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Recently I've experienced a problem with my D80. I press the trigger and the shutter does not activate.

When I half-press the trigger, the camera seems to auto-focus and auto-expose correctly, and it will AE-AF seem to lock correctly too. However when I press all the way, it won't take a picture. (nothing happens at all, no noises, lights or messages)

I've had it happen in program mode, aperture and shutter priority modes, and even full manual (but without the auto-focus lock happening obviously).

The problem seems to be intermittent. Sometimes this happens on the first shot, sometimes after I have taken several shots in a row, using rapid-fire or spaced single shots. I can't determine an obvious pattern.

It doesn't seem to matter what lens I use or whether I am using my flash gun or the on-board flash, or no flash at all.

For reference the camera is set to AF-C, auto-ISO, capturing in full-sized RAW format.

Is the camera finally wearing out or is something else going on? Can anyone point me to links or reference materials? I tried searching SE-Photography, but I didn't find this specific problem.

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    \$\begingroup\$ It sounds like your shutter has bitten the dust. You can usually have focal plane shutters like the D80 uses replaced. I would contact Nikon to see what it might take to get a replacement. Should cost a small fraction of the cost of a full replacement camera body. \$\endgroup\$
    – jrista
    Commented Jul 9, 2012 at 3:16
  • \$\begingroup\$ Could it just be the shutter release switch failing? I'd get a repair estimate. \$\endgroup\$
    – RedGrittyBrick
    Commented Jul 9, 2012 at 9:23
  • \$\begingroup\$ Have you tried manual focusing? The problem can be that camera cant focus correctly and it won't shot. \$\endgroup\$
    – zacharmarz
    Commented Jul 9, 2012 at 9:50
  • \$\begingroup\$ May be your D80 is in focus priority mode setup \$\endgroup\$
    – von Stein
    Commented Jul 9, 2012 at 18:33
  • \$\begingroup\$ @RedGrittyBrick - Manual focusing doesn't seem to cure the issue. It will happen in full manual mode. \$\endgroup\$
    – SteveED
    Commented Jul 10, 2012 at 1:18

1 Answer 1

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The simplest thing to do, if you have one nearby, is to take it to a Nikon repair/service centre. I've found them to be very helpful. The shutter may need replacing or it might have a bit of dust/grit stuck in it but they'll be able to tell you and price it for you (they may clean up minor issues for free).

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