and good on yah with the nikon choice - the d80 kicks the 30d easily - ask about 3 ppl i know who have sold all their canon gear (with 3k plus worth of lenses) to switch to the d200 after they're played with mine for a day

d80 has lower noise as the software processing is newer (newer camera). this is mainly in jpgs and if u shoot raw, it makes no difference as they both use the same sensor.

d200 v d80 - consider... flash sync, metal v plastic body, all-weather seals, multiple exposure shooting, buttons/controls location for ease of shooting fast, interval shooting (ie x shots, every 5 min over a number of days), speed of focussing even tho they use the same focus module, 5 v 3 fps shoot speed... maybe a few more i forgot but a fairly big difference if u'r willing to shell out the extra $1k.