D800 issues?

Hi,

I have been lusting after a D800 since it came out, but couldn't really justify the money. Now, I can get, what I think is, a really good trade in for some of my Canon gear so it just might be the time bite the bullet.

Are there still issues with the D800, like the left focussing problem? What other things do I need to be aware of? Are there any things I need to known when switching from my trusty 5D Canon to Nikon? (I did own a D70 in what now seems ages ago)

Thanks for the help,

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Gijs from The Netherlands

I have D800 with 0 issues. my serial# is 3062XXX

Its possible the issues could have been fixed

I have one from the early batch and have had no issues whatsoever with the camera. There are tens of thousands of D800 bodies sold every month since its launch in early 2012. A large majority of the owners never had a problem even though some did. That by itself makes it a high probability that you won't face any issues. More importantly, if you really face issues, you can always return it. So, it should be a pretty safe buy.

My only advice is that after you buy it, don't simply look for issues. Use the camera for your normal usage and check if the results you are getting meet the expectation. When you go on looking for issues, at times, you start believing in perceived issues when there is none.

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My Online Gallery - http://www.pbase.com/pradipta

Issues that seem to have been resolved in latest batch:-

1 - Left AF point misalignment

2 - 10 pin socket not securely mounted

3 - Rear monitor screen has a green cast

4 - User measured white balance has a green cast

I have not experienced any of the above, but there have been a significant number of others who have.

Issues that remain (I have experienced all of these)

1 - Inaccurate AF in low light

2 - When using the AF-On button to focus (rather than the shutter button) it is possible to take a shot when the subject is not in focus, even with focus priority set. Trap focus is not possible.

3 - The monitor image in liveview does not display until the last image has been written to the card. Depending on the card specification this may mean having to wait a couple of seconds before being able to compose the next shot.

4 - Matrix metering is too sensitive to what falls beneath the selected focus point. Small changes in composition can generate significant changes in metered exposure.

I have other minor niggles with the camera, but I would not call them 'faults', rather just personal preference, so I won't list those.

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Have Fun
Photo Pete

Hi, where do you buy ?

Really what a pain to carry all these issues with a pro camera.

No issues on my new D800 Serial 3057xxx from B&H. :))

The green monitor issue seems to be Internet nonsense. Nikon added green colours to the monitor which earlier cameras did not record. The newer cameras have different and better monitor colours.

I personally know 10 other D800 owners and none of us have had a problem camera. My pro dealer says he has sold over 100 and has not had one back.

Nikon seem to continue to sell 30,000 units a month worldwide, including 10,000 in USA. 10 months after launch they have not issued a product recall though they have issued a battery recall in the same period. Most who buy a new camera, or anything else, are sensible enough to know that if they do get a defective product they can quickly exchange it

At the time of the D200 banding issue when, according to the Internet 99% of new D200's were supposed to be defective, Nikon UK said they had had less than 2% return from all types of problem.

Up to now I have not seen a posted link at dpreview complaining of the left autofocus issue using an auto focus target likely to produce an accurate test results. This leaves me to believe, there is a lot more noise about D800 problems then there are problems to talk about.

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Leonard Shepherd
Many problems turn out to be a lack of intimate knowledge of complex modern camera equipment.

No disrespect intended Leonard, but if you post what you believe is a suitable AF target for people to use then you will see far more people with AF issues that are using a target you approve of.

It is unlikely that many photographers will have such a target to hand to stick on the forehead of their model when shooting a portrait. One of the main criteria by which an AF system should be judged is its ability not to fail with different subjects. If you believe that the Nikon cameras really cannot be relied upon with anything other than 1 mystical and perfect target then they are not good cameras at all... pointless trying to defend them by saying they are working in line with the limitations on page xx of the instruction manual.

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Have Fun
Photo Pete

Also, the "single/continuousé" choice is no longer on the small left switch but implies pushing a button and turning a wheel, hardly intuitive, a real bother for birding.

Otherwise, great box, no issues, Peter

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http://www.pbase.com/peter55/galleries

Hmm....I've gotten to quite like that change! Probably a bit of personal preference rather than an issue (but then my items 2 and 4 in my second list above are probably not real issues either!)

It is only the AF accuracy in low light that actually concerns me.

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Have Fun
Photo Pete

You have seen a lot of sufficiently good focus targets, but so far you have not been able to understand:

1. You claim Nikon themselves do not use good targets: http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/post/42586933

2. You propose targets yourself, that directly afterwards are claimed not to be accurate: http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/post/50533264

3. You always respond with generic terms and generic info on manual pages. You've never submitted experimental data that supports or proofs your claim about target accuracy.

4. You explain every bit of AF variation as an effect of the target, and do not understand it is the intrinsic property of an open-loop system. You have never responded to experimental data or extensive technical analysis on AF variation provided by others, e.g.: http://www.lensrentals.com/blog/2012/09/autofocus-reality-part-4-nikon-full-frame

5. You have never been able to explain why targets working correctly at the centre and right points, do not work correctly at the left point, and obviously refuse to accept the inevitable conclusion.

