I was thinking of updating my Minolta X700 to an autofocusing system. I was set on getting the Nikon N80 with 85mm/1.8 and 24mm/2.8 but I can't seem to find any N80's around. Now for the same price I think one can get an F100 and 28-105mm combo. The question is will the F100 combo noticeably take inferior pics than the N80? I know, I can get the F100 with the two primes but then it really adds up. Any suggestions? Thanks.

-- J Melchor (jmelchor@ic.sunysb.edu), August 03, 2000

Answers

Both primes are much better than the zoom. Take the F-90x and forget the N80. Have fun, Ralf.

-- Ralf Grambrock (101.51955@germanynet.de), August 03, 2000.

The newer better line of Nikon zooms are dam close to the quality of the primes. The only differences are slower max aperture, and more prone to flare when shooting towards a very bright object like the sun, and perhaps a bit more distortion. Sharpness, contrast, and color rendition in my 24 to 120 is as good as my 28, 50, and 85 primes. I've shot the same photo with each lens to compare for myself the difference I keep reading about, and there was no way to tell which lens took which by looking carefully at the slides with a 10 power lube. Buy whatever camera body gets you the most jazzed, or you'll end up regretting it.

-- Andrew Schank (aschank@flash.net), August 04, 2000.

"The question is will the F100 combo noticeably take inferior pics than the N80?

I hope that was a typo, J, because the F100 is supposed to be superior to the N80 for the price difference it ought to be! And Ive ever had one of my cameras and lenses go out and take a picture. I always had to be there! Just funnin, J.

There are several places on the Internet that you can get reviews on each camera youre curious about. http://www01.bhphotovideo.com/ http://www.nikonlinks.com/ is a good places to start, and it will hook you up to several links you can chase around for hours on end. Id take a look into a Canon system as well. Good luck.

-- Jim Bridges (jcbejb@worldnet.att.net), August 04, 2000.

I think the poster meant "would the type of lens I can still afford after buying F100 cause my pictures to be inferior to those that I would get with the N80+85f/1.8+24f/2.8 combo".

I think so. For the price of the N80($450), 85f/1.8($350), 24f/2.8 ($300), you can barely get a naked F100. Without a lens, the F100 won't take very good pictures at all.

-- Chuck (chaohui@msn.com), August 04, 2000.

Another option is N80 + 28-105.

I guess it really up to what you do. If this system is mainly for travel, my personal choice is N80 + 28-105. You don't need to switch lens and can zoom dynamically. And this combo is light, with a built- in flash which is really very handy.

The primes' advantage is better image quality, especially wide open. For example, if you do portrait a lot, then 85/1.8 will be a great choice.

If you are shooting landscape mainly. And always mount the camera on a tripod and shooting at f8 or f11, 28-105 should be fine.

BTW, if you don't have a tripod, get one! That will improve the quality a lot.

Eric.

-- Eric Chi (echi@cisco.com), August 04, 2000.

As Chuck pointed out, these numbers don't seem to add up, unless you're buying a used F100. I don't know the 28-105. My advice is to stay away from the 24-120. I lent it to my brother with an older body, and I've never asked for it back. I don't think I ever got a sharp picture out of it. Wide ranging wide-to-tele zooms just don't seem likely to be all that great to me.

On the other hand, changing lenses can be a pain in the butt. For a non-moving object, it shouldn't matter much, but even then it does. Just this past weekend, I was in the midst of changing prime lenses for a shot I wanted to make of a back-lit water fountain for kids in a local park. In the time it took me to change lenses, so adults had come over and parked themselves up against the gracefully curving fence surrounding the fountain, ruining my shot. Oh, for a zoom to have been mounted on my camera.

So, maybe the thing to do is to get a great zoom with the less sophisticated body: the 28-70 f/2.8 AF-S with the N80 comes to mind. This must be fairly close in price to the F100 (a marvelous camera) with that 28-105.

In the end, you'll get better pictures with this combo.

-- john beckman (john.beckman@nyu.edu), August 07, 2000.

First of all, thanks for all the responses. I'm just looking on the net and am seeing used F100's and used 28-105mm adding up somewhere (or just a bit more than) near the price of new F80 and 85mm/24mm combo. I like taking available light pictures and would prefer the faster lenses. I also see that the zoom would be more convenient. However, the F100 body is more durable and will hold its resale value better. The F80 + AF-S is just too much (even just to think about).

I guess I should have said something like: I have x amount of $$ I want to spend and I can get something like a used F100 +28- 105mm OR a new F80 + 85mm +24mm. Which would be a better combination? Anyway, like I said, thanks a lot.

-- J (jmelchor@ic.sunysb.edu), August 07, 2000.