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D800: my opinion after 2500 pictures.

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Agree with all of your findings.

Interesting that you mentioned the popup flash. Thats the one thing that consistently surprises me, apart from the amazing resolution. Its a really well-controlled and almost diffused light. Very usable.
 
I shoot side by side with Canon shooters regularly and I can confirm that all models of Canon DSLRs are quieter than my D3s, but they are jealous when the results are viewed side by side on large monitors. I wouldn't trade with any of them, so far.
Fred Mueller said:
not to raise any hackles, but the quiet mode in the 5D3 is very subdued, better than the D800 quiet mode, beats the pants off my D700 and the D3 ... the folks shooting weddings with it will really be happy with that improvement.
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--
Chuck Currey
 
The battery life seems to be not bad at all giving it's small size. I have to use the camera a lot more in real life situations to have a better idea. The first days with a new camera, I play a lot with all the functions (like live view) so it drains the battery a lot even if the frame counter stays low. But so far, no bad surprise.
 
I used to shoot all Canon. In the film days, the Elan was amazingly quiet. Seems shutters have gotten louder.
 
It is possible to lock exposure on D800 using the AF-L/AE-L button, and maybe also AF-ON button or Fn button I believe if configured so.

Maybe it is about shutter speed lock and aperture lock, which is a different feature. It only works in M and S or A mode, and to my best knowledge only serves to avoid accidental changing of shutter or aperture by camera manipulation.
FLafrance said:
It is still possible to lock exposure via menu instead of a dedicated button. It is in Custom Setting Menu f7. Not as fast.
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Maybe you can program the AF-ON button or Fn button to lock exposure, while using the AE-L button to lock shutter or aperture...
FLafrance said:
I just read in the manual that it is possible to use the AE-L button to actually lock both aperture and shutter speed via a custom function. But then I think you loose the "Press one button" AE-L lock exposure.

I found myself too many times ending with the wrong shutter speed/aperture on long studio sessions when hand holding the camera. It is the reason why I like to lock both aperture and shutter speed dials.
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Robin Casady said:
GeronimoD800 said:
That one guy came here and said his shutter was too loud so he was going to send it back. Maybe he had very good hearing.
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Now you've read that it is quiet. Welcome to the internet.

Maybe he was a troll. Maybe his unit had a mechanical problem. Maybe he was in an acoustic situation that make him think it was louder than he remembered other cameras being. Maybe...
--
Robin Casady
http://www.robincasady.com/Photo/index.html
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I think the OP said it was quieter than his D3. My D800 is a lot noisier than my D7000. In fact quiet mode is noisier than the normal mode of the D7000 and is slower than the quiet mode of the D7000. I suppose this down to a bigger FX mirror. It's the only stand out bugbear for me as I am conscious of it in a bird hide.
--
Cheers, BB
FlickR site
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How long a lens must you use (with or without lens shade) to keep from seeing a shadow of the lens in the picture?
 
I would like the OP's opinion. I have a d3s and shoot a lot of bird type photography. There really isn't a modern Nikon professional type body for a dx camera, the d300 is really outdated, not good for high iso use. The d3s is a wonderful camera, but if I have to crop much I lose a lot of resolution and if I shot in dx mode I am only around 5mp. I am wondering if the d800 is a good iinvestment for me to use as a multiple use camera and sell the d3s for the funding. I maybe need to wait for the d400 dx camera, but at this time I am wondering if it will ever show up ugh!!! You might say I am tired of waiting.

I don't especially want to own two cameras, so if I shoot say half the time using dx mode for wildlife, is this a smart move? Is the d800 as good at high iso, say up to 3200 as I am hearing, even in dx mode? Anyway would value your opinion.

Thanks
Larry
 
In Dx mode you are just cropping in camera, it doesn’t change the abilities of the camera, the iso would be the same and 6400 is better than my D3.

The report given here is exactly how I feel after using my D800 for the past week.

And I to miss the the dedicate button for locking the aperture and shutter speed.
 
I did not try many lenses but let's take the 24-70. I just checked and at 24, you can see the shadow of the lens all the time (it is without the shade). Things are getting better at 35. You have to be very close (few feet) to start to see it.
 
The D800 in DX is as good if not better than my D3 at 3200 iso. The problem would be the reduced image size in the viewfinder. I am not sure I would like to work long hours looking at a small image. Perhaps I could get used to it. On the good side, the AF points cover a good part of the DX crop.
 
profus said:
Ilkka Nissilä said:
That's a different thing. The L button on the D3 series, F5 etc. is used to lock the shutter speed or aperture so that when you turn the corresponding dial accidentally it doesn't change. AE-L locks the metering, not the selected aperture/shutter speed.

E.g. when shooting in a studio I might lock the shutter speed. The shutter speed is set to the highest sync speed; if I accidentally change it to a higher speed value then there will be a black shadow at the bottom of the frame. To prevent this, the L function is invaluable. Also, I might do the same to the aperture to prevent accidental changes in the exposure during the shoot.
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i understand now, but i have to say that i do not really care for that function.
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You would care for it very much if you shoot fashion or any type of shoot where you are clicking away and your attention is on the subject and not camera settings. Mostly, it's the shutter that gets moved from its original setting when shooting, because of its location in relation to the thumb, but I've had the aperture change also.

Not fun to notice that the last 20 shots were under-exposed (or over) by 2 or 3 stops!
profus said:
it happens really rarely to me to accidentally change shutter speed or aperture (and i shoot fully manual )
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Like I said, it happens all too easily when clicking away, especially in vertical mode.
profus said:
...was it even possible to lock shutter speed / aperture like that via dedicated button on d700? was not aware of that...:-)
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No, you had to make the change by going into the menu.
--
The Five 'Ps' of Photography:

Proper Planning Prevents Poor Performance!
 
Thanks for your reply FLafrance concerning the noise level on the d3s versus the d800. You did mention about the reduced size of the image frame in the viewfinder in dx mode and I would use dx mode about half the time. I have a d3s and when I set it in dx mode the view I get is not nearly as good as the full viewfinder. For me this fact is not good for my use. I think I will wait a little longer to see if Nikon puts out a new dx camera that has the d300 semi pro build and a good sensor that is good at high iso's. I will keep my d3s for the time being and see what Nikon has in the future.

Thanks
Larry
 
Thank you, Flafrance, for your posting on the D800. It is very useful and much appreciated.

It is a pleasure to receive a considered opinion based upon your empirical observations as opposed to the mindless speculation and chatter that often accompanies a camera review on a forum like this.
 
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