D800 worse that I had hoped for :( Locked

msusic wrote:

Recently, I got D800 as a replacement to my Olympus 43 and m43 gear. Friend also switched since we're doing weddings together (from 5D2).

We got D800 and plan to get D600 as a second body, but I'm quite disapointed in D800 regarding few things.

True, resolution in good light is really good and as a landscape camera it's great.

However, first I noticed problems taking portraits.

First, AF in lower light is hard to rely on as it has tendency to miss on different distances.

Second, it's hard to get sharp images with 85mm 1.8G with shutter speeds under 1/160s.

Going by old shutter speed rules, it would be sufficient to have 1/80-1/100s, but of course due to higher resolution, D800 is much more sensitive to shake or subject movement.

This, along with very shallow DoF sometimes means I have to use high ISO often to get sufficient shutter speed and DoF.

While D800's high ISO is quite good, it decreases it's quality and nullifies it's resolution advantage.

In comparison, I used to have Olympus OMD with 45mm 1.8 lens and in lower light if subject posed I could easily use f1.8 and 1/30-1/40s or lower to get sharp results, but with D800, I have to use 1/160s and probably f2.8 to tame DoF and remove excessive CA in OOF areas.

This means I have to use at least 2-3x stops higher ISO at which point D800 gives worse image quality than the OMD at much higher price and size.

If subject is blurry, all those pixels won't do much good. Resizing won't help either.

Is it true that D800 only makes sense for landscape photographers and those who use it mostly in either good light or on a tripood?

Also, sometimes the card write light stays lit and I can't preview the image until it stops (which can take a 30s or more), despite very fast CF card in the camera.

I have no idea what to do to fix this issue, except selling it off...

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Cheers, Marin