Viewfinder is dark until picture is taken.

There seems to be two separate issues here. I'm going to assume you have a charged battery pack in the camera.

First, the screen. Turn the camera on. Do you see the menu when you press the MENU button? Does the shooting info show when you press the Info button? Can you see previously taken photos when you press the Playback button? If none of those show up then something is wrong with the screen (or the battery is dead).

Second, the viewfinder. First, make sure the viewfinder in the back is clean. Now turn the camera on and look through the viewfinder. Do you see the eleven focus marks? Do you see the info at the bottom? Now turn the camera off and remove the lens. Don't touch anything inside the camera! Do you see a mirror at a 45-degree angle? Is it clean? Look at the focusing screen above the mirror. Is it clean? Now look through the viewfinder and point the camera out a window. Do you see a more-or-less white blob, or the same grainy dark film?

You mean the LCD screen and not the viewfinder, right? That's the way the D60 works. Like other SLR cameras for over half a century, it offers a viewfinder (that's the little window at the back of the "hump") for framing and composition. The LCD screen is for review (looking at the picture AFTER you take it) and for menus. More recent DSLRs offer a LiveView capability where you use the screen for framing and composition. Nikon introduced this feater with the D3 and D300, released a year or so after the D60.
Sorry if that wasn't the answer you wanted to see, but there it is.

First, the "r06" message is NOT an error code. It indicates the number of shots remaining in the internal memory buffer, before the camera must prevent additional shutter actuations so that it may transfer those images already in the buffer to the memory card. This "r" number will decrease with each shot taken in rapid succession until it reaches 0. The shutter release will no longer work until the buffer is transferred to the memory card, then shooting may continue again.

As far as not being able to even see through the viewfinder, it sounds like something may be obstructing the light from reaching the meter and viewfinder. The problem is most likely the position of mirror inside the camera body. With the lens off the body, the mirror should be plainly visible at about a 45 degree angle to the opening. A side view drawing of this is below. The solid red line is the mirror in the normal position. The red dashed line is the up position of the mirror when the shutter is released.



When the mirror is in the "normal" position, the light from the lens is projected on a screen so that the image is visible in the viewfinder for composing and can be metered. When in the "up" position (when the shutter release is fully depressed), the light from the lens is projected on the camera's sensor for as long as set by the manual settings or program; based on ISO, aperture, etc. At the end of this time, the mirror returns to the "normal" position.

If your D100's mirror is not in the lowered 45 degree angle position, the image seen in the viewfinder is inside the camera - not that which the lens would project. Hence, the dark viewfinder, long exposure times and - I'm guessing - severely overexposed pictures because way too much light is striking the sensor because the meter is only seeing darkness.

If the mirror is ok, with the lens removed from the body, look for the aperture lever as shown in the yellow circle in the picture below:



By default, the aperture is at minimum. The camera moves the lever from this position to full open (and anywhere between) as needed. You should gently move the lever to the other end of its travel to open the aperture to maximum. Point the lens away from a light source but preferably at a light colored background. Look through the lens. There should be no obstructions and be clear. Next, look at a dark colored background to find the same results. If you want, you can even allow sunlight to shine through the lens onto a sheet of paper (like a magnifying glass). The result should be a bright circle with no obstructions. Obstructions in the lens will prevent the meter in the camera from getting accurate information about the scene and if significant enough, prevent viewing through the viewfinder.

You may wish to have the camera & lens professionally cleaned and serviced to repair a mirror or lens issue.

If this was helpful, please rate it as such. Good luck!

Which is it? The LCD will not show anything, or it will show previously taken pictures? Does it show menus when you press the MENU button?
The D80's LCD will not show pictures before you take them. The LCD is for menus, shooting information, and reviewing pictures already taken. You must use the viewfinder for composing your pictures. The LiveView capability which lets you use the LCD for composing is a recent development in DSLRs. Nikon introduced it to their product line with the D3 and D300, released years after the D80.

What you see through the viewfinder is not exactly what you get in your picture. It is possible that your settings are just off in the camera. To make sure that this is the problem, set your settings to Auto and try again.

The red light before the picture is taken is a setting you can turn on to indicate that you have focused correctly. You can turn this off in the menu if this bothers you.

Lastly, I do not think your camera is broken. You just need to read your manual to make sure your settings are correct when you take a picture. Hope this helps.

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Unless you have a Rebel XSi with "live view", you're not going to see the image on the LCD before you take the picture. No digital SLR made before 2007 had this option. You compose your picture using the optical viewfinder, and only see your picture after you have taken it. (But at least you don't have to wait until the film is developed. ;-) )

Did you accidentally hit the "DISP" button on the back?

That would explain the darkness if the lens is stopped down. It would seem the aperture control is faulty on the camera body. Normally, the aperture remains open until you take the picture. It is only closed down while the shutter is open.

If you see all black in the viewfinder something bad has happened to the lens. It could be stuck, tilted, etc.

It will need to be taken apart and serviced by a trained technician.

Some digital SLR camera have a mirror lock and others have a viewfinder shutter In each case this will be a knob in the region of the viewfinder that turns. Check that this model has it and it has not be inadvertently turned. Then come back