Camera Labs

As to the glass, Bob: Two of Nikon's examples were shot with the AF-S 14-24/2.8G at f8.0. So they are obviously very careful to use good glass to show the qualities of the new body off.
On the other hand: If you compare images at the same output-size (say A3 print) all deficits of a lens will show up at the same magnification. So nothing new to be seen here.
For me it will be interesting to see the differences in my Siemens-star testshots: As the D800 body has only 15% more resolution (linear) than my D300 you're bound to see not much of a difference in the DX crop. My personal experience says that you need around 20% (linear) to become visible.
Let's what the performance of my glass outside the DX-image circle is, once the D800 arrives at my doorsteps.

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Thomas (beware: Nikon-fanboy and moderator!) My Lens Reviews, My Pictures, My Photography Blog
D800+assorted lenses

is this your first digital full frame camera Thomas?

I wonder which lenses would work well with the 1.2 crop.

I'm thinking the 35mm 1.8DX would be pretty cool to see.

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Hi Thomas,

I'll look forward to your tests but even more I'm looking forward to hearing lots of "wows" from you as you share your new camera with us. It's been a long wait but I know you are going to be delighted.

Bob.

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OM-D E-M5 + ED 12-50mm, H-PS14042E, H-F007014E, L-RS014150E, M.ZUIKO DIGITAL 45mm 1:1.8.
Gitzo GT1541T, Arca-Swiss Z1 DP ball-head.
Astrophotography: TEC 140 'scope, FLI ML16803 camera, ASA DDM60 Pro mount.

I'm personally setting up a photo-quality "shoot-out" between my D300s, D700, and D800 the moment it arrives. $3,000.00 is not an insignificant amount for me as a hobby-only shooter, so I'm really looking to see the differences with my best glass.

For me, D300s for birds in flight and distant wildlife where 500-600mm is still "too short", so I really appreciate the DX FOV getting me up to 900mm FOV and added cropping forgiveness. At weddings and parties, I use my D700 almost exclusively with my 50mm1.4 or 70-200VRii to give me the low-light latitude to get most any shot I want to catch. So I'm really wondering just where it is that my D800 will fall... Too slow in terms of FPS to make me comfortable with retiring my D300s with MB-D10 grip. So I'm assuming that it will become my new main body for weddings and events if the low-light capability is superior in practice, and the D700 will replace the D300s as backup body, making my D300s my wildlife-only body.

I already know that the D800 will replace my D700 as primary body when shooting studio portraits, (Typically with 85mm1.4, 85mm1.8, or 300mm 2.8 if I have the room.) or Product shots with the Nikon Macro lens.

Oh, and I HATE that all my EN-EL3e and EN-EL4 batteries that I've been able to switch freely between bodies at weddings will not work with the D800. compounded by the D800 battery actually giving fewer shots per battery than the EN-EL3e batteries do! So I can predict that my first purchase will be the MB-D12 battery grip. (Already waiting to get on pre-order!)

I'm looking forward to seeing how this goes..

Where in your shooting stables are you expecting your D800 to reside?

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Nikon D700/D300s/Nikon 70-200 VRII/Nikon 85mm 1.4/Nikon 50mm 1.4/Nikon 28-105mm MACRO/Nikon 300mm 2.8/Sigma 150-500mm OS/Nikon SB600/Studio lighting/Canon S5 IS

@palakaboy: This is my first own FX DSLR, but not my first FX SLR (an Olympus OM 2N was my last body before the digital age) The D700 that I used in my lens reviews was borrowed.
Regarding the image circle of the AF-S DX 35/1.8G: I'll get back with an answer as soon as I have time to view my D700 shots with that lens. Will measure the image circle of the lens and see how good the 1.2x crop mode area fits in there. But there certainly are other DX lenses that have the potential to fill the 1.2x crop. Unfortunately I did not really test for this...

@Bob: Oh no, I'm not doing the test - Gordon will certainly be doing it. So all you faithful readers of CameraLabs get the quality and thoroughness and video-footage that you expect from Gordon!
I'll be sitting on the sidelines, make some comments and will try to answer some questions

@knorris908: We will keep the D300 because of smaller size for my wife but not for a particular "shooting stable". My type of photography is mostly of not so fast moving subjects near (say typically 1:3 - 1:5 magnification and far (but seldom more than 300-400mm focal lenght on a DX-body). And I'm very happy that I still can use DX- or 1.2x-crop-mode so that I don't need to replace the long lenses that I have. I assume the 24-70/2.8 will be my always on lens, complemented by 35/1.4 + 50/1.4 for fixed focal single-lens walk-about or 85/1.4 if I need more distance from the subject + 70-200/2.8 as the versatile zoom when the action is further away. 28-300 as one-size fits all, if I don't know what I'm looking for. Plus 105/2.8 or 150/2.8 for real macro work - otherwise I'll take the Canon 500D close-up filter with 77mm thread to help some of the non-macro lenses to get in the desired range of magnification.
10.5 fisheye will be almost circular, once I cut its wings. But it has little place in my normal photography. And the 300/4.0, 400/5.6 and 500/8.0 are for special occasions only. Because as non-zooms those lenses are pretty impractical. A stabilized Sigma 120-300/2.8, or 150-500 might be an option for the future.
But only after my purse has recovered from the D800-shock

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Thomas (beware: Nikon-fanboy and moderator!) My Lens Reviews, My Pictures, My Photography Blog
D800+assorted lenses

Awesome Thomas!

