[123ben]

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

50% of it

[tuco]

...
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).

I edit 500MB, 250MB and 125MB scanned film DNG files from medium and large format. Photoshop handles it. Yeah, it may be a little slower but it is manageable. How large are your files?

[normhead]

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

I think we are into the law of diminishing returns at this point on the mega pixel thing. Doubling the megapixels doesn't double the IQ. IN fact , if you do a 1:4 crop on a 36 MP file and a 1:2 crop on an 18 Mp file, can you even see the difference? One of you guys with a D800, chop chop.

[pinholecam]

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'.



.

Jay, thanks for your samples.
Impressive capability with that 36mp.

I'm curious if I did the same with the K5 16mp file (or your D800 cropped file), down sampled to a still quite very usable 8mp, would it get the same results?
Obviously I won't be able to blow it as large, but will I get apparently sharper looking text with the downsizing?
What I mean is that if I really am very reluctant to spend this sort of money on a D800, and I'm not looking at prints above A3 (largest paper my printer handles) , so would down sampling 16mp to 8mp be 'good enough'?

[Chex]

Regardless of "needing more MP" or not.. after shooting with this D800 I sure would have a hard time going back to any 16MP APS-C camera.. wait.. I can do that in DX mode if I ever wanted to.. I think someone would have to pull this D800 from my cold dead hands. As for Prints, unfortunately the largest I can get locally printed is 24" X however long I want.. so 24x36 is going to end up being comon for me, as will 24x72 or so I can't wait!

[Class A]

Any dislikes or is it all good?

The ISO button is in the wrong place. You cannot operate it while supporting a larger lens with your left hand and leaving your right hand in the normal shooting position. As I consider the ISO setting as one of the primary shooting parameters (next to f-ratio and shutter speed, and exposure compensation), I feel this is an unnecessary issue.

I'm not sure whether Jay has once posted a workaround. Maybe it is possible to map the "ISO" function to another button. I do not consider any "Auto ISO" schemes as successful solutions to the problem.

[D4rknezz]

When I finally get mine, I will put a Pentax strap on it. Thats how much I dislike it .

I am apparently the only one who ordered the E version in my city, from a chain in Canada. The way Nikon is handling this distribution system is embarrassing. Then, the way the big chains are handling the problem is even worse. I have NO idea how much longer before its delivered, and I have now pre-ordered from 2 places as of this month...Next month I will prob pre-order from a third place...this is not what customers should be doing, lol.

Worse, I know I will like my K5 better for its handling (I have small hands), shape (Its sexier), shutter sound (apparently its as quiet as an M9?), weight.

[gtxtom]

The ISO button is in the wrong place. You cannot operate it while supporting a larger lens with your left hand and leaving your right hand in the normal shooting position. As I consider the ISO setting as one of the primary shooting parameters (next to f-ratio and shutter speed, and exposure compensation), I feel this is an unnecessary issue.

I'm not sure whether Jay has once posted a workaround. Maybe it is possible to map the "ISO" function to another button. I do not consider any "Auto ISO" schemes as successful solutions to the problem.

What's wrong with setting the ISO to the secondary selection wheel in A or S mode? Then you don't have to even hit the ISO button on the left. It's menu d7 - Easy ISO. It worked like a charm with mine. I always use Aperture priority so the front dial controlled that and the rear adjusted ISO.

[jsherman999]

The ISO button is in the wrong place. You cannot operate it while supporting a larger lens with your left hand and leaving your right hand in the normal shooting position. As I consider the ISO setting as one of the primary shooting parameters (next to f-ratio and shutter speed, and exposure compensation), I feel this is an unnecessary issue.

I'm not sure whether Jay has once posted a workaround. Maybe it is possible to map the "ISO" function to another button. I do not consider any "Auto ISO" schemes as successful solutions to the problem.

