D700 and D800 Resolution and Quality Comparison

[2WheelPhoto]

How Big Can I Print by Thom Hogan

Nice read. Also noting this was written back in 2007 and he brings it to reality and why many don't find the mega-pixels to be a "selling point" such as the D800:

But let's get back out to the main point I'm trying to make: if you set up a shoot correctly (exposure, camera settings, shot discipline, etc.), use the base or next ISO value of the camera, manage the post processing correctly, do only modest up-sizing (if any), and pick the right options from your printer driver, then you should be able to get that good or excellent print out of virtually any of the currently available DSLRs on the market at up to the maximum size the desktop inkjets can produce. Many of us manage to do better than that. I've produced and seen 36" prints from a 12mp camera that look excellent, though it takes a great deal more control over every variable from shoot-to-print to do that with any consistency.

For my upcoming 20x30, the lab asked I deliver the file from my D700 around 145 dpi if I recall correctly.

 

[MReid]

16x20 and 16x24 are not problem with the d700/d3 and I have done bigger canvases.
If you want to go huge there are upres programs that will allow you to do that.

 

[2WheelPhoto]

The D800 is making me adore my elderly tech D700 more than I already did =)

But I was looking forward to it becoming a back up body too, and the D800 being a total blowout awesome cam that would walk circles around it.

 

[Trever1t]

who's to say it isn't? Seriously how often are we shooting at ISO 1600+? And if need be you have a D700 WIN WIN

 

[2WheelPhoto]

who's to say it isn't? Seriously how often are we shooting at ISO 1600+? And if need be you have a D700 WIN WIN

Indeed if I was buying my 1st full frame of course I'd be buying the new D800! I had planned on buying the D800 in addition, but I'm going to sit on the sidelines a while on that note =)

 

[analog.universe]

Seriously how often are we shooting at ISO 1600+?

Depends on what you shoot of course...

Intensely high ISO performance is opening up new areas of photography that were simply outside of physics before. Indoor sports shots at 1/1000sec, nighttime street photography, etc... In these instances, the more you've got the better.

It's not for landscapes, or in the studio, but there is no amount of clean high ISO that I wouldn't be able to find a use for.

 

[analog.universe]

Actually, now that I'm thinking more about it.. generally speaking, cleaner performance at high ISO is correlated with wider dynamic range at low ISO, so it would be cool for landscapes.

 

[MReid]

I read a semi review from one of the photographers testing the d800, he said the d800 appeared to be the equal of the d3 and d700 as far as iso performance.
...just repeating what I read.

For me...my next camera will be the D3s...iso performance is way more important to me than megapixels.

 

[Patrice]

Clean high ISO and deep DR at base is also more important to me than higher pixel density and I'm pretty sure we won't be waiting a long time before we see significant improvements in this area. Think of the advancements made in sensor and processor technologies during the last decade, extrapolate this another 10 years and the possibilities are beyond imagining. How about near absolute zero read noise? How about a sensor that does not generate any heat? How about transfer speeds that are for all practical purposes instantaneous? How about memory card capacities measured in hundreds or even thousands of terabytes? ..... It will get to a point that if any amount of photons reach the sensor, regardless of how minimal that number is, the sensor will detect and quantify their presence with near perfect certainty. Why not expand the recorded spectrum while we're at it?

 

[analog.universe]

Future technologies yes.

I'd like 30 stops of dynamic range, plskthnx.

 

[bertsirkin]

I currently own a D700 and D3.

IMHO, the D800 was designed to be marketed to medium format and studio photographers - the people who spend $10,000 and (way) up on a camera - hence the "E" model. Medium format photographers, who want the ultimate in resolution, already know how to deal with aliasing, so the "E" model is just there to make them more comfortable. It's going to be a shock to D700, D7000, etc photographers to have to deal with 75MB (or larger) RAW images or 36MB JPEGs.

With the smaller pixel size, I didn't think the D800 would have very good high-ISO performance. But, I have several full-size JPEGs from the D800 taken at high ISO. The files are about 36MB each in size. I have compared them to similar images from the D700 and was pleasantly surprised. Noise levels were about the same, and if an image was downsized to 12 megapixels, the noise levels were much better than that of the D700 native size. So, noise handling seems to be about the same or better as the D700, at least from my initial tests.

The D800 will be a more difficult camera to take pictures with than the D700. Higher resolution, and this is a BIG jump, means solid technique and quality optics become critically important. Just don't expect to get better pictures right off the bat with the D800 - I think most people will find their initial images dissapointing, if they aren't accustomed to using good technique and optics. it will take time to learn how to shoot good images with this camera. I think that the D800 will be a great camera for studio work, portraits and maybe landscapes.

Like many, I am dissapointed that the D800 isn't really the successor to the D700, which, although it's almost 4-years old, still holds its own as a state-of-the-art DSLR (ignoring video). The D800 is a completely different camera, and like somebody else mentioned on this thread, I don't plan on getting rid of my D700 - I plan on using BOTH cameras - but for different purposes.

bert

 

[Trever1t]

Welcome to the forums Bert! Nice report.

 

[Trever1t]

D800 pro shoot report: Nikon D3 - D1 / D700 Forum: Digital Photography Review

 

[Trever1t]

Nikon D800 | Rob Van Petten


Image size and sensitivity to camera motion requiring higher shutter speed is a bit scarey.....but all reports it is a detail beast!

 

[myvinyl333]

I was ready to purchase my 1st full-frame DSLR about the time Nikon was phasing out the D700, so I ordered the D800, not a big cost difference and it was newer. After reading all the supposed ISO/low light comparisons to the D700 I guess the answer(s) will be more clear when I get the D800 in my hands. I have struggled with low light issues for a while now. The D800 replaces my D90. D300s will be my other body, which I have really liked in low light concert settings, I have fast glass as well.