Nikon D800
 

Hi there, I have recently acquired this "BEAST" :D and I will share my learning if any are interested. The first thing I noticed was that because of the high pixel count, the slightest camera shake is evident. So a tripod will follow me now at all times:(. My shot of the Great Orme was hand held, but I intend repeat it with a tripod to see the difference. I don't regard myself as a pixel counter so I chose this over the 800E. I will post shots here with different Nikkors and see what the differences are. Any questions or comments will be welcome.

Heartiest Congratulations Andy for your excellent new toy.
Nikon D800 is surely one, if not "The" best of camera bodies in the market today (And being a Canonphilia since birth, it doesn't come easy for me to say that). Yes higher pixels means noise and other brands have a lot to say about the cons but the entire industry is moving in that direction. I am personally for D800E despite its well discussed moiré effect, as that sharpness is a killing one, but in any case Nikon got a hand full of aces with this body.

Now extreme cropping would be a piece of cake for you as this high rez sensor will allow you a significant job to be done. Only have to wait and see what Canon has under the name of 5D MK IV that is going to be the biggest competitor and surely Nikon has something brewing in the tank to answer as well... Going to be interesting for consumers.

Enjoy it and share your nice images.

I have seen some results from a D800/500mm and they were superb. I do however wonder how much of the advantage of the high pixel count you lose because of that susceptability to camera shake?
Are you forced to use higher shutter speeds and possibly higher ISO?
These are thoughts that will affect all of us as the the pixel count of new camera models gets ever higher.

Hi Mike, So far I have used a 28-300 and 24-70 Nikkor on the body. I am also using a tripod and monopod to reduce shake but have also taken a few hand held shots. From various reviews I have read, I set the lenses to f8 or f11 and use Aperture Priority. I am also using Photoshop CC and it has a new way of reducing motion blur. I think that the post processing software has become very aware of high pixel counts and are trying to assist. Shortly I will post some shots in this thread to illustrate what I mean. I am taking delivery of a 200-400 VRII Nikor in the near future and this is a lens that should push me to the limits :eek: I have to say that so far I can only detect a little blur at over 80% crops on my hand held shots. Also several reviewers recommend finding and using the lens sweet spot as much as possible - hence the Aperture Priority. :o

Look forward to seeing the shots and your thoughts.

My Local
 

Here is a hand held shot of my local - the highly recommended "Ty Fry" in Bodelwyddan. The original shot is hand held. The lens used is the 14-24mm f2.8 Nikkor. The only editing I have done is to reduce the file size, the original is 25Mb, and to crop part and again reduce the file size.
Because of the size here are links to them on my SmugMug page

If you follow my Smug Mug Link below click on folder "OTHER" then North Wales page 2.

If you click on the photos you should see them at original size. Thanks for any comments

Thanks for posting the link Andy. Plenty of detail and good shots too.

I may be being a bit dense here (not at all impossible) but I don't understand why a higher resolution sensor makes the camera more susceptible to camera sake, unless one is pixel peeping at 100%

Ok sure a higher resolution sensor is capable of recording smaller detail but surely an image printed at say 20x16 viewed at say 5 feet from a 36mp sensor isn't going to be any less sharp that the same image printed the same size viewed at the same distance off say a 10mp sensor is it?

Or am I missing something?

My very limited understanding is that if you want to get the very best out of the D800's 36mp so you can say do heavy cropping then your technique has to be top notch or there is no discernable advantage over another camera with less mp. I was just wondering if Andy compared the same shot both hand held and on a tripod perhaps with a modest telephoto at average settings if there was a noticeable difference if enlarged enough for a large print.

