Nikon F801s / N8008
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| Pro | I have just started using this camera but find it very easy to handle.
It has an old manual 50mm AI-S macro lens so I can't comment on the autofocus function. It feels heavy and solid compared to my Canon EOS. I like it! I like the bright viewfinder | ||
| Contra | No matrix metering because of the manual lens, only centre weighted and spot metering but this is not a big handicap as my ancient, manual Mamiya only has these metering options and still produces incredible pictures. | ||
| Thoughts | I can't understand what all the ballyhoo is about the camera being noisy. It's certainly louder than the Canon EOS (which is virtually silent) but not excessively so. | ||
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| Pro | Well built. Cheap. (= good to have that - cheap and built quality - when you're outdoors or hiking) Has almost every modern widget there is, well not all but most. | ||
| Contra | Noisy (which might be good thing if you're not shooting wildlife). No in-camera aperture roll. No spot metering. I prefer a ring for mode selector (buttons on f801). Quite heavy. | ||
| Thoughts | My first real own SLR. Bought it 2nd hand in 1998. Still working alongside with my more modern Nikon SLR and DSLR. Excellent entry to the world of SLR if you do not have the cash for newer cameras, as you get most what you would get in a new SLR. In this sense it's a good beginners camera even though it is not a "beginners camera" (=as in bad quality). | ||
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| Pro | One of Nikon's best designs, works on aperture priority (centre-weighted or spot) auto with manual Ai or AIS lenses, does a limited AF with TC16A and manual lenses! Some call it Nikon's best manual AF camera! Bright viefinder, good viefinder info. | ||
| Contra | No (pseudo-)mirror lockup (the FE2 has it with timer). Viewfinder backlight a tiny button, difficult to light up without taking eye off. (But then the FE2 doesn't have even this, its moving-needle meter indicator is useless in the dark!) | ||
| Thoughts | Wish Nikon would make a digital D-801s, which can meter and AE with manual lenses, drive the TC16A, and give TTL flash with older flashes, and priced in mid-range. Even EOS digital cameras can meter with Nikon's manual lenses! | ||
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| Pro | Good balanced body especially in combination wirh longer and heavier optics. Proved to be a consistent performing camera, .... until ....(see contra0 | ||
| Contra | Camera now suddenly refuses to load film, display on top only shows f-stop and manual shutterspeed information for a period of 1 second(!) after starting up and otherwise dimming display lighting in viewfinder stays on for ever unless you switch off the on/off lever.
A nearby transistor radio let you hear the CPU is functioning and if you want to alter the camera settings, all will show up on the display on top of the housing for that very short moment. Manually loading a demo film on the take up spool, closing the camera and pushing the film rewind buttons learns that the motor works and the film will return completely rewound in the cassette and stops. But no further action after a 'new' film has been placed in the usual way to check winding to the first frame. My question therefore: is it worthy to try to repair a F801s with this malfunction? I try to locate a repair manual for a F801 - I already could download the additional pages with information concerning the F801s differences in pdf format. Can anyone give me a suggestion? Thank you very much in advance for your effort! Gerald. | ||
| Thoughts | With Nikon models (F601 AF, F70, F801s) you allways miss a stiffer point of pressure if it's cold outside and you're still in the stage of measuring the lightlevel before you want to press the shutterbutton completely! Even working with amateur camera models, Nikon bodies show sturdiness and versatility in operation. | ||
