HELP!!! D80 LCD not working and not writing to SD card!

tmnt

tmnt

King of Australia
I have 3-4k invested in this damn camera, it's never missed a beat. I go to use it yesterday and the image viewer (LCD) doesn't come on. It won't come on when I press the 'Play' looking button like it usually does. The camera is taking a photo as normal but not writing to the SD card too.

F#$k, I know this doesn't sound good but I'm hoping against hope maybe I've bumped something or rather. Suggestions?

I also had my writing laptop die this week so I'm already far beyond pissed, but I really care about the D80 dammit.

EDIT: My battery icon is flashing (battery full), what does that mean. I also took off my MD80 battery module thingamajig and tried both batteries seperately. Still same result. Tried another mem card too. Both batteries fully charged.

EDIT 2: Oh this isn't good. I tried a hard reset and a soft and while doing it the little LCD on top of the D80 went out and I think I may have smelt a short circuit or something.
 
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Dude - how can you have $4k invested in a D80? When I had one I think it was $900, brand spankin' new. You can get a used one for three hundred bucks these days.

The camera came out in 2007 - it sounds like it needs a major repair (which means it likely needs to be retired for a, say, D7000).

If you have thousands invested in lenses, that's a different story. Bodies come and go (unless you shoot film, as I do on my N90s and N8008's). The D70/D80 was when Nikon really started to make beautiful DSLRs - the D90 is stellar (but many of them have focus problems that get worse with age). The D7000 is a fantastic camera.

I'm still using Nikkor lenses I bought when I opened my first studio, 16-odd years ago - and a few of those were anywhere from 5 to 12 years old when I purchased them. I've been through approximately 8 bodies in that time - that's an average of one every two years for pro work. (and I still have all my film bodies, they work fine). But all that glass I still use daily, for stills and video.

It's likely time to upgrade. Lenses are for life. Bodies die. RIP and condolences, but when you upgrade... you will not look back.

(PS - the MB D80 you can sell or trade in - it works on the D90 as well)
 
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Yeah thanks I know the mbd80 grip fits the D90, I looked up prices last night and a used one is about $750 and a used D80 $400 to 500 ish (I definitely want one with a low count though so might take a while to find).I just can't believe it's died with prob not even 3 thousand shutter clicks. Does anyone else think that's pathetic? Maybe it's bad luck but that doesn't make me feel any better about it.Ps. I have the RRS l bracket, will that fit a D90? Not that I can really afford one.
 
Well, when you get a new body, you could always send the D80 in and at least see what went south. Nikon service may price it OK to fix.

I'd be careful with the D90 used - mine just slowly developed soft focus - there are tutorials on the web to go into the mirror box with allen wrenches and adjust the back focus; Nikon never admitted to it being a problem but forums are filled with stories.

Also, the MBd80 on a D90 - you need to stick some cork (like tripod-plate top material) or rubber between it and the D90 - the fit isn't that hot and it comes loose easily (shutting the camera off). Seems especially bad when it's cold out. Something a little squishy in there tightens it up - used those vinyl discs you put under a glass tabletop.

Check your credit card balance and think hard about a D7000; superb camera, video is better than the D90. Has a bit of jello still, but I've used it for paying shoots. Footage is pretty. Camera is simply awesome for the $$.
 
Thanks heaps Michael that's the kind of info I need to know that you only get from people actually spending time with the cameras. The D90 does sound good with the video but just depends if I can find one cheap enough with a low count. I def can't splurdge on a D7000, and I'd be more than happy to find a reasonable price D80. It's just that I have the grip and Kirk bracket so want to stick with the D80 or 90.

I'm going to have the camera checked out even though it sounds like a quote may be $75 and if it's the board well that's gonna run a couple hundred for it and then around the same for labour. Think it's worth doing just in case it's something small though I'm fairly certain something burnt out. I'll also have to postage one way which will no doubt be at least $20 to $30.

Get this people, my D80 died with a grand total shutter count of..... drumroll..... 3531

As you can imagine I have lost a HUGEEEEEEEEEEEE amount of faith in the Nikon brand now. That shutter count for a dead camera is disgusting, especially since my camera is babied with a capital 'B'. Screw you very much nikon.
 
That shutter count seems like a real aberration to me; people are getting hundreds of k's of clicks on their bodies. Let us know what they find out if you get the repair quote.
 
That's definitely the right count on shutter clicks :(

Just heard back from the repair man before he worked on the camera. He said it was rare to have a camera with so little clicks on it die, just my luck.

He said it could be one of three boards. Best case scenario is $300 and worst is around $400. Bit of a dilhemma, if I was certain it was $300 it might be worth doing knowing that the camera itself has been taken care of, but if it goes to $400 then I may as well spend an extra couple hundred and wait to come across a well priced D90. I'm probably leaning toward the latter. It's $75 to go ahead to get a quote to diagnose the problem. EDIT: I'm going to sell my HVX200 so the D90 would be good in case I ever get the inkling to shoot video again.

What to do? What to do?
 
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Hey there TMNT, bummer about the D80 - I may be looking to upgrade my very lightly used D90 to one of the new D800 or the Canon 5DMK3 (or whatever it will be called). The D90 is a wonderful stills camera, but I am looking to add full 1080 video and onboard timelapse features, so we may be able to work something out...if the D90 is indeed the camera you wish to upgrade to. PM me if you think you would be interested and I can snap some pics of the camera/all the original accessories/manuals.
 
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