6. You have been shown multiple times that Nikon suggests ordinary real-life objects as AF-targets to investigate AF performance: https://nikoneurope-en.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/51633/~/how-to-use-the-af-fine-tune-function

7. Almost all cameras sent in after analysis have been investigated by Nikon, and most of them were reported to have a malfunctioning AF.

8. Your analysis on the intrinsic technical operation of AF has been proven multiple times to be severely flawed (e.g. claims like a target should be centred in the AF-point, coverage outside a AF-point is influencing a test, etc.): http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/post/42399326

There are at least 8 points that need to brought from the level of religion and belief towards hard technical data and facts, otherwise the only thing we can expect is that you keep on generating noise.

The D800 is a great camera. The amount of pixels and dynamic range is huge, so it gives you the option to do a lot of post processing without introducing too many artefacts (cropping, post-exposure and curve settings, sharpening, noise reduction).

If this is something that is part of your workflow, the D800 (+ good lenses) is an improvement to the Canon 5D. If you are used to take out-of-the-camera shots, a D800 may be a bit overdone, as it creates huge files, which implies slower processing and the request for more storage.

I have no issues with my D800e and have been using it for 6 months

--
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Thanks Marc,

I will not claim to be an expert pro photog, but I do process all my shots in LR. I tend to like high contrast scenes requiring shadow pull-up and I find my 5D becoming a little annoying with the amount of shadow detail that can be recovered and related introduction of noise, hence the D800 has been something I've been eyeing since its introduction.

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Gijs from The Netherlands

I actually came to the forum this morning looking for topics on bracketing, timer and LV to see if others have found the nice combination I have and if not, share my setup and maybe ask a question. But I saw this topic which has diverted my attention.

I am not even sure what the Left AF issue is. So with my best guess as to how to test it and with the 14-24G on a tripod, I shot a scene in my office using the center AF and then moved the focus point to the extreme left. Neither images are well focused (viewing at 100%). They exhibit the slight differences one might expect when choosing a different AF point, angles and maybe not choosing enough DoF to cover the entire scene. By extrapolation, one could surmise that the Left AF is fixed if you don't mind a little blur.

I then tried it in LV using AF with the AF-ON button. The results were staggeringly sharp whether focusing from the center or from the extreme left (or from anywhere in the frame). I really have not analyzed this or done more than the one test with the PDAF and CDAF methods since the tests were done quickly in response to this thread but I certainly can see the beautiful potential of the D800E. Not sure I want a camera relegated strictly to Tripod and LV work meaning do I accept the poor results of PDAF or try to find out what the problem is or maybe exchange it for another. Most of my critical work is in LV but occasionally I like to "freeform"...

You know, from using the 5D2 for 4 years (or however long it has been out), I have found that AF focusing in LV always seemed more accurate than PDAF and Roger Cicala of Lensrental.com published an article on his website a while back where he tested both methods and found CDAF produced better results. I think this was on Canon cameras but I didn't read the entire article. I do not think this explains the big difference in my case so I'll have to try some more testing this weekend.

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Rick Knepper, photographer, non-professional, shooting for pleasure, check my profile for gear list and philosophy.

In that case I would say, go for it!

I did some extreme post processing to see how much details can be recovered.

I've made a quick snapshot of the following picture (bright skies versus dark landscape). ISO 100, 50mm/1.4G lens at f3.2, exposure 1/1250.

I managed to expose an immense amount of details (a "bit" overdone, but that was part of the experiment; looks like an HDR). I've only played with the exposure settings of LightRoom, and did a bit of sharpening and noise reduction:

The amount of detail that is preserved is impressive (100% view):



Long live good AD-convertors!

Yes, I pay more including local tax, but when I buy a body, I buy it from my local shop. It's difficult to hear when people go to their local dealership and try on the gear for size, then buy on line. I do see value in local camera stores with good inventory staying in business so I support them. Over 4 months, I kept trying out 800s in the store until I got my 800E a couple months ago. If I ever have issues with gear I buy from them, they always have my back. That said, I do buy from B&H as well if the local is unable to get inventory in a reasonable timeframe.

To the OP: Go for it, try one in the store and if it works, take it home!

glo

Marc, great example, good post.

glo

You may try to determine an AF-fine tune value for your lens.

PDAF is an indirect measurement using a mirror and an AF module, and in combination with your 14-24 lens it may need some calibration. The link of Nikon gives you some guidance how to do such an AF-fine-tune:

https://nikoneurope-en.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/51633/~/how-to-use-the-af-fine-tune-function

Some more elaborate info can be found on the web, for instance here:

http://photographylife.com/how-to-calibrate-lenses

A simple book shelf is sufficient for testing, a white book with contrasty black letters works very well. As for my own 14-24, after calibration and repair (it was perfect at 24mm, but front focusing at 14mm) it work perfectly well for both PDAF as well as CDAF.

The D800 is capable of accomplishing very sharp results out of the hand, you don't need to use a tripod in practical situations to benefit from its high resolution capabilities. I've made some pictures of bees in my garden a while ago (in this case with a 60mm macro - the full picture underneath shows the closest I could get, next to a chair that was blocking full view to the bees, hence I made this picture with the knowledge I needed to significantly crop afterwards, stressing the need for good sharpness):

The 100% crop shows not much to wish for in terms of sharpness (I've only applied some curve toning, and some USM):