital pros spent to justify their choice), I hate digital printing, I hate quick output that digitals produce and there is no satisfaction behind that, I hate sensor factors, I hate durability factor, I hate small life factor, I hate so much freedom to take pictures and laking in skills behind "camera", I hate being laisy with compositions and metering, I hate.............

 

I am still using film SLRs happily (Even I started with digital and thrown that) and will use till I can find films and labs to develop.

 

I am not going to buy a DSLR or Digital Compact one......

 

I am just talking about the trend to come up next.......... Because no one was believing 5 years back that the DSLRs going to become mainstream cameras...... So today no one knows whats next.....????

 

I know very well, I used smallest one of my cameras, and that was sony compact (I don't remeber the model), was producing so sharp pictures those I never seen in my life and with my other cameras, but those pictures didn;t had live DOF. I don't like those picture because of artificial sharpness and clearity.

 

So peter you are one of those who say different and do different, you are using one digital and refusing another digital, just because you didn't use it or you don't like it today.... who knows, like your DSLR, you are going to buy a allrounder type camera next.....

 

Still real digital technology to come..... and that would be a matchbox sized camera, very slimed, and still no one can asume......... people working on that............. Wait and see how more quicky the things will change........ And the todays digitals are going to be scrap soon,

 

Peter, acording to you words, A client would always prefer a pro who having the latest equipement and if this happens, than todays digital camera will die before it pays for its hudge cost......

Albin and Constance Cook are very right here and took my post positively........

Pankaj.... Why didn't the Coolpix 8700 and 8800 and 5700 and all the EVF "superzooms" from Sony and Canon and Panasonic already make this big market shift??

Yes Joy, you are right, but I am an Nikonian so I just said about this, but all my writup about this is about sll this

type of cameras, all this kind of other brands cameras should also be considered as my upper write-ups, I only

mention P80, because other 2 or three cameras ( I know) only stand up with it.....

I have a DSLR with an APS sized sensor and a very good quality moderate zoom. I also have a 6 MP small sensor 12X superzoom,

equivalent to 36-420mm. Both serve needs very well in their respective strengths. Dave Etchells of Imaging Resource writes about the

"fun factor" of superzooms. They can deliver excellent quality if set and used properly in good light. I have gotten more positive reactions

from the work I do with my small sensor superzoom than from my DSLR. Both have enlarged nicely to 16 X 20.<div></div>

You asked the question and received the answer. Many people said no, none said ok. You choose not to believe them. Sorry if it was not the answer you wanted to hear.

 

So go ahead and buy it. It will make nice 5x7 prints. A P&S is a P&S and nothing will change it.

 

My walk around light weight is a D40. 18/135 lens. If I want better pics from it, I can put a better lens on it like my 35 or 28.

Thanks Howard,

 

Now tell guy (Who totaly refused the mighty new trends in photography of using more quicker and smaller gears) ......... Did you realy think, what heppened with films will not happen in future with the highly paid DSLRs..........

 

Remember one thing (As I experienced in my life and how other philosophers say ) "Which raises fastly, falls much quicker than rising speed"

interesting thread...

the fact of the matter is that DSLR's are big and bulky and often inconvenient, especially when you're talking about

lugging around several lenses and a body, which may be overkill for some applications. a D2X is not a casual

snapshot camera, for instance.

 

therefore, there is surely a need for "bridge" cameras to satisfy two segments of the market: 1) P&S consumers who

want advanced features (i.e. 18x zoom) but don't want to change lenses and 2) DSLR owners who want some of their

big camera features in a compact body.

 

so far nikon hasn't been ahead of the curve on this trend -- their market strategy seems more focused on entry-level

DSLRs like the D60 which cleverly get people to buy into their system -- and the current coolpix line reflects this.

the market leaders right now in bridge cameras are the canon g9, the panasonic fz18 and fz50 and the fuji s100fs; at

the high-end side, innovative compacts like sigma's DP1 and ricoh's R8 offer unique features and variation from what

thom hogan calls the 'me-too' cameras, of which the p80 is a good example, since it doesn't have any major features

that havent appeared before on other manufacurers cameras first.

 

IMO, nikon's pithy P&S entries so far seem more like a reluctant move designed primarily not to steal the D60's

thunder. the p80 is a step up from a p5100, but not quite on the level of a g9 or and fz50. its achilles heel remains

shutter lag and high ISO performance. here's the problem: if you could get a better camera for $400 than you could

by investing $1000+ into a system, why would anyone pay more? also, the $400 DSLR will soon be a reality, so

another question, is why would anyone pay $500-$900 for a fixed-lens camera? that's the conundrum manufacturers

face, but ultimately, they have to go where the market dictates.

 

bridge cameras seem like the shape of things to come. if you combined the g9's manual controls and mag-alloy

body with the f100fs' manual zoom ring, command dials and dedicated buttons, fixed manual-twist superzoom, and

slightly bigger sensor (providing better IQ than most P&S cameras), you'd likely have the perfect bridge camera. but

who could offer this camera at an affordable price point? the s100fs retails for $700 already; for that price you can get

a d60 w/ 18-55 VR lens or a d40 with 18-55 and 55-200. a more robust all-in-one camera would satisfy the high-end

folks, but what about the soccer moms?

 

another trend is the subcompact dslr kit, i.e. olympus e-420 w/ 25mm pancake lens, which gives 35mm film users

the equivalent of an SLR with prime kit lens, without giving up IQ or compactness. i applaud this move, even though

4/3rds is a quirky format, and can't help but wonder why nikon doesnt offer more AF-S primes that work with

d40/d60. do they want to cede this terrirory to sigma?

 

down the line, i think we're gonna see more bridge cameras that blur the line between DSLRs and P&Ses as well as

more subcompact DSLRs. not sure where nikon fits into all this: they could surely make a better camera than the

p80 if they wanted to, but so far they haven't. bottom line for me is i'd get a s100fs, fz18, or g9 before i'd get a P80.