[jqp]

Anyone ordered the D800 or D800E? Anyone received it yet?

[JohnR]

No. But in the interests of commerce and optimism I checked my local supplier's website, who says "AS AT 15/04/2012:
Supply of D4's and D800 has pretty much ground to a standstill causing massive frustration for sellers and end users alike. What makes it doubly hard is Nikon Australia's inability or unwillingness to forecast deliver times or quantities."

 

[Tubo]

Anyone ordered the D800 or D800E? Anyone received it yet?

My 2/7/12 order at B&H still shows "Backordered."

[jqp]

After doing tax returns and paying down credit cards I am doing a sanity check before I order something like this for 3k and move to FX.

The biggest problem I am having is that I am actually looking at the new Canon. Since I have already bought the FX Nikon lens I would want (due to potential shortage) I would have to sell that and buy potentially more expensive, lower quality Canon lenses.

The new Cannon 5D Mark III apparently has fixed a lot of the color fringing problems with Canon lenses. The Nikon apparently requires more frustrating menu manipulations for getting different types of shots.

Still the D800 is excellent for careful photography - probably the bulk of what i like to do.

*sigh* - maybe I should just not move to FX and get the D7000...

[navi]

canon just admited to light leaking issues on the 5d mkiii

[PeteG]

canon just admited to light leaking issues on the 5d mkiii

No problem with mine, been great all around.

[JohnR]

After doing tax returns and paying down credit cards I am doing a sanity check before I order something like this for 3k and move to FX.

 ...

*sigh* - maybe I should just not move to FX and get the D7000...

Well, my take on it is that waiting a while isn't going to hurt. I'd wonder what a D7000 would give you over a... D90 ? that you have now?

[navi]

No problem with mine, been great all a around.

Must be just a small batch that had issues.

[jqp]

Well, my take on it is that waiting a while isn't going to hurt. I'd wonder what a D7000 would give you over a... D90 ? that you have now?

Yes I have a D90 now. It is a great camera.

What I would get with a D7000 vs the D90:

16MB vs. 12MP
2 SD cards vs. 1 SD card
6FPS vs. 4FPS
39 AF pints vs. 11 AF points
U1 and U2 mode settings vs. no extra settings saved

It would be more of an incremental change - both cameras are Gen 2 with Adaptive Dynamic Range (ADR).

The D800 is a radical change in many ways - format, resolution, AF, ISO, and price!

I think I will go FX for sure.

AS far as D800 vs. Canon 5D Mark III, these two videos really gave me some insight. Excellent videos of professionals actually using the cameras and then working with the images on the computer later. I highly recommend watching these if you are trying to decide. They are a fresh take, and pretty unbiased.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=omTo7UxbJX8&feature=relmfu

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4W9EeDCaVFM


Points that stood out for me:

- 36MP really does give more information than 22MP if you re willing to use it.
- the Canon does the AF focus faster
- Nikon can focus much better in low light
- 36MP takes more time to process in the camera than 22MP if you do many continuous shots (but the very fast Lexar 1000x CF card may solve that issue)
- the Canon is quieter than the Nikon (can be significant in some contexts)
- the Canon does better jpgs in camera
- cameras are largely a personal preference even when comparing these two amazing cameras with their strengths and weaknesses

[Jon L]

Those two video comparisons from Camera Store TV are by far the best on-line reviews I've seen. 

"Nikon can focus much better in low light"
should really read "Nikon can focus much better in near darkness due to Canon not having a on-camera flash thus no focus assist light."  In low light, i.e. low light but people can still walk around without bumping into things, Canon still focuses very fast and accurately IME. 

More than anything, the thing that struck me in those videos is the greenish, cool color cast with Nikon in AWB JPEG.  Nikon users often accuse Canon of "warming up" the colors and presenting falsely "punchy" JPEGS, but compared to what the eye sees, it looks like Canon gets it much closer than Nikon in JPEG.

[low.pfile]

I agree JonL.... Canon's JPG colors have always been more pleasant to me. I am a Nikon user (D700, D5100). More often than not I tend to slightly tweak the WB to make my images less cool-but I shoot RAW so it's just a click or two away with a batch or copy settings.  Do you remember, in film days when the different 3rd party lens vendors had color casts that were "off" compared to the camera mfgs original lenses?

on the low light focusing, my D700/5100 does not use the built-in pop-up flash but a separate light on the front of the body that provides better illumination for the focus engines.

Regardless, both the D800 and 5Dmk3 cameras are amazing.

[Jon L]

I am a Nikon user (D700, D5100).

If I was a Nikonian, with Nikon lenses ready to go, I would get the D800 in a heartbeat.  It's amazing time for digital SLR's out there..

[jqp]

Tonight I ordered the D800. I doubt it will ship before a month or two. Nor will I be billed before it ships

Will also probably get this CF card 

[jqp]

I have changed my order to a D800E - probably at the back of the line now, but I think I would regret not getting the E.

