pbanas's Full Review: Nikon N80 QD Body Only 35mm Film Camera
Last fall, I did all my research from every source and decided to finally replace my Canon AE-1 with another Canon from the EOS system. Many reviews had eloquently detailed how Canon had made tremendous advances over the years and in many ways were better than the available Nikons. (Forget Pentax and Olympus; they apparently aren't even in the race anymore.) And, I liked the idea of buying the anti-brand, presuming that Nikon had always had the quality image because of it's snob appeal.
I had made all of my decisions in a vacuum, having never held a Canon in my hands. I was prepared to buy the EOS 3 or EOS 5 and went to a camera store to make sure I liked the feel of the camera. There I had the discovery I would bet most Nikon users know: Nikon just feels better in your hands, more like a real camera. At that point, knowing that the mechanical differences between Nikon and Canon are just shades of grey, I knew the choice had to be NIKON.
HOWEVER, and this was a big however, the only choice then was between the N70 and N90. N70 famous for its clunky interface (and if you're over 40, you know you don't want to get into any products that require you to "re-learn" new tricks each time you pick up a machine) and the N90, a tad expensive, but importantly having no pop-up flash. I went home disappointed, only to read the rumours of a new N80 to appear this year.
So I waited and waited, and got on a waiting list and now have my N80. HEADLINE: worth the wait.
This camera has heft and feel that makes it a joy to pick up. I've now taken two international trips and shot about 5 rolls of my baby daughter and I'm ecstatic about picture quality and flexibility.
I won't go into the technical details because great sites like cameraworld.com and bhphoto provide comparison charts of different models, but let me summarize the biggest advantages and my learning so far:
1. If you haven't updated your system in a while, you'll love the flexibility of auto focus, coupled with totally automatic operation. My wife can pick up the camera and use it immediately. On the other hand, I can play with aperture priority or shutter priority or NO priority in a way that's pretty intuitive for an advanced computerized system.
2. That pop-up flash saves on hassle if you want to travel with as few accessories as possible or if you want to take a quick picture without hunting and setting up the extra flash attachment (again the over 40 syndrome).
3. Dials and buttons are easily accessible for short, stubby fingers (if that's what you have...) and the viewfinder data panel is easy to read.
4. On/off switch is easy to operate and the exposure meter shuts itself off after 6 seconds (adjustable) if no activity to save on battery life.
5. On this camera, Nikon went back to the old-fashioned shutter release, so you don't have to buy a $60 electronic extra if you have your old plunger.
Haven't found many negatives, except the camera is a bit complicated for backlighting situations. My old AE-1 had a backlight button that opened the aperature 1.5 stops. There are more options on the N80 which has been a bit confusing since you really have to try some things to understand the implications of your actions. But that goes for any settings off the very good automatic system.
I bought a 24-120 Nikon zoom lens to go with the camera and have been overwhelmed with the flexibility and field width. Some say the lens creates distortion around the corners, but I haven't really seen that yet. It's a good flexible lens for travel. Also found the Tamrac 515 carrying case a good fit for camera and lens (though its fluorescent colors scream "tourist!")
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