Nikon D800 next for me..any downsides from owners?

simonkit

simonkit

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After much deliberating I've decided that when I make the move to Full Frame the Nikon D800 is going to be it, I was tempted by the D600 too but the dust/oil or whatever issue it is bothers me a little, after been out with an owner of one recently the Live view focusing seemed problematic too. Canon 6D, well not enough focus points and too limited Dynamic range, DR also put me off the 5D MK 3 too.

Anyway would appreciate some feedback from owners of the D800 regarding any downsides, I'm primarily using it for landscapes

Thanks

Simon
 
Can't fault it. It gives much more expensive medium format cameras a serious run for their money when paired with top glass.
 
Laudrup said:
Can't fault it. It gives much more expensive medium format cameras a serious run for their money when paired with top glass.
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Thanks, just been reading about the new 18-35 which seems to get excellent reviews especially considering it's price, I think I might miss VR though for walkabout use as I currently shoot Pentax K5 and the inbody stabilisation is excellent so 16-35 or 24-70 are more likely I think

Simon
 
A fellow photographer and friend Phil Corley who visits Snowdonia and I meet up with him mainly on weekends Simon has the D800e and must add when viewing the detail captured from the camera zoomed in it is fantastic, on my list for sure as well as 16-35mm, there is also a D800 users thread right here on TP packed with info regarding this beast of a camera.
 
Three downsides for me. No integral grip. Slow FPS (6 in DX w/ Grip is ok). And high ISO noise. I know everyone says it's the greatest at high ISO/DR, but that's only if you seriously down-sample the file. At native file size I wouldn't put it as being any better than the D7000.
 
Good noise handling is one of the pluses for me. Its far better at least than my old D90, which is fine by me, never used a D7000. If that's as good with ISO as the D800, fair play for a Dx cam I say. I've seen side by side samples at 100% compared to the D4, and really ... there's not a lot in it.

The only downside I can think of for now is the dreaded egg-timer issue. Some get it, others do not. After shooting for a bit, the LCD can 'lock up' temporarily, as if it's still writing to card, but it's not. Sometimes you're forced to switch the cam off and back on again to get rid. I still get it here and there, especially when I fire off-cam flashes using the pop-up as commander [CLS]

Otherwise, best dslr I can think of for the money.
 
It is probably ~2 stops better than a D90/D300.

IMHO, if you don't have a real use for 36MP files; why mess with them? I upgraded to it from the D7000 after my D4 was finally delivered (I drowned the D3s...thank you insurance). I've used them all side by side. TBH, I haven't made/sold a print/image (ever) that required the D800... I have it in DX mode 90+% of the time; I could have just kept the D7000.
 
The only downside for me was having to upgrade PC hardware which was an extra cost.
 
Price.
 
I wish it were a tad smaller. Except for this, no gripes from me.

Maybe one piece of advice - get the sharpest lens you can. Because it indeed makes a difference. When I got the Sigma 35mm f1.4 DG HSM, I was honestly stunned by the amount of detail that I could see, including small impurities in the paint of a metal farm gate some 50 meters away - impressive. I'm not saying you need this ;-) I'm just saying, with the right lens, the D800 can give you an incredible amount of detail.
 
Thanks everyone,

It's the extra detail that interests me for sure, it looks like Dynamic range is very similar to my K5 which manages 14EV. I often print 36x24 inch and whilst the K5 does a good job the D800 would produce the prints without almost any upscaling which inevitably is going to show up in the prints.

There's a comparision review around of the medium format pentax 645D
(£6000) and the D800E runs it very close so looking at that value wise it looks rather good. I guess weight/bulk might be a slight downside as I do like the size and ergonomics of the K5, just about perfect.


Lens wise to start with I'd be looking at one of these.. new 18-35, 16-35VR or the 24-70. I like the range of the 24-120 but although decent it doesn't seem to be quite so highly regarded as the other 3.

Bit more reading to do yet:thumbs:

Simon
 
Hi, If the D800 or the D800e is used with the best glass then there is nothing else currently available in the same format or any APS-C camera that can match them for detail.

They are close in resolution to medium format, so much so that in our studio they have virtually taken over from medium format and we also use them for all of our wedding photography.

The D600 is also a very good high resolution camera as is a D7000 or D7100, but none of them are as good resolution wise as the D800 or the D800e.

Hope this helps.
 
sk66 said:
It is probably ~2 stops better than a D90/D300.

