Originally posted by marcdsgn Thanks GaryML. The lens issue is no longer so much of a concern in light of your info.
Well, I guess either model will do what we want. I agree there's a real sense of security with a solid water-tight frame on a camera, and that's probably the one thing remaining that would make me lean toward the D200, but then my wife's current model (F60) is still in pristine condition despite its plastic body, so it's not likely she'll need anything more durable.
Of course, now you've mentioned shutter durability, and I'm wondering if you've had issues with the D80 shutter?
My D80 works perfectly and I've had no problems with the shutter or anything else. If you're going to shoot tens of thousands of photos per year then you may want to step up to more expensive cameras, but otherwise it isn't an issue. The D80 does tend to expose "to the right" a bit, and I often dial in either -0.3 or -0.7 exposure compensation. I use the rear LCD set to "flash" the blown highlights when reviewing photos, but from experience I know that I want some minus exposure compensation for high contrast scenes for better color saturation. With my Pentax K10D, the opposite was true and it tended to underexpose a bit.
The D80 will wirelessly remotely fire the modern Speedlights, and that gives you a lot of flexibility. I use a Nikon SB800 Speedlight and it works very well. I also regularly set the SB800 to either -0.3 or -0.7 flash exposure, and this gives me better exposure and good balance between ambient and flash lighting.
One other thing to consider is getting the Nikon Capture NX 2 RAW processing software. Forget the version 1.x demo that comes with the D80 and download the version 2 demo from Nikon. I think it gives better results with the Nikon RAW (.NEF) files than alternatives from Adobe. It includes tools for *automatically* correcting chromatic aberration, vignetting, geometric distortion, and similar issues (with manual tweaking if desired). Version 2 adds better tools for dust removal and the ability to apply correction to just parts of a picture (similar to Lightroom 2). It includes all the usual adjustments, including exposure, color balance, curves, contrast, etc., and you can also work with .jpeg or .tiff files. It is also fairly easy to use and includes decent file handling and work flow tools. All editing of .NEF files is non-destructive, and the changes are saved within the file itself (rather than in an external database like Lightroom). Check out the demo and you will probably like it. I used to use Lightroom for most of my work flow and post-processing. I now use Capture NX 2 almost all of the time and I think it gives me better results.
Finally, I should say that my D80 is really a nice camera and performs well in most areas: great image quality, great AF speed and accuracy, great flash metering, incredible battery life, etc. The D200 has better build quality and has higher frames rates, but the image quality and AF is virtually identical to the D80. When I made my decision last year, I could not justify the extra expense for a D200. The D90 carries over some of the improvements from the D300 (just as the D80 carried over features from the D200). I expect the D90 to sell for around $1,000. You can decide if the improvements are worth the extra cost.