D80 or S5?

Been playing around with a d80 and really liked it. just about to buy
a kit, D80, 18-200VR and sb600, price around £1075.

Browsing the shops site i noticed the Fuji S5 was only £100 more, and
can use all the Nikon kit.

As to what type of photography i do, haven't yet found my niche, take
pictures of everything at the moment (but no weddings!).

Whats the consensus on the S5, is it a wedding/portrait only camera,
or will it be of better for general use to me than a D80. i'm liking
its build quality (D200) and dynamic range, and the price is really
close to a D80. I generally only print to A4, but here wil be
exceptions.

CHeers

philc wrote:

> Been playing around with a d80 and really liked it. just about to buy
> a kit, D80, 18-200VR and sb600, price around £1075.
>
> Browsing the shops site i noticed the Fuji S5 was only £100 more, and
> can use all the Nikon kit.
>
> As to what type of photography i do, haven't yet found my niche, take
> pictures of everything at the moment (but no weddings!).
>
> Whats the consensus on the S5, is it a wedding/portrait only camera,
> or will it be of better for general use to me than a D80. i'm liking
> its build quality (D200) and dynamic range, and the price is really
> close to a D80. I generally only print to A4, but here wil be
> exceptions.
>
The main feature of the Fuji S5 is its wide dynamic range, due to its
unique sensor design. The downside is that its frame rate is slow, and
there's some debate as to how to count the twinned pixels - most people
reckon that the results it gives are a bit better than a 6MP camera, but
not quite as good as you'd expect for 12MP. You should get good A4
prints, and probably a bit larger.

For weddings, where you need the high dynamic range to get the bride's
white dress next to the groom's dark suit, there's nothing like it, and
the dynamic range can also be very useful for some landscape shots, but
for sports / action, it's probably not the tool for the job.

On Mar 7, 9:51*am, Alex Monro <nospamdeleteabusen...@argaty.org.uk>
wrote:
> philc wrote:
> > Been playing around with a d80 and really liked it. just about to buy
> > a kit, D80, 18-200VR and sb600, price around £1075.
>
> > Browsing the shops site i noticed the Fuji S5 was only £100 more, and
> > can use all the Nikon kit.
>
> > As to what type of photography i do, haven't yet found my niche, take
> > pictures of everything at the moment (but no weddings!).
>
> > Whats the consensus on the S5, is it a wedding/portrait only camera,
> > or will it be of better for general use to me than a D80. i'm liking
> > its build quality (D200) and dynamic range, and the price is really
> > close to a D80. I generally only print to A4, but here wil be
> > exceptions.
>
> The main feature of the Fuji S5 is its wide dynamic range, due to its
> unique sensor design. *The downside is that its frame rate is slow, and
> there's some debate as to how to count the twinned pixels - most people
> reckon that the results it gives are a bit better than a 6MP camera, but
> not quite as good as you'd expect for 12MP. *You should get good A4
> prints, and probably a bit larger.
>
> For weddings, where you need the high dynamic range to get the bride's
> white dress next to the groom's dark suit, there's nothing like it, and
> the dynamic range can also be very useful for some landscape shots, but
> for sports / action, it's probably not the tool for the job.- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -



Thanks for the reply.

What's the groups thoughts on having an S5 as a multi-purpose camera?

Lenses i'll be using are the 18-200, 50 1.4, and soon a wide angle
zoom,

i'm a hobbyist looking for a do-all camera, and budget is an issue.
first camera i looked at was d40, but couldnt use the 50mm 1.4, so
then stepped up to the D80. Really like that camera, but with the S5
being so close in price, and based on a D200, will the S5 be a better
all around camera?