IMHO, if you don't have a real use for 36MP files; why mess with them? I upgraded to it from the D7000 after my D4 was finally delivered (I drowned the D3s...thank you insurance). I've used them all side by side. TBH, I haven't made/sold a print/image (ever) that required the D800... I have it in DX mode 90+% of the time; I could have just kept the D7000.
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I didn't buy it for the MP count ;) As I'm sure many others didn't. It's my first FX body. I was going to get a used D700 to start, but happened to be in a lucky situation at the time and decided to buy new, may as well get the latest - the D600 was only about to come out at the time.

I tend to crop a lot too though, so that 36mp is extremely useful I have found.

The ISO performance is more than good enough for me personally. I've shot gigs up to 10K, with very little clean up - and I have indeed printed large from even cropped files. I had 2 very large prints done up from a Y&T gig for a friend [birthday present], he's a long time fanatic. It was he got me into the gig and made sure I was allowed shoot from the balcony right over the stage. I also have a large alloy box print from an image I shot in NYC hung in the living room. I've printed large also for others, portraits and family group shots. It's great not having to worry when you ask that question "How large would you like this print to be?" ;) - especially if they happen to decide they'd like at least one of just the dog - who only took up 1/8th of the original image. Or whatever.
 
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Hasn't the D800 also have some issues with the dust? I was just talking to the guys at Fixation and they said the problem with dust is just as bad on the D800 as it is on the D600. Admittedly, there is probably some sort of design flaws with the D600 but the dust problem is caused by the huge amount of MP so everything is way more noticeable than cameras with less MP.

I would have loved to get a D800, but my bank account says no... :-(
 
I'd say dust is never really a problem, as the built-in sensor cleaner can shake that off, usually. Only sticky matter, like oil or oily dust, is a problem.

My D600 had its fair share of that. My D800 has never had anything, until today. Perfectly clean.
 
G.K.Jnr. said:
Hi, If the D800 or the D800e is used with the best glass then there is nothing else currently available in the same format or any APS-C camera that can match them for detail.
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Actually, the pixel size/density is ~ the same as the D7000, and the D7100 is greater. *IF* you crop a D800 image to DX it doesn't really have an advantage.
But you can't increase the size of the D7000/7100. And at native file size the D800 does indeed win.
 
I just got my D800 and 24-70 Nikon f2.8 lens.. It is absolutely brilliant. I went from a D300s to this. I did not go for D600 as I found the body did not sit in my hand.. compared to that D800 feels a lot more comfortable... though slightly heavier.. couple of test shots and it show how much pixel pipping you can do (which I do like).:thumbs:
 
sk66 said:
I've found it's better to crop in camera (i.e. DX mode)... and then it's just a little under 16MP DX.
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I prefer to crop in post, since I'm running all RAW files through lightroom anyhow. It's better for framing. In crop mode you can still see the outer, FX window through the VF. This can make it a little trickier to frame precisely. Also, I wouldn't do this [crop down] for all images. Just,for example, a small bird in a tree - without a huge lens, you're going to be cropping down a lot.
 
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Also raw/LR/PS workflow.
The advantages to cropping in camera (I always leave some extra room) are:
Higher FPS w/ grip
Smaller file size transfers to the card quicker
Won't fill the buffer as quickly
More images/card
Transfer to the computer more quickly
Less storage requirement
Less processing load

The disadvantage of cropping in camera is that I don't know of any really quick way to switch between them. So if suddenly presented w/ a subject that won't fit in the cropped FOV you might miss it.
 
sk66 said:
Also raw/LR/PS workflow.
The advantages to cropping in camera (I always leave some extra room) are:
Higher FPS w/ grip
Smaller file size transfers to the card quicker
Won't fill the buffer as quickly
More images/card
Transfer to the computer more quickly
Less storage requirement
Less processing load

The disadvantage of cropping in camera is that I don't know of any really quick way to switch between them. So if suddenly presented w/ a subject that won't fit in the cropped FOV you might miss it.
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I have my preview button set to image area shortcut, this way I can change the image area quick
 
Can you tell me how I do that? because when I go to set preview/fn buttons image area doesn't show up :/

[edit] got it! control > assign preview button > preview + command dials > choose image area :)

That'll be dead handy when I'm doing a spot of nature shooting.
 
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I actively dislike (and avoid whenever possible!) PP but still crop after shooting rather than using Dx or the other crop mode. In PP I can adjust the horizon (if I need to) and crop to exactly where I want rather than rely on me getting it perfect in camera. Since most of my large prints are in the A series format rather than 3:2, I usually have to do a little cropping whatever I shoot in since no camera I've ever used shoots in 1:sq. root 2!
 
Cagey75 said:
Can you tell me how I do that? because when I go to set preview/fn buttons image area doesn't show up :/

[edit] got it! control > assign preview button > preview + command dials > choose image area :)

That'll be dead handy when I'm doing a spot of nature shooting.
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It is handy. Been using it for a while. You can change the crop area without taking the camera from your eye.
You can also set the camera to "grey out" the border rather than just have the default lines.
 
