Nikon D800......

Chris, please understand me right - I'm not saying that you should get the D800 rather than the D610. I'm sure the D610 is a fine camera, just like the D600 was (except for the oil issue). I just wanted to say that some of the concerns you had described are IMHO unnecessary.

Of course, if you can get the two cameras for an almost identical price (I think you mentioned that in one of your postings), IMHO the D800 is the camera of choice, as it is, again IMHO, better than the D610 in a couple of aspects. And with sharp lenses, those 36 MP are a beautiful thing to have. The amount of detail these 36 MP, together with the color depth of the D800, capture is superb.
 
AchimT said:
Chris, please understand me right - I'm not saying that you should get the D800 rather than the D610. I'm sure the D610 is a fine camera, just like the D600 was (except for the oil issue). I just wanted to say that some of the concerns you had described are IMHO unnecessary.

Of course, if you can get the two cameras for an almost identical price (I think you mentioned that in one of your postings), IMHO the D800 is the camera of choice, as it is, again IMHO, better than the D610 in a couple of aspects. And with sharp lenses, those 36 MP are a beautiful thing to have. The amount of detail these 36 MP, together with the color depth of the D800, capture is superb.
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Cheers mate, I've actually ordered a D610 today as the price has been dropping like a stone, at £1350 its quite a bit cheaper now than a D800 *Around £450-£480* so I've decided to go for that and the Sigma 35 f1.4.

I will however be making sure that I'm happy with the AF in poorer light, I know it hasn't improved v my D600 but I didn't shoot it a lot in low light - if it struggles I might be tempted to reconsider and swap it for a D800 and pay the extra...
 
macvisual said:
Hi Pookeyhead;

Appreciate your keenness in trying to help me, thanks!

Yes it's strange why each j-peg file of mine seems to be around 11 mb's...?

Yes j-peg compression is set to optimal quality, D-Lighting is turned off.

That recent building image I very very slightly cropped a bit off the bottom, but I mean about 2mm (or less), that's it, then put cf card into card-reader, attach USB via my laptop, open up an editing suite called 'Faststone', possibly slightly adjust contrast/saturation/auto adjust colours/sharpen if needed, then save the j-peg file to an external 1 terabyte hard drive, upload file to Flickr.

That's it....... Any ideas were I may be going wrong would be great thanks?!

P.S. Might it help to maybe email you the original j-peg file.....?


Regards;
Peter
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i think i'm getting this right ....but nikon Dlighting can only be used in capture which is nikons own editing software .it dos'nt work in photoshop lightroom or any other non brand program So no point in ever using Dlighting unless you use the nikon software i have had Dlighting switched off on my camera since the day i bought it as i don't use or rate nikon software hth mike just a correction i was talking about ACTIVE dlighting
 
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dinorock said:
i think i'm getting this right ....but nikon Dlighting can only be used in capture which is nikons own editing software .it dos'nt work in photoshop lightroom or any other non brand program So no point in ever using Dlighting unless you use the nikon software i have had Dlighting switched off on my camera since the day i bought it as i don't use or rate nikon software hth mike
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Im a little confused with the above, Avtive D Lighting in an in camera option accessed from the menu????
 
dinorock said:
Yes but is only useable in capture nx
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Im still confused, if i select low or high there is quite clearly a difference in the images captured and software used makes no difference as the selected level of ADLighting is applied in camera, i think you might be saying that you need to be shooting in RAW to access ADLighting in software, corect.

I only ever shoot JPEG
 
It's always been my understanding that things like active D lighting & the other settings like Vivid colour etc act directly on any jpeg coming from the camera..
while RAW remains just that, raw.
 
macvisual said:
On my journey home after working nightshifts over the past few mornings I've noticed beautiful low lying mist, spotted this landscape image about two miles from home, stopped the car at shot this handheld;



Misty morning by Peter McCullough Photography, on Flickr


D800 - Nikkor 50mm f/1.8D - iso 500 - shot @ f/6.3 - RAW
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Nice shot.....would love to see a B&W version.
JohnyT
 
Gary Coyle said:
Im still confused, if i select low or high there is quite clearly a difference in the images captured and software used makes no difference as the selected level of ADLighting is applied in camera, i think you might be saying that you need to be shooting in RAW to access ADLighting in software, corect.