Meanwhile I am doing a good bit of shooting with my D90, and I a have ordered this lens

Nikon 50mm f/1.4D AF Nikkor Lens




so that should keep me busy - I love flashless photography 

[newzooreview]

I have changed my order to a D800E - probably at the back of the line now, but I think I would regret not getting the E.

Looking at the comparison on Amazon between the 800 and 800E, the image degradation that can occur in the E version (due to moiré and false color) is much greater than the improvement that can be discerned in image detail/resolution.

The image demonstrating the potentially higher resolution in the 800E shows only a subtle improvement (to my eyes). It takes some back and forth observation and concentration to see it. On the other hand, the problems that the E can have with moiré and false color are really obvious (although they would probably not occur frequently). However, if you end up shooting a subject that triggers the moiré and false color issues you might have to give up on the 800E and switch cameras.

For me the tradeoff isn't worth it, and I would stick with the non-E version. But I do support Nikon in giving its customers a choice. That's always admirable.

Have fun with the new camera! 

[jqp]

Looking at the comparison on Amazon between the 800 and 800E, the image degradation that can occur in the E version (due to moiré and false color) is much greater than the improvement that can be discerned in image detail/resolution.

The image demonstrating the potentially higher resolution in the 800E shows only a subtle improvement (to my eyes). It takes some back and forth observation and concentration to see it. On the other hand, the problems that the E can have with moiré and false color are really obvious (although they would probably not occur frequently). However, if you end up shooting a subject that triggers the moiré and false color issues you might have to give up on the 800E and switch cameras.

For me the tradeoff isn't worth it, and I would stick with the non-E version. But I do support Nikon in giving its customers a choice. That's always admirable.

Have fun with the new camera! 

From what I am reading from the pros, yes you can get moire if you take pictures of fabric or screens, etc., but you can also often tell there is a moire problem in the D800E's etched finder screens as you are composing the shot! You can often see any moire on playback when you are shooting. But you can get rid of moire before you shoot the (next) shot by adjusting your shot in several ways to get rid of the moire.

You can also get moire with the D800! It is not as pronounced or as easy to get in the situation but you can get it.

So, moire is not much of a concern for me in the end since I should be able to see it before I get to my computer and it is too late to really eliminate it. I think it is more of a herring, something you can demonstrate in a review. I feel sure I will be able to avoid it since it can be detected and eliminated fairly easily.

More worrisome to me is that I will need to fuss with too many menu settings when shooting. But I have decided that a) I will get faster at the menu settings as I get experience with the camera, and b) 90% of my shooting is going to be in the same setting and once the menus are set they can probably be left alone for the most part.

[Jon L]

b) 90% of my shooting is going to be in the same setting and once the menus are set they can probably be left alone for the most part.

I have the opposite problem, as my shooting runs across all kinds of fields on the same day!  I could be shooting macro with manual focus one moment, then have to adjust to shoot telephoto moving birds next minute with Al Servo, then to portraits, to food/product photography, then to indoor studio shots with strobes, etc.  Thank Goodness 5D3 gives you C1,2,3 custom modes to save all your settings!

[jqp]

If I were a pro or even semi-pro I would also have a 5D III! Someday I will have to rent one to experience the goodness.

[JohnR]

But you can get rid of moire before you shoot the (next) shot by adjusting your shot in several ways to get rid of the moire.

Can you give examples?

It will be a while before I can get a D800 but I came to the same conclusion as newzooreview. The E looks like a special-purpose tool not a general-purpose camera.

[jqp]

Can you give examples?

ways to get rid of moire before finishing your shots, after you see you are having a moire problem (you can see it in the view finder and/or on the LCD screen)

- zoom in a little
- zoom out a little
- slightly change your angle
- you can even induce softness via diffraction at f/16 or smaller (an emergency anti-aliasing filter)

And these techniques assume you are shooting the way you normally use a DSLR - you always take multiple shots, not just 1 chance.


In my mind the D800 and the D800E are both "special purpose" in some ways - the extremely high resolution and optional 5:4 mode means that these cameras can replace medium format film cameras for one thing. They are ahead of their time in that they are pushing 'too many' megapixels for many photographers. I mean you need a cutting edge PC with a very fast processor, very fast drive, very fast video card with a large frame buffer (2GB+ DDR5 RAM) to get any processing work done with the 75MB images. You also need an expensive Compact Flash card so you do not slow down the camera - a 16GB 1000x Lexar card is about $135 currently.

Both versions of this camera were designed this way, the E is just a little more extreme, more for the ultimate macro and landscape photography, which is probably more for the hobbiest/enthusiast than a pro. I would guess that if I were a pro I would probably want the D800 since I would be shooting with a deadline, and I would probably have a 5D Mark III as well (just my gut feeling since I am not likely to be a pro). But there is no accounting for taste, even pros have their differences.