Which Nikon to pick? 80 or 200 ?

Exactly. Other makers cameras in the lower end can at least meter
with old lenses. Nikon did this hobbling on purpose, unfortunately.

 

RichA wrote:
[]

Were I getting a Nikon D40 or D40X, I would not want to have to use the
older, heavier lenses. The more modern DX 18 -55mm and 55 - 200mm VR are
much more convenient in this respect, and you can end up with a really
lightweight outfit to carry around.

Cheers,
David

 

"Other manufactures" conveniently changed the physical mount system. That is
one way to stop customers from complaining about automated metering not
working with older lenses because they can't even mount older lenses to
their new cameras to begin with.

jue

 

I think that is the key thing in your decision making process.

Make a list of things you want in you new camera and then compare the
list to the feature set of the D80 and D200.

I've got a D200 because I bought it before the D80's were introduced.
Honestly, if I had the decision to make today, I would probably have
gotten the D80.

good luck.
===========================================================================
Chris

 

I purchased a D80 back in February, and a BIG factor in my decision was
that the D80 is so much lighter than the D200.. I had been on a Nikon
F2AS for about 30 years before then, which is GREAT camera, but way too
heavy (esp with the long lens on..) I really didn't want another heavy
camera...