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| Pro | I love this camera. It has reviewers saying it is loud. It really isn't. Uses cheap AA batteries and has a big, bright viewfinder. 8000th of a sec shutter speed. DOF preview. Convenient thumb control wheel for changing shutter speed. It is fairly light, and smaller than my trusty old 6006. It is an intuitive camera, very easy to pick up and go on about shooting pictures because it's logical controls and layout make it just disappear, unlike the F4s I had. It uses a huge selection of Nikkor glass. And it's amateur looks (to an amateur) means it doesn't draw the stares like an F100. You can pick up one of these on ebay for a song (thank you digital!). | ||
| Contra | No mirror lock up, but since I do not shoot on a tripod this does not figure in for me. No flash. I miss the lil onboard flash of my 6006. It isn't very powerful, but it is better than no flash at all. Compared to an n80 the auto focus is a lil slow and the shutter is noiser, but I had an N80 and hated the teeny tiny viewfinder and a lot of other things about that camera. Was happy to sell it. | ||
| Thoughts | I'll tell you how I feel about this camera. I had an N80-hated it and sold it. Had an F4s. It is truly a wonderful pro camera, but it is huge, heavy, and a lot of the great analog controls are not logically placed on the camera. Did I mention that it was heavy. I just bought an F100 and am going to sell it w/o running a roll of film through it. The 8008s is my keeper. Some of this is subjective. I just like the way it handles compared to the other Nikons. Some of it is objective. I could not believe how LOUD the shutter is on the F100! Why did Nikon do this? Even just using the DOF preview feature is a lot louder than the shutter on the trusty old F4s. This is going to be the one camera body I will stick with for a long time. I am very happy to have finally found such a fine camera for the type of shooting that I do. I highly recommend the 8008s, but everyone will feel differently on this. | ||
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| Pro | Durable, has all basic functions, no stupid modes = easier to use, reliable, fast shutter speed: 1/8000, fast flash sync: 1/250 (not 1/125 as previous reviewer said), has program-shift (unlike as another reviewer said) mode by pressing shutter button halfway and dial | ||
| Contra | Loud shutter, slow AF and no cross AF sensor (but still very far better than most these day's P/S digicams), not AF-I/AF-S/G compatible, no MLU | ||
| Thoughts | Lean | ||
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| Pro | ultra reliable | ||
| Contra | aweful autofocus
terrible remote release | ||
| Thoughts | The cable release is expensive, fiddly to use and locks every time you use it. (YMMV)
The autofocus is aweful compared to modern cameras. I bought mine in 1991 have used and abused it outrageously since then and it has never faltered. I'm not even considering replacing it. | ||
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| Pro | if you need the Nikon N8008/F801 manual go here...
http://www.lensinc.net/manuals/F801_N8008.pdf | ||
| Contra | ... | ||
| Thoughts | still learning to use | ||
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| Pro | Sturdy, heavyduty. Lot's of features. nice FAST shutter speed (1/8000sec) and flash sync speed (1/125sec). Takes really good pictures. I use a simple 50mm f1.4 with it. I like the AE and AF locks, (very handy) and has a versitile shor timer. | ||
| Contra | AF is a bit flaky. Sometimes it has a hard time focusing in low light as it does not have an AF assit light. Slight disadvantage that you can't connect a regular shutter release cord to it. Does't always work well with full manuel lenses. | ||
| Thoughts | Good buy. Especially if you get it of Ebay or somethign, you'll probably get more out of it than you pay for it. | ||
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| Pro | I have a Nikon F4 and serveral other N Series cameras. My wife bought an N8008 in mint condition for me at Christmas. I enjoy the size and basic function. | ||
| Contra | My only complaint is that, when I turn the camera off for any length of time, the shutter locks on the initial exposure. To close it, I simple press the release again and then proceed with no other problems. Anyone know or experience this problem?
