Could the Nikon D80 be the holy grail of the entry level digital SLR universe? What I mean by that, is the D80 a product that could finally bridge the gap from point and shoot cameras to the pro SLR level without breaking the bank, and needing a degree in rocket science to take great pictures. From my past experience, I'd have to say that's not very likely.

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Could the Nikon D80 be the holy grail of the entry level digital SLR universe? What I mean by that, is the D80 a product that could finally bridge the gap from point and shoot cameras to the pro SLR level without breaking the bank, and needing a degree in rocket science to take great pictures. From my past experience, I'd have to say that's not very likely.

More: continued here

Could the Nikon D80 be the holy grail of the entry level digital SLR universe? What I mean by that, is the D80 a product that could finally bridge the gap from point and shoot cameras to the pro SLR level without breaking the bank, and needing a degree in rocket science to take great photos. From my past experience, I'd have to say that's not very likely.

Let's take a look at auto focus first. Having 11 auto focus points is a good thing, but not necessarily perfect. While it's true, that most camera auto focus schemes will fail under both low light conditions, and images with very little contrast, not all fail as badly. The Nikon D80 seems to struggle with it's focusing approach more significantly than other cameras. If your a manual focuser by habit, then no large deal. Otherwise, one strike against the D80.

Suggesting that a $800 digital SLR camera produces soft images, is a somewhat relative statement, and should be taken in context. If your spending that kind of money on a digital camera, I would have fairly high expectations in terms of image quality. Sure, thanks to imaging software advances I can sharpen an image on my personal. But, not without introducing some distortion, and not to mention extra time effort on my part.