[slackercruster]

OK, any D800 owners out there. You've had some time to blast away. What is the verdict with your Nikon D800?

[jsherman999]

OK, any D800 owners out there. You've had some time to blast away. What is the verdict with your Nikon D800?

What I've been trying to do is keep the superlatives under control, so I will answer in a calm, rational, measured, low-key way:



It's freaking great! I'm just snapping evrything, all my lenses have higher MTF scores! AF is pure magic, downsampling gives me the best 18MP images ever created by man! 5:4 crop mode is giving me like a mini LF camera!! I like!



Unlike others, I think Pentax could make something equally good, though, given the parent-funding, judging by how the K-5 stacked up against the D7000.

[slackercruster]

Any dislikes or is it all good?

[jsherman999]

Any dislikes or is it all good?

I was disappointed that they couldn't find a way to dampen the shutter sound more. I really envy that K-5 shutter sound.

It eats batteries a bit faster, and my computer has not been upgraded yet, so my workflow has become kinda painfully slow, compared to the 14MP K20D and 12MP D700 files.

My firmware has not been upgraded yet, and my camera locks up every once in a while while displaying images.

Really, most of the complaints I see are "it's not better-enough than the D700, I don't use the MP", or the QC issues with the left AF point, which is a real issue for some bodies, not user error.

[normhead]

The only complaints I've heard is "Mine hasn't arrived yet."

Really, most of the complaints I see are "it's not better-enough than the D700, I don't use the MP",

I hate to say "I told you so" but hey, who listens to me?

[Chex]

Mine JUST arrived today.. so only a few shots with a mediocre 24-120mm lens.. saving for my 70-200 VR II and the kids will never elude me again!
Coming from the K-5 the menu and button layouts will take some getting used to.. wish it had the K-5's GREEN Button for old manual lenses.. not that I will end up with too many for this camera though... I don't think so at least..

[jsherman999]

The only complaints I've heard is "Mine hasn't arrived yet."



I hate to say "I told you so" but hey, who listens to me?

"I told you so" about what?

Folks were saying that before the D800 was even released, before the specs were even really known. It's no secret that some folks don't see the advantage of higher-MP.

Heck, I didn't for several years, either, until I listened more carefully to the arguments, read the DxOMark paper, and saw the practical examples. Norm, for your style of shooting I thought you'd be big on this camera.... Landscapers consume megapixels like blue whales consume algae.

And regarding "I don't need the MP...", you may not understand the various ways it can be used. It can get you that detail in a large-printed image, sure, but it's also useful in crop mode:

Sigma 50-150 (DX aps-c lens)

Nikon 35 f1.8G (DX aps-c lens)




And when downsampled, can beat a lower-MP image displayed at it's native resolution, with regards to noise pattern quality and detail retained:


The scene, ISO 6400:



Which of these below do you prefer? (no NR or sharpening, one is native 12MP cropped, one is 36MP downsampled to 12MP and cropped)






Look at the lighted text, the text in shadow above the $10, the detail difference in the book crease, the detail in the $10, etc...

Those are crops to obviate the difference for the web - the actual whole printed downsampled image looks more crisp, detailed, 'real'.





.

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Last edited by jsherman999; 06-15-2012 at 09:59 PM.

[123ben]

I was disappointed that they couldn't find a way to dampen the shutter sound more. I really envy that K-5 shutter sound.

The first thing popped into my mind during D800 testing The K5 shutter sound is just sexy

What I really love about the D800 is its mind blowing AF performance. It was magical to me how the AF performed when shooting my black dog running full speed towards me. In terms of AF it really beats the K5. For me it's very intuitive to operate except the missing possibility to meter with the "green button" in manual mode. Overall it was a very hard decision to sell my K5 + all of my Pentax lenses, but Nikon quality glass is very expensive and I needed some funding. I loved my K5 but couldn't justify to keep both systems.

[ManuH]

I hate to say this but the D800 is on my wish list. But I'm waiting because I'd like to think that Pentax will use that sensor for their first FF camera. Also Nikon may come with a cheaper FF that may just fulfill my needs at a much lower price. But if the D600 rumours are true it means that others will follow suit and will release similar FF cameras, amongst them Pentax because releasing a 1500$ APS-C will make no sense anymore. Meanwhile my K-5 is still getting me great pictures so the wait is not painful at all.

[Rondec]

Honestly, I think the D800 looks like a great camera, although it is probably (no, definitely is) overkill for my purposes. I do hope Pentax comes out with a full frame camera -- from the sound of things, Nikon has an exclusive on this sensor for awhile, but maybe by fall of this year/spring of next year, Pentax could launch a similar type camera.

