Camera selection. nikon d60 vs d80

[Kahlil]

whoops i put d80 on tile instead of d90
Decided most of what I am going to use for 360 panoramas but I am still not sure what camera to buy.
This is what I will be buying for the 360's

ptgui
flash panoramas
flashificator
Nikon 10.5mm fisheye
Nodal Ninja 3

I am just not sure what camera I should buy. I have been working with my friends camera who has a d50.
I see some really good prices on the nikon d60s but I see many who are choosing the nikon d90's for 360. Is there any one who could recommend either or model d60 or d90?
I would definately appreciate any help and I look forward to sharing panoramas with all you once I get software and equipment running

[andrew22222]

Hi Kahlil,

I use the same gear on your list minus the flashificator.

I'm not too sure about the d60 or d90 but I own a D80 and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone for 360 shots. I'm mentioning this because I read a fair amount of reviews before purchasing it and thought it would do the trick with the 3 stage bracketing and high ISO settings.

The ISO setting is awful and struggle to get anything in low light/sunset without a good blast of noise unless it's at 200 or preferably 100. Sure you can send it through Noise Ninja or something similar but you lose that realistic sharpness look to the image.

You won't be getting the D80 anyway but I did notice that Nikon have a wonderful time bringing out 'in between' models that seem reasonable but when you get down to the finer specs they are always missing something crucial that the more expensive versions offer and it's generally something you need as you progress into making money out of Virtual Tours.

I'm waiting for my next job to pay for a CANON EOS-5D MK II DIGITAL SLR BODY and won't even think about getting anything else that's 'in between'.

I know it's generally all about money but if you can get by with a cheaper camera for now and get a couple of good contracts for virtual tours put as much of the profits you make into a really good camera and it'll save you so much time on location and on the PC in photoshop or whatever image software you prefer to use.

Have a read on the PANOTOOLSNG (http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/PanoToolsNG/) forum also as they love questions regarding photo hardware and many posts already covering it ;)

Good luck,

Andrew

[Kahlil]

andrew Thanks very much. I went to that yahoo group and they had lots of insite on camera selection. I have decided to go with d40 and a nikon 10.5mm fisheye. and i will save up to get a better camera in the future.
I have a job at a beautiful yoga studio next friday and hopefully will have my new equipment. I'll post the results.
:)

[andrew22222]

Excellent. Glad I could be of help.

If you do a good job of the 360 shots and make sure there's no alignment issues in the finished views, you'll always get work in the future. May not happen straight away but eventually word of mouth from previous clients and a good portfolio always does wonders ;-)

Have fun,

Andrew