Others say...

"A Winner"
I shoot western Colorado landscapes for microstock sites. I need a camera with low image noise, smooth focus, long battery life, and durability.

I love Nikon. I have had Nikon SLRs since I started shooting stock in the late 70s. They are dependable, quality instruments. The D80 is no exception. No point-and-shoot, it feels like my old F2. It takes beautiful pictures in all kinds of weather.

You will need at least one extra battery. The battery life is long--three or four 2 gig cards worth of RAW pictures, for me--but you will want this baby with you all the time.

I bought the body only, because I had the lens from my D70, but you will want a VR zoom or a fixed lens for maximum sharpness. I don't like tripods and don't use them as often as I should. The remote is useful for closeups. It helps you avoid camera shake, especially in low light.

"Nikon D80"
You can't take a bad shot with this camera. It helps, however, to either take a class or buy a dvd that takes you step by step through all features.

"I LOVE this camera!!!"
This camera was easy to use right out of the box. It gives high quality photo, that we used to have to pay others to take. You will not regret this purchase.

"Does everything I ask."
I bought this over a month ago. I was a happy owner of the great D40 but I like using prime lenses and the D40 did not support auto focus on the 50mm 1.8 and 35mm f2. I could have spent money on third party lenses instead but decided to just get a new body. Well, I am glad I made the move. The D80 takes slightly better pictures anyway but in terms of usability, it's way better than the D40. Fully loaded. I love it. The D90 is out now and is gonna be a better machine but the D80 should be a definite consideration if you are looking for a cheap DSLR that will never let you down. The design and quality are top notch. The only minor gripe is that it slightly over-exposes. However, this is a common fault on digital sensors and is easy to fix before or after. Still a winner.

Bottom line. If you are looking at a D40/60 then you will be happy with the results. However, if like me you are the type of person that really likes to get into a hobby go for the more functional D80.

"Awesome, quality camera."
I bought my Nikon D80 on Labor Day weekend 08. I originally was looking hardcore at the D40 adn D60 or the Canon XTi or XSi. The D80 was out of my price range and not really on my radar. I went into Circuit City knowing kind of what I wanted but knowing that I was open to being upsold. Upsold I was and I won't get into that bc it's irrelevant (though I can tell you I'll never buy a product from Circuit City again). Regardless, I allowed myself to be talked into buying the D80 with the 18-135mm zoom lens. At first I wasn't thrilled. I was worried about the money and I was overwhelmed by the features on the camera.

I've now had this camera for about a month and a half and I love it. I read the manual from front to back PLUS I read the Dummies Guide to DSLRs and learned a lot. I took the camera out shooting in all different kinds of modes and took a ton of pictures in my house of just anything with the manual open. In this way, I learned a lot about the D80 and am 100% satisfied with my purchase. When I look at the D80 and then other cameras, it just has so many features on it that I cannot drum up any buyer's remorse. I am a novice DSLR user and I know that I haven't even reached the tip of the ice berg on using this camera in the myriad ways it can be used.

I wanted to buy a camera that would be quality, that would be sturdy, that would complement a novice DSLR user and would allow me to grow with it as I became more aware of its features. I recently took a trip to LA and I took over a thousand pictures. Even on auto mode, the quality of the pictures was absurdly high. Once I stopped babying the camera (keeping the lens off and the camera safely in its camera bag) and started just bringing it with me (throwing it over my shoulder or in my tote bag), I started to have a lot of fun with it.

Bottom line is that I researched a lot of cameras and read a lot of reviews before buying this camera. There are merits to buying different cameras but I am not disappointed with my purchase at all. To those who are novices like me, I truly feel that this is a camera that you can use point and shoot OR to learn on to take artistic shots. I hope that this review helped you. Good luck!

Oh one last thing...I ended up buying the 18-55mm VR (Vibration Reduction) lens separately. I highly recommend this lens. The 18-135mm lens that comes with the kit is good and allows you to get pretty close to subjects far away and so I appreciate that it came with the camera body as a package...BUT the VR in the 18-55mm really does make a difference when quickly shooting things you don't want to miss. I have a bunny and three cats. When they are up to something, it helps to have VR so as not to get a blurred shot. This has come in handy for night shots too when I don't want a flash. Just thought I'd add that tidbit (I don't even take this lens off of the camera, I use it so often).