How does the AF of your D800 compare to your previous body

<p>I have read mixed reviews on the AF performance of the D800. It would be appreciated if you could share your experience with how you find the AF performance of the D800 compared to whatever you upgraded from. I currently use a D3 so comments from D3/D700/D3s/D4 users would be most appreciated but of course any experience you have with other bodies would likely be of interest.</p>

<p>I moved from a D700, getting my D800 about 2 weeks ago. I am finding that the transition has been a non-event. Focus is fine with my copy, including the left focus point. The extra resolution is noticable at 13x19 desktop printing (of course having to down res instead of up res). Still both tripod and hand held shooting. I think I see a little more blur with hand held shots if I zoom in to 100%, but that is sort of silly anyway.<br>

I'm going back up some canyons tomorrow in a wetsuit, carrying the camera and extra lenses in dry bags. Should be a good test. I haven't had much interest in video although it seems pretty cool. I don't yet know how to maintain constant focus as I pan around in video mode, so a learning curve is there on focus.</p>

<p>Hi Elliot, I used D3 as well then got the D800. Generally speaking, the AF of D800 is all right and I am happy with it. Until now I used 70-200 F/2.8 VRII a lot and 16-35 F/4 lenses, for events photography.</p>

<p>When I explored the function of D800, I tested the more advanced AF which is not in D3. The 3D tracking works quite well, especially for fast moving objects.</p>

<p>However, in live view and video recording mode, the AF is not good. I am not going to discuss more about that because we all know it is normal. And manual focus is suggested in video recording anyway.</p>

<p>Hope it helps.</p>

<p>D800 should support AF to f8. Check this review:<br>

http://www.naturescapes.net/docs/index.php/category-equipment-reviews/34-equipment-reviews/512-ej-peiker</p>

 

<p>I used the D700 and D800 together for one week, and don`t even noticed a difference (maybe I`m too rude... :) It was like using the same camera. Lenses, 14-24, 24-70, 24-120 and 50AFS.</p>

<p>Cannot say about tracking, Live View in manual focus only (very, very good), video focusing was pretty difficult (I must say that it was my very first DSLR video experience)</p>

<p>I've only been shooting about 48hrs but my experience compared to the D3s is on par. I have yet to shoot any fast moving objects, but in terms of acquiring and nailing focus, I've been very happy. Sure it misses now and then, but so does the D3s.</p>

<p>So after my trip (great time!) my answer is that the auto focus is excellent. At leat as good as the D700 for landscapes in that I really didn't have to think about it. I used my 17-35 f2.8 and 24-70 f2.8 lenses.<br /> What is different is something I read about in reviews. The camera seems to protect highlights more, and the shadow recover is better (surprisingly so). The canyons were pretty high contrast but I can pull useful information out by using neutral picture control and D-lighting in Capture NX. Nice.</p>

<p>The focus is excellent,last night when the light was really low I could still autofocus with a 6 stop nd filter on,my d700 would not. The camera is a Landscape photographers dream,I just got my first 30x20 inch prints back,they are fantastic with amazing detail and depth. It was a little time coming but Nikon have really excelled with this beauty.</p>