Full review at: http://www.cameralabs.com/reviews/NikonD80/ : A seven minute video tour around the Nikon D80 DSLR by Gordon Laing, Editor of www.cameralabs.com. For our full review, please click the link at the start of this text.

Duration : 0:6:42

Technorati Tags: 10, Cameralabs, d80, dslr, Megapixel, nikon, review

Even though the Nikon D80 has three auto-focus options, Single-Area gives you the most control, as outlined in this WebTip from the Magic Lantern DVD Guide for the Nikon D80

Duration : 0:3:30

Technorati Tags: Area, Auto-Focus, d80, dslr, Guide, Lantern, Magic, nikon

Want to know if all these goods are permitted to carry with any hassle?

Also, can I buy the remaining accessories of my computer in dubai and assemble my parts into it? Hope the slots and screws are same there too.

Do the airlines allow to take snaps from the flight window of the landscape below without restrictions? What is the maximum weight limit per person the flight allows? How much extra per kg they charge?

Under the Montreal convention, you are actually not allowed to check items like laptops into the hold. Unfortunately, most people don’t realise this until the laptop goes missing and their claim is denied. So carry-on is the way to go, however call the airline and verify it with them.

I would strongly advise you to check if your airline is governed by the Montreal convention or the Warsaw convention and if you would be covered.

Also there is changing legislation regarding lithium batteries that you may want to check out.

Voltage in Dubai is 220 volts, the plug is a UK plug, so you need an adaptor.

I didnt switch I still have my Canon 40D and I was going to sell it but I think I will hang on to it for a bit.
LOL KND thanks, but I havent completely switched, I picked up the Nikon from a friend it was a good deal. I am still comfortable with my Canon.

image stabilization = vibration reduction. lenses that have the VR on them.
actually, there’s a new 18-55mm that has VR. it’s sold as a kit lens with a camera, or individually. i think you should have asked first what kit lens was with the d80 you bought. there are different "combos" with kit lenses paired with cameras.. some come with the 18-135mm or 18-70 as the kit lens. then of course they vary in prices. BUT you can just buy the body alone and buy a separate lens. but you have bought yours already. well i have the version with not VR and it’s really good! read kenrockwell.com search there 18-55. but if u really want a VR one, you can sell yours and buy another.

I keep hearing of accessories such as strobes, umbrellas, reflectors, 18-135mm, 50mm, and etc which I have no idea what they are and what they are made to do; it’s really overwhelming. What accessories do I need to create the type of shots I’m looking for? Thanks!
Do you really have to lower yourself just to express your frustration with elementary sarcasm? I’m tired of arrogant photographers who over-exaggerate their trade who use their technical knowledge to debase curious minds. I am studying in the science field (yes, I’m going to school because I want to work in science as a CAREER not photography, which is one of my HOBBIES), so I do not have the free time to go to photography school JUST to take a couple of high quality portraits…
I can understand frustration over people saying ‘I want professional photos, how do I get them?’, you’d ask ‘What type of professional photos (landscapes..portraits), and what are examples of what you want to produce? I gave ample explanation of my goal in mind; you could have just told me what is needed for portraits and what will get certain effects. Now don’t go calling yourself an idiot for going to photography school because self- deprecation is ugly, but not as ugly as being rude and condescending.
Marathon? I’m not trying to be a professional photographer with studio lighting and backdrops for high fashion models. I just want to create high quality portraits! You can say ‘A true photographer is in the skill, not the equipment, yadda yadda yadda, but that’s a bunch of fluff and just feeds your egos. A lot of photographers just play by ear and snap a few shots where they think someone or something is pretty and compliment the shots that turned out well by expressing joy over forces beyond their control most of the time such as the pose or expression of the model or how the sky looked that day. You can’t capture detail and so sharply or create a certain lightingwithout the equipment!
I sincerely appreciate your answer Kevin K.

Secondly, I was not undermining the trade of photography besides noting some stereotypes of snarky untalented photographers. Of course I know there are photographers with genius visions and really know to manipulate angles and lighting to evoke certain emotions from people. I am also aware of the extensive details evolved in mastering photography. HOWEVER, I asked a specific questions that just needed a specific answer with some guidance, such as how Kevin K. answered. If I said I wanted to sing pleasantly to the ear, would you direct me to a Music 101 class where I would study the history of music and different periods such as classicism and romanticism as well as studying structures and forms of lieders and symphonies? I’m not trying to be the digital Picasso; I just asked if I needed any extra equipment to take aesthetically pleasing portraits for crying out loud! My area of study is just as extensive as yours for more information.
And the reason why I stereotyped some undeserving photographers is because that’s how you responded towards me. Instead of giving me a specific answer to my question, you acted exactly how those unqualified condescending photographers act. And top advice? According to 75% of these answers, the "advice" I was given was basically mean spirited humor and abrasive useless answers. If that’s top advice then I don’t want it! I’m glad you don’t care about receiving 10 points on Yahoo!Answers as I hope you have more important goals in your life than that, such as getting beautiful results from your photography!

