nikon 8008

I was looking at a Canon, but the one that is in my price range..is

said to have a faulty dial which isnt cheap to replace. I than looked

at the Nikon 8008 as an alternative. The Canon camera i was looking at

was the A2. Is the 8008 durable? and not sluggish. I dont care about

how loud it is. I do like the x-sync, and i dont care about the fps. I

just want something durable...and something that performs.

I'd get an F4, if I were you.

Those are not cheap... way out of my budjet...but oh do i want one...i really just want to know if the 8008 is a solid camera.

If you can afford it, the N8008s has spot metering and has faster AF than the N8008. These cameras were also called F801 and F801s.

 

I bought an F801 when they were first released. I liked it. Had to sell it. I have bought a used N8008s and use it mainly with mf AI Nikkor lenses, and occasionally with a Nikon SB80DX flash. I have one AF zoom lens. The AF speed is fast enough for me but I dont do sports. I especially like the viewfinder.

 

My used body was in good shape when I got it, and it remains in good shape. Plenty solid enough for me, but I dont do extreme photography.

The N8008/F801 is a fine camera, but it has slow autofocus.

 

Oddly, the N90/F90 sells for about the same money and it is oodles better. The back is prone to having the rubber coating flake off, but if you can live with this, the camera performs very well. The F90x/N90s is slightly better and a little more money.

Suggest the N8008s or F801s body over the N8008. Nikon improved the 'camera software' along with adding the small spot meter.

The N8008s was considered good enough for serious, working pros in its day. I recall a comment from an official photographer for a baseball team saying that altho' she used Canon for most of her action photography, she preferred her N8008(s?) and dedicated flash for flash photos. I've read similar comments made by other pros.

 

Only you can decide whether the autofocus, etc., are good enough for your needs. For years I stuck with manual focus gear for my "serious" stuff because I couldn't find an AF camera that could focus faster than I could. Oh, I tried a few that were pretty good, but it was the hunting and poor performance in low light that bothered me more than sheer AF speed. Most of 'em are okay in bright sunlight.

 

When I handled an F100 I began to have doubts. It's pretty quick. When I got the D2H I had no doubts - I can't focus faster than it in most cases.

I owned a F-801s some years ago. It was already heavy in use when I got it but still reliable. The spot meter of the S-version is fine, many more expensive cameras don't offer this. The ergonomics of this camera are very good, it is perfectly designed into the photographers hands. It doesn't have bells and whistels from the today's point of view but many people like exactly this. All in all I would say it's one of the best full electronic manual cameras. Take a look at the magnesium top cover, it often comes with little cracks, not a big problem but perhaps disturbing.

The Canon EOS A2 dial shouldn't be that hard to repair if you do it yourself. See

 

http://www.eosdoc.com/manuals/?q=5DialFix

 

I own both an EOS 5 (A2E), with an OK dial, and a F-801 (N8008), and they're both quite solid, but they're not weather-sealed. I've seen complaints about F-801's failing in humid climate, but I can't guarantee that won't happen with an A2.

 

I find the F-801 a bit heavy, especially for the size. The EOS-5 is quite bulky, but not that heavy.

 

One thing you should be aware of with an N8008 is lens compatibility. It will not autofocus with AF-S (or AF-I) lenses. VR (vibration reduction) won't work. G-type lenses can only be used in shutter priority and program modes, not aperture or manual. On the other hand it works well with AI-compatible manual focus lenses, providing focus guidance, with indicators for "too close", "too far" and "in focus".

 

The A2 has faster autofocus with 5 focusing points, one of them is a cross sensor. The N8008 has only one focusing point, and no cross sensor. The autofocus speed of my F-801 clearly beats manual focusing, but I've only used it with "standard" zooms, not fast or long lenses with a lot of glass that the focusing motor has to move.

 

About Jim's comment: A used F-801 and F-801s costs considerably less than a F90 or F90x in my country. _If_ they can be had for roughly the same price, I'd certainly go for a F90/N90 rather than a N8008.

Aside other cameras, I own a F801s since 1990. You can trust in it. I recall watching a documentary on TV (don't remember if from National Geografic (NG) or BBC) about elephants. One of the guests described how an elephant attacked him while being photographied with a long telephoto lens. Aside surviving the experience, the elephant put their feet over camera and tripod, severely damaging the camera, but even so, the film inside could be recovered and developed, producing incredible images just when the animal was starting the attack. The camera was a F801s. By the way, manu NG reporters have used this camera. Go for it. I'm completely sure you'll enjoy it.<div></div>

I currently have an N8008s in near mint condition that I bought for $100 on ebay. If you don't need 3D Matrix flash metering (has older matrix metering) or VR lenses, it is a great body to have for very little money. I find that it fits my hands better than the chunky N90 or N90s. I also have an F5 & F100, but use the 8008s when I travel to countries where there is a good possibility that it may be stolen or where I may be held up for it. After all, losing a $100 body is better than losing a $1000. During these trips, I also bring along a 28-70mm AF-D lens ($50) and a 70-210mm f/4 AF lens ($150). Taking my D2x and AF-S lenses to some of these places would be out of the question.

 

Regarding the Canon EOS A2, I bought one brand-new back in July, 1999 and took it to NYC & Newport, Rhode Island for a Labor Day weekend trip with my girlfriend (now my wife). I had put less than 6 rolls of film through it when the main Command dial suddenly became very stiff and then just spun freely. Luckily, I also had my Mamiya M645 1000s with me and continued taking pictures with that camera.

