Nikon N80 Review - What's not to love/hate?
The Nikon N80 - introduced in the year 2000. 1 year after Nikon’s first Digital Camera, the Nikon D1. Image courtesy of Nikon USA.
This review is going to be a bit of a love/hate affair. I’ll bring that statement full-circle at the end, but first let me talk about the N80, its history, and what its like to use. Note that all of the non-product images shown in this blogpost were shot by me on the N80 using various lenses and films.
The Nikon N80 (or “F80” to the rest of the world outside of the USA) was one of the last film SLR’s that Nikon made, being produced from 2000 thru 2006. By the time it was introduced, the march toward digital cameras was already well underway. Nikon introduced the Nikon D1 DSLR in 1999 with a whopping 2.7 megapixel CCD sensor. So, although digital tech was marching forward, at the time it was introduced a good 35mm film image still had more quality and info/detail.
The N80 sat above the N65 and just below the N90 and F100 in Nikon’s line up. Its considered below the N90 because the N90 could do 1/8000th of a second versus the N80’s 1/4000th, but personally to me the N90 is ugly, even-more-plasticky, and doesn’t have an adjustable diopter which to those of us with glasses is a must-have. So to me the N90 isn’t really a move up, and in fact they are going for less on eBay than the N80 at the moment.
Camera info:
Film Type: 135 (35mm)
Lens Mount: Nikon F-Mount Bayonet Mount
Lenses: Nikkor 50mm f/1.8 + many others
Focus: Fixed SLR Prism
Shutter: Focal Plane Vertical Metal Blade
Speeds: B, 30 – 1/4000 seconds, stepless
Exposure Meter: 3D Matrix, Center-Weighted and Spot metered
Battery: 2 x 3V CR123A Silver-Oxide or Lithium equivalent, also compatible with MB-16 Battery Pack
Flash Mount: Hotshoe
Manual: http://www.cameramanuals.org/nikon_pdf/nikon_n80_n80qd.pdf
If you are familiar with Nikon digital cameras, then you’ll feel right at home with the N80. All the buttons are familiar and make sense. I have mine configured like I have my Nikon DSLR’s – back-button focus and continuous AF. The small LCD screen gives you all of the info you need, and the shooting modes are controlled by the dial on the top left – P/A/S/M, along with custom settings and ISO setting. When you drop a roll of film in, if it is bar-coded the camera reads it and sets the ISO to match. At that point you have the option to reset that with the dial if you don’t want to shoot at box speed – like for example if you are shooting Delta 3200 but want to shoot at 1600 ISO instead.
The N80 can work with most modern and some older Nikon lenses – so all D and G lenses are no problem. It has the focus drive for the older D lenses, and focuses the G lenses like a champ as well. As mentioned before, the metering mode doesn’t work with older AI/AIS manual lenses as it needs to know what aperture the lens is via electronic connection in order to meter correctly. That said, you can still shoot with those older lenses – you’d just shoot in manual mode and use a separate hand-held meter. Nikon’s rationale at the time was that the “prosumer” who would purchase this camera would want to use the latest lenses and wouldn’t be interested in such older lenses – plus it probably saved cost. If this is your thing and you want to meter and shoot in A-mode with old glass, then you’d need to make the $$ step up to the F100, or maybe an F4/F5 if you don’t mind the extra weight.
What’s it like to shoot? In a word, fantastic.
Just point it at your subject, focus, and shoot. The meter is fantastic, and the camera just doesn’t get in the way. It let’s you get the shot every time. Yes, we all know the quality truly depends on the lens and the film stock, and the camera is just a glorified box. But this box just works, and allows you to focus (pun intended) on the task at hand. The shutter is also fairly quiet – especially compared to my F5 – so you won’t have everyone stop what they are doing and stare at you when you push the button.
Of course, its not all sunshine and roses.
To me, it does feel a bit smallish in the hand when shooting. I’ve become spoiled by the deep grip on modern Nikon DSLR’s. The auto-focus is also a little slow, depending on the lens you are using. My 50mm f/1.8D prime is fast on this body, but cheaper lenses can be a bit sluggish. I think the drive motor in the camera isn’t as strong/fast as my F5. And it does feel a little “plasticky” and light compared to my other Nikons, but that is also a benefit as it is super light and easy to carry on a long hike.
Also, that plastic construction means that they aren’t as durable as other cameras. Looking on eBay you will find a great many of them with broken plastic door latches, and/or not working with “ERR” messages (probably due to being dropped). The other failure mode I see is corroded battery compartments and broken battery doors. To be fair though, a search of the “better” F100 brings up similar problems. Then there is also the dreaded “sticky rubber” problem that many cameras from this era have. The back rubber becomes very tacky and not pleasant to touch. My two examples don’t suffer from this, but it is common. There are many home-made cleaning fixes out there if you end up with one with this problem.
Speaking of eBay, you can pick up a decent N80 on eBay for anywhere from $50 USD to $120 USD. There are ones going for more than that with “MINT+++++” ratings in the box, but I’d probably not want to pay much more than $100 or so for a nice example. There are plenty of them going “for parts only” for not much money that have broken door latches or error messages, so you could potentially buy 2 of them and piece a decent one together for not much money if you took the good door from an error message one and put it on the working one with a broken door.
So as you can probably tell, I really like this cheap SLR. Its faster, lighter, and easier to shoot with than my Nikkormats and F’s, and not as heavy or expensive as my f4 and f5 autofocus SLR’s. Its great for hiking or when I want to just carry something with me to easily capture the scene – think festivals, zoo’s, family gatherings, etc. I’d go so far as to say an N80 paired with a “nifty fifty” 50mm f/1.8D lens is the perfect combo for someone wanting to dive into film for the first time after starting with digital.
That said, here’s where the “hate” part of the love/hate relationship comes in.
Its so easy to shoot with, that it doesn’t give me the same tactile experience and feeling I get when shooting my older film cameras. Its so easy and clinical that its about 1 step away from shooting digital. At least until I have to go home and develop the rolls. One of the reasons I like to shoot film so much is the process and meditative nature of the experience. Also, no one will think you are shooting a film camera if they see you out shooting with an N80. Why would I care about that? It’s not a “look-at-me” hipster thing, rather, its the fact that I enjoy chatting with folks when I am out shooting. That moment when I am shooting an older camera like an RB67 or a TLR and someone walks up to me to ask about the camera, film, etc. The stories that are shared. Not likely to happen when out with the N80.
Does that mean I won’t shoot it a lot? No, in fact I can see myself putting many more rolls thru an N80 over the coming years. But when I really want to slow down, and have that experience of the process, I’ll probably reach for something else.
Pros:
Light
Cheap
Autofocus and Metering
Works with modern lenses
Controls feel at home with modern DSLR’s
Thread-in remote cable release socket
Cons:
Plasticky – prone to door breakage
Not weather-sealed
Can’t meter with older lenses
Maybe too good and easy to use?
No one will walk up to you and strike up a conversation like they would if you were shooting an old Nikon F or some older school medium format rig like a Mamiya C220 TLR.
All that said, I highly recommend picking one up now before prices get crazy. Like all film cameras, they have been slowly creeping up in price.
Feel free to reach out to me with any questions, thanks!
Jeremy
1.19.2023 UPDATE: If interested, I’ve added two more articles for the N80/F80 to my blog page. How to replace the door here, and how to fix the latch mechanism with an aftermarket part here.