Thank for your help. | ||
| Thoughts | I do not have a manual. Maybe there is something that I am missing. The camera has the same problem in auto exp. or manual. | ||
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| Pro | Solid. Dependable. Has withstood numerous knocks, bangs and other wear and tear.Meters with aid/ai/ais lenses. Depth of field preview. (S version) Spot meter. Bright screen. Controls logical and easy to navigate. Built in 3plus frames per second motor drive. Shutter sync to 1/250 second. AA compatibility. Interchangeable screens. Cheap as hell on the used market (especially 8008 non s). Pro/near pro features at an entry level price. | ||
| Contra | No built in flash. No built in autobracketing. No program shift. Shutter speeds not in 1/3 or 1/2 stop increments. No pc connection. No mirror lockup. AF sensor only on single point. Most of these features can be found on newer (and often lesser ) Nikons today. | ||
| Thoughts | Great camera overall. First advanced Nikon Slr I ever bought. 12 years with no problems. N90s and F100 owe a lot to this camera, both basically replacing N8008/s place in Nikon lineage (which in turn replaced FE2/FA). | ||
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| Pro | slammin' heavy-duty camera for when the pros like to travel light. i use it all the time for events where it would be too dangerous to lug around medium format gear. amazing control, both in its day and now. no pop-up flash is a huge plus in my book ... use the SB-25/25 or just go without! | ||
| Contra | can be easily mistaken for a cheaper or lesser camera unless people know Nikons. plus, they're such a great deal, everyone seems to have one someplace. | ||
| Thoughts | originally developed as a sports camera, right? well, it's great for rock and roll shows. | ||
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| Pro | The Nikon F801s is an incredibly sturdy and well-built camera. It is certainly true to say it is built to survive a lot of usage over time, not something that can be said of newer cameras. The matrix metering is accurate in all but the most awkward situations, but the inclusion of spot metering is a big plus point (still good to have a separate meter). The autofocus is pretty accurate even in low-light situations. The hotshoe can be adapted to take an external PC-sync unit to use studio flash. Nikon lenses are just great :-) Film loading is very quick and easy. | ||
| Contra | Not many problems with this camera. The autofocus can be noisy at times, and does have problems focusing on certain subjects, edges where there is a high contrast spring to mind. Basically, any autofocus sytem will have problems with subjects with low contrast, but the camera can be focussed manually! Metering problems can occur in certain very bright situations, but then just use a separate meter to do an incident light reading! | ||
| Thoughts | An excellent all-round camera, good in it's own day and still working solidly and without problems. Surprisingly good on the batteries! I still use my trusty 801s now even with all the new cameras and the extras they have. At the end of the day, you can set shutter and aperture manually and do a separate exposure meter reading - good way to test the camera meter! I do a lot of professional work with this camera, and it beats the pants off some of the new kids on the block! | ||
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| Pro | Built like a tank!! Nothing can stop this camera.
Not having all those stupid presets gives you a totally versatile camera compatible with almost everything! I loike the use of both AA and Lithium batteries. | ||
| Contra | Autofocus is not one of the best...
A little heavy... | ||
| Thoughts | Great, my firs camera, great satisfactions, really fast and sharp shooting engine.
Does anyone know where to find a manual for the Nikon SB24 speedlight? thank you all. | ||
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| Pro | Very accurate meter. Quick and accurate focus, even in low light. Built like a tank. I like the fact that it will use either AA batteries or lithiums. Can use virtually any "D" mount Nikkor lens! | ||
| Contra | Has only one AF sensor - it's very fast and sensitive but it lacks the versatility of the Canons and newer Nikons. Still, for it's time it was the bomb. Cost of accessories much more than similar pieces for Pentax, Minolta, and some Canon. | ||
| Thoughts | A great camera. Not perfect but good enough that it is still one of the cameras that newer ones are judged by. It's heavy but rugged and fit for a pro. | ||
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| Pro | Very accurate meter. Quick and accurate focus, even in low light. Built like a tank. I like the fact that it will use either AA batteries or lithiums. Can use virtually any "D" mount Nikkor lens! | ||
| Contra | Has only one AF sensor - it's very fast and sensitive but it lacks the versatility of the Canons and newer Nikons. Still, for it's time it was the bomb. Cost of accessories much more than similar pieces for Pentax, Minolta, and some Canon. | ||