 

When I got home, I sent the camera off to Canon USA for the free warranty repair & then immediately ebayed it. I ended up spending a couple of hundred dollars more for a used mint condition EOS-1 body, which was solid as a rock & as reliable as anything I have ever owned. Moral? Don't put your trust in an A2 body unless you have another camera as backup. Who knows where you will be when that Command dial breaks.

I had nothing but good experiences with the 8008s I owned for 10+ years. I was very happy with it.

I still have my N8008s that I bought new in 1990 and it still works perfectly. It's also my favorite amoung all of my AF cameras (N90s,F5,D70). The balance is perfect, AF in the "s" model is plenty fast enough, and you can't beat the viewfinder (which is really the F3HP finder transplanted into an AF body). One thing that I REALLY like is that it uses 1 stop increments on the Main Command Dial, it really speeds up the handling of the camera and is the major reason that I reach for it first. Those fiddly 1/3 stop increments on the F5 drive me NUTS, if you want to go from f2.8 to f11, or 1/8 sce to 1/500 sec, your turning that darn dial forever on the F5. About the only negative for the N8008s is that the motor drive is SLLOOOWWWW, only about 2.8 fps (and that requires manual focus and manual exposure, with the AF on in the A mode I don't think it will break 2.2 fps).

 

My advice, look for a clean N8008s and skip the N8008. The original has a pretty poor reputation for it's AF performance but I really can't see any difference between the AF in my N90s and my N8008s. Think of it as an F3HP with a decent AF system and a slow motor drive and you've described the N8008s nearly perfectly.

 

Bottomline, the N8008s is a GREAT camera and, if any Nikon AF cameras reach "collectable" status, it will be one of those most desired.

If I were you, I would try to stretch the budget to afford an N90s. These can be found on ebay for prices around $150 nowadays, compared to around $100 for an 8008. The N90s is much more modern, with much better autofocus performance.

This new camera body that i would get, would be a christmas present so it needs to be something that my mom can order on her own. That leaves keh.com the N90s in excellent condition is 260. Thats the sam as the Canon EOS 1.

The 8008/801 series are brilliant cameras. They are fast, rugged, light and have a great built-in meter. Flash synchs at 1/250 for outdoor fill.

In some ways the N90 is inferior. You cannot do multiple exposures on the N90 without the expensive back. It only reads out in +1 or -1 stops, and it autofocuses only a little faster than the later 8008s. For the money you can't buy a better Nikon than the 8008.

 

If you do buy it, send me an email offlist and I'll email you a PDF file of the factory manual. For the last year, 2-3 people per month ask for this manual. Must be a very popular used Nikon.

I am actually strongly considering the N90s, its cheaper than the canon eos 1. And from what i have heard the Nikons are more durable, which is what i need. I dont think the multiple exposure thing is that big of a deal, i dont really do that alot.

Jake, I have an N90s and it's a "shelf queen". It's not as nicely balanced as the N8008s and it's saddled with those infernal 1/3 stop increments on the command dial. Get the N8008s, it's got near perfect balance and the full stop increments on the command dial increases the handling speed by a huge amount.

 

BTW, about those 1/3 stop increments. When is the last time that you found that the difference between 1/180 second and 1/250 second exposures was visible in a print? On these cameras, those 1/3 stop increments are a real handicap, you have to turn the command dial 3 times as much and, with the aperture being INFINITLY variable, you DON'T need 1/3 stop increments. What bothers me about the 1/3 stop increments is that sometimes I like to take 2 pictures in quick succession with a wide variance in the Depth of Field. With the N8008s, this can be done with ONE full turn of the command dial, on the N90s (or F5) it requires 3 full turns of the command dial. It's also a real PITA if youve been shooting by "available dark" in the S mode and step outside into full sunlight, changing the shutter speed from 1/4 second to 1/1000 second can seem to take FOREVER.

 

PS, I go on about this because it's the one thing about the F5 that drives me nuts. As an adaption I changed my shooting habits from using the "flex" feature in the Program mode to shooting with the F5 using the Aperture preferred mode, that way I can use the aperture ring to dial in large differences in DOF. Now that Nikon is removing the aperture ring from their lenses, I am in a bit of a bind. For now, I just refuse to buy any of the 35mm "g" lenses. Down the road, I don't know what I'll do. Nikon would do me a huge favor if they would design the control settings on the newer cameras so that we could choose a "split" increment scheme, as in, full stops on the command dial and 1/3 stops on the sub command dial. That way I could have "fiddly" on one dial and "fast" on the other. Of course, for pure speed, no body mounted dial will ever match what can be done with those old fashioned aperture rings.

The F90/N90 (not x/s) has full-stop shutter speeds. I find that it handles really well, but perhaps that depends on the size of your hands. I haven't spent extended time using an F801/N8008-family camera.

 

As for the G lenses, there are a few really good ones (e.g. AF-S 24-85/3.5-4.5G). That lens is so good that I couldn't not buy it.

I try to tailor stuff to my needs. I frequently use spot metering, so, my Nikon 8008s has been my prime camera through the years. My Nikon F4 is my backup??? It malfunctioned on two different trips, once in New Orleans and once in Provence, France. I don't trust it. My 8008s has never failed.