D800 is here..

[I @ M]

I might add that the mp count has had nothing to do with my decision to pony up for the D800 as having worked in the printing industry's for years I understand the intracies of digital photo reproduction and 6 mp covers off on most needs (except perhaps when publishing a 2 page magazine spread, which I have found to be a limiting factor with my D40). Personally, i would have been much happier with 18-24 mp FX but for the total package, i reckon i am on a winner.

The number of mega pickles didn't influence me much either, I am quite happy with 20x30 prints from 10MP and any of the numerous AP members that have seen said prints will probably agree. Time moves on and if they can deliver results at 36mp then bring it on.

I am still intrigued as to why Nikon went to such a dense sensor count so maybe it is to do with kingarthur's UDHTV or is it just sticking it to their competitors? I'd've really like to know the answer to this question.

They already surpassed their competitors ( at a price premium ) with the D3x and 24 mp so if the extra resolution is as good as expected then they have nothing to worry about. They are after all a company that is required to earn money ( profit ) and not a benevolent institution for photographers but if history is correct they have a habit of being a little late to the game but at least when they get there the product is polished.

[NGP]

With two years warranty, NGP ?

it comes with Nikon Australia's standard product warranty..

[arthurking83]

.....

I am still intrigued as to why Nikon went to such a dense sensor count so maybe it is to do with kingarthur's UDHTV or is it just sticking it to their competitors? I'd've really like to know the answer to this question.

By the time a small bodied device such as an SLR camera is able to digest and convert the required pixels into a usable video stream.. in say 10 years time .. it seems that the average sensor will be containing something in the order of 100 Mp or more(at the current rate of change!!).
DSLR's current ability to process the data for a UHDTV output is nowhere near what is required both in terms of throughput and also storage(unless you store the data on a separate device, which the D4 and D800 are capable of). You'll need terabytes of card space to process such a high pixel count for a reasonable amount of shooting time.

I noted an article on DPR about a new UHDTV sensor just announced.
These sensor types will obviously go into high end dedicated video devices to begin with, and the photography camera makers will eventually follow suit in the years to come, as it seems this will be what the general public is asking for!

I'm also a bit disappointed with the pixel count of the D800 and would also have preferred to see a higher quality higher ISO output such as what will be expected of the D4.
20-24Mp would have sufficed, but I guess there are those that really need to print 'noise free' at ISO1600 and A2 print sizes.

From my recent history of shooting, I've worked out that I may never need more than ISO12K for 99% of my shooting needs, and I really would have liked to see the D800 with very clean images at this point.
I'm not criticising, as we have yet to see what the D800 can actually do .. so I'm going to wait until it proves to be able to do what I want in the immediate future.

I saw some raw converted images on a French site a week or so ago, and they looked quite good even compared to the D3s .. comparable in many ways, but to me the D3s had better colour rendition(less grey noise).
Problem tho is that the D800 is still under embargo when it comes to the freedom to post images from it. The French seem to flaunt this NDA rule, where Nikon aren't allowing images to be posted without Nikon's consent. This is because the camera firmware is yet to be finalised and polished.
(note that the French and Nikon have been at war since early this year with leaked info on the D4, and Nikon have shunned the French in general due to this .. so the French seem to fighting back )
Most well natured folks in the loop are claiming that the D800 is similar to the D3s in overall noise terms(when the image is viewed at a predetermined size), but at 1:1 pixel level the noise is more obvious in the D800.
Because of the issue of firmware, the images can't be taken at face value as most of the noise reduction is a product of the firmware, so until the D800's software is finalised any images appearing on the net are not indicative of what the final camera will be like.

[image2paint]

God I can't wait for this bad boy to arrive considering I'm upgrading from a D60....kinda like getting a Ferrari and trading in the barina :-)

Me 2 ! Im upgrading from a D5100... Cant wait to get the keys to the new Ferrari

[Xebadir]

Have placed a pre-order for the D800 with NGP - deal was simply too good to pass up, adding to the fact he is a site sponsor and its Nikon Aus stock .

[knumbnutz]

I have finally decided to dip in and get a D800 when possible.
I was looking through the 5Dmk3 and within about 1min decided it definitely wasnt what I was looking for.
Ergo's turned me off, especially the "rate" button, which reminded me of the "print" button that was on some cameras years ago.
Not having a rear dial except for the big thing on the back, sort of looks like one of those DJ record things for "wha wha" noise
Well i'm sure canon user will like it and the ISO performance looks good but then I can easily say the same for the D800 and its cheaper.

[MrBling]

Had a play with one a couple of weeks ago, all of you lucky enough to get your hands on one are going to love them.

[rodw]

Don't know if you have seen it but there's a link here on the Nikon site where the designers of the D800 give their take on it.

http://imaging.nikon.com/history/scenes/32/

On the second page they say

Hara: "The D800 has an effective pixel count of 36.3 megapixels, but that doesn't mean it can take pictures only at that size. There are three image sizes – large, medium, and small – and you can choose the one that suits your needs. In FX format, the large size enables shooting with about 36.2 megapixels, while about 20.3 megapixels are used for the medium size, or maybe if you're taking snapshots you'll find you can get by with the small size, which is about 9 megapixels. Both the medium and small settings use data from the full extent of the 36.3-megapixel sensor optimally processed to a smaller size using EXPEED 3. Therefore, we suggest selecting medium or small for normal use and choosing large only for, say, group portraits or very high resolution landscape shots."

I thought this was interesting given the big focus on 36 mp on the net!

[Lance B]

Just had word from my supplier of the D800 that Nikon should recieve them into Australia on March 23, 2012. Hopefully, they should have them in store a few days later, and as an official Nikon seller, I am hoping that they get them before other sellers as I am 5th on their list.

[I @ M]

I am 5th on their list.

Which in all probability means that you are 4005th on the list in Australia.

[Xebadir]

Which probably puts you about 60005th on the world list - should get your copy somewhere in Mid June :P.

I'm also 5th on a list so it will be interesting to see what the pre-order filling is like in Australia. Just quietly I hope it becomes available to ship for the 23rd as that would make an already excellent day even better .

[geoffsta]

Don't know if you have seen it but there's a link here on the Nikon site where the designers of the D800 give their take on it.
http://imaging.nikon.com/history/scenes/32/
On the second page they say

Hara: "The D800 has an effective pixel count of 36.3 megapixels, but that doesn't mean it can take pictures only at that size. There are three image sizes – large, medium, and small – and you can choose the one that suits your needs. In FX format, the large size enables shooting with about 36.2 megapixels, while about 20.3 megapixels are used for the medium size, or maybe if you're taking snapshots you'll find you can get by with the small size, which is about 9 megapixels. Both the medium and small settings use data from the full extent of the 36.3-megapixel sensor optimally processed to a smaller size using EXPEED 3. