Nikon D80 vs Olympus E-400 Comparison

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Nikon D80

10 MP | APS-C (23.6 x 15.8 mm) CCD Sensor

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Olympus E-400

10 MP | Four Thirds (17.3 x 13 mm) CCD Sensor

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Nikon D80 vs Olympus E-400 Comparison Overview

Here we are comparing two DSLR cameras from Nikon and Olympus. Nikon D80 was introduced to market in September 2006 and Olympus E-400 was launched in September 2006. Both D80 and E-400 were launched within the same month so we are expecting this to be a fair comparison regarding age and available technology level.

Both cameras have 10.0MP sensors but Nikon D80's sensor is APS-C sized whereas Olympus E-400 has a Four Thirds sensor.

Here is a brief look at the main features of Nikon D80 and Olympus E-400 before getting into our more detailed comparison.

Nikon D80 Key Specs

Announcement Date: 2006-09-23

10MP - APS-C CCD Sensor

ISO 100 - 1600 ( expands to 3200)

Nikon F Mount

2.5" Fixed Type Screen

Optical (pentaprism) viewfinder

3 fps continuous shooting

No Video Mode

668g. 132 x 103 x 77 mm

Replaced Nikon D70 Compare

Olympus E-400 Key Specs

Announcement Date: 2006-09-14

10MP - Four Thirds CCD Sensor

ISO 100 - 1600

Four Thirds Mount

2.5" Fixed Type Screen

Optical (pentamirror) viewfinder

3 fps continuous shooting

No Video Mode

435g. 130 x 91 x 53 mm

Nikon D80 was replaced by Nikon D90. You may also be interested in these comparisons:
Nikon D90 vs Nikon D80
Nikon D90 vs Olympus E-400

Olympus E-400 was replaced by Olympus E-410. You may also be interested in these comparisons:
Olympus E-410 vs Olympus E-400
Olympus E-410 vs Nikon D80

Let's read on the following sections in order to better understand in detail how Nikon D80 and Olympus E-400 compares and hopefully end up with enough arguments to decide which one is better for you.

Reasons to choose Nikon D80 over Olympus E-400

Viewfinder Magnification	0.64x vs 0.46x	Larger Viewfinder
LCD Screen Resolution	230k dots vs 215k dots	6% higher resolution screen
Flash Coverage	13.0m vs 10.0m	3m longer range
Top LCD	Yes vs No	Help viewing and changing settings easily
AE Bracketing	Yes vs No	Useful for tough lighting conditions and HDR
Optical Viewfinder Type	Pentaprism vs Pentamirror	Pentaprism Viewfinders are brighter than Pentamirror type

Reasons to choose Olympus E-400 over Nikon D80

Weight	435 g vs 668 g	233 g lighter

Common Strengths of Nikon D80 and Olympus E-400

Built-in Flash	Yes vs Yes	Useful in low-light
External Flash Shoe	Yes vs Yes	Better for flash photography
Viewfinder	Yes (Optical) vs Yes (Optical)	Better framing and control
RAW Support	Yes vs Yes	Better image quality

Common Weaknesses of Nikon D80 and Olympus E-400

In-body Image Stabilization	No vs No	No Built-in stabilization
Fixed Screen	Fixed Type vs No	No flexible viewing angles
Max Resolution	10 MP vs 10 MP	Less details and smaller prints
LCD Screen Size	2.5" vs 2.5"	Small display
LCD Screen Resolution	230k dots vs 215k dots	Low resolution screens
Environmental Sealing	No vs No	not suitable for tough conditions
AF Micro Adjustment (Fine Tune)	No vs No	no option to fine tune Auto focus

Nikon D80 vs Olympus E-400: Physical Specs and Body features Comparison

Size and weight is a big decision factor when you are trying to find the ideal camera for your needs. In this section, We are going to illustrate Nikon D80 and Olympus E-400 side-by-side from the front, back and top in their relative dimensions. Nikon D80 has external dimensions of 132 x 103 x 77 mm (5.2 x 4.06 x 3.03″) and weighs 668 g (1.47 lb / 23.56 oz) (including batteries). Olympus E-400 has external dimensions of 130 x 91 x 53 mm (5.12 x 3.58 x 2.09″) and weighs 435 g (0.96 lb / 15.34 oz) (including batteries).

Below you can see the front view size comparison of Nikon D80 and Olympus E-400. Olympus E-400 is clearly the smaller of the two cameras. Its body is 2mm narrower, 12mm shorter and 24mm thinner than Nikon D80.

Comparison image of Nikon D80 and Olympus E-400 Size, Weight and External Dimensions - Front View

Now lets look at the top view comparison of Nikon D80 and Olympus E-400.

Top View Comparison image of Nikon D80 and Olympus E-400 Size

Weight is another important factor especially when deciding on a camera that you want to carry with you all day. Olympus E-400 is significantly lighter (233g ) than the Nikon D80 which may become a big advantage especially on long walking trips.

Also keep in mind that body weight is not the only deciding factor when comparing two interchangeable camera bodies, you have to also take into account the lenses that you will be using with these bodies. Since Nikon D80 has an APS-C sized sensor and Olympus E-400 has a smaller Four Thirds sensor, Olympus E-400's lenses for a similar focal length and aperture will generally be lighter and smaller than the Nikon D80 lenses.

Weight Comparison

DSLR Cameras

D80

E-400

Min

Average

Max

Thickness Comparison

DSLR Cameras

D80

E-400

Min

Average

Max

Weather Sealing

Unfortunately neither Nikon D80 nor Olympus E-400 provides any type of weather sealing in their body, so you have to give extra care especially when you are shooting outdoors. If weather sealing is a must-have feature for you, check these sections:
Top DSLR Cameras with Weather Sealing

LCD Screen Size and Features

Nikon D80 and Olympus E-400's LCD screens has the same diagonal size of 2.5".

Unfortunately, both cameras has fixed screens so they don't tilt or flip in directions.

Nikon D80 vs Olympus E-400: Sensor Comparison

Both Nikon D80 and Olympus E-400 have 10.0 MP resolution sensors but Nikon D80's sensor is APS-C (23.6 x 15.8 mm ) and Olympus E-400's sensor is Four Thirds (17.3 x 13 mm ).

Since Nikon D80's has a larger sensor area with the same resolution, this means that it also has a larger pixel area hence better light collecting capacity for a given aperture compared to Olympus E-400.

Below you can see the D80 and E-400 sensor size comparison.

Sensor Size and Resolution Comparison image of Nikon D80 and Olympus E-400 Cameras

As seen above, Nikon D80 has a 1.7x Larger sensor area than Olympus E-400. Larger sensors give photographer more control on the depth of field and blurry background compared to smaller sensor when shot in same focal length and aperture.

Nikon D80 vs Olympus E-400 Comparison of Available Lenses

Which camera has more lenses?

Number of available lenses is a big decision factor while choosing your interchangeable lens camera. When we look at the available lenses for these two cameras, we see that Nikon D80 has an advantage over Olympus E-400. There are 309 lenses for Nikon D80's Nikon F mount, on the other hand there are only 45 lenses for Olympus E-400's Four Thirds lens mount.

Another important factor is the availability of image stabilization. None of these bodies have sensor based image stabilization so you have to buy lenses with Optical stabilization feature. Currently there are 106 lenses for Nikon F mount and 3 lenses for Four Thirds mount with IS.

Lens Type	# of Nikon D80 Lenses	# of Olympus E-400 Lenses
Standard Zoom	33	8
Standard Prime	21	4
Wideangle Zoom	33	4
Wideangle Prime	48	9
Telephoto Zoom	53	6
Telephoto Prime	45	4
SuperZoom	30	2
Wideangle Fisheye Prime	8	3
Macro Prime	26	4
Perspective Control Prime	11	n/a
Telephoto Mirror Prime	1	1
TOTAL	309	45

What types of Photography are Nikon D80 and Olympus E-400 Good for?

In this section, we rank and compare Nikon D80 and Olympus E-400 for five different photography types in order to make your decision process easier in case you are specifically interested in one or more of these areas.

Nikon D80 for Portrait Photography

AVERAGE

Olympus E-400 for Portrait Photography

POOR

Large APS-C (23.6 x 15.8 mm) sensor
Optical Built-in Viewfinder
Good Ergonomics&Handling
Very Low Resolution Sensor: 10.0MP
No Image Stabilization
Read the details

Large Four Thirds (17.3 x 13 mm) sensor
Optical Built-in Viewfinder
Good Ergonomics&Handling
Very Low Resolution Sensor: 10.0MP
No Image Stabilization
Read the details

Nikon D80 for Street Photography

AVERAGE

Olympus E-400 for Street Photography

POOR

Large APS-C (23.6 x 15.8 mm) sensor
Optical Built-in Viewfinder
No Image Stabilization
No Live-view
Large Body
Read the details

Large Four Thirds (17.3 x 13 mm) sensor
Optical Built-in Viewfinder
No Image Stabilization
No Live-view
Large Body
Read the details

Nikon D80 for Sports Photography

GOOD

Olympus E-400 for Sports Photography

GOOD

Optical Built-in Viewfinder
Good Ergonomics&Handling
Fast Max shutter speed: 1/4000s
No Image Stabilization
Slow Continuous Shooting: 3.0fps
Environmental Sealings
Focus Points
Read the details

Optical Built-in Viewfinder
Good Ergonomics&Handling
Fast Max shutter speed: 1/4000s
No Image Stabilization
Slow Continuous Shooting: 3.0fps
Environmental Sealings
3 Focus Points
Read the details

Nikon D80 for Daily Photography

AVERAGE

Olympus E-400 for Daily Photography

AVERAGE

Large APS-C (23.6 x 15.8 mm) sensor
Large Body
668g
Body Thickness 77mm
Read the details

Large Four Thirds (17.3 x 13 mm) sensor
Large Body
435g
Body Thickness 53mm
Read the details

Nikon D80 for Landscape Photography

POOR

Olympus E-400 for Landscape Photography

POOR

Large APS-C (23.6 x 15.8 mm) sensor
Very Low Resolution Sensor: 10.0MP
No Environmental Sealings
No Live-view
Read the details

Large Four Thirds (17.3 x 13 mm) sensor
Very Low Resolution Sensor: 10.0MP
No Environmental Sealings
No Live-view
Read the details

Nikon D80 vs Olympus E-400: OUR DECISION

You may have already made your decision about which camera suits better for your needs and your budget so far but in case you wonder how we rated Nikon D80 and Olympus E-400, below you can find their scores in five different aspects. Our Decision Algorithm dynamically scores cameras using 63 different specs, current price and DxO Mark scores (where possible) in order to make a more objective and consistent comparison.

Here is a summary of how Nikon D80 and Olympus E-400 scores compare:

Nikon D80

Imaging

Features

Value

Portability

Overall

Ranked #71 out of 95 in Mid-size SLR cameras
Ranked #611 out of 1225 in all Cameras

Olympus E-400

Imaging

Features

Value

Portability

Overall

Ranked #77 out of 78 in Compact SLR cameras
Ranked #801 out of 1225 in all Cameras

Nikon D80 is the overall winner of this comparison. It has a higher Overall Score and beats Olympus E-400 in all criteria except one: Portability. But the size difference between these cameras are negligible in real world so it is not a big disadvantage for Nikon D80.

Olympus E-400 vs Nikon D80 Specs Table

Detailed comparison of specifications

General	Nikon D80	Olympus E-400
Brand	Nikon	Olympus
Announced	2006-09-23	2006-09-14
Body Type	Mid-size SLR	Compact SLR
Sensor
Type	CCD	CCD
Size	APS-C	Four Thirds
Dimensions	23.6 x 15.8 mm	17.3 x 13 mm
Area	372.88mm²	224.90mm²
Megapixels	10 megapixels	10 megapixels
Max Resolution	3872 x 2592	3648 x 2736
Max Native Light sensitivity	1,600 ISO	1,600 ISO
Max Boosted Light Sensitivity	3200 ISO	-
Min Native Light sensitivity	100 ISO	100 ISO
RAW Support
Autofocus
AF Touch
AF Continuous
AF Single
AF Tracking
AF Selective
AF Center
AF Multi Area
AF Live View
AF Face Detection
AF Contrast Detection
AF Phase Detection
Number of Focus Points	n/a	3
Lens
Manual Focus
Lens Mount	Nikon F	Four Thirds
Number of Available Lenses	309	45
Screen
Type	Fixed type	Fixed type
Size	2.5"	2.5"
Resolution	230k dots	215k dots
Touch Screen
Viewfinder
Viewfinder	Optical (pentaprism)	Optical (pentamirror)
Viewfinder Coverage	95%	95%
Viewfinder Magnification	0.64x	0.46x
Photography Features
Max Mechanical Shutter	1/4000s	1/4000s
Shutter Priority
Aperture Priority
Manual Exposure Mode
Custom White Balance
Image Stabilization	No	No
Built-in Flash
Flash Range	13.00 m	10.00 m (at ISO 100)
Max Flash Sync	1/200s	s
External Flash
Continuous Shooting	3.0 fps	3.0 fps
Multi-Segment
Average
Spot
Partial
AF-Area
Center Weighted
AE Bracketing
WB Bracketing
Video Features
Max Video Resolution	None	None
Video Formats	n/a	n/a
Microphone Port
Headphone Port
Connectivity
Wireless Connectivity	None	None
HDMI
Physical
Environmental Sealing
Weight	668g	435g
Dimensions	132 x 103 x 77mm	130 x 91 x 53mm
Battery Life	n/a	n/a
Other Features
Timelapse Recording
GPS	None	None
DxO Sensor Scores
DxO Overall Score	61	not tested
DxO Color Depth	22.1	not tested
DxO Dynamic Range	11.2	not tested
DxO Low Light ISO	524	not tested
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