| Thoughts | A great camera. Not perfect but good enough that it is still one of the cameras that newer ones are judged by. It's heavy but rugged and fit for a pro. | ||
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| Pro | Excellent quality, good looks, ergonomic, light on batteries (almost), can take a beating (an ex-girlfriend threw it to a wall in its case-and survived, the camera I mean!). The fact that it has no built in flash does not bother me much - I often use the 50mm 1.4. | ||
| Contra | Poor autofocus: unacceptable now, mediocre back then. The weight can be tiring sometimes but this is the price you pay for quality. Broke down once (lens would not stop down). | ||
| Thoughts | The 801s has huge sentimental value to me - I grew up with it; I bought it when I was 23 in the army in Cyprus with my savings over a year. It has travelled to me all over Europe and the US. It got me pictures of my military days, my first moves in the workplace, old friends and girlfriends, etc...I could also use (but I do not anymore) the old '67 lenses of my father's Nikormat ! And my brother-in-law occasionaly uses my excellent 24mm 2.8 for his F5. Now considering a careful move to digital - I am dreaming of starting to work on B&W, at last. | ||
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| Pro | user friendly uses AA-battery | ||
| Contra | no built in flash light, good thing that my dad has an SB-23 slower autofocus | ||
| Thoughts | does anyone have a maunal for F-801? my dad lost this manual | ||
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| Pro | Solid, sturdy camera. Uses AA batteries (s version). Controls are sensible and well planned. Can use and meter older manual focus lenses. Matrix metering and spotmeter. | ||
| Contra | No built-in flash. AF little slower than newer models (but not bad). Heavier than some (I like the size and weight). | ||
| Thoughts | The 8008s is a terrific, full-featured camera. It feels good and solid in your hand, although lovers of small, light plastic cameras may find it too heavy for their taste. After 20 years of shooting manual only (Nikon FE, Minolta XD-5, Konica FC-1), I took the plunge into AF cameras with this camera and I am not disappointed. I was worried about missing my knobs and dials, but the controls are well thought out and easy to adjust. I chose the "s" model because of the spot meter and its use of easy-to-get AA bateries. A common complaint is its somewhat out-dated AF system, BUT I find it totally adequate, even when using a cheaper Sigma AF zoom lens. A Nikon great. | ||
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| Pro | It's my first camera so I can not compare it yet. | ||
| Contra | Auto focus seems to be little bit slow. | ||
| Thoughts | I need the user manual of this camera. Can any one help me? | ||
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| Pro | Built like a tank, has all the feature of the new N80 but allows metering with older AI and AIS manual focus lenses. One of Nikon's best AF SLRS | ||
| Contra | Autofocus slower than current models, no built-in flash. | ||
| Thoughts | Originally I was looking at the Nikon N80 to replace my old N2020. In a blatantly greedy and stupid attempt to force consumers to buy new autofocus lenses, Nikon omitted TTL metering for the superb, older AIS and AI lenses on the N80! No thanks! So instead I picked up a mint, used N8008S from a reputable dealer for a reasonable sum. The camera works beautifully and does most of what the new N80 does, AND I can use all of my wonderful old manual focus Nikkor lenses. This camera also offers the creative option of in-camera multiple exposures. | ||
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| Pro | Built like a tank, has all the feature of the new N80 but allows metering with older AI and AIS manual focus lenses. One of Nikon's best AF SLRS | ||
| Contra | Autofocus slower than current models, no built-in flash. | ||
| Thoughts | Originally I was looking at the Nikon N80 to replace my old N2020. In a blatantly greedy and stupid attempt to force consumers to buy new autofocus lenses, Nikon omitted TTL metering for the superb, older AIS and AI lenses on the N80! No thanks! So instead I picked up a mint, used N8008S from a reputable dealer for a reasonable sum. The camera works beautifully and does most of what the new N80 does, AND I can use all of my wonderful old manual focus Nikkor lenses. This camera also offers the creative option of in-camera multiple exposures. | ||
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| Pro | Note: these were the Pros 10 yrs ago. Almost everything can be set manually. Can use a lot of old Nikon lens. Depth of field preview. | ||
| Contra | Difficult to focus manually unless you buy split prism viewfinder thingy. (Yea I bought it) Autofocus is slow and noisy compared to newer cameras. AF doesn't work well if pointed at horizontal (or is it vertical) only objects. Heavy, kinda huge with zoom lens and sb24 flash. | ||
| Thoughts | I own the F801. It has no spot meter mode. I didnt realise how old this camera is until I went to the local zoo to take pictures. A Japanese boy pointed at me and asked his father what is this monster/dinosaur I'm using. It was a good camera, but not a collectible like F3. | ||
