The D800 and the D800E (1 Viewer)

stoop · May 19, 2012

I'm on my way to order D800 after weeks of worrying between it and the D800E. I think there are rare occasions I'd worry about moire. Attached are some pics I took last year with D300 and AF-S 300f4. I hope to get an adult goshawk up close in good light some day and improve on these shots. I worry about fine barring on some species at close range. Does anyone think these pintail pics would suffer or be better with the D800E...? Any opinions most welcome.

Cheers

rdspalm · May 19, 2012

There is nothing much wrong with these photos Russell!
I took delivery of a D800 just before Easter and gave it it's baptismal outing on a birding trip to Mallorca. I have found it a big step forward from the D700 in that you can achieve greater detail from a distance. The 36mp is very useful for this. I'm using a 300mm 2.8 with 1.7tc and think it is an excellent combination with the D800. Have to work on my birds in flight technique though. Just don't get the focus right enough times.

RMWD · May 19, 2012

You have to pixel peep very hard to notice any difference between th d800 and the e variant . Your pintails are very good but you will more than double the amount of detail in the feathers with a D800. Moire is not that common with even the e but if you get pattern moire it's a clone or bin job. Both are great cameras and one is £300 cheaper.
Btw amateur photographer did resolution tests between the D800 d800e and the hasselblad entry level mf this month. The d800 equalled the hasselblad or bettered it at all iso's. The d800e out resolved the d800 only upto Iso 800 and then only by a touch.

RJM · May 20, 2012

rdspalm said:
... Have to work on my birds in flight technique though. Just don't get the focus right enough times.

Seeing all the fabulous reviews has made me question my decision to wait for a D300s replacement. BUT, in my conversation with the NPS "engineers" at the Nikon showroom last week, they seemed to feel the D800/E is more suitable for static targets and the D4 is a better choice for handheld BiF shots. I suspect they were just trying to upsell me but they implied the ultra high rez and slower FPS rate just makes it difficult to get CONSISTENTLY sharp results on a fast moving objects. Impossible? No, just harder and less often.

You may want to test shooting at ~1/2000sec or faster when using the 300mm w/TC handheld and see if that gives any consistent improvements.

stoop · May 21, 2012

RMWD said:
You have to pixel peep very hard to notice any difference between th d800 and the e variant . Your pintails are very good but you will more than double the amount of detail in the feathers with a D800. Moire is not that common with even the e but if you get pattern moire it's a clone or bin job. Both are great cameras and one is £300 cheaper.
Btw amateur photographer did resolution tests between the D800 d800e and the hasselblad entry level mf this month. The d800 equalled the hasselblad or bettered it at all iso's. The d800e out resolved the d800 only upto Iso 800 and then only by a touch.

Thanks for this feedback. I ordered the D800 over the weekend.

capdegat · Jun 7, 2012

Just received D800 .No problems with af or lcd so these are without fine tune etc.
First couple of shots taken , first is reasonably cropped - second fx.
d800
300mm f4 + 1.4 tc
iso 280 @ 1/1000
Happy so far after 24 hours

Jaff · Jun 7, 2012

How did you get the ISO set at 280?

capdegat · Jun 7, 2012

actually I made a mistake in that the dunnock was 280 and the coot 220. This was with auto iso as reported by lr4. On hindsight funny numbers I agree.

ericbowles · Jun 7, 2012

Auto ISO can actually choose ISO settings that cannot be selected in the camera with the options available for 1/2 stop or 1/3 stop increments.

capdegat · Jun 8, 2012

I read somewhere that in between iso's are not as good because they're forced . Is this the case for the d800 ?

ericbowles · Jun 8, 2012

capdegat said:
I read somewhere that in between iso's are not as good because they're forced . Is this the case for the d800 ?

Les

I've never heard that before for any camera. There is a user option to select 1/2 stop or 1/3 stop increments for manual changes. ISO is simply amplifying the signal, so there is no real reason why any specific number is better than another. Even the reported numbers are simply approximations - measured ISO at every level is slightly different than reported ISO.

Auto ISO was designed this way by Nikon and they made a conscious decision about what ISO levels are reported. The auto ISO feature is one of the elements that is tested in the field with pre-release cameras. It's been around for a while, so I would expect any issues are well reported.

