How long will a DSLR body last ?

I still have not made my mind up regariging which DSLR Nikon D80 or the D200
.. If the tecnology is not going to last. Should I just go for the cheaper
D80 which may last for say 4 years ? then upgrade

I have the D50, which is a plastic body. It's half-life at the landfill is
about 500 years. I think you may need to rephrase the question.


"bob" wrote in message
...
I still have not made my mind up regariging which DSLR Nikon D80 or the
D200 . If the tecnology is not going to last. Should I just go for the
cheaper D80 which may last for say 4 years ? then upgrade

All Im trying to ask .. should I go for the cheaper option as DSLRS seem
to go outof date as soon as you buy them . I could buy another updated DSLR
in say 3 - 5 years time, in the mean time buy better glass. with the money
saved from a dearer body (prob need it for the next DSLR upgrade

"3Putt from South Carolina" 3putt@secoastofsc wrote in message
...
I have the D50, which is a plastic body. It's half-life at the landfill is
about 500 years. I think you may need to rephrase the question.


"bob" wrote in message
...
I still have not made my mind up regariging which DSLR Nikon D80 or the
D200 . If the tecnology is not going to last. Should I just go for the
cheaper D80 which may last for say 4 years ? then upgrade

On Mon, 8 Jan 2007 03:50:29 -0800, bob wrote
(in article ):

I still have not made my mind up regariging which DSLR Nikon D80 or the D200
. If the tecnology is not going to last. Should I just go for the cheaper
D80 which may last for say 4 years ? then upgrade



A DSLR body will last practically forever. The mirror and shutter mechanism
will wear out, but those can be replaced. It will eventually become scuffed
and battered, but it will still work. A DSLR will likely either die in an
accident, freeze up from salt corrosion, or rot away on a shelf long after it
has become obsolete. There will be collectors taking pictures with their
Rebel XT 50 years from now.

bob wrote:
All Im trying to ask .. should I go for the cheaper option as DSLRS seem
to go outof date as soon as you buy them . I could buy another updated DSLR
in say 3 - 5 years time, in the mean time buy better glass. with the money
saved from a dearer body (prob need it for the next DSLR upgrade

It depends. Is there a feature on the D200 that the D80 has that's
worth ~$900 to you? If yes, get the D200. I recently went through
this math myself, and ended up with the D80. I'm very happy with it.
As you already know, you can put the savings towards a nice lens (or
rent, or food, etc). I'm expecting to use my D80 for about as long as
I used my F801, which would be about 20 years. That may be optimistic.
Though maybe not, the 801 is still working just fine. :-)

You could rephrase your question "will I want to upgrade my perfectly
good D80/200 in four years when there's a 16 mpix full frame body
available for $2000?" Which is a question that we can guess at, but
only you can answer.

Drew

"bob" wrote in message
...
I still have not made my mind up regariging which DSLR Nikon D80 or the
D200 . If the tecnology is not going to last. Should I just go for the
cheaper D80 which may last for say 4 years ? then upgrade

Since as you say you still haven't made up your mind between them, and
obviously you've given it a lot of thought, then in your place I'd buy the
D80. Why pay more money for something you don't know if you really need or
want? Prices on the D200 will probably drift somewhat lower anyway, so in
the unlikely event you decide later you've made a mistake you can always
sell the one and buy the other.

I wouldn't worry that "the technology is not going to last." The technology
curve seems to have leveled off and we're just getting very small
refinements in it now from year to year. It's nothing like the past decade
when there were really important leaps in digital camera technology.

Neil

C J Campbell wrote:

A DSLR body will last practically forever. There will be
collectors taking pictures with their Rebel XT 50 years from now.

Unlikely, in my experience. Our DSLR controls have many little electronic
buttons and switches which are relatively fragile. On my first DSLR
several of them expired shortly after the warranty did. Cost to repair
would have been half the cost of a new body.

--
Anti-Spam address: my last name at his dot com
Charles Gillen -- Reston, Virginia, USA

"3Putt from South Carolina" 3putt@secoastofsc wrote in
:

I have the D50, which is a plastic body. It's half-life at the
landfill is about 500 years. I think you may need to rephrase the
question.


"bob" wrote in message
...
I still have not made my mind up regariging which DSLR Nikon D80 or
the D200 . If the tecnology is not going to last. Should I just go for
the cheaper D80 which may last for say 4 years ? then upgrade




hey he's talking about photography not pollution smat guy.

--
Photos
http://www.chez.com/anaclet

bob wrote:
I still have not made my mind up regariging which DSLR Nikon D80 or
the D200 .

If the tecnology is not going to last.

Should I just go
for the cheaper D80 which may last for say 4 years ? then upgrade

Well, The technology is going to last, it will not change. What might
change is the rest of the world.

It is a regular question that has been asked many times and it is not
really possible to answer. My suggestion is to get what fits YOUR needs NOW
and in the foreseeable future and don't worry about what might come out next
year or ten years from now.

If the cheaper camera meets your current needs, why by the more
expensive one?

--
Joseph Meehan

Dia 's Muire duit

"bob" wrote:

All Im trying to ask .. should I go for the cheaper option as DSLRS seem
to go outof date as soon as you buy them . I could buy another updated DSLR
in say 3 - 5 years time, in the mean time buy better glass. with the money
saved from a dearer body (prob need it for the next DSLR upgrade

The D80 is a fine camera. The benefits of the D200 do not include a
significantly better image quality compared to the D80.

So, if you can live with the D80's slightly different handling and its
limitations compared to the D200, the money saved by buying the D80
will certainly allow you to buy better quality glass, which is almost
always money well spent.