D80 to D5300 (or D5500) - How much of an upgrade is this?

[Jon_Are]

I've had my trusty D80 for many years. I know it's lagging in many ways, technology-wise, and I am considering grabbing a newer model.

The benefits to upgrading are clear, but I wonder if there are disadvantages that I am unaware of.

Does the D80 offer features (or out-perform) the newer lower-end Nikons in any way?

Or is the upgrade a no-brainer?

Thanks

 

[PropilotBW]

I've had my trusty D80 for many years. I know it's lagging in many ways, technology-wise, and I am considering grabbing a newer model.

The benefits to upgrading are clear, but I wonder if there are disadvantages that I am unaware of.

Does the D80 offer features (or out-perform) the newer lower-end Nikons in any way?

Or is the upgrade a no-brainer?

Thanks

The D80 has in-body focus motor, but That is not a feature I'd bypass a D5500.

 

[Peeb]

Here's a chart: Nikon D5500 vs Nikon D80 Detailed Comparison

 

[Solarflare]

Going from D80 to D5500 is a clear downgrade. You lose second command dial, motor, HSS, etc.

The D80 is from the semiprofessional line and, once set up, can be operated almost completely without menu surfing. The D5500 might require quite a bit of menusurfing during regular operation.

You could upgrade to a refurbished D7100. That would be 3 generations (D80, D90, D7000, D7100) and its not much more expensive than a D5500.

 

[jaomul]

The d80 is a more features laden camera if you rule out video.

However this may not matter depending on how you use the camera. If manual mode is something you rarely use then the second wheel may not matter. In body motor, hss, do you use these now? Would you miss them

Image quality, or post process ability takes a massive surge upwards with the newer camera. The 24mp sensor in these is really great and a big improvement over previous versions.

I will say I agree with post above that a refurbished or gently used d7100 would be a better upgrade, keeping a lot of what you are already familiar with, but adding the modern bits that make the newer cameras desirable

 

[Jon_Are]

In-body focus motor? I am unfamiliar with this. I assume the body of the camera powers the auto-focus in the 80. How does it work in the 5300?

Video capability means nothing to me. It is the 24mp sensor that appeals.

Most of my shooting is aperture priority, probably 90 %. Sometimes shutter, sometimes manual.

Any downsides - other than money - of going from D80 to D7100?

I appreciate the replies.

 

[jaomul]

An in body focus motor powers the autofocus for lenses that do not have a motor built in. What lenses do you have? Any Nikon lens that had a motor says af-s somewhere on the lens.

I don't see any downsides to a d7100 except the files are bigger

 

[KmH]

These Nikon "compact" DSLRs do not have an auto focus motor and screw drive system in the camera.
D40, D40x, D60, D300 - D3300, D5000 - D5500.
Eliminating the AF motor/screw drive system the cameras allows them to be "compact".

All other Nikon DSLR camera bodies do have an auto focus motor and screw drive system in the camera.
Nikon developed their "compact" cameras when market research indicated women in general wanted smaller DSLR cameras.

AF lenses have a coupling on the lens mount that mates to the screw drive in those cameras that have it.
AF-S lenses don't have that coupling, because each AF-S lenses has a Silent Wave auto focus motor in the lens .

Note - The only part of the AF system missing in an AF lens is a motor to move the focusing mechanism in the lens.
AF lenses work just fine on compact Nikon cameras and will illuminate the In Focus indicator in the camera viewfinder when the photographer has turned the AF ring on the lens to achieve focus. The CPU in the lens still sends focus information to the AF module in the camera.
All of the compact Nikon's also have a feature called Rangefinder mode that show in the viewfinder which way to turn the focus ring on an AF lens to get to In Focus.

 

[Dave442]

I would not feel comfortable going from the D80 to the D5500. Just not having the front control wheel and top display are the reason. The D7xxx series is the Nikon extension of the D70-D80-D90 series. The D5500 is a decent camera and and this series is one I have recommended to more than a few people buying their first DSLR.

