My wife is in to photography and I have decided to get an SLR camera for her for Christmas. What I can't figure out is what about the D80 makes it cost so much more and want to know if it's worth the extra money. I don't know much about this stuff other than a couple of days of research and talking to sales people who really had no answer other than the D80 accepted older Nikon lenses. ANY advice and or opinions will be appreciated. Thanks
I would run the D80, and what kind of stuff will she be shooting? Read this http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=97470&highlight=d40+d80 This is what I shoot with and absolutely love it.
Is there a reason you are limiting yourself to Nikons? Does she have alot of Nikon glass already? The D40 is limited to Autofocus lenses with the motor in the lens. This means it isn't compatible with much of the older Nikon glass. Knowing what type of photography she was generally going to do would be helpful. You should also check out Steve's forum and DP Review forums for tons of info on photography and cameras. For what its worth, I shoot with a Pentax DSLR and love it. The Pentax K10D is an amazing "Bang for the Buck" camera, though, not as widely supported as a Canon or Nikon...
I use a D50, D40 is too small for my hands. You should go to the store and try them out, then read the specs to see if they suit your needs
Between the two, go with the d40. There is not much of a difference between the d40 and d40x. However, Pentax has a couple new dSLRs out that are receiving great reviews. I dont remember the model names off hand though. Personally, I own a Nikon D70.
D80 all the way Unless you wait till the D300 get going around and everyone upgraded then you could pick up a used D200 for a decent price.