Nikon D800 or D800E?

[elliot1]

<p>I had a D800e on order and opted for the D800 because of the potential (although small) of moire. Once would be too much for a photo that could not be recreated/reshot.</p>

<p>Prior to my purchase, I compared identical D800 and D800e images, processing both with DXO software. After processing using DXO's lens correction option, it was virtually impossible to see any difference (even pixel peepingat 400%). Keep in mind that as you stop down to f5.6 and beyond, differences are all but impossible to tell even out of the camera.</p>

[elliot1]

<p>duplicate post deleted.</p>

[dan_south]

Another thought is that the D800 is designed by Nikon to be a general purpose camera.

 

So, if you're only going to carry one

body, and it has to work in all situations, including video, HDR, time sequences, portraits, flash, reflective subjects, challenging light, etc., it might

be wise to carry the general purpose body. If you can carry the pair, then the D800e will open up some other possibilities.

But using a D800e only might present some risk. I would hate to have to explain (or process) moire in the dress of the girl

who catches the bouquet, when I only had that one shot.

[allan_jamieson2]

<p>The Live View issue with the D800/e is a shame as it doesn't take much magnification in Live View for the whole image to become very blurry indeed. Saying that, using it carefully, I have managed some remarkable macro images using Live View, that would not have been possible without that technology. Think back to 35mm film days when Velvia was King, look through a small viewfinder focus as well as you can using your eyesight stop down a bit, use a cable release, get the film developed and hope for the best. I did manage good macro images then but Live View makes such images achievable virtually all the time if you take a bit of time over it. The only issue being how quickly diffraction kicks in with the D800, I think I will need to learn focus stacking to get the best out of the camera for macro shots, stopping down too much will definitely lose some resolution and image quality.</p>

<p>Thinking about the Live View issue, when I first got my D800 I used it virtually all the first week taking macro images because we were having some unusually late frosts combined with a good amount of wild flowers coming into bloom. Battery life was as low as 150 shots on one occasion when I used Live View for every image. I thought at first that my camera was faulty as there was no information out there on how much battery life you should get using the camera in that way. Assuming that Nikon have deliberately reduced the resolution of the screen image for Live View, might that be to increase potential battery life over what it would be if the D800 gave us a full resolution view without any interpolation? Because like it or not using Live View a lot will dramatically reduce battery life, if a "perfect" Live View could be achieved with the D800 but reduced battery life to 100 or less images would people accept that or start moaning about poor battery life instead. It would be nice to have the option to test a D800 with Live View similar to that used in the Canon 5DIII and I dare say that newer models will address this issue, not sure if a software upgrade or hack can make Live View work without any interpolation but there must be a reason why Nikon made Live View on the D800 work the way that it does at present.</p>

[Andrew Garrard]

I suspect the line skipping in live view is simply a function of frame rate (though it may affect the battery life too) - the screen can update

faster if not all the sensor data is read. I'm sure that some of this restriction is due to the hardware, though it ought to be able to get the full

resolution by dropping to a slower refresh. If Nikon did more BIOS updates, it would be nice if they offered this as an option - add it to my "if I

ever hack thge BIOS..." list. My impression is that Canon have some dedicated interpolation hardware which probably reads the whole

sensor somewhat faster - they made a point of the image scaling for video during the 5D3 launch, which suggests a capability that the live

view could use. I'll take the D800's dynamic range as a trade, though.

 

Just to clarify, I believe we're only talking about every other scan line being skipped in live view (and that may have been a decision to avoid

full debayering for speed) - that's still between 8 and 18MP of detail depending on whether there's column skipping too. Remember that

Nikons let you zoom until one image pixel is more than one screen pixel (which makes focus easier to see if you have bad eyesight or

viewing conditions) whereas Canons only go to 1:1. This seems to cause a lot of confusion. There is no "it doesn't take much magnification

for the image to become very blurry" - it's that you can get a blurry image by zooming past 100%, and the zoom steps are quite large.

[joseph_smith3]

<p>Here is a review of both the D800 and D800E from someone who owns and uses both bodies. If I were going to buy one for your shooting needs, I would probably get the D800E. I own and use the D600.<br>

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

<p>Joe Smith</p>

[elliot1]

<p>Joseph, based on his review and the feather example (which he states shows a mere .2% of the frame) which clearly illustrates the minimal sharpness improvement (would not be visible in a print other than a 6' wide one) and added moire, I think the choice to get the D800 over the D800e is obvious. </p>

<p>And while even serious moire can be totally or mostly corrected successfully in programs like DXO (I specifically sought out moire images prior to my purchase and DXO's moire correction feature works!), IF shooting video, you cannot remove moire. As I stated previous, DXO software's lens softness correction feature easily levels the playing field between the two bodies - it does not appear the AA filter is all that strong.</p>

<p>While the choice between the two bodies can be a tough one, it is definitely a win-win situation regardless of which choice you make.</p>

[george_kronfli]

<p>Joseph, thanks for your input especially the excellent test report by Peiker, one of the most comprehensive I have seen, really appreciated. However, based on that and other reports and my own requirements, I still think I will stick to me original decision and get the D800, which is already on order. I think Elliot Bernstein has a point when he said "sharpness improvement (would not be visible in a print other than a 6' wide one)". I was particularly impressed by Peiker's assertion that the D800/E can cope very well with a wide contrast range, something I miss constantly on my D90.</p>

[robert_goss_kennedy]

<p>I think you will be immensely pleased with the D800. I am 2000+ frames into my D800 and I am in love with it. I can see myself using this camera for 10 years+. <br>

Be warned though, it will make a lot of PCs out there groan in displeasure. The RAW files are insane. </p>