Nikon F80 battery life

AGagnon · Jun 4, 2016

How many rolls of film are you able to shoot with the same set of CR123A batteries in your F80? It seems difficult for me to do more than 4 or 5 rolls, and that is in manual mode, all custom functions default and no flash... I am using Watson rechargeable batteries (400mAh).

I am asking because from what I have read online, I should be able to shoot 20-25 rolls? Otherwise, I love the camera : it's packed with features, very light and the metering system is excellent.

I have considered the MB-16 battery pack but they aren't that cheap and I would probably just buy a F100 instead.

BetterSense · Jun 4, 2016

Dozens, even with some flash.

Just use good disposable CR123 batteries. I buy house brand ones from batterystation.com. They are known to be good batteries. But you can't go wrong with energizer or Duracell either.

gone · Jun 4, 2016

The batteries in mine lasted a good long time. Not sure how many rolls of films, but it was a lot. Neat little SLRs w/ the quietest shutter outside of a Leica. I loved mine, didn't love the darkish, low magnification viewfinder. Otherwise a fun little camera. If you put an MB battery pack on it you lose the advantage of the N80. It's small size and weight.

shutterfinger · Jun 4, 2016

You answered your question in your question post without knowing it. You state your Watson rechargeables are 400 mAh. Energizer, Duracell and similar disposable lithium batteries CR123 are 1400mAh to 1600mAh. At 1/4 the mAh capacity of disposables 4 to 5 rolls of film per charge is correct operation. Get a higher capacity rechargeable and you number of rolls per charge will increase.

CMoore · Jun 4, 2016

Seems to be "a lot" of interest in these Nikon ...Power Of Ten... cameras of late.
I assume they can be had for pretty reasonable sums.?

Sirius Glass · Jun 5, 2016

Mine will last a long time, years in fact, unless I go on a trip to an area that does not have store that stock the CR123 batteries, and then the battery dies. Carry fresh spares, especially if you do not think that you need them.

trythis · Jun 5, 2016

Home depot online sells some in a 10 pack cheap that are USA made that last a long time. These batteries are used in a lot of flashlights and can be found for a $1 or so per battery. I would just skip the rechargeable things. I am using red ones this round, sure fire brand?

AGagnon · Jun 5, 2016

Thanks all for the answers! I use Eneloops batteries (AA and AAA) at home and they are very good, so when I needed to buy the CR123A I didn't even check the disposable ones. I will check them out.

I used the F80 with the Watson batteries was this winter. The temperature was -10 Celsius and the batteries lasted only a bit more than a roll.

destroya · Jun 5, 2016

i got 20 rolls with no flash on a set of surefire and it stills shows more than half full. I only use surefire for 123 in all my cameras that require them. yes they are more but they last a lot longer and handle the cold like no others. 12 pack is like $20 on amazon. not that much more than other brands

mrred · Jun 5, 2016

Why not just invest in some rechargeables? They are all over ebay and I have used them for years.

Prest_400 · Nov 27, 2016

So good to google about battery topics of the F80 and end up in APUG itself.

Last Wednesday I did a couple long exposures at night, summing about 10 min. When I took it into home, there was a bit of condensation (It's been warm long time here so forgot about it!) so I put it into the backpack and readied it for the next day.

Next day arrived and the camera didn't respond. First thought was: The camera electronics died, as I've used it near and in the sea for the whole summer. Not good conditions. Upon closer inspection I found out that I left it ON the whole night, 16 hours since.
I forgot that not only the LCD (went blank) but the VF and grid are also powered. There was a little bit of juice still for the diopter and grid.

