Nikon D800......

Pookeyhead said:
*** Important Update for Nikon Owners ***
After making this video it was discovered that on Nikon bodies the viewfinder focus confirmation range increases dramatically when the body or lens is changed from Autofocus (AF) to Manual Focus (MF). I believe this is becase Nikon wanted to make manual focusing easier and faster by increasing the range of focus that provides a confirmation. However for DotTune this behavior is undesirable because it increases the range of tune values, sometimes beyond the limits of the +20/-20 AF tune scale. Luckily there is an easy workaround, which I strongly advise Nikon owners to use:

For step 3, do not set your NIkon body or lens to MF. Instead, configure your body for "back-button" focusing. Back-button focusing means that the Autofocus will not be engaged by a half-press of the shutter, which will allow you to perform steps 4 and 5 while leaving the body+lens still set to AF. To configure back-button focusing, set the "AF Activation" option to "AF-ON only". For the D4/D800 this is setup option a4, for the D3/D3s/D700 it's option a5, and for D600 it's option f4 and D7000 option f5 (for D600/D7000 the AE-L/AF-L button will serve as the AF-ON button). Once you've configured back-button focusing, use only a half-press of the shutter in steps 4 and 5 - do not use the AF-ON button since that will engage the AF on the lens. After you've completed your DotTune you can return the camera back to normal shutter-button focusing if desired. Again, do not set the body or lens to MF as described in the video; doing so will increase the confirmed focus range and make DotTune potentially inaccurate.
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As I said.
 
swiftflo said:
Yes but the video specifically states "not on a Nikon".
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Yep, I meant back button focus. Most people that have had issues have been able to improve there results by lighting the target for example with the modeling light on your flash head.
 
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I've just ran Dot Tune on mine tonight and the only position that the focus indicator was 100% consistent was with the AF fine tune set to 0. I guess that's a good thing but I expected the tolerance range to be wider than one notch. At -1 it had a flashing indicator with a right pointing arrow and at +1 it was the same but left pointing.

This was on my 24-70 f2.8, at 24mm f2.8. I re-ran the test a few times and also at 70mm f2.8 with the same results. Not what I expected but was interesting doing the test.
 
architectfadi said:
Isn't this the result that one should get with a %100 functional camera?
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I would've expected 0 to be the middle point but there to be and equal number of points either side of 0 that would also be in focus as youd expect there to be some degree of tolerance in there. In the test I've seen there's always been a range and its the middle point of that range that you should select as the AF fine tune value. In my case there is only one point and it happens to be 0. I have no issues with that, its just not what I expected from the test.
 
Anyone uses this combo D800 + TC1.7 + Nikon 300 F4? How do they perform? My TC and 70-200 F2.8 work great but I am thinking of getting this lens for extra reach.

Thanks
 
Where are all the D800's?
Nobody seems to have any stock ... recalled or just production/distribution issues?
 
Park, Currys, Clifton, Cameraworld, SRS all have. Demand?
 
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Warehouse Express have D800E In Stock, but awaiting stock of D800.
One Stop Digital have D800 and D800E in stock.
 
Clifton have just 1 left so may be okay.
 
:lol: Let's hope this gets me over my D7100 sorrows!
 
I have been reading an article in the "Digital DSLR" magazine about a professional tog who had carried out an assignment with his new D800.

In it he say's he turned off "Active D Lighting" after he nearly lost some shots he had taken.

Can some one explain to me the function of this and why you would want to turn it off.
 
Laudrup said:
Anyone using the PC-E lenses (24/45/85) on their D800?
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Yes - what do you want to know...

The 24mm won't rotate in both direction due to the lower prism profile - it catches on the shift lever giving about 250 degrees. But the 45mm and 85mm are fine, and rotate the full 270 degrees.

If I'm stuck on the 24mm and require that orientation then I either sling the camera upside down on the tripod, or shoot with the D4 if I can get away with a 16MP file.

I haven't found it to be a major issue yet.
 
Optically are they up to scratch? Was considering the 24mm for landscapes and some architecture. I do have the Zeiss 21, but the 24 PC-E offered something different.

