Have the D80 for a couple of months, 2 weeks ago I had a problem. Batteries were fresh form a charge went to take my first picture and it said batteries are done. I have to turn the camera off and on agian to take the picture. I just sent it back to Nikon. So far with the D70 I had to return for a defect and the batery also. Now its the D80 with a defect. I am disapointed with The quality of Nikon. To many problems. I do love my pictures though. Any one else have problems?

My sister had a similar problem a few years ago with a Nikon compact camera but the problem was with a cheap off brand compact flash card not the camera. My D70 is about 2 1/2 years old, over 4000 pictures and not a single problem. (knock on wood)

Things go in threes I hope this is the last

I put my Nikons through hell. I have only had a meter failure in my D2H (covered by Nikon) and last week, the AF/MF ring on my 80-200 zoom just snapped. Its taped to AF until I can get it in for repairs. Otherwise my D2XS and D100 have performed well.

That reminds me, wasn't there a Nikon battery recall about a year ago? Does the D70-80 use a EN-EL3 battery? If so, take a look over at http://www.nikonusa.com under battery calls.

My D70 went out on me in March when I was at the Cape Arago lighthouse. Talk about a bad time. It just went dead. It wasn't the battery because my back up didn't work either. It was out of warranty but I sent it to Nikon anyway. They fixed it for free as a "good will" jesture. I really hate to think that I would need to carry a "back-up" camera.

Ken

I was thinking the same thing. Im also thinking of calling B & H and see if I still can get the extended warranty. I am hoping to get it back before I go to Chicago to visit my son. After that I was invited by Jenifer to go lighthousing with her. Cant wait to go. I hope my camera dosnt do anything funky.

I have owned my fair share of Nikon products: N60 and N80 film cameras, a D100 and now a D200 as well as a Coolpix 950 (2.11 megapixels!!! woo!). I also have about 4 Nikkor lenses. Everything has always worked well and when I needed it to. Hopefully everything will work out well. Nikon, imho, is one of the best brands, and definitely the best lenses you can buy (even Kodak makes their digital SLRs with Nikon mounts). Hope you have no more problems...

I just checked out the tech web (got my work order #) It says broken battery door. I bought the Vertical grip from Nikon and used it 2x I wounder if that had something to do with it. I know it should not weird. Will be calling Nikon to ask what would cause this.

Is the vertical grip that attachment with the shutter button and command dials that holds a couple batteries? We were looking at those last night, but were wondering if that meant you had to remove the battery door. Does it?

If its anything like the D100, then yes. The battery door is removable and on a snap-in type hinge. Open it, and pull straight out. There may also be a rubber plug protecting some contacts that needs to be removed. Save both pieces!

When in doubt, read the directions.

Yes you do have to take off the battery door and you slip it into the slot on the side that gets placed into the battery chamber. I was worried I did something wrong so I called Nikon. They said if it wasnt a nikon deffect and they thought I caused it it would not be under warranty. It is not hard to remove the door, just a litlle nerve racking. Will I brake it or not.

Fran,
I haven't had any problems so far...looking for some wood to knock on...with my D80. Battery has been fine and actually, I thought it held its charge really well. Make sure you have a battery that is not on the recall list...see earlier posting in this thread.
Good luck!

Got my camera back and it is still not right so I will go on vacation and then send it back.

Loaded statement here - camera or operator????

Both nah the camera Still doing a number on its owner

Well, Fran, I'm blaming you for my D-70's problems. It took a dump while we were on Long Island. Decided not to work with autofocus at all. Took it to the camera shop on the way home from the airport and they tried my lens on another body after originally thinking it was the lens. It worked fine on the other body. I could take a picture on manual focus by the autofocus wouldn't work at all. Hate to see what it will cost to fix. It has worked well for the almost 3 years I have had it, then you bring up your camera problema and mine has sympathy issues....

Really Dave?????? Please keep us on a 'need to know' basis.

Dave...now that I've met you, I think it is safe to say, "TMI"!

I have experienced the battery issue with the D200. It happened both with and without the external battery grip. I cleaned the battery contacts which solved the problem. On the auto focus problem, Dave, you didn't indicate whether you tried another lens on your camera body. If you still have the problem, it might be something preventing a good contact between the lens and camera body. Try cleaning both the camera and lens mount plus the contacts on both which might solve the auto focus problem. For cleaning both battery contacts and the lens/body mounts and contacts I use a product named ROR. I purchased mine at a camera store but you might find it online. It is a lens cleaner with a residual oil remover. Here is a link to their site. ROR Lens Cleaner
Hope this helps.

edited to fix link. Dave

Thanks, Tom & Joyce. Nice to hear from you.

Yes, they did try another lens on my D-70 body and it did the same. They did a quick clean without fixing the issue so we decided to go ahead and send it in to have it looked at so I could get the camera back. Shop is about 35 miles from home so that was the logical decision at that time, trying to keep from having to drive back down to take it in. In any case, it is probably overdue for a good cleaning so hopefully it will be a reasonably simple fix. Hope to hear from them soon. I will definitely look at the ROR product you mentioned.

I am sorry to hear about your problem It is terrible when you need your camera and it dosnt work. I finally got Nikon to tell me mine is being returned and they had it so long that the address is differnt because I am finally in my new home. Since they had it 2x and for over 3 weeks they are sending it over night for my trip this weekend. I am not leaving this house till I get it today. I hope it dosnt happen again. In case I always bring a point and shoot. You never know.