The D7100 layout is very much like your D80 with some improvements like the OK butting in the middle of the multi-selector and of course the better AF system, higher resolution and higher ISO range.

 

[astroNikon]

What lenses do you currently have that you would keep using ?

AF / AF-D lenses use an in-camera focus motor to drive a screw gear for lens focusing.
AF-S lenses use an electrical signal from the body to the in-lense micro focus motor.

If you only have AF/ AF-D lenses then you'll want to go to the d7x00 cameras, otherwise you'll have to get all AF-S lenses with a d5x00 camera body.

 

[Derrel]

I agree with jaomul on this: the much newer sensor technology in the newer Nikon cameras has brought a really MAJOR boost in the ability to manipulate the files in post processing; this is the really,really major improvement with newer d-slr cameras. It's a very significant issue, and one I noticed on the very first day I upgraded from an old-technology sensor to a new, Sony Exmor-design sensor. Additionally, moving from 10 megapixels to 24 megapixels is a MAJOR leap in terms of how much you can crop an image and still have a high-quality final image.

In terms of body features, the D80 is still the slightly larger,heavier camera, and has the dual control wheels. Now, the 5500 has touch-to-focus, and has been made just a tiny bit smaller than its predecessor; I watched the Fro Knows Photo evaluation of the 5500, and he was very impressed with the touch-to-focus capability on the 5500, and found that it was useful for high-angle shots,etc..

Compared at snapsort....I see the Dynamic Range of the 5500 to be 14 EV, but the D80 a mere 11.2 EV; this is a major difference. Color depth on the D5500 is 2 EV better, and the Low Light High ISO score is a little bit under three times higher for the newer camera; these three performance metrics form the basis of jaomul's statement above, where he wrote: "Image quality, or post process ability takes a massive surge upwards with the newer camera".

The shutter lag time on the D5500 is 201 milliseconds, on the D80 it is 250 milliseconds, so the 5500 is slightly quicker in reaction time, and it also shoots faster, at 5 frames per second rather than 3 frames per second. The 5500 has a much larger screen, 3.2 vs 2.5 inch, and the bigger LCD has 1.03-million dots versus as opposed to only 237,000 on the older camera. The 5500 is the only Nikon dslr I know of that has the touch screen feature. Compare the Nikon D5500 vs the Nikon D80

D5500 has a 39-point AF system, D80 has 11. D5500 is CMOS, D80 is one of the last CCD cameras. Compare the Nikon D5500 vs the Nikon D80

Comparing the D5500 in the snapsort category "compared to other recent entry-level d-slrs" released within the last 24 months category, the 5500 is ranked #2 with a snapsort score of 92, right below the Nikon D7200 with a 100 score, Pentax K-3 Mk II third place at 78 points, see the others here The best recent entry-level DSLRs

The D80 still has the larger, and I think a little bit better viewfinder, but the D5500 has Live View, swivel screen, touch screen, touch-to-focus, is smaller, lighter, fires off its shots faster and with less delay, and is the second-best entry-level d-slr released in the last two years, right behind dPreview's runner-up #2 Camera of The Year, the Nikon D7200.

I say it's a major upgrade, moving you forward, literally from a 2006 camera to a 2016 camera.

 

[Solarflare]

IMHO the last time there was a really big step in sensor performance was between the D90 and D7000, which IIRC upped the dynamic range by about 2 stops. Ever since steps are only getting smaller and smaller. I dont know if that step marked the introduction of EXMOR, and the D7100 uses a Toshiba instead of a Sony sensor anyway.

 

[Jon_Are]

I am so glad I posted my question here before jumping into anything.

I didn't know about the in-camera focusing motor; a couple of my lenses would not auto-focus on the D5xxx models.

The 'pluses' on the D5500 - articulating screen, touch screen, better video, smaller size, lighter weight - are not important to me.

Looks like I'm going with the D7100.

Thanks to all who posted.

 

[Solarflare]

Glad we could be of help.

 

[nerwin]

Night & Day comparison honestly.