I will try and send you the results of my shooting the Sigma 150-500 OS vs the 70-200vrII with 2X TC on the D800 so you can see for yourself if it looks worth-while. (The 400-450mm range is the limit for sharpness and contrast that I can take with the Sigma on my D300s.) I'll see if the Sigma or the 70-200/TC combo holds up better under the expected added optical demand at full res, then 1.2x, and then DX crop. Should be interesting!

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Nikon D700/D300s/Nikon 70-200 VRII/Nikon 85mm 1.4/Nikon 50mm 1.4/Nikon 28-105mm MACRO/Nikon 300mm 2.8/Sigma 150-500mm OS/Nikon SB600/Studio lighting/Canon S5 IS

Does anyone have any idea how they think the D800 would perform with the 300mm F2.8 lens? (Vs the D7000 & 300mm)
Would you expect cropping a pic from the D800 to be as sharp as one un-cropped from the D7000?

Presumably noise would be less noticeable too in lower light shots?

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Nikon D700 & D7100 bodies + Nikkor 300mm F2.8 VR11, 1.7TC, 50mm F1.4G, 16-35mm f/4G VR, 105 F2.8 VR macro, 70-300mm lenses. A couple of filters, Giotto tripod & ballhead. Lowepro Slingshot 302 AW

http://www.flickr.com/photos/oldcarlos/

I'd expect that the DX-crop from the D800 should give you the same results as directly from the D7000. Perhaps with a little improved signal-to-noise ration - but don't expect too much of it!

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Thomas (beware: Nikon-fanboy and moderator!) My Lens Reviews, My Pictures, My Photography Blog
D800+assorted lenses

Thanks Thomas. That's encouraging & gives me food for thought. Can't wait to see more images & Gordons & your reviews/thoughts.
(I might have to start priming/working on my `moneyboss` soon )

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Nikon D700 & D7100 bodies + Nikkor 300mm F2.8 VR11, 1.7TC, 50mm F1.4G, 16-35mm f/4G VR, 105 F2.8 VR macro, 70-300mm lenses. A couple of filters, Giotto tripod & ballhead. Lowepro Slingshot 302 AW

http://www.flickr.com/photos/oldcarlos/

Cliff Mautner Photography offers some compelling high ISO samples!

via Nikon Rumors

Bob.

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OM-D E-M5 + ED 12-50mm, H-PS14042E, H-F007014E, L-RS014150E, M.ZUIKO DIGITAL 45mm 1:1.8.
Gitzo GT1541T, Arca-Swiss Z1 DP ball-head.
Astrophotography: TEC 140 'scope, FLI ML16803 camera, ASA DDM60 Pro mount.

Interesting link, Bob! "Compelling", sure it is.
My fav quote: "In my opinion, from the results I achieved, the ISO performance is about equal to a D3. It is in no way a D4, and wasn’t intended to be. It’s not a D3S either". And the accompanying photos show that ISO 3200 should be pretty good with ISO 6400 showing obvious signs of deterioration.
Me, I would be very happy if on a pixel-level the ISO-performance of a D3/D700 could be reached. I never expected the D800 to reach the D3s (or D4) levels. But to get D3 performance with three-times the pixels of a D3 means that if you compare equal output formats the D800 is at least 1 stop better than the D3 - and thus should easily reach the D3s level.
Plus deliver a larger dynamic range than the D3s!
Woohoo! I couldn't have hoped for more!

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Thomas (beware: Nikon-fanboy and moderator!) My Lens Reviews, My Pictures, My Photography Blog
D800+assorted lenses

Good news for lovers of the cheap and sharp Nikon AF-S DX 35/1.8G: By a very nice coincidence I tested the full-frame capabilities of this lens and I found out the following: "The red frame shows the area that you could use without much problems, it is equivalent to a 1.2x crop of the FX image." (see my comparative review of three 35mm lenses here).
So keep your 35/1.8G when you upgrade to a D800 and use the 1.2x crop. that should deliver 25MP images with an equivalent 42mm focal length. Quite a beautiful street-shooter's combo!

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Thomas (beware: Nikon-fanboy and moderator!) My Lens Reviews, My Pictures, My Photography Blog
D800+assorted lenses

I learned that the high ISO performance is estimated to be only that of the D3, and since that was my major motivator to upgrade from my D700, I have decided to wait and save a bit more for the D4. This way someone who REALLY wants a D800 that might otherwise miss the first wave of them can get one. I will try one out at a store once they satisfy back orders, so until then I look forward to hearing all your tales of triumph once your units arrive!


Ken N.

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Nikon D700/D300s/Nikon 70-200 VRII/Nikon 85mm 1.4/Nikon 50mm 1.4/Nikon 28-105mm MACRO/Nikon 300mm 2.8/Sigma 150-500mm OS/Nikon SB600/Studio lighting/Canon S5 IS

Hi everyone, I just completed my analysis and preview of the Nikon D800! I hope you find it interesting and useful!

NEW: Nikon D800 preview!

Great, Gordon: Thorough analysis on the basis of the facts currently availiable. Now I'm really waiting for your professional opinion and analysis once you get your hands on a production quality body.
And independent of what (and when) Canon will deliver in a 5DII successor I'd like to read some insights from you about how attractive the D800 is for D300(s) and D7000 owners. Because I think the D800 might be a compelling upgrade path. (at least for me it was )

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Thomas (beware: Nikon-fanboy and moderator!) My Lens Reviews, My Pictures, My Photography Blog
D800+assorted lenses