I love it - the Nikon N80

[M-88]

I did find the N75 service manual (it is $1.00 at the Learn Camera Repair site) and it is amazing. It has detailed COLOR photographs of the disassembly process. Though one still needs to get access to the computer program for the diagnostics.

I wonder if the same kind of manual is available for N80/F80 and if the program you mentioned in your post, is available at any price at all.

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As for the lenses, I was considering to get 28-80, 28-70, 28-200, all of which were dropped down after I got my hands on 28-105. This lens does pretty much everything I need, except for telephoto use.

 

[ic-racer]

Yes the n80 factory service manual has been available free on the internet.

My impression is current Nikon digicam diagnostics software is protected on- line resource, whereas the n80 diagnostics came on a 3 1/2” floppy. j18316

I wonder if the same kind of manual is available for N80/F80 and if the program you mentioned in your post, is available at any price at all.

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As for the lenses, I was considering to get 28-80, 28-70, 28-200, all of which were dropped down after I got my hands on 28-105. This lens does pretty much everything I need, except for telephoto use.

 

[ic-racer]

repair shops will likely lose access to Nikon’s proprietary calibration software. Such software is used to verify and adjust the focus mechanisms and sensors on cameras. More than one authorized shop owner said this software is provided on an encrypted hard drive by Nikon, and the apps regularly check in with Nikon over the web to validate the owner’s authorized status.

 

[M-88]

Thank you, ic-racer. Looks like the interface hardware alone is hard to obtain, not to mention the software.

 

[Thesecondone]

Bumping this thread.


I took mine to a car show today , had this camera loaded with film. This is the most frustrating camera i ever dealt with. Sometimes the camera would nail the focus on the first go but most of the time i had to keep trying to get it to focus on my subject for a bout a min or so for each photo. I gave up after about 7 shots


I really wanted to like it. Im not gonna give up on it , maybe its me, maybe its the lens idk. It was kinda disappointing to put it back in my bag. Plus side is i had my F2’s with me.

 

[Daniela]

Bumping this thread.


I took mine to a car show today , had this camera loaded with film. This is the most frustrating camera i ever dealt with. Sometimes the camera would nail the focus on the first go but most of the time i had to keep trying to get it to focus on my subject for a bout a min or so for each photo. I gave up after about 7 shots


I really wanted to like it. Im not gonna give up on it , maybe its me, maybe its the lens idk. It was kinda disappointing to put it back in my bag. Plus side is i had my F2’s with me.

I don't know about lighting conditions at a car show, and I assume they're very good, but I have found it almost impossible to use the autofocus only at night when shooting street.
What lens do you have on it? I use the kit 28-80, and when I use the autofocus in daylight in the street-which admittedly isn't often- I've been pleasantly surprised by its fastness and the results.

 

[ic-racer]

I find the autofocus on the later Nikons mind-boggling when I think of the computing necessary and limited time available to achieve the correct focus.

 

[Sirius Glass]

Bumping this thread.


I took mine to a car show today , had this camera loaded with film. This is the most frustrating camera i ever dealt with. Sometimes the camera would nail the focus on the first go but most of the time i had to keep trying to get it to focus on my subject for a bout a min or so for each photo. I gave up after about 7 shots


I really wanted to like it. Im not gonna give up on it , maybe its me, maybe its the lens idk. It was kinda disappointing to put it back in my bag. Plus side is i had my F2’s with me.

First use the AF mode and if that is not what you want switch to the MF mode.

 

[Prest_400]

I haven't kept so much an eye after F80s (Europe here) but I had an impulse purchase for a Nikon F90 with a kit lens. Infact they are in similar price ranges and the latter is more robust; but do miss the lightness of the F80.
(slightly OT) This one came with a bit of wardrobe and rubber smell. Reminded me of the F401s my dad used and it must be something from the rubbers used in that time. The F80 doesn't have those.

I took mine to a car show today , had this camera loaded with film. This is the most frustrating camera i ever dealt with. Sometimes the camera would nail the focus on the first go but most of the time i had to keep trying to get it to focus on my subject for a bout a min or so for each photo. I gave up after about 7 shots

An actual annoyance is that depending on how one carries the camera in the back, it's easy for the focusing switch to move from AF-S to AF-C. More than once I have been confused why the camera did not lock focus and this was a reason.


On the F80 vs F100 vs F90 vs F5... I always have ended choosing bang for the buck because film and everything else downstream in the workflow also takes budget.

 

[reddesert]

Bumping this thread.


I took mine to a car show today , had this camera loaded with film. This is the most frustrating camera i ever dealt with. Sometimes the camera would nail the focus on the first go but most of the time i had to keep trying to get it to focus on my subject for a bout a min or so for each photo. I gave up after about 7 shots


I really wanted to like it. Im not gonna give up on it , maybe its me, maybe its the lens idk. It was kinda disappointing to put it back in my bag. Plus side is i had my F2’s with me.

Take a look at the N80 manual especially at the sections "AF Area Mode" and "Focus Area." The N80 (and cameras like it) have a variety of different ways to set up which AF sensors it is going to use, which can be flexible, but if you get into an odd place in these modes the camera can focus on not what you expect. For example if the area lock is unlocked, and then the selector is accidentally pressed (the round 4-way button on the back that falls under your right thumb), it is fairly easy to shift the focus area to one of the off center sensors, and then you can be puzzled why it won't grab focus on the center. This has happened to me (with another camera, but same principle).

