A Nd:YAG laser is used to study multiphoton detachment of the ions F-, Cl-, Br- and I-, either at λ= 1064 nm, or λ= 532 nm. The electrons produced are angularly selected and counted, in order to give a measurement of the detachment angular distributions. Nine different angular distributions are presented and compared to corresponding calculations. Correcting the plane-wave calculation by the first Born approximation actually brings the calculated angular distributions closer to the measured ones. The relative transition amplitudes to the different continuum channels show a general tendency of the outgoing electron to be produced with a probability larger than predicted in high angular momentum states