D80 Mirror stuck - repair?

[Kim Pilegaard]

My niece has an otherwise very nice D80 where the mirror is now stuck in the above position.

Does anyone have a good advice on how to solve this problem, or is it now just a throw-away?

[Les Olson]

I have only had that problem with film SLRs.  In one case it was a dead battery; obviously, very easily fixed.  In another case it was a sticking shutter return, which took a camera repair person two minutes to fix. 

Another reported cause is the rubber seals that cushion the impact of the mirror deteriorating and becoming sticky, but I have not had that happen.  Replacing the seals is said not to be difficult for film cameras, but I have never seen information on how to do it for a D80.

[Erik Lund]

Try to fiddle a little with the aperture lever on the camera, unmount the lens a poke the lever gently, up down motion, be prepared to remove your finger as the mirror comes down,,,

[Kim Pilegaard]

Try to fiddle a little with the aperture lever on the camera, unmount the lens a poke the lever gently, up down motion, be prepared to remove your finger as the mirror comes down,,,

Thanks for the tip. Unfortunately the aperture lever is also completely stuck - may be the shutter mechanism is dead?

[Les Olson]

Is the aperture lever stuck up, or down? 

When the mirror is down, so you can see through the viewfinder, the aperture lever is up - at the top of its slot. Then the upward movement of the mirror activates the aperture lever so it goes down and the lens stops down to the taking aperture. If you have a bad shutter causing the the mirror to stay up the aperture lever should be down, but it should move freely.  If the aperture lever is up while the mirror is up, the linkage between the mirror and the aperture lever must be defective.  If the aperture lever is down and stuck that suggests the sticky seals thing. 

[charlie]

This happened on my D800 recently, mirror stuck up, couldn't see through viewfinder, would take pictures but part of the frame was dark, live view operated normal and pictures did not have the dark area on the frame suggesting the shutter itself was fine but some other component failed.

$300 and Nikon replaced the shutter & aperture assemblies (see picture, I kept the old parts).

On a D80 I'd probably get a new camera as opposed to fixing it, assuming it is the same issue.

[Bent Hjarbo]

There are some used Nikon’s at Photografica in Copenhagen, must be cheaper than the repair

[Kim Pilegaard]

Thanks for the advices. The aperture lever is stuck in the upper position. When I press the shutter there is a faint whir for a short time. It seems it is time for a replace.