What does an advanced body give you that a beginner body doesn't?

[anubis404]

I want to know what more advanced bodies give you that lesser bodies won't. I know that more advanced bodies will give you things like better IQ, FPS, and AF speed, but what else is in a D300 that a D80 doesn't have that's worth dropping nearly $1K more on? I hardly think IQ, FPS, and AF should be so expensive.

This is just out of curiosity. I know that generally the lens matters more than the body, but I do want to know what matters in the body.

 

[iflynething]

Weather sealing, ISO ratings, better build quality (seems one of the bigger things)

~Michael~

 

[anubis404]

A lot of the lower end bodies have weather sealing too. I guess I forgot to mention ISO and higher rating of shutter actuations. Durability seems the only reason so far why to spend that much money on a body.

 

[William Petruzzo]

I'm not a Nikon guy, but on Canon's the layout is more well tuned for the advanced user. Manual controls are a lot less clumsy, and such.

 

[jstuedle]

I want to know what more advanced bodies give you that lesser bodies won't. I know that more advanced bodies will give you things like better IQ, FPS, and AF speed, but what else is in a D300 that a D80 doesn't have that's worth dropping nearly $1K more on? I hardly think IQ, FPS, and AF should be so expensive.

This is just out of curiosity. I know that generally the lens matters more than the body, but I do want to know what matters in the body.

When we shot film the camera was little more than a box that held the film and provided a mount to hang a lens on. Today's DSLR is really a computer with a lens mount. If you are computer savvy, think of the $449 Walmart special with keyboard, monitor, mouse and printer. Compare that to the $3000 quad core box w/ extra cooling, extra power supply, dual head 3D graphics, gobbs of RAM, tera-bytes of hard drive storage and multiple DVD optical drives. This is a valid compairison between say the D60 and the D3. Only the distance between the two cameras and the two computers is wider. The D60 does not have a physical shutter, sort of like the computer not having any removable media drives. For me, the biggest difference in the D80 and the D300 is file quality and a metal chassis as opposed to plastic. If you are set on the D80 price point, take a look at the D90. The file quality is compairable to the D300. A couple of my friends who own both say the D90 file might even be slightly better. That leaves build quality the only really big difference.

 

[Battou]

When we shot film the camera was little more than a box that held the film and provided a mount to hang a lens on. Today's DSLR is really a computer with a lens mount. If you are computer savvy, think of the $449 Walmart special with keyboard, monitor, mouse and printer. Compare that to the $3000 quad core box w/ extra cooling, extra power supply, dual head 3D graphics, gobbs of RAM, tera-bytes of hard drive storage and multiple DVD optical drives. This is a valid compairison between say the D60 and the D3. Only the distance between the two cameras and the two computers is wider. The D60 does not have a physical shutter, sort of like the computer not having any removable media drives. For me, the biggest difference in the D80 and the D300 is file quality and a metal chassis as opposed to plastic. If you are set on the D80 price point, take a look at the D90. The file quality is compairable to the D300. A couple of my friends who own both say the D90 file might even be slightly better. That leaves build quality the only really big difference.

thus is just one of the reasons I continue to shoot film....Black or silver....... (Ok so there is more to it than that but...)

on a more serious note.


Duribility seems to be a major player in the disteinction nowadays

 

[Alleh Lindquist]

A bunch of features and buttons that pros find important.

 

[Flash Harry]

Personally I, and I reckon most pro's, tend to go for upmarket bodies for the build quality, having just bought a new model myself, going through menus and setting the camera the way I like to use it I'll now probably hardly ever go into the menus again, as long as I have the camera controls configured how I like I tend to shoot from this point on. The many modes and functions available I would use on odd occasions if/when required but I'd rather just shoot without fiddling around, I've got a computer at home for that. H

 

[Flash Harry]

A bunch of features and buttons that pros find important.

Thing is I don't. H

 

[Dubious Drewski]

With higher end bodies comes more capabilities and power. Bells and whistles aren't necessary to take good photos, but they sure can help!

 

[mrodgers]

I asked this same question in another thread (just a couple of days ago) where someone was asking about a D90 or D700. JerryH gave a very good reply to it (in fact, I have to get back to it to thank him for that.)

Edit: There, I just bumped the thread to the top. FYI, it is right here as well.

 

[Zest777]

In a word, customizability (is that a word?)

You can change the way you interact with the camera a lot more in the D300 than in cheaper models.

 

[Village Idiot]

I asked this same question in another thread (just a couple of days ago) where someone was asking about a D90 or D700. JerryH gave a very good reply to it (in fact, I have to get back to it to thank him for that.)

Edit: There, I just bumped the thread to the top. FYI, it is right here as well.

The D700 is a whole different ball game. That's a FF sensor which cost a lot more to produce since they cut a lot less from a wafer compared to an APS-C sized sensor and the larger surface area gives more chances for defects and more lost expensive FF sensors.

 

[tsaraleksi]

Larger viewfinders, more streamlined use, speed, and capacity for customization are the big ones for me. The bigger finders on higher end models make things a lot easier-- and having a 100% viewfinder means that stuff won't creep into the edges of the frame. As far as streamlined use, I have a button for just about everything I want to do, but not so many that it's a maze to figure out. On my 20D setting WB shift, bracketing, file type and size, etc etc is all within the menus, and on lower end bodies than that, most of the functions of the camera are controlled by screen based menus. Being able to control the shooting functions of the camera without delving into menus is a really helpful thing when working fast, and it helps you develop a shooting rhythm. Speed is quite simple-- the operation is faster, the AF is faster, the frames per second are faster. All things that make it easier to work. As far as customization goes, I can turn on and off much of the stuff on the camera to save time, I can set how fast I want my burst modes to be, I can control how the LCD displays are laid out, etc etc. It is very nice to be able to configure your camera to suit you, rather than the other way around. Finally, the 'bells and whistles' are nice. The deep buffer, the option to shoot to CF, SD, or both (auto backup). There are lots of nice things about a pro camera that you don't realize until you've shot with one. And the fact that you can take it out in the pouring rain is a nice touch-- and it will be ok if it gets slammed onto a rock (happened) onto ice (happened) or onto a track (happened too).

 

[bhop]

A lot of the lower end bodies have weather sealing too.

eh? i don't know of any lower end bodies that have weather sealing (assuming since you're comparing a d300, you don't consider that lower end)



You've got a lot of these answers already, but i'll just add my own

Aside from IQ, which isn't really that much difference in current new bodies.... Build quality, better buffering for faster fps, flash sync ports, better button layouts (don't have to go into menus to change important settings), generally faster af motors, longer shutter life expectancy.. that's a few things that come to mind offhand..