 

[ic-racer]

One thing I miss on the N80/F80 is the focus point confirmation when in "Dynamic AF" mode. On the N75 and F6 (only those two), the focus point that was chosen automatically by the camera will light up in the viewfinder.

 

[M-88]

Bumping this thread.


I took mine to a car show today , had this camera loaded with film. This is the most frustrating camera i ever dealt with. Sometimes the camera would nail the focus on the first go but most of the time i had to keep trying to get it to focus on my subject for a bout a min or so for each photo. I gave up after about 7 shots


I really wanted to like it. Im not gonna give up on it , maybe its me, maybe its the lens idk. It was kinda disappointing to put it back in my bag. Plus side is i had my F2’s with me.

This is odd and radically different from my experience of several years. I used cheap 35-80 mm zoom, first gen 50/1.8 AF lens, 28-105 mm kit lens and 70-210 mm push-pull lens. And I have never missed focus under any circumstance. Probably because I generally shoot with middle focus, hardly ever switching to other four available points.

Mine had the infamous door latch broken and replaced with metal piece even before it was gifted to me back in 2012, so one less thing to break in it.

Still prefer my FM for casual use, though.

 

[Thesecondone]

Sorry for the late reply everyone . Here is the lens i have on the camera . Nikon DX AF- NIKKOR 18-55mm 1:3.5-5.6

 

[Craig]

Sorry for the late reply everyone . Here is the lens i have on the camera . Nikon DX AF- NIKKOR 18-55mm 1:3.5-5.6

A DX series Nikkor is designed for reduced sensor size digital cameras, it will not cover the full frame of a 35mm film camera. That may be part of the problem, it's an incompatible lens!

 

[Thesecondone]

A DX series Nikkor is designed for reduced sensor size digital cameras, it will not cover the full frame of a 35mm film camera. That may be part of the problem, it's an incompatible lens!

Whats a decent lens to pick up? That makes alot of sense now . I thought any old af lens would work

 

[Craig]

Any of the AF lenses designed for full frame should work. Just make sure than it isn't a DX lens. Depending on what focal length you are looking for, the 28-85mm F 2.8-4 is a good performer and fairly fast for a zoom. A standard 50mm should be cheap too.

 

[Thesecondone]

Thanks craig. Ill go for a standard 50mm and call it a day with that

 

[ic-racer]

Just bought another n80.

I had been visiting my brother and had my F100 with me. I noticed him picking it up and looking through it. He then showed my some color 'machine prints' he recently got back from the lab. I appears he has been using more film in the last few years with an Olympus point and shoot.

I bought the n80 as a gift for him. I did spend more to get one with a box, all the paperwork, a non-broken latch, and manual. I don't think he has a good way to view PDF files.

 

[ic-racer]

The camera arrived in good condition in the original box.

As is the case with many cameras, it was sold as ‘non-functional’

Initially the mirror was up and the screen showed ‘Err’

With fresh batteries, all is well!

It came with the original sales receipt of about $500, warranty card and a cool foldout showing the ‘N80 System’

 

[Sirius Glass]

The camera arrived in good condition in the original box.

As is the case with many cameras, it was sold as ‘non-functional’

Initially the mirror was up and the screen showed ‘Err’

With fresh batteries, all is well!

It came with the original sales receipt of about $500, warranty card and a cool foldout showing the ‘N80 System’

Enjoy your N80 and shoot more film.

 

[Henning Serger]

My F80, which I had bougth brand new in 2007 (one of the last ones), showed the well-known "sticky" problem of the camera cover / surface in the last year.
So finally this summer I took Isopropyl-Alcohol (99.x%) for cleaning and removing this stickyness. Needed quite a lot of time to remove it, but in the end the cleaning process was successful: No sticky surface anymore.
Yupp, the F80 is a very nice and capable camera, and quite undervalued on the used market.

Best regards,
Henning

 

[ic-racer]

So this is what you can get if you pay a little more. Still very reasonable at $70. Again, this one is going to be a birthday gift.

 

[ic-racer]

Testing the shutter and auto exposure. All is good. This one has very little use and a non-broken latch.

 

[aw614]

I first saw a 30 dollar Black N80 at a local thrift store a few years ago and kind of regretted not buying it when I saw it.

There is a flea market that is only open on Mondays but seems popular in central Florida and being that I finally had a Monday off, I went to see what they had and came back with an N80 body for 20 bucks, sticky body, working film door and a Nikon body cap too. Up the road 15 miles north is an antique store that has a guy that always has camera gear and so I went and bought a 50 1.8 that should be fine. Though I wonder if I should have gotten the 24mm that had been advertised with AF not working. Another local antique shop near me has an N90 for 60 bucks and what seems to come with bag and a few zoom lenses...but never checked the battery cover on it if it has dreaded AA battery corrosion

Oddly enough for the talk on the N80 being "small", the N80 feels heavy and large compared to my Maxxum 5 lol. The AF on the N80 is much quieter, I was expecting it to be as loud as the Minolta screwdrive AF.

What a weird day at that Flea Market, last year had mostly nothing, but this year had way more stuff to check out in general, as I also ended up with a cheap full set Pentax auto 110. But no way was I paying over 50 bucks on a broken soviet LTM rangefinder (Fed 3needed curtains and Fed 1 not advancing) or overpriced AE1s and K1000s lol.

 

[KerrKid]

An N80 in what looked like very good condition recently sold on eBay for around $60. It was oddly coupled with a Nikkor 55-200mm VR lens which pushed its selling price up, but I can't figure out why a DX lens was on the camera.

I took my N80 to South Padre Island, TX over the Christmas weekend. Need to finish the roll and get it developed.