New Nikon D80 and UW housing

[bluefrogfish]

Hi
As I posted in another post, the 1/500 sync speed of D50 and D70 (missing in D80) is definetely invaluable for underwater use. So don´t feel too bad for the D70 housing buyers, because in certain conditions they will have an advantage and can take better lit images.
I know people who "upgrade" from D70 to D200 and regreated it (for underwater use).

I really considered replacing my D70 bodies when the D80 came out, but decided not to, at least not for underwater use.

I feel bad for the folks who bought a D70(s) housing and now can't upgrade without shelling out lots of money. This is my first dSLR, so I don't have any prior investment (besides my point and shoot Ike gear). For land photography, people my not feel the need to upgrade from a D50 or D70, but for underwater photography, I think that the bigger viewfinder, LCD, and 10MP sensor will be invaluable. I find no shame in cropping and will definitely appreciate the larger sensor. Of course, everything seems bigger, coming from a 5MP Oly C-5060.

David

 

[Ryan]

To update this thread, the housing did not end up shipping with an AF-L lever.

 

[jcclink]

I've been told that Nexus will have a D70/D80 retrofit kit, so a completely new housing will not be required for the D80.

 

[bluefrogfish]

hmmm, I wonder if other brands will do something similar.
Today I held a D80 in the shop and feels quite small and the back push buttons seem to be in different position than D70, so the change would probably imply changing the back of the housing

 

[Chris Bangs]

Now that I understand the D80 does NOT sync at 1/500, I am once again waiting for the a better digital camera that will let me use all that high $$ Nikon glass I own without breaking the bank.

Still tempted to go Canon!

CB

 

[JackConnick]

Nikon is taking some hits for the slow sync speed, I wonder if somehting like this can be addressed with a ROM update or if it's more part of the hardware. I think probably the later...

Jack

 

[Ryan]

Sync Speed is hardware limited. You can cheat the camera a bit, syncing 1/3 - 2/3 of a stop faster if you connect an external flash via 2 pins.

From the perspective of ambient light exposure (really the only reason sync speed that matters for an uw photog), there is no difference between this camera and the d70.

So don´t feel too bad for the D70 housing buyers, because in certain conditions they will have an advantage and can take better lit images.

This is simply untrue. For a given aperture, 1/250 @ ISO 100 (d2xs, d200, d80) yields the same ambient exposure as does 1/500 @ ISO 200 (d70, d70s).

 

[AUTiger]

Still, though, I imagine that there might be circumstances where a 1/500 flashed shutter speed would be advantageous for catching fast moving action that 1/250 might be too slow for.

David

 

[Ryan]

Still, though, I imagine that there might be circumstances where a 1/500 flashed shutter speed would be advantageous for catching fast moving action that 1/250 might be too slow for.

David

Nothing moves that fast underwater

All kidding aside, assuming you are using a shutter speed & aperture combination that eliminates ambient light (easy to do at typical f-stops, 1/250, and ISO 100) the limited duration of the strobe (typically 1/800 or faster) will freeze ANY action.

 

[TravisD]

FWIW, Costco has the D80 kits now - the two-lens kit. $1299, and Costco's "return it at any time" guarantee (AKA Upgrade policy)