price build quality metering system smart operation

plastic body no vertical shutter release with MB-16

I bought this camera few months ago, I can say its very good deal for the price, the build quality is very good although the body is plastic, its easy and simple to use , I found the metering system very dependable and accurate, specs are really good and are suitable for any serious amateur or a pro as a back up camera, I like the rubberized grip, it gives a solid feeling, and the MB-16 (battery pack grip) will improve the handling of this camera, its really hard to find any real weakness of this camera when you look at the price

Customer Service

not needed

* Great functionality at this price * Built-in flash (in contrast to the pro bodies like F100 and F5) * Handy for outdoor photography

* Film rewinding sometimes doesn't work

This is a piece of nice-built SLR for serious non-pro photographer. On top of the resonable price tag, F80 offers superior functionality as well as versatility. The key functions (like AE/AF lock, aperture preview button) could be accessable quickly. The body includes most of the "must-have" functions in F90x and F100 at 1/3 of the price and 1/2 of the weight. I may not need the battery pack since I would like to keep it a handly/small body. I don't need a pro-look as well (I will bring along a F5 overwise).

Customer Service

-

Similar Products Used:

Nikon F601; F90x; F5

-Fine metering, -Good AF, -Good build quality, -looks the part with MB-16 and 28-105. -Has two command dials unlike cheaper Nikons, making for better manual operation. -The best veiwfinder ever seen- all the info you could want, bright and superimpossable E-grid.

-No manual lens metering -Silver version a no-no, looks cheap and tacky. -Pricey CR123 batteries- battery pack will pay for itself in a few months with Nimh AAs.

This is a fine camera and I would not trade it in for an F100 or even an F5. I am only 17 years of age and this was my first SLR camera. I only fear that it has spoiled me! It has served me well on two camping trips to Ireland, and has not let me down yet. I use it primerily with an AF Nikkor 50mm f1.8D and AF Nikkor 28-105 f3.5-4.5D, having traded in the inferior 28-100G it came with. I also have a 70-300 G. The pictures from this camera speak for themselves. Inteligently used, it can produce truly proffesional looking results, especialy slides. The two lenses I use are perfect for it, ballance and handling are perfect. My one proviso is that you get the MB-16 battery pack-it not only spares you the pricey CR123s but improves handling and makes it look the buisines! Without that it is only 4 out of 5. The one snag is that manual lenses can be fitted but not metered. Perhaps this was droped to keeep the price down ( A picture in the manual shows the camera with the AI indexing ring around the lens mount that would allow, as with the F100, AIS lenses to be used-shame.). Despite this, I have used manual lenses in studio with flash no trouble. Standard TTL flash still works with manual lenses, though. Bloody good allround despite this one let down. Get the black version, and in the hands of anyone but the greenest amerture you will not be disapionted. £1 sterling is about $1.65.

Customer Service

Not reqired

Similar Products Used:

Nikon F75,Nikon EM Zenit EM

Fast Autofocus, Great metering (matrix, spot, and centerweighted) and well placed controls, also the rubberized grip gives it a solid feeling

Wish I could use it with my old Non-CPU lenses

I bought my Nikon n-80 to replace my older nikon SLRs and also the n-65 I was using. So far I've found it to be an excellent camera. I work for ritz camera and therefore get to try almost every SLR on the market before making a decision to purchase. The N-80's controls are super intuitive and coupled with a fast, responsive auto focus and the ability to select from on of the 5 auto focus points just by moving your thumb is invaluable. I've also found the 3d matrix metering to be dead on in almost any situation you can think of. I would recomend the N-80 to anyone who is looking for that "step-up" model since it has almost all of the features of the f-100 at about 1/3 the price. Many people on this review page have suggested that perhaps the N-80 is too plasticy, or not well enough sealed, and then go on to compare it to cameras many times it's price. The N-80 is what it is, a very low priced, extremely capable SLR with all the features that most advanced amateurs will ever need, and I know many pro's that use it as a back up.

Customer Service

non needed

Similar Products Used:

Nikon N65, FTN, FT2, FE2

Excellent metering system (like F100) On demand screen grid Easy and simple to use Straight forward controls Good build quality Cheap price cable-release socket spot metering amateur's F100

No vertical shutter release with the MB-16 Plastic body

This is an amazing camera by Nikon for this price, this camera is nicely built with straight forward controls and no extra complicated unwanted stuff !! the operation is very simple and works perfectly even for most demanding photographers, it has very similar operation to Nikon F100 and they share the same metering system which is great , the main difference between the N80 and the F100 is the metal body and that’s why this camera is not a pro camera ,so you have to be little careful not to drop it or abuse it ,so the plastic body wont be a problem if you take good care of it . The build quality is amazing (unlike similar Canon and Minolta bodies) ,and this camera has a lot of nice features like ( on demand screen grid ) which is very useful in scenic photography or when photographing buildings and straight lines. It has a slow fps (2.5) comparing to the Elan 7 but its not a big deal if you don't shoot sports If you are thinking of buying the Nikon N75 , I think you should take the N80 into consideration , it is little more expensive but it worth's every single penny , the features look similar between these 2 nice Nikons but be careful , the N75 wont offer you every feature in a direct way , for example you can access some features through preset modes only and that’s why the N80 is more suitable for a serious amateur , one more thing about the N75 is the size of the camera , it feels like it was designed for a lady's hands not for a big hands like mine !! so you should take this into consideration also , one more camera to consider is the Canon Elan 7E ,it a nice camera , but it looks too complicated , although this is fascinating for amateurs ,it gives you the feeling that you are a pro ,but for everyday use ,its not good at all , you need something easy and simple which make the N80 the winner If you are tight on budget or if you are not a pro (who would abuse his camera) I would recommend this camera , it is the best deal for the money.