Nod said:
I actively dislike (and avoid whenever possible!) PP but still crop after shooting rather than using Dx or the other crop mode.
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Well, regardless of what mode/framing I advocate leaving some room for fine-tuning the composition in post. If DX is too tight, then I won't use it.
 
One thing i will say, regarding both the D800 and processing - I find I don't do near as much tweaking as I used to with my old D200/D90/Sony A200 DX format dslrs. Not sure how much the E version makes a difference but I certainly do much less sharpening, if any at all. My usual tweaks are bumps or a toning down of contrast, clarity, highlights, vibrance and blacks. Unless I'm after a pecific look or going B&W I do little else mostly.
 
Cagey75 said:
One thing i will say, regarding both the D800 and processing - I find I don't do near as much tweaking as I used to with my old D200/D90/Sony A200 DX format dslrs. Not sure how much the E version makes a difference but I certainly do much less sharpening, if any at all. My usual tweaks are bumps or a toning down of contrast, clarity, highlights, vibrance and blacks. Unless I'm after a pecific look or going B&W I do little else mostly.
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Really? I still do sharpening from raw. I actually have LR set to do it automatically when opening and then I just tweak it.

I wish I could assign the image area selection to the AF-On button....that button is about useless to me.
 
grip is not a problem, Nikon send you vouchers for their grip at about 1/2 price, or there are 3rd party copies.

I have only had my d800e for 3 months, still learning how to get the best out of it, but very happy with it, although get the settings wrong and you can take some rubbish photos !
 
I do a tiny bit of sharpening here and there, depending on the image of course. like eyes on a portrait, maybe. but never getting near the level I used to use. Now by default I think LR5 has sharpening for me at 25. That should be sufficient for most types of image. I take the radius down to 0.8 and use masking to keep sharpened areas to a minimum.

I have a third party grip. I've used it twice ... in 6 months or so
 
rowland said:
grip is not a problem, Nikon send you vouchers for their grip at about 1/2 price, or there are 3rd party copies.

I have only had my d800e for 3 months, still learning how to get the best out of it, but very happy with it, although get the settings wrong and you can take some rubbish photos !
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I never had vouchers when I registered my D800 with them
 
realspeed said:
I never had vouchers when I registered my D800 with them
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Depends when you bought it, and where you bought it from.

The Nikon pro dealers - like London Camera Exchange - had a set of vouchers which were sent to you once they registered the body with Nikon on your behalf. I think they were called "NikonPlus" retailers.

I got my grip that way @ £140 off, and use it for every frame I take with mine....
 
The mention of post processing brings up another question:thinking:

How much extra strain have the large files put on peoples PC's, I'm not really interested in the storage space debate and it's so cheap now I see it as a non-issue.

My thinking with this camera is slightly different from previous changes...I'll probably keep the K5 for travelling/holidays and high iso, the D800 will purely be a landscape camera for me which will also mean I won't need to amass a large collection of high quality glass

Simon
 
simonkit said:
The mention of post processing brings up another question:thinking:

How much extra strain have the large files put on peoples PC's, I'm not really interested in the storage space debate and it's so cheap now I see it as a non-issue.

My thinking with this camera is slightly different from previous changes...I'll probably keep the K5 for travelling/holidays and high iso, the D800 will purely be a landscape camera for me which will also mean I won't need to amass a large collection of high quality glass

Simon
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Assuming your system falls above published specs forPS/LR then you'll have no problems with d800 raws
 
Before I bought the D800, I had upgraded my laptop anyway, and have never had any slow-down issues, even when dealing with hundreds of RAWS at a time with both LR + Cs6 open for business. You would want at least an i5 processor with at least 6GB RAM though. To keep speeds up. I have an i7 with turbo boos tech, 8GB RAM [will soon be upping that to 16] and 1TB of HDD space. No worries for a while here.
 
Got mine from Amazon which may be why I got no vouchers paid £1929 for it. Puchased on the 25/5/13
 
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Cagey75 said:
Before I bought the D800, I had upgraded my laptop anyway, and have never had any slow-down issues, even when dealing with hundreds of RAWS at a time with both LR + Cs6 open for business. You would want at least an i5 processor with at least 6GB RAM though. To keep speeds up. I have an i7 with turbo boos tech, 8GB RAM [will soon be upping that to 16] and 1TB of HDD space. No worries for a while here.
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I'm running an I3-2120 with 16GB of ram, CS6 .. runs effortlessly with my K5 raw files, I guess it should be reasonable with the D800, probably upgrade the harddrive to an SSD though
 
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