Nikon announces the D800

This interview is one of the most compelling reasons I have yet seen for buying a D800 and answers in non-technical term hew the D800 compares to the D700 at higher ISO's.

 

http://www.whatdigitalcamera.com/videos/re...randenburg.html

 

Fred

Yes, he's a guy I really respect, and love his work. From all the reviews and test pics I've seen, looks like this camera has similar noise performance to the D700 or even slightly better, with 3 times the MP. Hard to believe, but then I don't pretend to understand how the techno whizzes keep pushing the boundaries.

Underwater for large animal images, I have found 400-1200 ISO to be the sweet spot for me, so not paying a penalty for this is perfect for me. Now I just wish my strobes would synch beyond 1/320. I'm really tempted to house some SB-910's and to try some high speed synch.

Hopefully they will be arriving in the next week or so.

Note also that Brandenburg said that he was primarily shooting with fixed focal length lenses like the 24 f1.4 and 35mm f1.4. And that he could see the difference in sharpness between shooting at an "ideal" sharpness aperture like f8 vs a "more depth-of-field aperture like f16 with these lenses. And that the camera made him be more aware of these kinds of things than any other camera before it. There are very few photographers whose opinion, given in a non-technical informal interview like this, that I would "bet my money" on. Brandenburg is one of them. So when he calls the D800 a "game changer" I'll take his word on it.

Fred

Here's a D800 video autofocus test: http://vimeo.com/38843251

Either Nikon doesn't have much expertise when it comes to video AF or the continuous video AF was not set properly by the user! Which Nikon lenses are video silent BTW?

It is hard to beat the video auto focus of an iPhone

I am not expecting much from Nikon's video auto focus. I hope I am wrong.

Here's a D800 video autofocus test: http://vimeo.com/38843251

 

Either Nikon doesn't have much expertise when it comes to video AF or the continuous video AF was not set properly by the user! Which Nikon lenses are video silent BTW?

That's par for course with contrast AF in video using still lenses. Even a 40k camera will only be a bit faster. Nobody should be using AF with DSLR video, unless you like that AF searching look. Some filmmakers actually purposely shoot like that!

Now compare this with the A77, which uses the phase detection AF. It still searches and there are OOF frames all over the place but I think part of that is also the DP's bad tracking of the subject. It does change much faster though from the extremes but then again Sony was a camcorder manufacturer first.

http://youtu.be/BJ45XgyjS4E

Speaking of D800, dpreview just posted their standard studio test shots. I am amazed at the amount of detail this camera can resolve.

It is certainly impressive when on a tripod in studio conditions. I really look forward to reviewing it underwater to see how much of the resolution is achievable in our shooting.

I can see a lot of land shooters (particularly with long teles - I only tried it with my 70-200mm) getting frustrated by how difficult it is to get good results. But underwater I think that our use of flash will actually be a big benefit and I think it will perform well.

Wide angle optics concern me a bit. I am really not sure how much the fall off in corner sharpness will effect the look of the pictures and what realistic resolution will be achievable away from the centre of the frame.

But I also think that any such problems will vanish again when you down-res your files for output - which I am sure most people will do. A native res TIF (at only 8-bit) is 108MB.

Alex

That's par for course with contrast AF in video using still lenses. Even a 40k camera will only be a bit faster. Nobody should be using AF with DSLR video, unless you like that AF searching look.

You're right! After years of researching and waiting, I have not come across a single "TRADITIONAL" dSLR, FF or Crop, with contrast-detection video AF that's worth using. Currently the only APS-C contrast-detection AF system that's acceptable for my work is the mirrorless NEX system with two AF modes - a smooth mode for video and a fast mode for stills.

Now compare this with the A77, which uses the phase detection AF. It still searches and there are OOF frames all over the place but I think part of that is also the DP's bad tracking of the subject. It does change much faster though from the extremes but then again Sony was a camcorder manufacturer first.

 

http://youtu.be/BJ45XgyjS4E

Yup, using an ordinary tripod with a long lens, constantly overshooting the subject in such an erratic and uncontrolled manner would confuse just about any video AF. I think a competent videographer, using an AV tripod will get much better AF results with the same camera equipment.

This video shows just how fast, accurate, and stable the SLT phase-detection video AF can be, using a bit more care: http://vimeo.com/14376901

I cannot manually focus as fast as SLT PD video AF for some of these scenes - Cowgirl &

Yes, Sony has been on the cutting edge of video for a long time, which was why George Lucas shot all of the live-action footage for Star Wars II and III, using modified Sony video cameras because he couldn't tell apart film and video footage mixed together in screening tests.

The Nikon V1 combines Contrast detection with Phase detection AF. As a video novice, seems to work pretty well. Is phase detection possible in a camera with a mirror?

The Nikon V1 combines Contrast detection with Phase detection AF. As a video novice, seems to work pretty well. Is phase detection possible in a camera with a mirror?

Yes, image sensors with embedded phase-detection AF sensors will be a game changer for the photo and video industries by eliminating the needs for mirrors completely; however, this technology has so far only appeared on smaller image sensors. Fujifilm was the first to market this technology inside point-&-shoot cameras and Nikon the second inside Nikon-1 products. Reportedly Sony is working on the same technology, but no words yet on when the chips will hit the market. Hopefully, it will appear on APS-C and FF sensors in the near future.

Yes, image sensors with embedded phase-detection AF sensors will be a game changer for the photo and video industries by eliminating the needs for mirrors completely; however, this technology has so far only appeared on smaller image sensors. Fujifilm was the first to market this technology inside point-&-shoot cameras and Nikon the second inside Nikon-1 products. Reportedly Sony is working on the same technology, but no words yet on when the chips will hit the market. Hopefully, it will appear on APS-C and FF sensors in the near future.

I think electronic viewfinders need a little work still as well before pros discard DSLR's, but I'm sure it won't be long before they completely mimic the view through the optical viewfinder. I would not be surprised if some of the technology in the V1 starts to transition into future Nikon DSLR's.

Mine's arrived - heading to the store!

Mine's arrived - heading to the store!

:-)

Mine's arrived - heading to the store!

You have to change your signature!

Waiting for your first impressions

http://www.dpreview.com/articles/169034743...-the-nikon-d800

Well, as you've probably already gathered, I'm cautiously impressed. The D800 offers a combination of versatility and sheer image quality which is worthy of serious respect. Although we've only had the D800 in the office for a few days, I'm very encouraged by both the quality of its output, and by the breadth of its feature set. In this article I've barely even touched on the D800's video abilities, but first impressions are - again - very positive. Video image quality, like stills, is very good...

Not too bad...

Mine's arrived - heading to the store!

Needless to say, please post first impressions and comparisons to your current cameras when you get it!

I will work on some comparisons this evening; I have a D7000, D700, and D800 to compare.

But when I got home I had to answer one question for myself; can I shoot this camera at 1600 and 3200 ISO, and the answer without making comparisons is, absolutely!

At 200-800 my most common shooting range, clean as a whistle.

Hi Loftus

Do you mean fullsize iso 1600-3200 is usable or did you downsample the picture to 12 mpixel?

Rob

dpreview studio shot comparison: Nikon D800 ISO6400 JPEG IQ vs. D700 vs. D4 vs. D3s

I guess you could say the resolution on this camera is adequate; here's Cosmo

and Cosmo cropped to about 100%