I only ever shoot JPEG
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here you go gary straight from the book copyright simon stafford magic lantern guide nikon D300 note he states its "not to be confused with dlighting as this is in camera editing and that you do indeed need the nikon capture software to use active dlighting. hope that explains it better cheers mike. i should add to this it does say you only need the software to make adjustments to a raw file



IMG.jpg by Mike Rockey, on Flickr
 
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Well after some tooing and froing over the D610 I've ordered a D800 with the Sigma 35mm f1.4 as my new kit, should be here tomorrow, can't wait!
After handling and have a shot with the D800 I just felt the AF was much better than the D600 (especially in poor light) and the the build and handling was improved, partocularly with the extra shortcut buttons.
All in all as I shoot primes I didn't think it was much bigger and heavier than the D600/D610 for carrying around with me.
 
wise decision, young jedi - enjoy your new light sabre...... lol
 
Anyone using the D800 for video a lot? I've got my kid's nativity coming up, usual scenario of dimly lit church hall and terrible acoustics. Anything I can do or buy (e.g. a mic) to stack the odds in my favour of getting a decent video of it?
 
Chris I use Sandisk extreme 60mb/s 32gb cf card for raw and Sandisk extreme 45mb/s 32gb sd card jpeg backup.
I also switched from the D600 after having the oil spot problem. Before getting the D800 I thought that all the people slating the consumer bodies were just being elitist, but after using the D800 it really does make a difference.
 
I use the Lexar 1000x 32Gb & a Lexar 1000x 16Gb- Get the fastest card you can.
It will REALLY PAY DIVIDENDS in downloading the gigabytes.

How I do this is to:
use as the main card my 32Gb. When full, I remove it & insert my 16Gb into the camera to use -once I've formatted it....
I plug my 32Gb into a Hyperspace Colorama UDMA drive to copy off all images - takes seconds to start & takes about 15-20 minutes to copy all pics off. I can also do the copy twice (onto 2 seperate hard drives) if I really need the data to be secure.. This is placed in my pocket running....has an auto turn off when finished..

When the 16Gb is full, I follow the same procedure again.

This saves me buying many really expensive CF cards & is light & small enough to carry anywhere.
 
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Sandisk extreme pro 64GB and 32GB SD cards and Transcend 32GB 400x CF cards.

I'm not shooting video, and if I'm under time pressure on downloads of stills I'll ingest locked files only in Photo-mechanic reducing the volume. Otherwise I'll transfer while I make a coffee.
 
Laudrup said:
Anyone using the D800 for video a lot? I've got my kid's nativity coming up, usual scenario of dimly lit church hall and terrible acoustics. Anything I can do or buy (e.g. a mic) to stack the odds in my favour of getting a decent video of it?
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A more directional mic will help with poor acoustics, as will setting audio levels manually to stop it increasing during quiet spells and increasing ambient noise.

If it's low light, the D800 ain't the best for video. Gets pretty noisy above ISO3200.
 
Pookeyhead said:
A more directional mic will help with poor acoustics, as will setting audio levels manually to stop it increasing during quiet spells and increasing ambient noise.

If it's low light, the D800 ain't the best for video. Gets pretty noisy above ISO3200.
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Thanks for the advice. I was looking at the Nikon ME-1 and the Rode Videomic pro and manually setting the levels. I took the camera and had a quick video at rehearsal and the lighting was better than I thought.
 
Pookeyhead said:
A more directional mic will help with poor acoustics, as will setting audio levels manually to stop it increasing during quiet spells and increasing ambient noise.

If it's low light, the D800 ain't the best for video. Gets pretty noisy above ISO3200.
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Thats interesting David, is video generally noisier than stills or does it depend on the camera.
 
Gary Coyle said:
Thats interesting David, is video generally noisier than stills or does it depend on the camera.
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Yes.. it depends on the camera. The D800's still performance is awesome in low light, but its video is a different matter. Once passed 3200 it's pretty rubbish compared to the 5D MkIII.
 
