D800 worse that I had hoped for :( Locked

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

No

I use my D-800e(s) for weddings and find it has great low-light performance (AF).  A lot better than the D1x and D2x that I'm use to.  Need to check your camera holding techniques if you cannot get a good photo using 85mm under 1/160.  I  have handheld my 70-200 down to 1/10 and gotten tack sharp images most of the time.

I shot the "River of Lights" here in Albuquerque in almost no light and just about 100% of the images are tack sharp and very low light and high ISO.  No problem with focusing, no problem with low light performance.....this camera continues to blow me away on it's capablities.

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Craig Bennett
http://www.craigbennettphotography.com

Hi

Most of what you are saying is true! The D800 AF is not as good as some other cameras and I am quiet disappointed myself compare to my other cameras.

To mitigate this a little bit, when the light is good, than you can get tremendous results, and more you use it, better you can do with the D800 which looks to be very sensitive to movement, probably due to high resolution sensor. I am using the flash on that body more than I used to do with other models, and the AF is sometimes acting strangely, but I still love that camera.

Another thing I found very disappointing is the AF Tune feature for Zoom lenses to only be able to store one value which defeat the point to buy a Zoom if you have to choose to be sharp at only one focal length, but as I mentionned in another post, that will be hopefully corrected by Nikon with a new firmware to offer same features as competiion.

Cheers

Phil

Nope.

You should have returned it under the return period.

I haven't used a D800 but I always understood the 'old shutter speed rules' to apply to 135 format film.  I'm not sure if higher resolution digital does translate to more handshake.  On my Sigma DP2M, which doesn't have any stabilisation, the red light comes on at 1/40 (45mm equivalent lens) but I find I can hand hold this high resolution cam down to 1/20 always and 1/8 on many occasions.  I thought it would be worse because of the high rez sensor it has.  I'll have to check this out.

...and good luck!

ETA: I hear that Nikon is coming out with these devices that will fit on top of your camera and which will allow you to add light to a scene via a quick burst of light. Apparently (and this can't be verified) they will even balance the amount of light that they emit with the amount of light that you need to help you create a proper exposure.

However, like many such Nikon rumors, I'm not sure if this is true and if/when they will be available.

Sounds to good to be true.
Then again, if this rumor proves true, I can see where it could revolutionize the camera industry.

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This is where I'd normally write an impressive summary of my skills and proficiencies.

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Antonio
http://www.intensitystudios.com

The D800 is like a complicated woman. You need to know how to handle her to get the best results. And using it for one wedding will neither tell you everything you need to know about it nor will it give you the the results you were expecting. Coming from (and still using it along side) a 12 mp FX camera, it took me the better part of a season to really learn the nuances of the D800. What did it do? It slowed me down, and made my portrait shots more deliberate. The side effect? Some of the best wedding portraits I have shot. You can't possibly know the ins and outs of it after one gig. Certainly not coming from a different system. For example... a little secret to get cleaner shots at lower or 1/FL shutter speeds: rotate the dial to Q(uiet). The slow shutter speed blur you see is more mirror slap than hand shake. Putting it on Q helps alleviate that.

I don't know I would do a whole wedding with it. While te file sizes don't bother me in slightest, who needs 36mp dancing shots? But to each their own.

Do a few more weddings and let us know if you shoot differently/get better results.

An industry friend started his career using 'Blad medium format. Mirror slap was a huge concern with that type of camera. You just have to know how to work with the nuances.

I probably shouldn't answer your post at all, but here goes.

Use 1/2 X focal length for hand-held shutter speeds. This sensor shows up every little bit of careless technique in either focus or movement stabilization, as you realize in your next sentence.

One of the strengths of the D800/E is its great high ISO performance. You shouldn't have a problem with too much noise up to around 6400 ISO. LR or PS can remove such noise with only a slight -if any - loss in edge contrast sharpness. If you really want to push the ISO upper limits on this camera, then use a noise reduction plug-in. I use NIK Dfine 2.0 and can remove even very high noise levels with no perceptible edge sharpness or detail softening. This way you won't have to shoot wide-open and reduce your DOF. The only caveat here is that higher ISO settings will reduce your dynamic range.

