D800 is here..

[rodw]

Well, in amongst the OT banter, things are progressing slowly in the pre-order stakes:

Late in April we received a shipment that helped satisfy a number of pre-orders, and we are expecting continued shipments throughout the month. In turn, this shipment has moved your order further up the queue.

Exact dates are, as before, difficult to predict. We are however currently working on an expectation that your order will be filled most likely within previous estimates given, we continue to predict receiving your camera in the first half of May

They go on to say they are dependent on Nikon on this. Previously, they had said late April to mid May so it would seem supply is pushing them out to their furthest estimates. I suspect this will be the "new normal". Never mind, I can wait even if it is killing me!

[RRRoger]

[QUOTE=rodw;1016023]geez, I really got the conversation OT didn't I? I've been an eBayer for over 10 years and have never been caught out but I am fairly particular who I buy from.

{ please refer to the site rules re advertising items for sale } QUOTE]

FleeBay buyers are fairly well protected (up to what serves PayPal's interest)
Sellers actually (if you read the fine print) are not protected at all.
I've been severely burned by them and will not accept nor use either.

[Chris G]

Well, in amongst the OT banter, things are progressing slowly in the pre-order stakes:



They go on to say they are dependent on Nikon on this. Previously, they had said late April to mid May so it would seem supply is pushing them out to their furthest estimates. I suspect this will be the "new normal". Never mind, I can wait even if it is killing me!

I'm in the same boat with the same email.. Did C Pro also offer the D800E in 2wks? All I thought was um isn't that when I should be expecting my D800 anyway.. - Mid May LOL!!!

[rodw]

Well, I am almost ready for my D800 to arrive. Today marks the 3 month anniversary since I pre-ordered. Leading up to this momentous occasion, I took my last photo on film which is floating around on this forum somewhere. i've flogged off my F80 film camera on eBay. (it had a partly exposed roll of film in it dating back to Easter 2008 )

I also took a lens and an 8gb CF card to work this morning and stuck it in my top drawer so I would be able to play with it as soon as I pick it up from CP.

Eventually near the end of the day, it got the better of me and I phoned to Camerapro and apologized for asking but seeing it was such an auspicious occasion and i had been so patient over the last 3 months would they mind having a look and seeing if I had found my way to the top of the queue yet.

So the result of my polite query was that they assured me that I would get my camera in the very next shipment which they were expecting in the next 3-4 days. So hopefully it will be in my hands sometime next week.

They said their deliveries arrived in a pretty random fashion, they never got any advance warning and the shipments were anywhere between 1 and 12. So the waiting continues...

[Chris G]

I feel your pain....

[Burnman]

G'day there all -
I too have a D800e on order, chomping at the bit for it to arrive. Nikon on Broadway says 2-3 weeks.. wish it were 2-3 days
Having a spin through the various links on this thread with great interest.
Had my Really Right Stuff tripod (s) arrive in the post this morning - WOW.. terrific gear. But will save them for another thread!
Would love to see some more example D800 photos posted - Cheers

Bernie

[Sar NOP]

Would love to see some more example D800 photos posted - Cheers

Bernie

Taken last night :


200mm, @f/2, 1/80", 5 000 ISO.



Crop

[I @ M]

Would love to see some more example D800 photos posted - Cheers

Bernie

Taken this morning.

85mm, @f/7.1, 1/160, 100 ISO

Image area set in camera to 5:4 and detail holds up pretty well.



Enlarged to 100% and cropped to viewable screen area.

[rodw]

Would love to see some more example D800 photos posted - Cheers

Bernie

Would love to be able to post some

Maybe next week!

[Tommo1965]

SAR

is that straight from the camera ..no noise reduction ?

[Lance B]

Another from the D800 + 85mm f1.4G @ f5



Crop

[jim]

You can't argue with the amount of detail in that, Lance.

[rodw]

A nice portrait Lance. Awesome detail too!

[Sar NOP]

Great portrait, Lance.
This 85/1.4G is probably the sharpest lens I've ever used. It's even sharper than the 200/2 on the D800 !


Two images taken this evening :


85/1.4G, @f/1.4



Crop 100%






200/2 VRII, @f/2



Crop 100%

[rodw]

Don't know if anybody else has been thinking of using their D800 for video, but I decided to get a bit of audio stuff after a fair bit of research.

Zoom H1 recorder and accessory kit $139
HTDZ HT-320A shotgun microphone (eBay) $35
Audiotechnica ATR3350 lavallier microphone (eBay) $30

All up, I spent $205 this afternoon.

The Zoom H1 is the off camera recorder to get unless you buy the more expensive Zoom H4N from all reviews.

There is a longer shotgun mic (HTDZ HT-81A) for about the same money but it is not so good for on camera mounting due to the length. From all accounts these cheap shotgun mics are remarkably good quality and up with some of the Rode's etc so we will see how I get on. There is another smaller Chinese shotgun for about the same money called the SG-108 and apparently it has a lot of background hiss evident.

The ATR3350 seems to be the lavallier microphone that most DSLR video guys use and while I could find it in Oz, it was double the price.

Also on eBay there is a Chinese blimp to cover your shotgun mic for $140 and complete with a boom for $200 that is also very well regarded. The blimp has a removeable extension so you can use it for short and long shotgun mics and includes 2 furry covers for both size options but I did not bother with this as this is only likely to be for home use and I know from prior experience with video cameras that you can't rely on the built in mic as it picks up a lot of camera noise so I used to use a small shotgun mic in the past.

If I decide I want to mount the shotgun mic on my DSLR and find that it needs a shock mount, I think I will just grab a Rode SM3 which you can find for about $50 in Australia. (CameraPro has a listing for it).

If you do try searching eBay for some of this stuff and you can't find it on their .au site, try again on their .com site.

Just so you know, I already have Adobe Premiere 4 for the editing.

If the shotgun mic works out ok, you could build a complete near pro level audio package for your D800 for just over $400 with the blimp and boom based on what I have located.

If you want to know more about this stuff, just hit Google and check out some of the YouTube reviews it throws up. Plenty of examples of these microphones in use.

[Xebadir]

I've actually been doing a fair bit of testing on the video capabilities and thus far I am pretty impressed. Audio wise, I'm actually pretty impressed by the onboard mic, seems to do a reasonable enough job for my needs and will be giving it a detailed test as of this time next week (in harshest environments I can find :P). But thanks for the tips on the potential options, may indulge in that one day if I decide to use it more seriously for this purpose.

[rodw]

John, you better add some furry friends to your audio kit to control wind noise I think. Here's one source
http://www.thewindcutter.com/shop/
But there are others.

[Xebadir]

Thanks for the suggestion Rod, but unfortunately there is no way I can get one shipped to me in time before this trip (leave Sunday, eep!). While they do look interesting, wind noise elimination is not something I tend to worry about alot anyway given being around a tornado or a storm is generally very quiet either - guess you just have to be there to know what I mean.

[MajorPanic]

Well most of the D800 order has arrived!
....but not the body

MBD12, ENEL18, battery chamber cover & battery charger

Patience is wearing a bit thin now

[I @ M]

Patience is wearing a bit thin now

Can't be too far away, as of 5 mins ago I know a dealer that has 2 in stock and no buyers -------