On Wed, 11 Sep 2002 21:05:08 +0200, Bert Maes wrote:

>Bought a brand new Nikon F80 (N80 in the States) a couple of months
>ago, and after shooting a few dozen of rolls, I notice quite visible
>scratches on some of my negatives (also visible on the prints). The
>scratch shows up as a horizontal line, about 1/3th down the negative,
>on the non-emulsion holding side (the side that's opposed to the
>shutter curtain, so the one at the back of the camera). At first I
>thought it was an error somewhere at the lab, but after selecting 3
>labs, I got the same results. So now I subject my Nikon F80 itself...
>Checked it carefully for dust, but it's as clean inside as the moment
>I got it... so maybe one of the little wheels used to press the film
>against the holder ?
>I now took my camera back to the store where I bought it (Grobet,
>Antwerp, Belgium), and just got a letter back from them, telling that
>my camera has been 'repaired' (although they did not mention how), and
>that I can come and pick it up. No problem until now, but they also
>mentionned that the repair price is 52 Euro (about 50 dollar). And
>that for a camera in warranty !
>So now I'm looking for testimonials of other ppl having the same
>problem with their camera, to prove Nikon that it might indeed be a
>problem with the camera construction...

It was most likely caused by a defect in the pressure plate,
a $5 part. I had the same problem with a new Nikon F3, and
though I could never find the spot on the PP that scratched
the film, buying a PP from Nikon (US) parts and replacing
it solved the problem. I would holler at the store, not
Nikon - but after the allowable return/exchange period (if
any), it is best to return cameras directly to Nikon for
warranty service... BTW, of MANY Nikons I've owned, only one
had this easily-cured problem.