The D800 and the D800E (1 Viewer)

Don't ask me what the difference is (it's down to the Anti-Aliasing filter apparently, or rather the lack of one in the E) but they're now official http://www.dpreview.com/news/2012/02/07/Nikon_D800_D800E_launch

£2400 is the price. Not too shabby in my book.

The product tour can be seen here:

http://youtu.be/6rEIam8uQ50

Will be interesting to check out image quality and detail.

I don't think Nikon will be selling many more D3X's. Also shouldn't the prices be the other way around if the D800E lacks something that the D800 has.

Anti Alias Filter

The 800E has no anti alias filter which is supposed to provide even sharper images. The downside is a moire or striped effect on some objects. I can't understand the technology but would have thought the ability to turn this filter off or on would be better?

I would not want to pay extra for a camera without the filter. Surely a menu option would be the way to go?

Richard

Not much good as a birding camera IMO, 4fps and the DX crop is only 15.3MP. Best wait for the D400.

The D800E looks like it will need hours of post processing for each shot if moire is present.

http://imaging.nikon.com/lineup/dslr/d800/pdf/d800_28p.pdf

http://imaging.nikon.com/lineup/dslr/d800/index.htm

http://imaging.nikon.com/lineup/dslr/d800/sample02.htm

http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/nikon-d800/nikon-d800A.HTM

http://www.ephotozine.com/article/nikon-d800-d800e-digital-slr-hands-on-review-18420

http://www.robgalbraith.com/bins/multi_page.asp?cid=7-11674-12304

Nikon D800 RRP of £2399 with a release date of the 22nd of March.

Nikon D800E has an RRP of £2689 with a release date of the 12th of April.

http://www.jessops.com/online.store.../Show.html?cm_re=060212-_-Home-_-rotate3_d800

MB-D12 £379.95

http://www.nikon.com/news/2012/0207_dslr_01.htm

http://www.dpreview.com/news/2012/02/07/Nikon_D800_D800E_launch

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEfk3Aw2TNI

5 fps in DX, 1.2x and 15MP I'd settle for that, who am I but easily pleased.......

I believe 70+ MB for a 14bit RAW. Ouch! You'd need some serious cardage for that. Buffer must surely be on the small side. The D3x could kick out 20+ RAW shots though before it filled up which is easily plenty.

There is a tiny little boost to be had in FPS if you get the battery grip and put Nikon D4 batteries in there. A whole lotta money for an extra 1FPS in DX mode only! Somehow I doubt many will go for that unlike what we saw with the D700 and D300s boost from battery grips.

Could you just imagine the cropping power in FF mode though! *drooling*

Of course what we will see some time this year now, surely a 36MP D4x with much better processing power!

Oh it would seem they've updated this to include more info on how the E will work http://www.dpreview.com/previews/nikond800/

It's a very exciting and impressive camera, if Nikon delivers. Basically in crop mode you have a D7000. Similar MP, 1 fps less without the grip, but better autofocus and presumably a better buffer. Then in fx mode you've get something that for the most part is better than a 3Dx. You'd expect the ISO performance to be a least equal to the D7000, which is decent but not in D3/D4 territory.

I had my heart set on the D400, but this has really caught my eye. To be honest it's now difficult to see what a D400 could offer. Best guess - pro-body, 16 or 24MP, and 7 to 9 fps. Guess we'll find out soon.

I'm in. I want one. Good to have the choice of DX or FX. Maybe D400 will have DX or CX (is it, as in Nikon 1 system) modes.

.....I've got a camera problem. When I had a film camera I wasn't watching what was happening next. Just happy with what I had..

I'm definately up for a D800 too. I do intend to keep my trusty D700 though. I'll be a little dissapointed if the low light performance is inferior to the D700. Technology should always be improving.

The D700 has ab fab low light capabilities so the D800 magazine reviews will be eagerly awaited.

Low light perfomance should be better as the pixel density on the sensor is slightly less, and we're another year on in technology. I don't think it will be as good as the D700 though.

Lenses and impeccable technique is going to be imperative with such a large sensor. Already Llyod Chalmers is voicing his concern... http://diglloyd.com/ and he is no slouch!!!

Regards

Leon

What I want to know is, how are people saying it's so much worse/better than other cameras at XXX ISO when there's no photos to see yet? One even said at 800ISO it's 2½ stops worse than a D3S. Uh?

I've just run one of the high res samples on my digital press. It's as good as modern technology allows at this moment in time. Nothing wrong with it.