Customer Service

Not needed

Similar Products Used:

Pentax SLRs

it has almost the good feature of the F100 camera very good price for a lot of features peformance is very good

you can not use your build in meter when your using your manual AI lenses but if you have your hand held light meter not a problem.

as they say this camera is a very good buy. it has almost all the good features of an F100 camera i like the weight of this camera it is plastic right but it does not mean it will be distroy for a year it still pass for some standard quality control and for 2 year of hardly use there are no problem about this camera i use it for nature photography and i think this camera is almost dedicated for nature photography becouse of its features i love this camera and it fit on my work mybe for some user it will be lack of feature but for nature its a good buy the only weakness that i can see is you can not use your build in meter when your using manual AI lenses thats only the problem for this camera but if you use your hand held meter thats not a problem. recomendetions is very high.

Customer Service

very helpfull supportive

Similar Products Used:

nikon F4

A lot of useful features,like double esposures for special effects with filters, TTL fill flash is excellent, I use it in Manual 80 percent of the time but the Program mode is very accurate. DOF (depth of field preview) very helpful, 1/125th second flash sync. etc etc.

Feel too platic compared to F3, F100.

Very good camera, A lot of features and very easy to use. Has almost all the features of F100 but at half the price. I recommend this camera. The only thing I dont like is the hot shoe, somehow it doesn't make good contacts with the SC-17 cord all the time, had to clean them very often specially outdoors.

Similar Products Used:

Nikon F3HP, Pentax K1000, Nikon FM2N, Nikon FM3A, F100, F4s,

Light weight, feature packed, easy to use for beginner or more advanced user. Excellent!

Drains batteries quicker than my manual camera but not excessively so.

Brilliant Camera! All the features you could ask for at a fraction of the price of an F100 or F5. Some people moan about the build quality etc but for the price (less than half of an F100!) what do you expect? I think the camera is just fine for it's intended market - serious amateur/semi-pro. If you want a pro camera - buy one! My F80 was supplied with 28-80 and 70-300 zooms which are both lightweight but perform exceptionally well for their cost (again, these lenses are not pro lenses so don't compare them with lenses costing 10 times more!). I now have a Tamron 28-300 XR zoom which is excellent and makes my outfit more portable for day trips etc and provides good quality exposures. I only shoot on print film so cannot comment on the lens performance for slides. I will resist digital for some time to come with my F80 and may even consider purchasing a second body for back-up (although I doubt I'll need it!)

Customer Service

None

Similar Products Used:

Minolta X700 manual camera

Mechanically reliable, the price is outstanding. If you are an amateur photographer, this camera is all you need.

MB-16 does not have a shutter release and flash sync is a little slow (good enough for amateur work though)

Great camera. Great price for specs, can not get better than that. Meter is great, the feel is super (specially with MB-16). AF with AFS lenses is superb (get the 24-85AFS and you will be thrilled with the performance and their combined price).

Customer Service

none

Similar Products Used:

nikon lenses and cameras, olympus manual cameras, canon digital S45, Ricoh Point and shoot and Rollei point and shoot

Clinchers for me: Spot meter On screen grid Lenses available Construction Layout

Things that gave me doubt: Maybe the view finder is a little small Continuious shooting FPS is a bit slow

This was my first auto focus SLR after using a Pentax K1000 on and off for years. At the time I worked in a photographic retail outlet and so had a huge range of almost every camera available to to pick up and test out, what better time to buy a camera! I spent a couple of months and spoke to many employees throughout the chain of stores Jessops has all over the country when deciding what camera to go for. My budget was the only limiting factor, which put me in the Nikon F80, Minolta Dynax 5, Canon EOS30 range (excluding manual focus only cameras). I stopped playing with the bigger more expensive stuff. The F80 became "the one" for various reasons, for starters everyone (and I mean lots of people) told me not to bother with the Minoltas, and on picking one of the ugly little things up I could see why, mainly due to it's un-intuitive layout. The Canon however was another matter, a very impressive camera I thought. The Eye focus system to me was original and useful (and worked), the body was well built although slightly bulky and plasticky and the layout was well designed I found. Along with it's other proud features it was a very attractive option. The Nikon though was more compact, a better build and nicer finish, had spot metering (unlike the Canon), the layout gave you everything the others did but in an amazingly simplistic way! It was like the other two cameras were purposrfully un-intuitive, and stuck knobs and switches in strange places. Hold a camera to shoot and everything on the Nikon is in reach of your fingers, along with the spot meter. The other clincher was the massive array of affordable and non-affordable lenses. Complaints about the cheap len's? So what, every manufacturer makes cheap lenses but not all have a long history of making some really amazing pieces of glass. In this price range there is nothing else, trust me I played with them all for months!

Customer Service

I sold it to myself, so not too bad.

Similar Products Used:

EOS 30 Dynax 5 F100 EOS 3