Nikon D800 in DX format

<p>Hi,<br>

I have a question on using Nikon D800 in DX format.<br>

I switched to Nikon D800 after using Nikon D5000 for almost 3 years as upgrade. So far i do not have lenses to support all focal lengths to use on Nikon D800.<br>

i have Nikon 14-24 FX,85 1.8 FX, 35 MM 1.8 DX, Tamron 17-50 2.8 DX, Nikon 55-200.<br>

With all my lenses you can see that i have to come to crop sensor for certain focal lengths(for now) so which one i should use Nikon D800 in DX (16 MP) or D 5000 (12 MP).<br>

I am confused that 16 MP with Small photosites will be better or 12 MP with Bigger photosites (i am assuming).<br>

Any productive and related to above situation, answers are appreciated.<br>

Regards.</p>

<p>Even though you can only use the center part of the D800's sensor, it is still a much better camera than the D5000. However, at least I find it a bit annoying to look though the D800's viewfinder and can only use the center DX frame.</p>

<p>It should be your priority to get some good lenses to match up with the D800.</p>

<p>Thanks for your reply.<br>

Can i assume it is at least as good as D7000. Yes lenses are in my priority and will get one by one due to cost involved.</p>

<p>You have wide and moderate tele covered with really fine fx lenses that will shine on the D800. I'd get a 50mm 1.8 next if cost is a consideration.</p>

<p>The D800 has a better AF module than the D7000's, and the sensors + electronics are about 1.5 years newer. So yes, even under the DX crop mode, the D800 is still a better camera, although its frame rate is slightly slower.</p>

<p>Additionally, the D800 uses dual CF + SD memory cards. Since it is 36MP, you'll need 16G, 32G cards and up. Chance is that your old SD cards for the D5000 aren't very good on the D800, and you'll need a couple of CF cards too if you want to use the "backup" mode to write to both cards.</p>

<p>The D800 in DX mode will produce slightly improved images of the D5000. And yes, the D800 in DX mode is pretty much the same as the D7000 with regards to IQ.</p>

<p>While not optimal when it comes to IQ, you can use your current lenses in FX mode and cover the full sensor and some point in their zoom range, usually towards the middle or long end of their zoom range as a stop-gap measure. While corner sharpness suffers, if you are not making large prints, you may find the results acceptable. You would have to test the lenses out to see at what point in the zoom range they cover the entire frame and if the results are to your liking. Interestingly, the 35mm f1.8 does cover the full frame but it does have vignetting and of course corner sharpness suffers as well. But you can shoot in 1.2x crop mode and take care of most of the issues with this lens. In fact, at this point, the 1.2x crop mode may be good for your other lenses as well. Of course, as recommended, you would want to upgrade to FX lenses when you can.</p>

<p>You might have been better off getting a D7100, with it's 24mp. When you get down to it, lenses are more important than cameras.</p>

<p>Kent in SD</p>

<p>You have the lenses and you have the cameras. Why not just try them and see which gives you the better quality? All you need to do is try both bodies with the same lenses and subject at various ISO settings. Remembering that RAW captures may be very different in quality from over-processed JPEGS. You might also want to consider how useable the cropped viewfinder image is, and which camera gives the best AF accuracy.</p>

<p> </p>

<p>I'd sell the 35 MM 1.8 DX, Tamron 17-50 2.8 DX, and Nikon 55-200 immediately and get a "normal" 50 or normal zoom and a 70-300 or some such.<br>

If you can't afford to get great lenses for that camera, the suggestion that you would have been better off with a D7100 aren't totally off-base... but since you have the D800, I think I could get by for a LONG time with that and the 14-24 and 85 lenses which you have and a 50mm f1.8G.<br /><br />But I'd want a tele zoom soon. And I'd keep the little 5000 around to use with the teles if I could afford it.</p>

<p>Peter the D5000 is 12.3 megapixels, the DX crop from the D800 is higher than that. The D800 has significantly better AF. And many other enhancements over the D5000. The D5000's sensor is from 2009. I would imagine that pixel for pixel, the D800's sensor would give slightly improved IQ. So I don't quite understand your suggestion.<br>