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| Pro | Metering and handling are excelent | ||
| Contra | lightweight, i use f4 too | ||
| Thoughts | very nice and acurate camera , i use it as a backup of my f4 . | ||
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| Pro | Light and compact | ||
| Contra | As above; I like a heavy camera! (See comments). | ||
| Thoughts | I bought the F-801s as a back-up to my F4 which is my first experience of an autofocus SLR. I find it slightly disquieting to find how many of the functions of the F4 are shared by the F-801s at about half the price, but I would not like to be without the F4; the F-801s just does not inspire the same confidence in use, neither does it fit the hand like the F4 does. Of course, the F-801 does have some advantages over the F4, the facility of displaying the ISO of the film at any time being one of the main ones. A persistent comment about both cameras these days seems to be the slow speed of the AF, but lacking experience of more recently introduced AF cameras I cannot comment about this except to say that the AF is plenty fast enough for me, about 10 times faster than MF! When I bought the F4 and F-801s their ability to use MF lenses was important, although as things have panned out since I now have only one MF lens. This is my much-loved (and irreplaceable from the AF lens programme) 35/1.4 Nikkor which I cannot contemplate being without. I do not use and do not possess a 50mm lens. The 35/1.4 and 85/1.8 (now AF) being my most used lenses. I like the 1/8000th shutter speed on the F4 and F-801 because it allows the use of wide lens apertures even in bright sunshine. I like to work with restricted depth of field. I expect to have these two cameras for many years. | ||
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| Pro | Adequate to do the job in working environment. | ||
| Contra | Occasionally, it will have compatibility problem when using SB28. It will go wild and display F-EE error and flash became non-op. Camera and flash need to be turned off to reset. | ||
| Thoughts | I bought it used,and use it to shooting wedding when I start side line business. It is easy to control a better tool than F70 which I owned before. | ||
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| Thoughts | Bought the F-801S second hand, must say that while the technology is 10 years old, it has some features that neweer models from Nikon has conveniently left out. If you don;t mind the shutter noise, you'll do yourself a favour by getting the F801s (assuming that you can get a good used bargain.). Really, the shutter is turn heads compared to the F80. Feels good, well balanced weight. Spot metering and easy controls. I like the focus and exposure lock seprated unlike the F80 where it's the same button. Hoever if you have short fingers like I do, pressing both the exposure lock and af lock would be a slight hassle. But if you use manual focus usually, then it's no longer a problem. | ||
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| Thoughts | I have used the 8008 and the 8008s cameras for 12 years and I have to say that they have been magnificent machines. I started with the FM2n and the FE2 with MD12s and so was used to reliability and performance from the word "GO" After a number of years the AF craze was cooking full boil but I just did not really like the looks of the new AF bodies. A really good deal on a Nikon N2000 (a very fine camera although it is not very pretty) and that camera served as a stepping stone to the exotic looking 8008. Just a few rolls of film and I knew that I should have gone to the 8008 sooner. I loved the very bright finder, the controls, the winder and its perfect reliability, the grip of the camera body, The TTL flash metering, and the cameras toughness. I love the FE2 and think of it has a near perfect camera, but the 8008 performs all of its functions and more and is lighter. I soon had two 8008 and an 8008s and I still have them and still run film through them like water over the riverbed. They work when i pick them up and always have. They are really getting tired looking. Often all three are around my neck together and knocking about like the clappers of churchbells. I would have never believed that these cameras would take the pounding I give them and survive. By now however I am so used to them just grinding on that when one of them finally does give up the ghost I will think that the sky has fallen! I know that the AF is old and primative, and I am looking for a good used N90s, but I look on E-bay and see N90s for 550-600 and nice low mileage 8008s for 250-300 and it is tempting to stick with what has always worked for me before. I use long manual lenses mostly anyhow so ..... But I think Ill go for the N90s, mostly because when I picked my first one up I could sort of feel the 8008 inside it! Very definite family resemblance! It will have a hard act to follow | ||