:)My main photographic interests are Land/Seascape, Architecture, Wildlife and Infrared. I have noticed that the pictures taken with my D100 Infrared camera always seem to be pin sharp, yet the stuff I took with my D3 often lacked that sharpness. Hence, when the opportunity to get a D800 presented itself, I decided to take the jump. According to all the reviews I read the pictures edges soften with the slightest movement at this size. As I am getting older and my arthritis takes over telephoto lenses are getting to be more important as I can no longer follow the rule that the cheapest telephoto lenses are your legs. The ability to heavily crop did not enter my equation as I always try to compose in camera, but with my inability to get close to many subjects, cropping has now entered the equation. Still, time will tell and I am going to create a D800 gallery on my SmugMug account so watch this space.:)

It will be interesting to see your D800 gallery Andy
I must say I find that wildlife in particular often needs cropping and it was seeing what a fellow photographer on a wildlife holiday could do with his D800E crop wise that so impressed me.
I have occasional bouts of temptation regards a Canon 5D III but despite what a Canon rep told me at a show I have never been completely convinced how well it would crop down. To crop to the same size as my 7D it would have in effect 8-9 mp before probably needing yet more cropping so the idea of more mp to play with is appealing but that seems to have it's own downsides. That is why I am so interested in your experience against the day Canon may bring out an equivalent camera.

I'm not sure about the cropping argument either. Taking 36mp and cropping down to give the same lens multiplication factor as your 7D APS-C sensor reduces the effective pixel count to 14mp v the 18mp of the 7D...

Or put it another way with a 300mm lens on full frame, cropping to give an effective 600mm lens leaves you with only 9mp :eek: With the same 300mm lens on the 7D the native crop immediately makes it equivalent to 480mm lens so cropping to give an effective 600mm leaves you with 14mp :)

For wildlife photography, I think crop sensors have got to be the way to go unless you've got very deep pockets for very long (& heavy) lenses.

I am sure your maths is right as far as the D800 is concerned but I am comparing my 7D against the Canon 5D III which is far worse pixel count wise, the reps argument being that the better quality and dynamic range of each pixel in the 5D III would result in a higher quality photograph despite far less pixels over the subject.
I am just not sufficiently convinced to spend roughly £2K on a 5D III in the hope she was right! So 7D it remains until the 7D II comes out depending what that costs and offers.
For wildlife I have not got deep enough pockets or sufficient stamina for those very long and heavy lenses.

Well folks I have been busy and there are now some extra shots in the Smug Mug D800 Gallery. Apart from my local which is highly recommended if you are in the area. There are now shots from a little Church at a place called Llanasa. There is a window of medieval stained glass which came from Basingwerk Abbey near Holywell and the start of some shots from the village itself. I am starting to find the detail in the original size shots outstanding. There is a picture of a memorial garden and the midges over the pond are clearly visible!

Thanks Andy, nice shots and bags of detail. TFS

By the way you do have a dust bug showing in shot no.3 in the blue sky a little way in from the left hand side towards the top.

Isn't that flare?

Not the bit I was looking at using the original file size. It is a round dark slightly out of focus fuzzy blob. Hopefully either the sensor cleaning of the camera will dislodge it automatically or a quick puff of air from a blower deal with it.

Actually they are poorly done clone stamps where I removed some birds from the distance.

Ooops, sorry Andy!

I must admit I was rather surprised to see what I took to be a dust bunny, they are rather unusual these days.

Mike, I agree; what is starting to amaze me is the detail from the beast. Bear in mind that the Smug Mug shots are not actually the full file size originals. I have to reduce them in size for Smug Mug. The slightest error in cloning stands out like a sore thumb. I am finding it a steep learning curve and am having to tighten up my years of sloppy technique - but it is great fun :D

What amazed me was just how much you can crop and still retain detail. I will not be swapping to Nikon (can't afford it for a start) but that does not stop my admiration for what the camera can do and no doubt, eventually, Canon will bring out their equivelent (which I probably won't be able to afford either!)

Panorama of from Conwy Quay
 

A go at getting the shot in - a four shot pamorama original size 72 Mb

Smashing shot, takes me back 50 years to when we used to visit the area quite often.