D750 or D810 for underwater photography?

Hi Everyone!

I currently have a RX100 in a Nauticam housing and planning on upgrading in a year or two. I'm going on a 4 month trip and I have decided on buying a DSLR and thinking on buying the D750 or the D810.

The question I have is which one is better for underwater photography?

Is the resolution of the D810 good for macro and cropping with the 36 mp?

Or is the D750 with 24mp better considering it probably will have better low light capabilities?

Can't decide what features are the most important for a camera used underwater?

I'm mostly shooting macro but also take a lot of video in dark wrecks and caves...

I can't afford a housing for it right now but I'm buying one of these with the intension of using it underwater in a year from now.

Love to hear the experts opinions on this

Thanks for all the advice

Dennis

Hi Dennis

I've been using a D800 underwater for over a year.

I don't know about the D750 or D810 but I really like the D800 for macro. The ability to crop is excellent. I've just done my first real trip using wide-angle and found that the 8" domeport I have (had it since my D100 days) really isn't big enough and has resulted in soft edges. So I'd suggest that you may need to factor in a large domeport into your planning.

But, that aside (!), I'm delighted with the D800 underwater. It's the business. Great resolution of course. No idea what it's like for video.

The low light AF abilities for the D750 are supposed to be about -3EV better than the D810. I use the D800 and the quality of severely cropped images is very good. Since you are interested in macro, I would suggest getting the D810 and a good modeling light.

If you are focusing on macro you should look at a crop sensor body vs a full frame. Better depth of field with crop sensor for macro work. Look at the Nikon D7100

Elmer

Eye, then Dennis would pay the penalty of decreased wide angle performance. I truly feel that DX is on the way out.

Elmer, I'm not interested in buying a DX body.

As Eagle Ray mentioned I need the wide angle performance when I do some landscape shooting on my travels.

I had the D7100 but sold it and using the funds from it to finance a part of the new purchase.

I'm gonna go to the store today and try to test and hold both cameras just to get a sense of how they both operate.

Right now I'm actually leaning towards a D750 with it's supposed better low light performance (has to be seen on tests first).

I have a D810 and am impressed with the times that I had to shoot it at high iso (8000-10000), the shots had some visible noise on the raws easily handled with photoshop noise reduction. Have not as yet started to use it underwater, my first trip with it is comming up soon. I would go with the 810 over the 750 as it is a pro body, with enougfh MP after a dx crop to give you a great image. At 1.2 crop it is a 24mp camera that shoots at 6fps. You will appreciate the 36mp full frame on wide angle shots.

If budget is an issue the D800E will also yield spetacular results, but it does not focus as well as the 810 or have as good an iso response.

Before you buy your D750, you may want to confirm that a housing will be made for it. Since there's a housing already for a D610, the 750 might be redundant (I'm not speaking from any insider knowledge, but both are current model bodies and in the small market of UW photography, it might not make financial sense for a manufacturer to make housings for both D610 and D750). If you're set on the FX format then get the D800 or 810 as there are housings available for them already.

cheers

S.

Hi everyone!

Just wanted to let you know that I bought the D750.

The main reason for it was the low light capabilities. I tried both cameras in the store under dark conditions and it seemed like the D750 had an easier time to focus than the D810.

Another thing that I liked more with the D750 was the grip. It felt better in my hands and it was a lot lighter than the D810.

I got a confirmation from one of the bigger housing companies that they will indeed manufacture a housing for the D750 so no need to worry about housing not being available in the future.

Another plus for the camera was it's price compared to the D810. I got an 105 macro lens and a Sigma 35/1.4 art lens for the same price as a D810.

Got a special package deal ....

Thanks for all the help everyone and I will try to post some pics if someones interested?

Dennis

Although it's early, I have no doubt there will be plenty of housings available for the D750. As it is close to the form factor of the D600, it should be a long process either. My take is that it may be an ideal body for UW photography. I think Nikon realized there was plenty of room for improvement over the D600/D610.

Jack

If they build it, I'll buy it. Hoping for Sea and Sea.

I know ikelite is going to be be making a d750 housing.

Nauticam just announced one as well. Available November 17.

Alex Mustard is currently in Egypt doing a review of the D750 camera and Nauticam housing. His conclusions will be interesting regarding this camera underwater

Looking forward to the review. I already bought a D750. Couldn't pass up the $600 savings on the 24-120mm VR lens that I thought was ending on Nov. 1st.

As the owner of a D800, I have been looking for a housing for it...for a few years and now I have come across two D750. The two D750s look like present from heaven for underwater shooting

Well I almost forgot there is this D750

To me D810 is THE camera for shooting underwater, if you don't mind its weight and price. The 36MP sensor is simply too important for macros...and the cropped 15MP...for longer reach as well

However, D750 still makes great images with fast AF..and faster fps...which is sometimes needed in moving So to me both are great and I tend to choose D810..since the investment in housing is the same

Hi Follow divers,

Would your recommend the D810 if I want to do supermacro? I like things small and sharp.

current setup:

Olympus OMD em5 with Zuiko 60mm macro.

Wet diopters +5 stack +10.

I love small critters 1mm - 2mm in sizes. Pls advise.

I was very pleased with the D750 in Raja Ampat last week, small and compact, excellent image quality. Giving up my D7100 now.

Those interested in this topic should read here too:

http://wetpixel.com/articles/field-review-nikon-d750-and-nauticam-na-d750

Conclusion:

http://wetpixel.com/articles/field-review-nikon-d750-and-nauticam-na-d750/P4

Alex

I was very pleased with the D750 in Raja Ampat last week, small and compact, excellent image quality. Giving up my D7100 now.

As in moving from 7100 to a 750?

I'm looking to move on from my 70D to a FF camera and the 750 is on my (very) short list.