[Neema]

I've got a friend who is thinking about buying either a Nikon D80 or D300. He brought up the fact that the D300 can take far far faster photos then the D80, and that his son plays football, so thats where the speed would come into play.

I told him that for a beginner, the D80 is perfectly fine and the D300 would be over kill, and that basically, they both get the job done just fine, but the D300 will get it done a little bit better. A common misconception within the photography world is that the higher end the camera is, the better it will preform, but we all know that that is wrong.

So, what do you guys think? D80 or D300, for a beginner using the camera at football games.

[Daya]

the question is, can your friend take advantage of all of the manual adjustments that the D300 can offer?

honestly, the D80 is an amazing camera and for a beginner it makes more sense to save some money on the body and use that money on some serious glass and some photography classes. Nikon lenses are well known for their quality and longevity. Most amateur and professional photographers spend more money on multiple, high quality lenses than the body itself.

The D300 is $1000 more than the D80. If money is no object, sure, get the D300 and multiple lenses, otherwise for the same cost of the D300 you could have the D80 and multiple lenses.

My girlfriend has been doing photography in her spare time for over 10 years, and she just made the switch to digital and bought a D80, of course money was a consideration. She has three lenses: 18-55mm, 55-300mm and 60mm f/2.8 macro, and she seems to do just fine. Any bigger fixed lenses can be in the thousands of dollars for the lens alone!

Good luck

[TurboFan]

Originally Posted by Boost_Nation

I've got a friend who is thinking about buying either a Nikon D80 or D300. He brought up the fact that the D300 can take far far faster photos then the D80, and that his son plays football, so thats where the speed would come into play.

I told him that for a beginner, the D80 is perfectly fine and the D300 would be over kill, and that basically, they both get the job done just fine, but the D300 will get it done a little bit better. A common misconception within the photography world is that the higher end the camera is, the better it will preform, but we all know that that is wrong.

So, what do you guys think? D80 or D300, for a beginner using the camera at football games.

The D300 is heads and shoulders beyond the D80. If you can afford it, go for the D300.

[remmib]

The D80 is 3fps and D300 is 6fps. Thats a big difference, so the D300 is the way to go if he must have a Nikon.

But if it doesn't have to be Nikon, I recommend the Canon 40D, it's much cheaper (atleast here) and it's 6.5fps.