New toys from Nikon

Nikon has released a new digital SLR to compete in the 10.2 pega-pixel category. The new D80 is slated to compete with the Sony Alpha in the under a thousand dollar category.

Sporting most of the features found in the D200, this camera will get a lot of attention from camera dealers who expect it to out-pace the D70s with its smaller pixel count. The D200 is still higher in price than a lot of consumers are willing to spend. The new D80 is light-weight, smaller than Nikon's professional line of cameras, and should have very high quality output that serious shooters and professional photographers will want at a price that will make this camera very hard to find coming into this year's holiday season. Look for a "kit" that includes a new Nikon 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6g ED lens, a very versatile kit lens that will be included at a nice price-point.

The new Nikon 70-300mm VR lens sports ED glass and comes to retailers at around $600, a price that pros on a budget will appreciate and serious camera enthusiasts will still buy. It's only a 4.5-5.6 aperture, but, Nikon claims that the lens should give you three more f-stops worth of hand-holdability when shooting in lower light situations. The question now is will this lens cut into the sales of their 2.8 aperture 70-200mm lens. I doubt it. Since the added benefit of the 2.8 aperture is that you get that shallow depth of field bonus for more dramatic images when shooting macro. Sports action shooters will still come out ahead with the 70-200 2.8 VR lens and will be willing to pay the price for performance like that.