I also read this on Ken Rockwell and a few other sites:

Landscape photographers will need to send their 24mm PCs to Nikon service and pay to have the angles shifted 90 degrees to make these adjustments move in the same (parallel) direction. After doing this, you get rise/fall with tilt, but not swing.
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Did you do that or is it worth bothering about?
 
Cagey75 said:
I've been neglecting my D800 lately, I'm going through one of those flat phases. Just can't motivate myself to get out and shoot. And I haven't had any job requests in a while. What to do when you find yourself in a lull? ...
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I go through those lulls, although a place I recommend if there is one close is a zoo or a safari park. I went round Edinburgh Zoo the other week to look at the pandas and found it interesting as well as challenging in terms of lighting conditions etc.

I'll look in my local paper for events that I wouldn't usually go to if I'm in a rut and go and take some pictures.
 
AdamSi said:
Can you elaborate I've been looking at one of these
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Start HERE I experienced unresolvable focus issues with multiple lenses, as did Carl here and there are other reports on the 'net'.
 
Laudrup said:
Optically are they up to scratch? Was considering the 24mm for landscapes and some architecture. I do have the Zeiss 21, but the 24 PC-E offered something different.
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So far I would say yes. I have the older 85mm but for my purposes I'm happy with them. If I needed better quality then I'd be on LF or MF with full movements and LF/MF lenses.

There certainly wasn't an issue at 24MP on the D3x. But my tilt/shift use with the D800E is limited at the moment particularly wrt large scale printing with clients.

I also read this on Ken Rockwell and a few other sites:

Landscape photographers will need to send their 24mm PCs to Nikon service and pay to have the angles shifted 90 degrees to make these adjustments move in the same (parallel) direction. After doing this, you get rise/fall with tilt, but not swing.
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Did you do that or is it worth bothering about?
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This is standard for all T/S lenses which operate on opposite axis (Canon as well). I'm not a landscape photographer and so I have never been concerned with this. The standard configuration suits me for architecture and product work. My feeling is if I did that then I'd need them opposing for the next job. The only real solution would be to have it in both !
 
meonshore said:
So far I would say yes. I have the older 85mm but for my purposes I'm happy with them. If I needed better quality then I'd be on LF or MF with full movements and LF/MF lenses.

There certainly wasn't an issue at 24MP on the D3x. But my tilt/shift use with the D800E is limited at the moment particularly wrt large scale printing with clients.



This is standard for all T/S lenses which operate on opposite axis (Canon as well). I'm not a landscape photographer and so I have never been concerned with this. The standard configuration suits me for architecture and product work. My feeling is if I did that then I'd need them opposing for the next job. The only real solution would be to have it in both !
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Sounds promising thanks. If I was seriously into it I'd also look at larger format or even the Schneider or Hartblei lenes, but for my uses I think I'll track down a 24 or 45.
 
Laudrup said:
Sounds promising thanks. If I was seriously into it I'd also look at larger format or even the Schneider or Hartblei lenes, but for my uses I think I'll track down a 24 or 45.
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Either that or rent one for a day or two - TS lenses are pretty reasonable to rent - £30-35 a day and then you'd know for sure before dropping £1k+ even on a used one.
 
Yeah that's a good idea actually. I know Samyang are doing a tilt shift 24 that I might keep an eye out for too.
 
Laudrup said:
I go through those lulls, although a place I recommend if there is one close is a zoo or a safari park. I went round Edinburgh Zoo the other week to look at the pandas and found it interesting as well as challenging in terms of lighting conditions etc.

I'll look in my local paper for events that I wouldn't usually go to if I'm in a rut and go and take some pictures.
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Yeah, I was itching to bring the kids to the zoo over their mid-term, but the weather dumped on that so we did the cinema and other indoor stuff instead.

Might just go solo some day, I'd certainly have more time to actually concentrate on shooting, without them hanging out of me.

I used to just get out and head to anything going and shoot away, lately I've just lost the love for it a bit. I know it'll come back though, hopefully.
 
About to unpack the D800 ... I'm going in ... :D
 
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