As an all round camera for an advanced amateur there is no doubt that the
D80 and D200 will be better choices than the Fuji..
Pick the Fuji up with a lens attached and see if you want to walk around
with that all day. The D80/200 are not exactly light weights either with
something like the Nikon 18-200 SUV attached.
The D200 in real world use is not any different than the D80. If JPEGs are
important to you they both have a myriad of highly praised options (I have
never used the jpeg options because I only shoot raw!). Both handle
essentially as fast as a film camera with a motor drive.
Unless you really abuse your camera the "build quality" of the D80 is more
than sufficient--I have dragged mine through Africa, deserts and other
inhospitable places with no problems whatsoever. The D200 will allow the
more convenient use of non-AF lenses if that is an issue for you that will
make the price difference between the D80 and D200 worthwhile.
If you can wait then within a few months the sensor that is in the D300 will
doubtless be in a lower priced camera, similar to the D80/200 relationship.
Most likely that camera, like the D80/200 will have essentially identical
electronic innards as it is less costly to manufacture that way. I doubt the
larger sensor of the D3 will make it to a prosumer priced camera anytime
soon as the cost to manufacture the sensor is significantly higher than
APS-c sensors (but nowhere near $3000 more expensive) and by keeping it
exlcusive to one camera Nikon can try to hold on longer to that insane price
point for the D3.

On Mar 7, 5:24 pm, "flambe" <fac...@hotmail.com> wrote:
> As an all round camera for an advanced amateur there is no doubt that the
> D80 and D200 will be better choices than the Fuji..
> Pick the Fuji up with a lens attached and see if you want to walk around
> with that all day. The D80/200 are not exactly light weights either with
> something like the Nikon 18-200 SUV attached.
> The D200 in real world use is not any different than the D80. If JPEGs are
> important to you they both have a myriad of highly praised options (I have
> never used the jpeg options because I only shoot raw!). Both handle
> essentially as fast as a film camera with a motor drive.
> Unless you really abuse your camera the "build quality" of the D80 is more
> than sufficient--I have dragged mine through Africa, deserts and other
> inhospitable places with no problems whatsoever. The D200 will allow the
> more convenient use of non-AF lenses if that is an issue for you that will
> make the price difference between the D80 and D200 worthwhile.
> If you can wait then within a few months the sensor that is in the D300 will
> doubtless be in a lower priced camera, similar to the D80/200 relationship.
> Most likely that camera, like the D80/200 will have essentially identical
> electronic innards as it is less costly to manufacture that way. I doubt the
> larger sensor of the D3 will make it to a prosumer priced camera anytime
> soon as the cost to manufacture the sensor is significantly higher than
> APS-c sensors (but nowhere near $3000 more expensive) and by keeping it
> exlcusive to one camera Nikon can try to hold on longer to that insane price
> point for the D3.

D80 it is then!!

"philc" <philcuddy@gmail.com> wrote
news:bdcead14-b2e1-48fd-92cf-51ca67e79a81@8g2000hse.googlegroups.com...
>
> On Mar 7, 5:24 pm, "flambe" <fac...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>> As an all round camera for an advanced amateur there is no doubt that the
>> D80 and D200 will be better choices than the Fuji..
>................................................. .....
> D80 it is then!!


You will not regret it, for shure!

Alex Monro wrote:
> philc wrote:
>
>> Been playing around with a d80 and really liked it. just about to buy
>> a kit, D80, 18-200VR and sb600, price around £1075.
>>
>> Browsing the shops site i noticed the Fuji S5 was only £100 more, and
>> can use all the Nikon kit.
>>
>> As to what type of photography i do, haven't yet found my niche, take
>> pictures of everything at the moment (but no weddings!).
>>
>> Whats the consensus on the S5, is it a wedding/portrait only camera,
>> or will it be of better for general use to me than a D80. i'm liking
>> its build quality (D200) and dynamic range, and the price is really
>> close to a D80. I generally only print to A4, but here wil be
>> exceptions.
>>
> The main feature of the Fuji S5 is its wide dynamic range, due to its
> unique sensor design. The downside is that its frame rate is slow, and
> there's some debate as to how to count the twinned pixels - most people
> reckon that the results it gives are a bit better than a 6MP camera, but
> not quite as good as you'd expect for 12MP. You should get good A4
> prints, and probably a bit larger.
>
> For weddings, where you need the high dynamic range to get the bride's
> white dress next to the groom's dark suit, there's nothing like it, and
> the dynamic range can also be very useful for some landscape shots, but
> for sports / action, it's probably not the tool for the job.

Isn't the Fuji the one which is not good in low light/high ISO? So more
for studio work with controlled lighting. I hardly hear anything about
this camera for some reason.