A small bird had landed on the ground close by. With the D80, you can focus in on your subject, even if you only have a few seconds to get it right.Ĭase study: I was sitting in a park taking photos for this Nikon D80 guide, when I heard a flutter and chirp to my left. Many times you might find the camera focusing on the background instead of your primary subject. Time after time I was impressed by not only how fast the D80 focused, but also how ACCURATELY it focused.Īll digital SLR cameras focus fast, but this does not mean they always focus where you want them to. Simply put, the Nikon D80 autofocus excels in all of these categories - I'll go so far to say it's one of the best AF systems I've used. Continuous - when an AF system is set to continuous, it's able to change focus on a subject, even if the subject is headed straight at you.Fast acquisition - the AF doesn't hunt around trying to acquire focus: the moment you start to press the shutter, the focus locks into place.Wide coverage - the autofocus points cover the majority of the viewfinder, which can capture subjects that aren't dead center.There are several elements to a exceptional autofocus system: I've already touched on some of the elements that make this camera suited for action photography, but I'll focus on two features that really make this camera stand out.Ī superior autofocus system is a requirement for any type of action photography since you're going to be tracking subjects that are in constant motion. Given its sheer speed, I'd recommend the Nikon D80 for action photographers. Put another way - if you miss important photo opportunities with the D80, you'll only have yourself to blame. Pair this with the advanced 11-point autofocus system, instant start-up time and zero lag time (the moment you press the button the camera snaps a photo) and you've got a camera that can capture even the most fleeting moments. You'll never have to wait for this camera to catch up, and it's always ready for the next shot. Nikon upgraded the processor in the D80 and it benefitted from the advanced technology that Nikon puts into their professional-grade cameras (like the D200 and D2Xs).Īll this means that taking photos with the D80 is a seamless experience. Since these photos are so large, it takes a lot of processing power to move them from the sensor to the memory card. The core of the Nikon D80 is an enhanced processor that makes the camera fast.ġ0.2 megapixel files are not to be trifled with - they are large images that produce large file sizes.

Nikon d80