4 months. Mismatched batteries (Older Kodak with Newer Panasonic cells) and 10 rolls with just a couple flashes but many on and refocusing periods. Actually not bad.

destroya said:
i got 20 rolls with no flash on a set of surefire and it stills shows more than half full. I only use surefire for 123 in all my cameras that require them. yes they are more but they last a lot longer and handle the cold like no others. 12 pack is like $20 on amazon. not that much more than other brands

A friend told me about trying rechargeables, and turns out there are the RCR123 but I already ordered another pair of single use cr123.
I wanted a Cree LED flashlight and researched about the battery types, ended up getting a 18650 powered torch. It's amusing to read about these chinese brand batteries (SureFire, TrustFire, etc) because there are a ton of counterfeits.

darkroommike · Nov 27, 2016

Prest_400 said:
So good to google about battery topics of the F80 and end up in APUG itself.

...
I wanted a Cree LED flashlight and researched about the battery types, ended up getting a 18650 powered torch. It's amusing to read about these chinese brand batteries (SureFire, TrustFire, etc) because there are a ton of counterfeits.

Counterfeit Chinese batteries? That's a new one on me.

The rechargeables are low power and probably lower voltage and the camera will quit as soon as the voltage drops. Flashlights don't notice or care but a camera is a bit more picky. I've never even considered putting rechargeable batteries in any of my cameras or flash units that do not specifically endorse the use of rechargeables.

Chan Tran · Nov 27, 2016

The standard disposable CR123a batteries rated at 1500 mAh. Yours rechargeable is only 400 mAh and also suffers some degree of self discharge.

Prest_400 · Nov 27, 2016

darkroommike said:
Counterfeit Chinese batteries? That's a new one on me.

The rechargeables are low power and probably lower voltage and the camera will quit as soon as the voltage drops. Flashlights don't notice or care but a camera is a bit more picky. I've never even considered putting rechargeable batteries in any of my cameras or flash units that do not specifically endorse the use of rechargeables.

Quite hilarious, I must say that it's mostly seen on the 18650 batteries. Turns out that those are the cells used in laptop batteries (and Tesla cars), so one option for the Chinese is to recover them and put a new sticker. Most common to then have an underwhelming cell. More extreme cases such as this tiny battery in large cell filled with flour:
I'm wary about the Ultrafire battery that will come with the flashlight, may try a local source of brand batteries instead. CR123 I don't think see that degree of fake and counterfeiting because of their more exclusive use and lack of industrial 2nd hand source. I must say that it was quite entretaining (and worrying) to read about it on flashlight hobbyist forums, plus learning about heaps of battery formats and issues. After all we share enthusiasm for light!

On the F80 itself I just thought about testing the old batteries but do not have a volt meter handy today. Actually that 18650 flashlights may fit 2xCR123 so I may wear out the pair I have from the F80.

mgb74 · Nov 27, 2016

Prest_400 said:
...I wanted a Cree LED flashlight and researched about the battery types, ended up getting a 18650 powered torch. It's amusing to read about these chinese brand batteries (SureFire, TrustFire, etc) because there are a ton of counterfeits.

Yes. And you never know if the counterfeit is simply an extra run off the same outsourced factory line or inferior. Plus it seems many do not meet their published capacity.

cooltouch · Dec 6, 2016

Get an MB-16 battery grip (takes "AA") and be done with the cr-123 hassle.

Prest_400 · Dec 6, 2016

Late update: Batteries arrived last week and went it. Camera is fine and sounds happier. In the meantime I took out a Nikon n4004 body instead and what a difference. I don't know if the 1980s advice of "camera sounds and acts slow" as a sign of low batteries can be used with the 90s models.

Curiously one of the batteries was quite fine still and the other one drained. The new two are a pair of Panasonics.
Leaving it on for a whole night plus not being equal cells may have been a factor.

The MB16 may add too much heft, as an advantage of the F80 is the lightweight. Still, I may find a body with one.

cooltouch · Dec 6, 2016

Actually, the MB-16 itself is very lightweight. The 4 "AA" batteries are the only things that give it a bit of heft. I have rather large hands and I also like the extension the MB-16 provides.

Nikon F80 battery life

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