OK you’ve been flamed over your question, I understand why but it is possible to learn this stuff. You will have to put some time & effort into learning to use a DLSR manually and learning about off camera lighting, but its not an esoteric art that takes a lifetime to learn so lighten up folks!

Kevin K has given some practical advice but that website (CGIpix) does have a lot of poorly explained misinformation.

A D80 is a good starting point, the D90 suggested by Kevin K would be a substantial upgrade but its bell & whistles are not necessary.

Given the camera body, what you then want are good lenses and good light. Good lenses usually means good primes (50mm f1.8 or 85mm f1.8 are good choices). You can however use some general zooms too – your first link was shot with the Nikkor 18-200mm lens & I use this for some studio work.

Most of those links you posted are to shots done in natural light, but seeing as you asked about additional lighting terms I’ll add the following.

Lighting can be studio style flashes (monoblocs) which are for the most part mains electricity (although some systems allow battery packs for outdoor/location shoots but these can be expensive). or a hotshoe flash (speedlight) based system. Both are often referred to as ’strobes’. David Hobby in his Strobist blog concentrates principally on speedlight systems – well worth a read as a starting point;
http://strobist.blogspot.com/2006/02/welcome-to-strobist.html

Go to Lighting 101 & a short way down the page there is a handy little vid on the basics.

Speedlights are lightweight & portable – ideal for indoors & for location shooting being battery operated.

Bare flash (whether it be from a monobloc or speedlight) can be good but it creates hard shadows (the bigger the light source the softer the shadows) so to make a small light source large you add modifiers such as umbrellas & softboxes. These make the light larger & more diffuse & give soft edge shadows. Umbrellas generally allow more light ’spill’ everywhere, softboxes have less spill.
If you want hard light, then you use bare flash or make the size even smaller by using a snoot (a sort of tube) which concentrates the light into a smaller area.

The important thing is how you trigger the flash (off camera) when you press the shutter button on the camera. There’s several ways but radio triggers are popular because they are reliable have good range & you don’t have wires trailing everywhere. I use RF602 triggers – you have a transmitter that goes on the hotshoe of the camera and a receiver for each of the flashes.

There are things to remember when shooting flash – the camera has a maximum sync speed (that synchronises the opening of the shutter with the flash firing) usually around 1/200 or 1/250 sec. If you try to shoot with a shutter speed faster, then the shutter curtain starts to close & you see a black band appear across the image, or its all black. The slower the shutter speed the more ‘ambient’ light is allowed into the image. It is the aperture that principally controls the flash exposure and the shutter speed that controls the ambient light exposure.

If you have the cash – Zack Arias’s One Light DVD is well worth it (Google it for a link).

I would link to my Flickr stream but the front page has some adult content (18+). If you have a Flickr account, let me know your link & I’ll add you.

http://www.ritzcamera.com/
http://www.adorama.com/
amazon, or calumet

What’s Included:

* Nikon D80 Digital SLR Camera Body

Accessories:

18-135mm f/3.5-5.6G IF-ED AF-S DX Zoom-NIKKOR
* Lithium-ion Rechargeable Battery
* Quick Charger
* Audio/Video Cable
* USB Cable
* Strap
* LCD Monitor Cover
* PictureProject CD-Rom

Bonus Accessories:

*
2GB 150x SD Card
o
150x speed / Class 6
o
22.5MB/sec
o
Waterproof
o
Dustproof
o
ESD (Electro Discharge Proof)
o
Extreme Temperature Resistance -40° F – 185° F (-40° C – 85° C)

Everything listed here is pretty standard for a bundle.

The lens isn’t a top end lens, but it has a good range, it appears to be a Nikon branded lens, so a good starter for the price. The memory card is 2GB, not great, but fine to get you started. The battery, charger, strap that’s all stuff you get even if you buy the body only (no bundle) A nice touch is the LCD protector, I had to pay extra for mine.

My advice (probably will be repeated by others) get the body for less, and spend the money you save, and possibly more on better glass, and a bigger memory card. But it’s not a bad price, and Costco does have a good return policy. Something to think about, the D80 while solid, is an old-ish camera. It was released around sept 2006. Back then the body only was 999, with this lens it was 1299.00.

Another thing to think about, you are not far from (money-wise) the new Nikon D90.

* There are 15 different languages which include both English and French as well as Chinese (Simplified and Traditional), Dutch, Finnish, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish and Swedish

* The cameras come with all the accessories you need.

What comes with the D90:
EN-EL3e Rechargeable Li-ion Battery, MH-18a Quick Charger, DK-5 Eyepiece Cap, DK-21 Rubber Eyecup, UC-E4 USB Cable, EG-D2 Audio Video Cable, AN-DC1 Camera Strap, BM-10 LCD Monitor Cover, Body Cap, BS-1 Accessory Shoe Cover, Software Suite CD-ROM

* The D90 does have the video feature