The acid test for any camera is the final output of the image. Forget the what ifs and maybe it's missing this and that and just concentrate on achieving superb results in good lighting conditions.

No camera's perfect, you can nit-pick everything, what you're getting for the price at this time makes good sense.

The design of the D800 sensor is essentially the same as the D7000 with the larger FX sensor. The pixel pitch is exactly the same, which directly relates to ISO, color and dynamic range performance.

The D7000 improved sensor performance over the D300 (the previous generation pixels) by a full stop. A small portion of this improvement was related to the D7000's larger number of pixels.

The D3x used essentially the same sensor design as the D300, but put it in an FX sized sensor. The impact of having a large number of pixels and "downsizing to a standard print was worth about 1.5 stops in ISO performance. Downsizing provides a standard print or image size for comparison. So the new technology and larger sensor combine for 2.5 stops improvement over the D300.

The D700 / D3 were about 2 stops better than the D300 in terms of high ISO performance. That means the D800 should slightly exceed the D700 if you are cropping equally on both. The D3s would be about the same.

But it does not stop there. The D3x - with a similar large sensor - is by far the top Nikon camera in terms of color rendition and dynamic range. Best performance is at lowest ISO, and above ISO 400 the advantage largely disappears. The D7000 and it's new generation sensor outperformed all DX sensors of the prior generation in terms of color and dynamic range, which suggests the D800 will be terrific. DxO already has indicated they expect the D800 to have the highest scores ever measured.

In terms of moire, my one area of concern is fine feather detail. Fine feathers and fur are areas where moire could show up and it will take some testing to know whether the D800 or D800E is better for wildlife and birding.

Now if your idea is the D800 will allow you to crop tighter, the D7000 already provides that option. The pixels and technology of the D800 and D7000 are essentially the same - the D800 puts the same pixels in a larger sensor. It's using longer lenses and cropping less that really provides the advantage. I see one of the biggest advantages of FX is the ability to use longer lenses for better subject isolation and those nice blurred backgrounds.

I've got a D800 on order. At this point I see little reason to keep my D300 and will just use my D7000 for backup and my light weight kit. The D300 successor could be interesting with 16 MP images but enhanced AF and frame rate. Or they could completely surprise us.

rdspalm said:

I would not want to pay extra for a camera without the filter. Surely a menu option would be the way to go?

Richard

Click to expand...

The AA filter is a physical element in front of the sensor, and therefore cannot be switched on and off. The signal processing theory involved states that you must filter BEFORE sampling, to eliminate the possibility of aliasing. I think the unspoken assumption is that in many cases the defects in the lenses themselves will blur enough to essentially perform the anti-alias function.

Jim

And you don't remove the AA filter. The 800E replaces it with a different filter that cancels some of the anti aliasing effect while maintaining the physical properties.

Other cameras like the 80 MP Phase One DSLR do not have an AA filter. But I don't know what kind of software process they are using to eliminate or reduce moire.

I am going for the D800. I don't need the risk of moire with the D800e. I like the idea of being able to use dx at 15.5mp and crop mode. I expect to use the full 36mp for my landscape work which I do more of than birds.

I do a bit of architectural photography to showcase my company's construction work. I'm really looking forward to the detail the D800 will bring. I want to do a few high spec HDR images of a cathedral interior which we restored last year.

It will be very interesting to see the first real reviews of the new cameras. I think Nikon are on to something very special with this release.

Richard.

Well don't forget the Canon 5DMKIII is predicted to hit soon so who knows what we might also see out of that. Seeing as how the megapixel count of the new 1D body is lower than expected I fully expect Canon to have a very high MP count (30+) in their own take on the 'landscape/studio' camera to pick up the slack.

I have just acquired a Canon 1dMk11 which came as part of a package with a 600mm lens and an offer I quite simply couldn't refuse.What amazes me is the build quality, the autofocus speed and ability to pick out a BIF against a field background and the frame rate of 8 per second. This body is about 8 years old but it makes my D300s look rather pathetic in comparison. That has been back to Nikon three times for repair and of late ( and since it's last visit to Nikon) seems to struggle to find anything when using any of the multi AF points.
My only gripe with the Canon is the poor ISO performance and it's lack of pixels for crop shots.
I have been waiting for the D400 to appear but I'm now wondering whether a better option would be to look for a D3 which will start to become available at reasonable prices now the D4 is two generations on.
I am even considering switching to Canon altogether too :eek!: despite my pretty substantial investment in Nikon glass.