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| Thoughts | I bought my F801 in September of 1989, having to do without any lens for about 2 months until I could afford a 50mm 1.8 AF. With the money I had then (after selling my Canon EOS 650, 28mm EF and 70-210 EF zoom, and flash unit) I had no choice really. But my faith and patience paid off when I discovered how far ahead Nikkors' image quality was against Canon EF lenses at that time. My camera served me very well for 11 years, taking pictures of my high school students in sports, scout campings and a whole lot of events over the years. Recently it developed some electronic problems, and out of sentimental reasons I decided to repair it despite it costing some Ringgit 700 (about U.S. 185 dollars) Luckily my Nikon agent in Malaysia managed to source some of the last spare circuit boards from Nikon in Japan for the F801. Lucky for me too as I went to repair it 2 weeks before it is officially declared as irrepairable by the agent (maybe past maximum 10 years after discontinuation) I expect to have it in my hands again in a few weeks time, and continue to function for another 10 years or more. To me the F801 is a great camera in its time, and still is, for being able to happily accept manual lenses with the camera's center-weighted light meter fuctioning, unlike even the latest F80 (N80) and F65 (N65) where you may mount manual lenses, but the light meter of any kind is inoperational! To those who oppose the F801, I respect your judgment, but to the many others who rejoice at one of Nikon's greatest AF classics, I join you all for the positive feedbacks. If you need to share anything on the F801, you are welcome to mail me at [email protected] | ||
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| Thoughts | A great camera for it's time but now it is totaly out of date. The amount of money you would spend on a used n8008s is the same as a new n80 | ||
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| Thoughts | I also own this fabulous Nikon F801-s and i bought it in 1994. I don't know exactly when the latest 801s has been sold, but I think in 1995 the F90x has been the successor. The shutter speed can be set in different modes. First: Shifting mode in the Porgrams Ph and Pd. The package of aperture and shutter speed can be shifted. Second: Shutter speed Mode S. You can shift the shutter speed and the lens aperture size will be adapted. The shutter speed is always shifted by the 'shifter wheel" on top of the camera body, near the LCD. | ||
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| Thoughts | I personally never like AF Cameras but when one gets older and eyesight so poor manual focus becomes tough, 801-S is ideal. I have had this 801-S for the past many years and it still serves me faithfully without a hitch. It had made itself worth and paid off but it seems to be operational for many years to come. | ||
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| Thoughts | It may be out of production but it is one of the finest camera bodies I have owned. Have been using two of them for the past twelve years and except for droping one in the Virgin River they have never needed servicing. Except for no mirror lock up and the speed of auto focusing they have almost everything the newer models do. | ||
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| Thoughts | I've had an F801 for ten years, and it has never let me down. Excellent for its time, now it is getting a bit behind - in particular the autofocus is quite bad compared with today's standards. The metering system is great, and the house is as robust as any Nikon should be. Bought an F80 today but will keep the F801 as a backup (and for those old manual lenses). | ||
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| Thoughts | I bought a used one a few years back and loved it. It was the perfect bridge between an intermediate and advanced photographer. With a Speedlight, it was incredible! OK, you manual naysayers will be pleased to know that I lost it last year and just recently decided to buy a replacement. My choice? The creme de la creme of Nikons past and future.............the F3, of course! Hey, I was trained in the manual generation, but I do like both worlds! | ||
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| Thoughts | I also want to say it's a piece of junk. I'm using Nikon FE2, and bought an F801s as a backup. I found the AF had never been accurate. Also, the meter always got in-consistent reading. Sold it later. | ||
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| Thoughts | Absolutely one of the finest cameras I have ever owned. Was very sorry that Nikon canceled manufacture of same. It is extremely user fiendly. Loaned one body to begainer student today and she had mastered the basic controls in about fifteen minutes. I will be very sorrywhen my two bodies wear out. | ||
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| Thoughts | I bought a used N8008s and am very happy with the features. But it has does not have the features of the N90s or N70. But it will go down as a Nikon great. | ||
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| Thoughts | This is a marvelous camera. It's only real drawback, as everyone knows, is that it has no pc connection. That, to my mind or for my uses, is quite a drawback. For constant reliability, it is second to none. | ||