Nikon announces the D800

[Drew 0]

Jeff.... 2 words... megapixel ho! LOL

[Alex_Mustard 0]

Some more pixel-peeping published:

 

http://www.dxomark.com/index.php/News/DxOM...h-a-score-of-95

 

And

 

http://www.dxomark.com/index.php/Cameras/C...-Sensor-Ratings

 

Alex

[loftus 42]

This will be Nikon's best selling DSLR ever. I really did not expect the low light to measure up to the D700, and as far as I can tell, it's just as good.

[tangfish 7]

I got my first D800 yesterday and all I can say is OMFG. It's much lighter than what I imagined (feels like holding the D7000 but more ergonomic). Can't wait to put it to use this weekend!

[divegypsy 20]

Hi All,

 

My D800 arrived today. I checked to see if it would fit into my Seacam D700 housing. After I removed a few of the controls from one of my D700 housings, the D800 camera did fit into the housing. Some of remaining controls did not work, or did not work well, and would also need to be modified. The result of my measurements and trial fit is I think that with control modifications, some simple & some quite intricate, the D800 could be made to fit and work reasonably well in the Seacam D700 housing.

 

I would guesstimate that if 10-12 Seacam owners wanted to do this, a "self-install modification kit" could be produced in the price range of about $1500. Expensive, yes, but considerably less expensive than a completely new Seacam housing that would probably cost in the $5000 ball park. The modified housing might have one or two controls less than a new Seacam housing, particularly for video. But it might also have one or two that the as yet non-existing D800 might not have. And the savings would be considerable.

 

Any interest?

 

Fred

[divegypsy 20]

With the D4 & D800, plus Adobe Lightroom 4 and now a beta, meaning Photoshop CS 6 is imminent, this has been a great spring for many of us. Of course, all these new higher tech toys may also mean that we will also need new Apple computers and more hard drive storage.

 

Fred

[Alex_Mustard 0]

That's great news that it fits.

 

Alex

[loftus 42]

I hope new housings make accommodations for easy use of the left door and bulkhead access for HDMI output and USB. May make the housings a little larger, but well worth it for me.

[SellerManDiver 0]

Has anybody gotn their orders yet?

[loftus 42]

Ran a series to compare the D700 and D800 at ISO 800 to 6400. The D800 I think is at least as good as the D700, maybe slightly better. At 3200 and 6400 the D800 noise is crisper and holds more detail.

Here's the image with the D800 at 200ISO

All images imported as RAW NEF directly into Aperture, no adjustments. All shot at f8 with Nikkor 24-70 at 24mm

 

Then crops of the image, D800 first then D700

800ISO

 

 

1600ISO

 

 

3200ISO

 

 

6400ISO

 

Edited March 24, 2012 by loftus

[Rocha 0]

Both of those 6400 look better than 1600 from my D2x

[loftus 42]

Just a closer crop of 6400 ISO, D800 first then D700

I also just noticed that I had high ISO NR on normal on the D800 and on high on the D700. Might account for the crisper more film grain type look on the D800. But I'm not doing this again. I'm satisfied that I can shoot this camera pretty easily like the D700 underwater ISO 800-1200

 

 

Edited March 24, 2012 by loftus

[loftus 42]

A couple today at the New Smyrna Beach airshow; so this is what it's like to shoot action with a medium format. Nikon 70-200 with 2x TC @ 400mm 1/1000 sec f8 ISO 200 Probably can't see it on this screen but the rivets are sharp.

 

 

and a 100% crop

 

 

And then what would a redneck airshow be without a jet propelled port-o-let

 

Edited March 26, 2012 by loftus

[col 0]

I hope new housings make accommodations for easy use of the left door and bulkhead access for HDMI output and USB. May make the housings a little larger, but well worth it for me.

 

Jeff - have you tried the D800 in your Subal D700 housing? Just wondering if it physically fits and what buttons need to be modified / lose functionality.

