So, what's a Nikon 8008S good for?

TEZillman said:
So to answer your question, its a great camera for situation when you don't want to worry about your gear, but still want quality results.
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Now we're getting somewhere. I hadn't thought about it that way. Not much invested, not much to gain from selling it, and zero emotional attachment. It could replace the Konica FP-1 in my stable.
 
The first thing that came to my mind was a "beater"... take it to violent protests, out in storms, up on the roof for astrophotography on an icy night... after that, give it to some kid to learn how to shoot film. You'll lose, what, $5? Sounds like a rental fee to me 🙂.
 
L. M. Tu said:
The 35-70 kit zoom though is pretty bad.
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I wouldn't call this a "kit zoom" and it certainly wasn't bad. This was a workhorse lens among photojournalists back in the day. It was one of the first fast mid range zooms. That, along with a 70-200 2.8 and maybe a fixed 20 or 24mm 2.8 (the 20-35mm 2.8 came much later), was the standard in Domke bags everywhere. And it wasn't cheap when it was new!
 
If you really do not like it, give it away. I have a lot of under-used SLR's that ended up in the hands of the younger generation that wanted to try film. I am keeping my N8008s, but gave away an N6000 and zoom to a happy teen-ager.
 
saxshooter said:
I wouldn't call this a "kit zoom" and it certainly wasn't bad. This was a workhorse lens among photojournalists back in the day. It was one of the first fast mid range zooms. That, along with a 70-200 2.8 and maybe a fixed 20 or 24mm 2.8 (the 20-35mm 2.8 came much later), was the standard in Domke bags everywhere. And it wasn't cheap when it was new!
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I think the original poster has the cheap 35-70 f3.5-4.5 zoom, not the expensive and very sharp 35-70 f2.8
 
^ That's correct, Chris. f/3.3 at the "fast" end, actually, if that makes any difference.

Good thing I don't have any lenses to change, that "rightey loosey" routine with the cleverly camouflaged button fools me every time. What's up with that? Just Nikon being Nikon?
 
Donate it back to the shop. Donate it to another shop. Donate it to someone who may be interested in photography. Donate it to someone who cannot afford a good camera.

I have a Nikon 6006 with a 28-70 slow zoom, inherited from my brother (he doesn't care about photography and wanted to use his small digital camera only and not anything with film). My son has shown some interest on it, so it's going to be his at some point.

The 8008 used to be considered a pre-professional body, just a step below the F3 and F4.
 
Certainly one of my favorite cameras, and it has most all of the features of an F100 without that loud mirror slap. In fact, the N8008s has the sweetest sounding shutter of any modern day camera to me, but of course the N80 is whisper quiet in comparison.

What's it good for? Big bright viewfinder, top shutter speed of 1/8000 allows you to take most shots wide open w/ 400 iso film in bright sunlight. It takes cheap and readily available AA batteries. It feels comfortable in your hand. AE lock is perfectly designed. Viewfinder shows shutter speeds and aperture (only the speeds w/ R lenses), and it has focus confirmation in the VF.

I've been using these cameras for years w/ the knockoff Chinese Leitax adapters and Leica R lenses. Fantastic image quality, and no metering issues because it doesn't have a split prism focus screen to get dark when you stop the lens down. Speaking of metering, it has spot, center weighted, and matrix. What's it NOT good for? Well, it won't win you any style points from the snobs. Probably worth it's usual selling price times 10 just for that alone 🙂 It's also not as fast w/ AF when using Nikon glass compared to newer Nikons, but I never had any issues w/ this at all. AF was plenty fast enough for me.
 
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whitecat said:
I used to use it underwater in a housing. Excellent camera.
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As did I. I had a Subal (Austrian) waterhousing and a handful of 8008's as they took up less room than the "F" bodies. I used to shoot a LOT of travel stock and space/weight concerns were always present. Another attribute is that the 8008's run on AA batteries, which are available just about everywhere, unlike these proprietary rechargeable batteries that every camera seems to have now.

The AF functions were pretty lousy compared to what Canon was doing at the time with their EOS system but overall it's a decent camera as that tier goes.
 
That's my kayaking camera with a Nikon 28-105 zoom. Great, reliable body and as other posters have stated, it's a great take-anywhere, I-don't-care-what-happens-to-it camera. Probably one of the most capable of its sort for the dough. I got mine for $30 several years ago and thought it was a steal. Sounds like I overpaid!

Joe
 
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