Nikon N80 Dust Seal

Has anyone noticed inadequate dust/weather seal on the N80?

I've only run about eight rolls of film through mine. Every time

I open it to change film, I find a conspicuous amount of dust

and lint. The camera has not been subjected to an unusually dirty

environment. Nikon says, "no known problem." Thanks.

Jeff

Based on Nikon's pricing structure, you cannot expect to get a F4-quality type camera for a N80 price. If you can afford a F4 (or F5) body you will find the 'dust-proofing' much more to your liking...

 

Good luck.

Hi Jeff,

I havent had this problem with my N-80, which I've been using for almost two years.

 

You might try asking if anyone at the Nikonians forum has had similar problems:

http://www.nikonians.org/cgi-bin/dcforum/dcboard.cgi

 

good luck,

 

Mark

I often see dust in mine. Not on the pictures though :)

Of course I carry it with me most of the time, so it's necessarily exposed to a lot of dust.

I've noticed dust inside my N80 also. And of course the

reason I noticed it there was because of scratches on some

negatives (and prints).

 

I try to remember to blow the dust out whenever I change

a roll. My N80 may be more prone to dust than my N6006 was.

 

And I rarely have my camera in a very dirty environment.

(I may have run 120 rolls through my N80 so far)

I've also run about eight rolls through my N80 and I've noticed a bit of dust inside my N80 as well. So far I haven't noticed any problems with my negatives because of it, but I haven't looked at them close enough to really notice. I also make sure to clean it as much as possible between rolls.

 

Overall, I'm happy with the N80, but I think this is one of the areas on this body that Nikon has failed. I would have been more than happy to pay a few extra dollars for an N80 with a better sealed back, but to have to pay 2-4 times as much to get this is a joke.

Have had mine for about as long as they have been available, and am not particularly kind to my equipment (I also use it at work as a natural resource/wilderness planner) and have had no problems with excessive dust. Clean often after use, and be carefull not to get dust in while changing film--an especially easy thing to do in the arid west. I've always thought that it may be prudent to use a Zerostat gun (those of you old enough to remeber vinyl 33's (LP's) may know of these anti-static "guns" we used to keep static from building up on our pricelss albums!

Any reason why they woudn't work with camera equipment?Assuming one can still find 'em?

F100 might feature many more rubber seals elsewhere, but its back doesn't seem to feature any additional seals compare to the N80. It's doubtful if paying twice as much for an F100 would significantly improve film chamber cleanliness.

A litte bit of dust seems to get into this camera, so regular cleaning with a blower & brush is needed. I always wonder how tiny particles of dust can make it in even if it keeps photons out!! Have not found this to be a major concern.

"tiny particles of dust can make it in even if it keeps photons out!! "<p>

Photons travel can't travel around corners unless reflected or absorbed and re-radiated. Black non-reflective surface of the labrinth seal takes care of reflection. Temperature takes care of re-radiation.

I've had my N80 for a year and a half, and have put it through heavy use, often in high humidity situations. There does appear to be a dust issue along the lower seal area. But as other posters have noted, I make a point of using a brush to carefully remove the dust, and do so at the end of the shooting day, when I usually go through an equipment check/clean-up routine. The problem has not affected any of the rolls I've shot (fortunately, I haven't had the film scratching problem that some other N80 owners have reported).

I've had two rolls out of lord-knows-how-many scratched. Both in a row. I went back and tried to figure out how to avoid this.

 

I realized that most of my dust seemed to be coming from the film cannisters. I keep them in a pocket in my camera bag. Which I wasn't cleaning out like I should. Dust sticks to the film cartridge and is transported into the camera. A good cleaning of the film pocket and of the back every once in a while is all it takes.

 

I do think the N80 is more prone to scratch than say an old FT2 or something like that simply because it seems to hold the film flater. It has those funky rollers to keep the film tight. Tight film and grit can spell problems.