D200 vs D80? Chalk up another (exposure) point for the D200

There’s definitely a lot of buzz around the new Nikon D80, and many still wonder and inquire whether $1000 is best spent on the D80, or would coughing up another $500 or so for the D200 turn out to be the wiser decision in the long run.

For those in the know, and who’re already set on the D200, the price difference is no big deal, simply because the D200 offers many features not found on the D80, and these buyers have already determined that the “missing” features are critical for their photography.

I’ve gathered some links pointing to discussions on the differences between the D200 and D80 – you can browse them here.

Recent reports from new owners of the D80, however, makes it seem even more compelling to purchase the D200 if proper automatic exposure from the camera’s algorithms is of paramount importance to you.

A number of D80 users have shared that their D80 tends to overexpose when shooting in Matrix mode in certain circumstances (shooting outdoors with the sky in the frame is one such situation). Dialing in -0.3 or -0.7 exposure compensation seems to help little as it is observed that the metering on the D80 is also a little erratic to begin with, and the negative compensation would then produce underexposure in other situations.

More information and links follow:

1. TTTexan finds that the D200 handles and exposes better than the D80
2. Petruska reports that the D80 does exhibit inconsistent metering, while the D200 is almost perfect with its exposure
3. RSchoemaker posts links to discussions on Nikonians.org about this issue. At the Nikonians site, it is said that Nikon is aware of the issue and invites owners to send in image samples in support of the reported problem. Hopefully, this will be fixed in the next firmware update.

I still remember the banding and other problems the early adopters of the D200 faced with their new camera. Hopefully, all the initial issues with the D80 can be rectified in (short) time. It’ll be a shame if they’re not, as the D80 + Nikkor 18-200mm VR is currently seen as the walkaround 10MP digital SLR system to beat.