<br>

Personally, I would not sell a D800 for a D7100. Would the OP had been better off with a D7100. In the short term perhaps, but without knowing more details as to what he intends to do in the future. it would be impossible to determine.</p>

<p>Thanks for your suggestions. Well just to clarify<br>

1. I do not wish to sell D800 because of the dynamic range and the size i print.<br>

<a href="http://500px.com/photo/29917507">http://500px.com/photo/29917507</a><br>

2. I am not keeping the cheap lens for long(next purchase is 24-70) and my main lens is 14-24 most of the time.<br>

Now the purpose of this question was:<br>

At times i get confused to use D800 DX mode or D5000. What i understand is 35 mm 1.8 is usable in 1.2 X crop(with some corner performance issue but again depend on subject).</p>

<p>Regards,<br>

Sunil</p>

<p>According to the following thread from June 17 this year, the OP already had a D800 back then: <a href="/nikon-camera-forum/00bkW8">http://www.photo.net/nikon-camera-forum/00bkW8</a><br>

So he has had the D800 for at least 6 months, perhaps much longer.</p>

<blockquote>

<p>At times i get confused to use D800 DX mode or D5000.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>I'd use the D800 in DX mode - also to have to carry only one camera instead of 2. Also in DX crop mode, the D800 is still a better camera than nearly all DX cameras.<br>

Plus, realistically, the difference between the ~15MP of the "D800 DX" versus 12MP of a D5000 is too small to worry about. Even if all else was equal, performance would be near identical, and since not everything else is equal, the D800 is a clear winner.</p>

<p><strong>You might have been better off getting a D7100, with it's 24mp. When you get down to it, lenses are more important than cameras.</strong></p>

<p>The ISO performance on the D800e is astounding, so not really buying that one.</p>

<p>"The ISO performance on the D800e is astounding, so not really buying that one."</p>

<p>In the real world, the D7100 is quite good at ISO 3200. I've had no complaints at all from my wedding customers even with 11x14 prints. Even with that, it's my observation that it's not very often that most people need anything higher than ISO 1600, if that. I have used a D800 for a couple of weddings and have shot some "personal" stuff with it. I showed several full res images to a couple of magazines editors on their big monitors, and neither of them could tell which images were made with which camera. They could easily tell which images were made with or without a tripod though. My thinking is if my customers see no difference between a D800 and a D7100 or even a D7000, why should I spend that kind of money on a camera? I'd rather have first class lenses (and pro level tripod/head.)</p>

<p>Kent iNS D</p>

<blockquote>

<p>"it's my observation that it's not very often that most people need anything higher than ISO 1600"</p>

</blockquote>

<p>"Need" is a relative term. In the days of film I did not need ISO 6400. When I had a D200 I did not need ISO 6400. However, since 2009 I have had either a D700 or a D800 and I frequently shoot at ISO 6400, in fact I would say I shoot it very often. When you don't have a camera that can manage ISO 6400 you don't need it, but when you do you use it.<br>

<br />By "manage" I mean it can shoot at a certain ISO with noise levels that you can tolerate. For me this was ISO 6400 with both the D700 and D800. In this sense I would say that one is not better than the other. Pixel peeping perhaps, but until a camera can shoot at a higher ISO level and I can still tolerate the noise level, I don't consider it better at high ISO's.</p>

<p>The D800 is a perfectly good camera to use in DX mode…in a pinch or over an extended period of time if you do not have the FX lenses in the specific range. The decision between a D7100 or D7000 and a D800 is about more than pixel density or image quality. The D800 has features those other cameras do not, and vice versa. When I first bought a D800, I was using a D300s and my mid-range zooms was a 17-55 DX and a 16-85 DX. All of my other lenses were FX, so in the short term, I used my DX lenses. You can certainly do the same with extremely good IQ and pixel density on a D800 in DX mode. As time passes you can begin to purchase FX lenses. DX crop mode on the D800 is still much better than a D5000.</p>

<p>""DX crop mode on the D800 is still much better than a D5000.""</p>

<p>But, it is a tremendous waste of money. A D5300 is still much better than a D5000, and you save $2,000! That money could be better used on lenses, or better yet a trip to Tibet. In the end, cameras really don't make much (if any) difference in how interesting your photos are.</p>

<p>Kent in SD</p>