Markw's D800 Review Thread.

Mark great write up and beautiful pics.
A friend told me she has a hard time reaching the aperture preview button on hers then I saw it on dpreview video. Does my friend and the chinese guy on dpreview just have short fingers or is it really in a tough spot?
I have no problem at all reaching any of the buttons. Not even the MODE button, or the record button. I don't have huge hands at all, by any stretch of the imagination, either. I have no idea whatsoever what the complaining about the button placement is all about. Coming from a D300s, I didn't really notice too much of a difference, really.

Night time focus > WINNING! :D
YES! I was shocked!

Mark
 
wow. I'm blown away by this focus and 36mpx REALLY let you get close. AMAZING!
Mark thanks for posting these!
 
Feeling much better about my D800 vs. D700 dilemma! Definitely teetering towards the 800 now.

Would love to see some untouched photos at 800, 1600, 3200, and 6400 ISO. Not that I shoot above 1600 often, but in a pinch I will hit 3200/6400. My ONLY concern when this was announced was potential Noise. The resolution is amazing and if it's even 90% as good as the 700 in low light, my decision will be an easy one for my style of shooting :)

Lem
 
Thanks Vtec! I've seen that. It's great info. For sure.

The question is, what do actual photos look like side by side? dpreview seems to have finally put comparison photos up for the D800 so Hopefully that'll get into the real world functionality a bit more. Not looking bad, though!

Lem
 
Mark, you've had the body for some time now. Do you have any other thoughts or feelings about the camera?
 
goddamnit... now i have to save up 5 grand... first for this camera and a 24-70 2.8... Also i will probably have to wait a year and nikon will most likely up the price of the d800 as well. This seems like am amazing camera. I've got crazy gear lust for the d800 and 24-70 (and 16-35, 85 1.4, and 50 1.8g. Although i could probably get by with just a 16-35 and a 50 1.8 which is the equivelent of my favorite setup on dx.

How are you finding your computer in keeping up with the new image sizes? what kind of computer do u have? i've got a macbook pro with an i7 but if i get the camera i would most likely upgrade to a solid state drive and up the ram to 8gb as well.

The other thing holding me back is, the price of the camera is roughly equivelent to a european holiday, i could get much better images by traveling with my d7000 than buying a d800 and being stuck in suburbia...
 
Mark, you've had the body for some time now. Do you have any other thoughts or feelings about the camera?
Everything that I said in my original post still stands true about the ergonomics. Functionality is seamless. VERY easy to get used to, and very easy to use. I've found very little times where I've had to take my eye from the viewfinder to adjust settings. Video is off the charts amazing. Photos have outstanding detail and, well, everything else is superb. I've still got to get used to the apparent, inherent texture to the photos. At 36MP, it looks a bit different than at 12. It's got a texture to them. I'll see if I can dig up some samples of what I mean. ISO seems perfectly usable to ISO6400. That's the top of the native range, but I can't see any problems with using that in a pinch. Sorry, I don't have a D700, or any other camera besides my IR D60, to compare it directly with. I'm still growing with it, but I honestly can't see me needing anything else for a very long time. I'm interested in seeing how it fares a wedding-type scenario as well. I can't foresee any problems.

OH. And about the 36MP, you better have prettyyyy good technique. They're not very forgiving to camera shake.

goddamnit... now i have to save up 5 grand... first for this camera and a 24-70 2.8... Also i will probably have to wait a year and nikon will most likely up the price of the d800 as well. This seems like am amazing camera. I've got crazy gear lust for the d800 and 24-70 (and 16-35, 85 1.4, and 50 1.8g. Although i could probably get by with just a 16-35 and a 50 1.8 which is the equivelent of my favorite setup on dx.

How are you finding your computer in keeping up with the new image sizes? what kind of computer do u have? i've got a macbook pro with an i7 but if i get the camera i would most likely upgrade to a solid state drive and up the ram to 8gb as well.

The other thing holding me back is, the price of the camera is roughly equivelent to a european holiday, i could get much better images by traveling with my d7000 than buying a d800 and being stuck in suburbia...

Yepp. That's true. But, technically speaking, photo per photo, the photos being popped out of the D800, even in suburbia, are going to be better than the ones popped out of your D7000. :p

As for the lenses, I'm wrestling now with the idea that I'm going to have to upgrade each one of my lenses. 24-70 Sigma->Nikon 24-70. Nikon 80-200->70-200II. 50/1.8D->Sigma 1.4. Tokina 11-16->Nikkor 14-24. Of course, you could also go the 16/17-35 + 50 + 70-200. But, as an event photographer, I feel it's better to have the first setup.

I have a 15" Macbook Pro with the i7 as well. I don't have any problems editing RAW files in ACR6.9. I'm going to pick up LR whenever they accept the D800 RAW files (maybe they already do?) for editing. Every once in a while, out of the blue, I'll get the swirling rainbow of death. But, that only lasts maybe 2 seconds, then goes right back off. It takes longer, for sure. But, not much longer at all.

Thanks for the questions everyone! If you have any more, or would like to see specific photos taken with the camera, or certain settings, please let me know! I'll be happy to oblige.

Mark
 
LightRoom 4 has ACR 7 and will open D800/e D4 files.

Good review, I understand the 'texture' you speak of, like a film grain when viewed at 100%, right?
 
That's exactly it. It's kind of a pet peeve of mine. I generally try for the smoothest image possible, and the texture seems to be inherent and ubiquitous. But, unless you zoom in to the darkest parts of the image at 100%, it really makes no difference. I can't wait to get something printed from it!

Mark
 
Dynamic Range. Detail. Just sayin'. :p

DSC_0369.jpg


DSC_0385.jpg


DSC_0386.jpg


DSC_0395.jpg


100%
DSC_0395-100.jpg


Mark
 
How do you think the release of the D800 is going to impact selling prices on the D3x?
 
I hear people saying that it won't affect it too much since the D3x is still a "professional" camera. But, I think it's going to cannibalize the D3x. If it hasn't already, it easily will when it becomes available to the masses. Here are the main reasons:

D3x D800
ISO1600 vs ISO6400 from D800
No boost vs ISO25,600 boost
No video vs Best Nikon-based video
FAR less startup delay and shutter lag
Far better AF
15MP DX

Etc, etc. The kicker is The D800 costs HALF THE PRICE.

So, I can't see why it wouldn't cannibalize the sales on the D3x.

Mark
 
Resolution test:

DSC_2432.jpg


100% crop (don't mind the motion blur.)
Crop.jpg


Unofficial DR test:
DSC_2416.jpg


Take from it what you will. ;)
Mark
 

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