Laudrup said:
Thanks for the advice. I was looking at the Nikon ME-1 and the Rode Videomic pro and manually setting the levels. I took the camera and had a quick video at rehearsal and the lighting was better than I thought.
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I've used it here and there to record the kids messing about, nothing more than that really. I had the RØDE video mic, the shotgun style. I found the sound to be not all that much better than the default mic on the cam tbh :/ Maybe I was doing something wrong, but I know that unless you are pretty close to the subject, the sound is a little muffled/low. I think it's best used as a direct close up mic, it does cancel out a lot of background interference. But probably not suitable for a play. The pro version will no doubt be better, but it's still a one-directional mic. I sold it on in the end after only using it about 3 times. The guy who bought it was a student, doing journo' stuff, interviews and commentary it suited his needs.

I just use no mic for now, though do plan to get a better quality one. So Let us know what you get and how it perfroms
 
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Cagey75 said:
I've used it here and there to record the kids messing about, nothing more than that really. I had the RØDE video mic, the shotgun style. I found the sound to be not all that much better than the default mic on the cam tbh :/ Maybe I was doing something wrong, but I know that unless you are pretty close to the subject, the sound is a little muffled/low. I think it's best used as a direct close up mic, it does cancel out a lot of background interference. But probably not suitable for a play. The pro version will no doubt be better, but it's still a one-directional mic. I sold it on in the end after only using it about 3 times. The guy who bought it was a student, doing journo' stuff, interviews and commentary it suited his needs.

I just use no mic for now, though do plan to get a better quality one. So Let us know what you get and how it perfroms
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Cheers Cagey. I decided not to bother with the mic as I'd never use it after, and went with the onboard mic and just sat in the front row. The kids shouted so loud the onboard mic was adequate. The video quality is impressive though, must use the feature more often.
 
macvisual said:
I quite fancy a 35mm prime lens for my D800
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I bought the Sigma because according to reviews I've seen the Nikon isn't free of issues either, and the Samyang and the Zeiss I think are manual focus, and their optical quality doesn't seem to make up for this as compared to the Sigma.

The Sigma is a bit of a mixed bag for me. In everyday use, for landscapes, I don't notice any of this, but in my testing after purchasing it I noticed some focussing issues. I bought it twice, returned the first one. Both specimens had two ranges where they didn't seem to focus perfectly sharp. This effect was stronger in the first specimen, in the second it is almost unnoticeable, and indeed in everyday use, I don't notice it at all. Also the possibility to adjust the focus using the USB dock is a very nice feature, but it provides 3 ranges for adjustment between 0 and 4 ft (approx.), and then a single one for all the rest, which to me seems to be, considering that this lens is IMHO probably hardly ever used for ranges below 4 ft, difficult to understand. I would rather have more ranges from 5 meters up, then maybe I could also eliminate those 2 slightly unsharp areas.

So while in the testing I was a bit dissatisfied, this lens has become my 'always on' lens. I hardly ever use another lens, and I am obviously very happy with the quality of the images. You can see a few images taken with this lens at the link in my sig.

Other than the focussing, I like the optical quality of this lens. It excels in pretty much all areas lenses which define the quality of a lens. Also the build quality seems to be good. The focus is fast enough, quiet enough, the lens feels solid all around. Vignetting is moderate, it is utterly sharp and precise, produces good colors, no major color fringes, and the amount of detail it brings onto the sensor is just great.
 
macvisual said:
I quite fancy a 35mm prime lens for my D800, any advice of what suits the D800 guys n' gals ? I've a 21mm lens for landscape photography and a basic Nikkor 50mm f/1.8D at the minute. I mainly shoot manual focus, so auto focus is not important to me.

These are probably the 35mm contenders, not in any order;

Sigma 35mm f/1.4
Samyang 35mm f/1.4
Carl Zeiss 35mm f/1.4
Nikkor 35mm f/1.4

Advice and experience appreciated.
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I have the nikkor. Had the sigma been available when I bought I would probably have jumped that way. There is nothing wrong with the nikkor, intact it's my favourite lens, but from what I've seen the sigma is as good.
 
macvisual said:
I quite fancy a 35mm prime lens for my D800, any advice of what suits the D800 guys n' gals ? I've a 21mm lens for landscape photography and a basic Nikkor 50mm f/1.8D at the minute. I mainly shoot manual focus, so auto focus is not important to me.

These are probably the 35mm contenders, not in any order;

Sigma 35mm f/1.4
Samyang 35mm f/1.4
Carl Zeiss 35mm f/1.4
Nikkor 35mm f/1.4

Advice and experience appreciated.
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The Sigma 35mm f/1.4 definitely.
 
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