This is completely untrue. I shoot everything in all kinds of light and have no blur problems. I've shot hand-held using a 70-200 with a 2X extender (400-mm) with tack-sharp results, so I can't see your complaint regarding blurry shots as being valid.

Of course if you're just not accustomed to shooting with 36-MP, and don't bother to learn the idiosyncrasies of such an instrument, your bound to think there's something wrong.

This is just silly. Obviously you're using a CF card that's too slow. I use Lexor 32-GB 400X cards and never experience the delays you're describing. And that's not even close to the fastest cards available today.

I agree, you probably should sell your D800. Then someone else willing to spend the time learning this fine camera will be able to enjoy it.

I think I saw some pros using something like that at a recent event.  Hard to tell if they were Nikon or not since the branding was taped over.

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Paul
http://www.pbase.com/pajarrett/galleries

I fail to understand why you didn't return the camera while the return window was open, given that you were so unhappy with it. The D800 is a stellar camera that gives amazing IQ and has wonderful DR. I have taken plenty of portraits, landscapes etc. with this camera and have yet to have an issue with the focusing (even in low light as you claim). You need to improve your technique if you would like to use this camera. Apparently you don't want to and would rather create multiple threads in different forums bashing the camera and the brand (interestingly, the replies to your complaints have been very balances and favor Nikon). If the Nikon brand is so disgusting for you, then sell the stuff and move on back to Olympus (since that is what you had in the past) - End of story! Whining about the camera in the Nikon/ Olympus forums, will not mitigate the problem at hand.

Cheers,

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Nikhil
http://www.nikhilshahi.com

It's only "more sensitive" if you are going to judge your images by pixel peeping everything at 100% zoom.  Common sense would tell you this.  If you buy a camera with twice as many pixels it's going to show more camera shake when you pixel peep.  DUH!

But it is NO more sensitive to camera shake if you compare it to your Olympus at the same output size.  If you find that it is then YOU are doing something wrong.  If you get sharp images for output on your Olympus at 1/focal length you will get the same on your D800... at the same output size.

Now, if you want to take full advantage of all those pixels in the D800... severe cropping, very large prints, etc.  Then yes, you have to up your technique... shutter speed, tripod, or something.  But again, duh!  What did you expect?

Absolutely not.

No clue what's going on there.  30s??  Never had that problem.  Are you talking about a situation where you are doing a RAW burst of 15 images or something?

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Mike Dawson

It's sacrilege.

Cracks me up you cant express an opinion on this board.

About that card light staying on - if you are using both an SD and a CF card at the same time, see if anything changes if you take one of those cards out.

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Craig
www.cjcphoto.net

I'd suggest that you order and use a couple of different D800 instructional DVDs from the likes of Blue Crane, Quick Pro, and (even) Elite to learn about the autofocus, exposure, and other controls on the camera. If you don't understand how the work (and work together) on THIS camera, you will not always have optimum performance.

I am by no means a wizard with low light but have had very good results in most low light situations. TO this point, EVERY situation that was less than optimal has proven to be my technique, not the camera.

Don't be proud, get the tutorials (Blue Crane and Quick Pro are best of the three currently available).

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Ric

What focus mode are you using? Have you tried the AF-ON/ AF-C method? There have been recent threads on that topic, with people reporting better results than with AF-S and shutter half-press.

Can you provide sample images that illustrate the problem (preferably with EXIF intact)?

Ray
My blog: http://www.rritchie.com/wordpress

The D800's higher pixel count will always yield higher sharpness, at the same output level, if everything else is the same (ie. same shutter speed and aperture.)  However, if you want to extract the full potential of the D800's extra pixels you do have to improve shake and your observance of DOF and focus in general.  Specifically, if you want to crop, you need to treat any lens like a longer focal length the same amount you crop.  In other words if you crop 50%, a 85mm lens becomes a 170mm lens.

Agree, one way around that is to go to DX mode.

Craig Bennett
http://www.craigbennettphotography.com