Nikon N80 viewfinder oddity--any ideas?

I just bought a used N80 via eBay. The camera arrived today, and it seems to be in a great shape, except that there's a strange, see-through "gap" beneath the bottom of the viewfinder where the aperture and shutter speeds are displayed. Here's a couple of pictures of the viewfinder:





I've looked inside the mirror chamber of the camera, but can't see anything obviously wrong. The camera seems to work OK with a lens attached. I haven't shot a roll through yet, I'm going to do that later today and see how they turn out.

In the meantime, does anyone know what the abnormal showing above may be?

At a guess I'd suggest that the silvering on the prism is starting to deteriorate. I bought an OM 1 recently and when you looked through the viewfinder you could see a couple of marks at the bottom that looked like the residue after you pull sticky tape off of glass. Underneath that was something that looked like a frame or part of the structure of the camera. It looked similar to what you have there.

I had the prism replaced and all the marks are gone and the viewfinder has a nice black border all around it again. Might be worth asking a repairer if this is what's happening to the prism in your camera.

There is a similar gap under the viewfinder of my N80, though I don't think it's as pronounced as what you show. Mine has functioned flawlessly since I purchased it in 2005. Well, almost... it's starting to show the use. It's not my main camera, but it's my "everything" camera and travels with me in the bottom of a napsack everywhere I go. (not even a proper camera bag such as I would use for a photo outing or travelling.)

These are great and durable cameras. If you don't have the M-16 (?) battery grip, I would recommend getting one. With it, I power my camera with rechargeable AA batteries, and the added size and weight creates a better balance between the body and my lenses.

Cheers,

I would send it to nikon. If you don't feel like that, you can just shoot it and compensate if the viewfinder is off.

I, too, would have a Nikon technician or a camera repairman look at it. Back when I still had AF cameras, I had several N80s (four, I believe), and I do not remember seeing anything like what you have posted here. I would have noticed, too. I second the suggestion for the battery grip, the MB-16. It seems to transform the N80. Actually, a grip will help any camera, but it seems to have an even grater impact on the N80 and F100.

Well the roll I put through came back absolutely fine. No signs of light leaks or scratches or anything out of the ordinary. If I find a good local repairshop, I might take it in to have them take a look at it, but the camera seems to operate just fine.

Thanks everyone for the suggestions and insights!