I've used my D100 in some pretty cold conditions to at least -25C (-13F)
and it works fine. I assume the D80 will be similar. All the usual
caveats about using any camera in cold weather apply, particularly when
going between inside and outside. There's lots of good info about that
available. Basically, don't take it out of your camera bag right away
when you go back indoors; give it a few hours to acclimatise, else be
prepared to deal with condensation. Don't take it outside if there is
condensation in the camera or lens. Keeping the battery as warm as
possible will prolong its life, although lithium-ion does pretty well;
carry a spare in an inside pocket and swap back and forth frequently.
The LCD screens might stop working at really low temps.

Don't stick your tongue on the metal parts :-)

You might have a few issues of fogging when bringing the camera outside.

I use my Nikon outside in well below freezing temperatures. No problem.

Take some long exposures... the sensor is more noise-free in freezing
conditions.

I used my Nikon D70 in well below freezing temps today with no problems.
Well, there was this problem of trying to shoot a white dog in the snow, but
that has nothing to do with the camera's function.

On Jan 18, 3:47 pm, Paige Miller <pmiller5NOS...@rochester.rr.com>
wrote:

Keep the camera inside your top layer so it stays warm, as it said on
another post, keep a warm spare battery. Cold really stresses
batteries, don't expect the same performance from your battery below
freezing (or even at freezing) thatyou get at 80 F. Switching batteries
with a warm one may increase the number of photos, I'll have to try it
this winter.

Tom

The trick is generally to keep the camera relatively warm.  Do
that by keeping it under your coat as much as possible.

Note that cold batteries are not discharged or dead, and as soon
as they are warmed up they'll work again.  Hence if the camera
stops working, warm it up!

I don't know about the D80 batteries, but with a Nikon D2x the
batteries I have are a royal *pain*.  They cannot be swapped.  A
fully charged battery can be put into the camera and work, but
if it is immediately removed from the camera it cannot be used
again until it is first "recharged" in a charger.

Charged batteries that are left sitting for a length of time
will also not work until put through another charge cycle.

One effect is that the camera cannot be used to verify the
charge state of a battery, because doing so leaves the battery
"dead".  And it is impossible to know if a battery that was
charged last week is going to work or not, so grabbing two or
three "charged" batteries and heading out the door probably
means a battery disaster.

Be careful when you take a cold camera into a warm moist
environment.  Under your coat generally is not moist unless you
have been exercising and are wet and sweating.  But going from
outside into a house is a problem.  Warm air can hold more
moisture, but when it comes in contact with the cold camera that
moisture condenses out.

The camera does not need to be all the way up to room
temperature, and it does not need to be in an air tight
container.  Just keep the warm moist air off the camera until
the temperature of the camera is warm enough (40F, for example
is usually enough) to avoid condensation.  Some camera bags will
work (but some won't, and none are as good as a plastic bag for
other reasons).

The easy way is to keep a few plastic bags handy (e.g., in your
vehicle or in your camera bag).  Kitchen size garbage bags are
good, and for most cameras one or two plastic "grocery bags"
will do fine too.  They do not have to be air tight, you just
need to prevent air from circulating, and that can be done by
just squeezing most of the air out of the bag while still in a
cold area.

Air is a very good insulator, hence any container that has a lot
of air in it will also mean it takes more time for the camera to
warm up.  A camera bag, or a large zip lock back sealed full of
air, are examples.  It may take hours more...

I commonly wrap a Nikon D2x up in a plastic grocery bag, and
then put that into another grocery bag.  For smaller cameras or
individual lenses, a single bag is fine because it can just be
rolled up in a ball.  The idea is to get as much air out as
possible, and then not do anything that will cause air to be
move back into the bag.  Set it down in one place and leave it
until warm.

Wear loose shoes with thermal knit socks, and keep your forehead
warm.  Also, a vest under your jacket, to help keep the core of
your body warm, is nice too.  But *do* *not* *sweat* in cold
weather.

Cameras work better when you aren't hypothermic... :-)