[normhead]

The "I told you so" was about the ability of computers to handle the file size and the soon to be realized storage issue. While I agree with some of the uses, my advice is still, compose in the viewfinder. Personally I haven't found the need to consume large numbers of megapixels. My printer seems good with as low as 100dpi. I've read that the human eye can resolve 560 dpi.. some guys try to make a big deal of that. The thing is, the printer doesn't print 100 dpi. It prints dots that bleed together and form one consistent surface. There is absolutely no reason to assume that because the human eye can resolve 560 dpi, an image printed on an ink jet printer needs to be printed at 560 dpi. Unless the print is to look exactly like you were staring at the object. That's a preposterous idea and not in any way artistically necessary or desirable.

That's a great illustration of down cropping, I like that, I wish you had a K5 image taken off the same tripod set. I have to ask if the K-5 would have produced as soft an image as the cropped Nikon. I'm guessing it would but, I'd still like to see it before I proclaim it truth. I'd also note that if reproducing text, I might want a higher pixel count. But most of the time I want my images to look more like water colours than typeface.

If someone asked, I would certainly try a print at 50 inches wide. Currently we go as high as 33 all the time and there are absolutely no issues with dpi.

In any case, thanks for posting those. All information is appreciated.

It was magical to me how the AF performed when shooting my black dog running full speed towards me.

I went through the same thing with my K20D. But, I wouldn't buy a camera based on it's ability to shoot movie like sequences. I assume what your saying is the Nikon is better than the K-5. I've done it enough times with a k-5 to know it can be done.

The following picture is the end of an 8 shot sequence taken in about 2 seconds, the dog is coming at us full speed "attacking" his ball. In The whole sequence the dog is in focus as he moves through the frame. My buddies old film Nikon would have taken 12 pictures in the same time period, equally in focus. But I don't need 12, I don't need 8, I would have been happy with 4, I needed 1. So most of the time what you're talking about is.. do I want triple overkill or double overkill.

And more to the point... you can get the shot you want with a k-5 and it can be just as good or better than the one you take with your Nikon, in the same circumstances. The guy pulling the trigger is still more important than the technology.



I would never argue that the Nikon advantage in autofocus hasn't been going on since way back when I was shooting film. But, the thing I find most irritating about these types of threads, is people telling me they can't do on a K-5, things I do on a regular basis. And the other thing that irritates me is, Nikon has had this advantage since the days of film, I'm talking 25 years ago. If that's what you want, why did you buy Pentax in the first place? I wouldn't have if that type of sequence was important to me.

It's all about what is good enough.

[123ben]

I assume what your saying is the Nikon is better than the K-5. I've done it enough times with a k-5 to know it can be done.

Yes, I say that the D800 is the better camera for ME! And I don't say that the K5 is a bad camera... I did also many many "dog in full speed" shots and I found that the K5 was not able to suit MY needs. I used different lenses for that purpose, e.g. the Sigma 70-200 2.8 OS and the keeper rate came not even close to the keeper rate of the D800 + 70-200 VR II. Maybe I'm too stupid, but that was my experience

And more to the point... you can get the shot you want with a k-5 and it can be just as good or better than the one you take with your Nikon, in the same circumstances. The guy pulling the trigger is still more important than the technology.

Yes he is very important, definitely true! But sometimes you can also say "different cam for different purpose" And that is what works for ME...

If that's what you want, why did you buy Pentax in the first place? I wouldn't have if that type of sequence was important to me.

Because, my taste of shooting changed. I used the K5 very much for backpacking and for that it was the best APS-C cam (just MY opinion )

[normhead]

Because, my taste of shooting changed. I used the K5 very much for backpacking and for that it was the best APS-C cam (just MY opinion

Well maybe some who've undergone a similar transformation will see this and think maybe the D800 would be fine for them too. Fine by me. I'm still stuck in the backpacking mode with an i7 computer I know won't handle 36 Mp files well.

[123ben]

I'm still backpacking and on the road I don't need the ability to Photoshop my pictures. I found the iPad 3 fast enough to import the pictures that I'd like to share while traveling. At home my Macbook Pro + iMac are fast enough to handle the D800 files. Fortunately I don't have to pay for my Apple devices (I'm a computer scientist and my employer equips me). I have to admit though upgrading to a fast system makes working with such big files much easier and I totally understand that not everybody wants to go such a big step just for a camera "upgrade".

P.S: Great dog picture! My black lab is also a ball chaser

[RonHendriks1966]

So basicly you bought that expensive camera because you own a dog?


Well I had it briefly in my hands once and it is a fine camera. I have some 645D files, so I know that systems do slow down with those big files (people who say it doesn't, just lie or just don't know).

The pixels can produce fantastic details, so I believe it is a great camera. Only real thing is that 24 megapixel would also be great.