mehulashah's Full Review: Nikon N80 QD Body Only 35mm Film Camera
Please excuse my title, as there are probably many wives out there with much more expertise than I have. I have taken a couple photography courses in high school and college, and consider myself an amateur enthusiast.
I got tired of managing my photos online with my digital camera, and buying lots of ink for printing them out. I also was tired of getting out-of-focus shots with my manual Pentax K-1000 because of my failing eyesight. I have a new baby and I did not want to miss some the initial treasured moments of her life. So I decided to blow another $600 bucks on a nice auto-focus 35mm SLR camera.
Of course, things have changed a lot since I first got my Pentax. While looking, I wanted a camera that would give me a lot of flexibility in taking my shots (both in automatic and manual modes), as well as provide a "no-brain" mode with flash so my wife could use the camera. After going to a couple camera stores and asking the guys behind the counter, I ended up on settling on the Nikon N80.
It offers a bunch of features that the lower models don't have: a bracketing mode for getting the best exposure for slides, 2.5 fps continuous shooting mode, several flash modes, several auto-focus modes with 5 areas in which you can focus, a grid for lining up architectural shots, etc. But of course, you end up paying about $200 more than the N65. The N90 is again $200 more expensive, but also reaches into the "professional" category. Although that was another camera I pondered buying, it didn't come with a built-in flash, making it difficult for my wife to use.
Since I had heard that Nikons have reputation for being the best, I went ahead and bought it without comparing against other brands. I should have. The Cannon EOS VIIe is a comparable camera to the Nikon N80. It has a faster film advance and provides a focusing feature which tracks your eyeball to determine where to focus. Although these features sound nice, I'm not sure how much they would really make a difference for me. I mainly like to take portraits, stills, and outdoor shots. The advantage with the Nikon is that they have better lense optics, and their
AF-S lenses provide a comparable ultrasound, silent auto-focusing mechanism that Cannon lenses provide.
The N80 is also much lighter than its predecessor the N70, and the user-interface is much improved, although the customization features still require a good read of the manual. As far as durability goes, I don't know, I haven't dropped it yet or used it in the rain, and I don't plan on doing either. The pictures I have taken so far have been easier to take and come out much better than any other digital or SLR camera I own or have owned.
I am a little disappointed in the built-in flash, although I don't know if other built-in flashes offer anything more. The built-in flash illuminates the subjects well in low-light situations, but does nothing with the surrounding area. Result: illuminated subjects, dark backgrounds ... which can be annoying if you don't want that.
I would suggest this camera for the amateur photographer. It is flexible enough for him/her, and for a significant other who may not have the same inclinations for photography but the need to take pictures.
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