Nikon F80 Review

Introduction

Note: The F80 is sold as the N80 in the USA. It is the exact same camera.

For many years, I had been shooting with my dependable Nikon FM2 camera. In 2002 I decided to get an autofocus camera; the reasons were I wanted a better viewfinder, and I wanted to be able to shoot in situations where the FM2, with its wholly manual settings, was too slow.

I wondered what this new world of faster, more automated shooting would do for me. I like to carry a camera whenever I'm going somewhere interesting and just shoot whatever I find beautiful, meaningful or visually pleasing. Sometimes, the scene exists just for a fleeting moment and I just don't have the time to think the shot through.

This is specially true for slide shooting, where the exposure has to be very accurate. Shooting mostly black and white film with the FM2, I could fix slight errors in exposure in the darkroom. Slides are not as forgiving.

The F80 seemed like the perfect camera for what I wanted to do. It's light but relatively rugged, it's very fast, and its matrix metering is just a notch below that of the fabled Nikon F5. Just as importantly, it fits my budget.

I've been shooting with the F80 for more than 3 years; I estimate I've shot maybe 100 rolls with it. Conclusion? I love it. Read on to learn why.

Autofocus

Autofocus is mostly fast, silent and accurate. Having five AF points is very comfortable. I'd prefer them to follow the rule of thirds, like in the F6, but they come in handy anyway.

It's hard to focus on surfaces that don't have a line or some other feature that provides enough contrast. That is to be expected. The lower the light, or the slower the lens, the more the AF tends to hunt. The camera has an AF-assist light, but it is so bright and annoying that I turned it off permanently.

The AF system seems to have a bit of trouble with long lenses. It eventually achieves focus, but sometimes it hunts. It also hunts when it doesn't focus on the exact spot I want, and I move the camera a bit and push the shutter half-way several times.

In almost all cases, the AF allows me to do what I wanted to achieve with this camera: shoot fast and accurately.

Exposure

View of Mont Blanc, French Alps Exposure and metering is, without doubt, one of the F80's high points. One can go from fully manual, old-fashioned centerweight metering to fully auto, 3D matrix metering.

Exposure modes are the classic MASP - manual, aperture priority (my choice 95% of the time), shutter priority, or program mode, where the camera takes complete control. Metering modes are centerweight, spot, and matrix (evaluative) metering.

I've found that I can use matrix metering 95% of the time and get perfectly exposed slides. When conditions are a bit tricky and I don't trust the camera to measure the scene correctly, I can easily set the camera to bracket. Otherwise, or if I have a very specific idea in mind, I can switch modes or, more probably, use the super-convenient exposure compensation button.

Even snow can't fool the camera's matrix meter (see below). I bracketed some shots where I was unsure the camera could handle it, and without exception the non-compensated shot came up better exposed in the end.

It's probably worth noting that, even when given full control, there are some decisions that the camera never takes for you. For instance, it never pops up the flash on its own, like beginner-oriented cameras do. In program mode, it will try to make intelligent decisions (like keeping the shutter speed above a certain threshold depending on the focal length of the lens being used), but it's not the same as the "solution" modes found in beginner models. The F80 always assumes you know what you're doing.

Handling

The camera is very light, which seems to disturb some people, who equate lightness with lack of quality. I won't argue that the F80 is built to the standards of the F100 or F5, because very clearly it's not. There's a reason it's three times cheaper.

To me, the question is if the F80 is well-enough built for my needs and tastes. It is. I dislike heavy equipment (as I've said in other reviews), because I like to walk long distances and be able to move swiftly when needed. I dislike extra-expensive equipement because I'd hate to lose it.

The F80 is light but I think it handles very well. The grip fits my hand perfectly, all buttons and dials are accessible while looking through the viewfinder, and it is easy to handle both horizontally and vertically. With a lens mounted, it's not so light that you can't balance it properly.

Maybe it's me and my years of experience with the FM2, but it took a while for me to get used to the F80's dials. It still happens to me sometimes that I turn them in the wrong direction. It's not as natural an interface as a diaphragm dial on a lens and a shutter speed dial on top of the camera. I guess there's a reason the F100 and higher models still offer the old-fashioned dials as an option.

Also worthy of mention is the usefulness of the grid lines in the viewfinder. No more slanted horizons, and they're completely unobtrusive.

In the end, the F80 is an almost perfect fit for my hand and style.

On the field

One often hears about the F80 not being a rugged camera, and how it shouldn't be used under adverse conditions. It might well be true, but I'm not particularly concerned about this since I seldom go on safaris, climb mountains, or shoot from flimsy riverboats on the Amazon.

That doesn't mean I never go outdoors, and from time to time I shoot in less than comfortable weather. In those situations, the F80 has handled the situation rather well.

Aguille du Midi, French Alps For instance, once I spent a day high in the Alps, at around -10°C (10°F) and under 40km/h winds (25mph) (see image at left). I shot four rolls and the camera behaved splendidly. I took the batteries out every once in a while and kept them in my inside pocket for a few minutes, and that seemed to do the trick. I even used the flash on a few ocasions, without complaints from the camera nor the batteries.

By the way, exposure in the snow was perfect in almost every shot, without compensation. I shot both slide and B&W film and I was very happy with the results. I got the expected blue cast on the slides, but that is normal under the circumstances and in no way the camera's fault.

A bit of dust does tend to accumulate inside the camera, in and around the seals of the back cover. This suggests the seals are not really dust- and weather-proof. It's not a big problem — I just clean the seals every few months.

Batteries

I seem to consistently get 25 36-exposure rolls out of a fresh set of batteries. I use the flash probably 10% of the time, so your results may vary.

Flash

It's very convenient to have a flash integrated on the camera. In a pinch it can help you get an otherwise impossible shot, and you can always add an external flash if you want.

The integrated flash works best with physically short lenses and in the 28-100mm range. Anything wider, or a large lens, will cast a shadow and you'll see a dark circle in the bottom of your pictures.

I find the flash a bit on the strong side with the default settings. There's a very convenient flash compensation button that can be used to drive the power down a bit. I often find myself shooting at -1.0 or -1.5 stops.

With care, it's possible to shoot delightful portraits with perfectly exposed backgrounds and foregrounds. The matrix metering takes the flash into account automatically; all you have to do is judge the amount of compensation needed.

Some very nice flash modes are offered, including slow sync and red-eye reduction. I like to have a flash available at all times without the extra expense and weight of an external unit, even if it's more limited in its operation.

Conclusions

It's probably clear by now how much I like the Nikon F80. It's a very reliable, very dependable camera that lets the photographer shoot as fast and automatically, or as slowly and manually, as desired. It's durable, reliable and dependable.

Its only weak points are small details that Nikon left out in order to differentiate the camera from bigger models like the F100, F5 and F6. Lack of old-fashioned dials for aperture and shutter speed, and lack of compatibility with older, non-D lenses immediately spring to mind.

I find I enjoy shooting with my F80. It's fast, fun, and I can trust it with the results as far as exposure and focus are concerned. That's all I ask from it.

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