F80 rear door

[Photo-gear]

Something happened to my Nikon 80 rear door latches. They got torn apart and I dont find that part on the net.

A well-experienced salesman in photography told me there is no such part available on the market.

Although my F80 was working just fine before the accident, now, should I consider this camera to have no more value? Is this kind of problem specific to the F80?

 

[Chan Tran]

You could just buy another N80.

 

[chip j]

I had a similiar problem with my F100. There is a new back available for that, but I'm not going to spend a bundle fixing it. It was too heavy anyway. Now I have 2 N75's --far lighter w/much better meters.

 

[Stephen Schoof]

I had to replace doors on an N70 and F100 when the latches broke. If you can find the door part for a price you're willing to pay, it's not hard to switch out. You just have to move the metal parts over (pressure plate, rollers, etc) as the door does not include those.

 

[Ricardo Miranda]

It is going to be difficult to replace a f80 door due to the flexible ribbon cable that links it to the camera. It isn't visible how one can remove this cable, not without a repair manual or knowledge of these electronic cables.
I believe I saw not long ago a replacement door latches for the F80. You can always try the old trick of just taping the door closed. Or find a repaireer that can just repair those plastic latches!

"You could just buy another N80."
Yes, you could do that until all F80s have developed a problem or 2 and no one had bothered to repair them. It will take a few more years though for that to happen!

 

[newcan1]

I bought some black plastic clips from Home Depot that I needed anyway - for $10 - then I hacksawed a small strip of the black plastic off of one of them. Using a photograph (from ebay) of the N80 back, I used the plastic strip to fashion two small pieces of plastic to replace the broken tabs, and superglued them in place. Presto: The camera has been working flawlessly.

I only paid $5 for the N80 body in the first place, because of the broken latches. I bought a second one with broken latches and plan to do the same. The N80/F80 is a real neat camera - if you use autofocus lenses it has most all of the F100's features that are important to me.

 

[Chan Tran]

How about just buy this. http://dallas.craigslist.org/mdf/pho/3792367832.html

 

[TheToadMen]

I bought a complete new back door from Nikon for my Nikon F90x film camera for 25.00.

 

[Photo-gear]

Thank you all for answering.
I think there are only 2 options: either buy a second-hand one or fix it by myself as it was suggested by newcan1.

It is kind of irritating that Nikon did not take the trouble to design a back door with metal clips, so such an inconvenient would not happen...

 

[chip j]

The N90 has metal clips. I lost a lot of respect for Nikon because of the F100, and I've had Nikons since 1966.

 

[Photo-gear]

The N90 has metal clips. I lost a lot of respect for Nikon because of the F100, and I've had Nikons since 1966.

I am quite happy with the F100, although I managed to get the version without the rewind fork issue. Yes, if the N90 has metal clips, it has a sticky leatherette. It is as though there is no way-out, always something wrong...

Stuff happens even to good brands. How old is this F80?

I wish I knew. I bought it 3 years ago. I had no problem until recently.

 

[newcan1]

It's so easy to fix it yourself; give it a try!