2 replies to this topic

[Dallas]

Tell us about your experiences with the Nikon F80 (N80). This topic will be indexed on our CAMERAS page.

[italy74]

Definitely positive.

The only thing that didn't persuaded me that much was focusing in tne dark, too much lens hunting, but it worked greatly until I had it (2 years and half, from spring 2005 to fall 2007); then I had the possibility to move to F6 and of course I did it (passing through a F100 for one week or so) but I can regret anything. Of course I can't compare F6 build quality and metal with F80 policarbonate but to start and proceed for a while is a great camera. Plus has also a little flash that can be useful (at least until you haven't one more powerful) and I had also the F80s which could print exposure data between frames, just like the expensive F6.
Standard CR123 batteries last more or less 6 months, at least in my case, so no need to go for specific MBs.
I got beautiful slide shots with that camera. Definitely slides are its "death" (or way to express it), or, as you say, "bread and butter".
Again, I moved to F6 only because I had a great opportunity to do it. I didn't miss anything that much.
I liked the on-screen grid and the superimposition of the focused area (which is good especially in the dark) and it was probably the only setting I changed on it.
I was happy both for the metering and the features.

[Bravin Neff]

I like this camera a lot, but it suffers from too much marketing, which annoys me. What I mean is that this camera was clearly meant to reach a "price point" with features intentionally left out for no other reason (by my lights) than to fit the market segment. This might be a 2008 person putting 2008 expectiations back into the 2000 world (there is probably more merit to this than I would normally like to accept), but the handicaps put into this camera seem difficult to forgive anymore. Specifically:

1. 1/2 stop increments, instead of 1/3. This is unheard of anymore, but maybe in 2000 this was more expected. I dislike this.
2. 1/125 flash sync. I cannot see how much more cost would have been added to make this 1/200 or 1/250, but it takes away a lot of desirability.
3. No IR remote ability. And yet it can take a mechanical cable release. Strange.
4. Palty viewfinder. It's the same as the N65. A marked step down from, say, an F100, F4 (and especially my FE2). I cannot understand why this kind of viewfinder was put on an "upscale" camera. The way I see it, this camera was merely two steps down from the F5 (the F100 being one step down). The viewfinder has uneven blurry spots depending on where you position your eye (and the center is not the "sweet spot") and it is generally poor. The D80's DX viewfinder is actually better, which is hard to believe for a crop camera.

But there is a lot to like about this camera. It has no scene modes, it has spot and center metering, decent AF, etc. The matrix meter is definitely better than the F100's, particularly in lower light (EV7 or lower) whereby the F100 habitually underexposes (the N80 does not).

I do love this camera, though.

Regards,
Bravin Neff