Yes, I've done what Gxtom suggested and it works very well, and you make other assignments also, but that does tie up those assignments to make up for a non-optimal ISO button placement. So that is one legit quibble, but a minor one IMO.

FWIW although auto-ISO is not a solution, it does completely mitigate it for me because I use auto-ISO 90% of the time. Auto-ISO in the D800 has also been improved over the D700 - it can simply be set to a minimum shutters speed, but also can be set to account for the focal length and uses the 1/FL formula to choose shutter speed, and also allows you a 5-position 'slow to fast' setting on top of that - so if you want shutter speed a bit faster than 1/FL (or a bit slower) you can specify that and still keep it in auto-ISO.

For me, personally, I get more keepers in AV + auto-ISO in most shooting situations. Where I have time to be careful, using one of the wheels to choose ISO works fantastic - but when the shooting is fast & furious and the light is mixed with shadow, AV + auto-ISO just works a bit better for me, and everything is very clean up to ISO 6400, and very PP'able after that.

I usualy use Av + auto-ISO, ISO 6400 max with the shutter speed set to 'auto (1/FL)' there, and use the 'fastest' 5-position setting on top of that. Works great, makes everything as clean as possible without introducing motion blur 90% of the time. You can stop worrying about that stuff and just see/compose/snap, repeat.


.

[Class A]

What's wrong with setting the ISO to the secondary selection wheel in A or S mode?

First, it is very good that this possibility exists.

However, if you assign one wheel to ISO then you have lost the wheel for setting the shutter speed. It would be good if one could assign another button to work like the original ISO button.

There are situations when you want to control f-ratio, shutter speed, and ISO manually at the same time. It would be ideal if the D800 had a way to deal with these.

I'm not disputing the positive experiences by any D800 shooter and fully believe Jay that the ISO button placement is not an issue for him.

As a Pentaxian, I just hope that this minor issue still is a deal breaker for other Pentaxians so that they will wait for the Pentax FF.

[CraneGuy1]

I got my D800 about a month ago and I love it. I have the 24-70mm f2.8 and the 70-200mm f2.8. I had the K-5 and all of the DA* lenses. Here's what I found.
The D800 is almost perfect IMHO, but it is a bit bigger and heavier (see picture). After getting the D800, I sold off the pentax gear because I couldn't afford 2 systems.
I realized that the K-5 was a great camera. The many features I like about the D800 were on the K-5. The conclusion:

If you don't need the full frame, super high resolution, stick with the K-5. It's a great camera.

[yusuf]

I got my D800 about a month ago and I love it. I have the 24-70mm f2.8 and the 70-200mm f2.8. I had the K-5 and all of the DA* lenses. Here's what I found.
.

Is that D800 with grip?

[123ben]

I got my D800 about a month ago and I love it. I have the 24-70mm f2.8 and the 70-200mm f2.8. I had the K-5 and all of the DA* lenses. Here's what I found.
The D800 is almost perfect IMHO, but it is a bit bigger and heavier (see picture). After getting the D800, I sold off the pentax gear because I couldn't afford 2 systems.
I realized that the K-5 was a great camera. The many features I like about the D800 were on the K-5. The conclusion:

If you don't need the full frame, super high resolution, stick with the K-5. It's a great camera.

Same story, except that I got the 35 1.4g instead of the 24-70 Almost the same capture D800 is now also equipped with a grip and yes... it's huge!

[pz1fan]

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..

Has anyone used it with the Nikon 200mm F4 macro (or micro as they call it)? How does the Nikon 200mm macro compare to the FA*200F4 macro? It certainly looks well made.

[Chex]

I have a borrowed OLD Nikkor 200mm F4 manual lense, but it's not the Mikro Nikkor by any means.. I would LOVE that Mikro Nikkor 200mm F4, but for the price I would rather have the 70-200 VR II. The Mikro Nikkor 105 VR is incredibly sharp from anything I've seen and read, it is definitely high on my list after a UWA and the 70-200.