[loftus 42]

Jeff - have you tried the D800 in your Subal D700 housing? Just wondering if it physically fits and what buttons need to be modified / lose functionality.

It goes into the housing, but clearly many mods need to be made starting probably with a new tray. I did not try too hard. There are a few things off the bat that will be different, or missing. Live view and video, autofocus control (now the same as the D7000), 4 function buttons top left instead of 3, and I think the lens axis is different. It would seem like a bit of a waste to to me to use this camera without all of the functionality of video etc. Might as well just stick with the D700 which is perfectly fine if one wants to use the housing I think.

I am hoping any new housing for this camera, Subal or otherwise, adds new technologies like optical strobe, good access to the HDMI and USB outputs etc. I want to be able to take advantage of all it's features and use it tethered as well.

Edited March 26, 2012 by loftus

[Alex_Mustard 0]

It goes into the housing, but clearly many mods need to be made starting probably with a new tray.

 

And the problem of a new (thinner) tray is that the camera would be lower in the housing and the lens no longer centred in the port. Although someone with more engineering skill than me (not difficult) and some time might well be able to develop a Subal kit.

 

Alex

[Udo van Dongen 5]

My D800 is ordered and expected to come in this friday! Now just wait for an UW housing. Hugyfot claims that it'll be available from early may and my UW housing supplier told me that Nauticam is going to ship their first housings mid April. Unfortunately both too late for our Galapagos trip, but at least i can use it topside and shoot turtlez!

[loftus 42]

A friend of mine, did not realize that the second pic of the plane above is a crop of the first -just for those who did not realize that.

[Don in Colorado 2]

How many raw frames will the buffer of the D800 hold, before the camera burst rate slows down?

Edited March 26, 2012 by Don in Colorado

[loftus 42]

Not sure, but at 40MB a file, 14 bit, it's not many. I think if one want's to get more burst depth switching to 12 bit will help. This is not a rapid fire machine.

I will check later and report back.

 

Add; Went back and checked. At 14bit 4fps it shoots 13 frames before hanging up, at 12bit, 16 frames.

Edited March 26, 2012 by loftus

[Rocha 0]

A friend of mine, did not realize that the second pic of the plane above is a crop of the first -just for those who did not realize that.

 

That crop is amazing, you can almost see what is written in the pilot's hat. I am getting more excited about this camera by the minute. Now hopefully housings come up soon. I am traveling in a couple of weeks after a long time without taking photos underwater, but still with my good old D2x.

[loftus 42]

That crop is amazing, you can almost see what is written in the pilot's hat. I am getting more excited about this camera by the minute. Now hopefully housings come up soon. I am traveling in a couple of weeks after a long time without taking photos underwater, but still with my good old D2x.

There are some more pics on Nikon Rumors

http://nikonrumors.com/2012/03/27/full-siz...spx/#more-36780

 

I think particularly the macro guys are going to go nuts underwater with this camera; really gives meaning to taking a medium format camera underwater in a practical way. Wide angle, there may be fewer keepers as one will absolutely have to nail the focus....but when one does....bam! For some shooting situations the frame rate and cache size will be limiting, but more often, flash recycling will be the limiting factor.

Edited March 27, 2012 by loftus

[Andy Davies 0]

I've just written about my first impressions of the Nikon D800 and how I initially set it up here http://www.andydavies.info/​pages/news.html

 

You can download full resolution JPEGS of the sample images. Some of them are shot with the 60mm.

 

I will be at LIDS this weekend and will meet up with Jean of Aquatica to discuss their new housing.

 

Andy

[sharky1961 2]

Hi Andy,

 

I cannot open the link.

 

Did you also shoot with the 16-35mm??

 

 

Rob

[Steve Douglas 16]

Spoke to my contact at a major store back East in N.Y. He said there is a long waiting list for the D 800 and that Nikon has placed a restricted price on it, meaning they can't raise or lower the $2995.00 price for bargaining purposes. Don't know if it is true or not but was also told that Nikon is planning on raising the price as well in the near future so, if you want one, get it now.

Steve