I'd be interested in a source with more detail.

capdegat · Jun 8, 2012

I hate say it but I think this was when I was a canonite ( briefly I hasten to add )
I think now, that this was probably on the older cameras and all the modern/new ones are perfectly ok.

Jaff · Jun 8, 2012

I'm sure it has been said somewhere that cameras have to calculate for themselves what the 1/3 stop ISO increments are which is meant to lead to an increase in noise. So for example ISO 640 might sometimes be only a tiny bit less noisy or even the same as ISO 800 and that you may as well stick to using 800. If the AUTO ISO can set any ISO value it wants then it must calculate that too and setting some dodgy values like the above seems quite odd really and can't be good for noise I'd guess. There must be a setting that can force the AUTO ISO to stick to the main increments surely?

However I can't comment on whether things are any different with newer cameras or not.

It might just be all complete crap too for all I know.

capdegat · Jun 19, 2012

Some more shots from new d800 . I'm very happy with it so far but I've only taken a couple of hundred shots so still plenty to learn . Most things are better than d700 i.e. colour , a/f etc ( to be expected ) but battery life is rubbish.
BTW has anybody seen a more mangy hare !
all taken with 300mm f4 and 1.4 TC. Auto iso at this stage.

pe'rigin · Jun 20, 2012

Les,

Could you explain your experience with the battery life?

Very nice clean images.

ericbowles · Jun 20, 2012

My experience with the D800E has been very good battery life with and without the grip. I am easily getting 600-1000 frames from a single battery. My only battery life issue has been when using the Eye-Fi card.

The first couple of cycles on a new battery are not as good as the same battery a little later.

pe'rigin · Jun 20, 2012

Eric,

That's good to know, I was a little worried with using the 600mm, I've had no problems before, just concerned that the D800 consumed more power and I should have got an extra battery. Two weeks in, I've still got to get out with the kit, a combination of bad weather and other commitments have hampered me.

What were the issues you had with the card?

Judging by others results, it looks like this camera needs a rock steady support and remote with long lenses, certainly a beast of a camera.

ericbowles · Jun 20, 2012

I have more images with the Nikon 600mm f/4 than any other lens - covering everything from birds in flight to slow shutter speeds and high ISO. The 600 f/4 really shines with the D800E and I have seen no sign of moire. I have seen that you need to pay more attention to depth of field - the focus point is incredibly sharp when you get it right, and out of focus areas are clearly noticeable. Of course, the 600 f/4 is used with a good gimbal head. I did see a drop off in quality with the 1.4 teleconverter but it was still quite acceptable.

I've used a range of other lenses - 200-400, 70-200, 24-70, 16-35, 105 f/2.8 VR, and 50 f/1.4. All the lenses have performed well. I have confirmed that I do not need any kind of focus adjustments. The 16-35 and 70-200 have been used handheld and there are no issues - I use them with the D800E just like any other camera. Good technique is required and rewarded - poor technique shows up - but handheld is just fine where appropriate. I have done some testing with the 200-400 and it is very good but does not match the 600 f/4. The 1.4 teleconverter maintained nearly the same image quality on the 200-400.

The Eye-Fi card worked fine but if you leave the card active in the camera, you need to watch your battery. The Eye-Fi card drains the battery quickly - overnight it caused the battery to be completely drained. You can turn off the card in the camera using the camera menu and the battery drain stops.

JPAC · Jun 20, 2012

I read for the first few times the battery charges up the internal D800 camera battery so after a few charges you should get about 800 shots per charge.

pe'rigin · Jun 21, 2012

Brilliant Eric and JP,

I didn't know about the recharge.

One thing Eric, you were commenting on the convertors, overall were you happy with the results or not? I wasn't planning to use any with the D800, I figured that with the file size I should be able to achieve all I've planned with the 600mm. You basically have the same lenses as myself, except I don't have the big zoom. So I'm pleased that you have found them all very acceptable and I thank you for reporting.

I agree with you that any judgement error will show up with the results and I accept that. I don't think it's a camera for blasting-off like a machine gun willy-nilly. My aim is to achieve colour correct,razor-sharp images, I may have to bin more than usual, but I see it as progress for my image data base.

My hope now is for some good light for the Autumn migration, and a break in this awful weather.

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