D80 vs. D90 in ISO Performance

[Box801]

Hello all, I just had the though of selling my D80 for a D90 as it is a fairly cheap upgrade. The main reason for the upgrade is ISO performance, so does the D90 surpass the D80 in this? I haven't been able to find much information on comparing the D80 and D90 in terms of ISO performance.

Thanks!

 

[AdrianC]

I found this a while ago:
Natural Vision Photography

 

[Derrel]

Nikon D80 Review by Thom Hogan

and then this one, which will help you. The D90 has what is generally considered to be better overall Matrix light metering...the D80 had the reputation of weighting the metering a bit too heavily to the particular AF spot in use. The D90 review referred to immediately below gives a pretty good comparison of the D90's noise characteristics and performance compared to the D80 you currently have.

Nikon D90 Review by Thom Hogan

 

[Idahophoto]

I would say the D90 would be worth the upgrade

 

[KmH]

with the change feom a CCD image sensor to a CMOS image sensor the ISO performance of the D90 handily surpassed that of the D80.

Another source for image sensor technical performance data is:
DxOMark - Compare sensors

 

[Tee]

There's a D90 replacement (rumored D95) coming soon. Why not wait for that? Or I'll sell you my D90 so I can upgrade.

 

[KmH]

There's a D90 replacement (rumored D95) coming soon. Why not wait for that? Or I'll sell you my D90 so I can upgrade.

That means they have likely already started designing the rumored D95's replacement. Expect the D90 replacement to be replaced in about 2 years. Look at the release dates for the D90, D80 and D300s: http://www.dxomark.com/index.php/en/Camera-Sensor/Compare-sensors/(appareil1)/439%7C0/(appareil2)/518%7C0/(appareil3)/614%7C0/(onglet)/0/(brand)/Nikon/(brand2)/Nikon/(brand3)/Nikon

Maybe everyone should skip the D95 and wait for the D96, or whatever they call it, D6000(?). (they already used D100.)

Here is something else to think about. The D90 offered a substantial improvement in image quality over the D80 mainly because of the change from a CCD to a CMOS image sensor and new EXPEED image processor programming.

The D90 replacement will also have a CMOS image sensor (and probably the same low-pass filter the D90 has now), and Nikon doesn't want to kill sales of the, next-up-the-line, jump to 'Prosumer' status, D300s they released just a year ago.

So the D95(?) probably won't be another substantial jump. For my money, the one to antisipate is the D300s replacement, the D400.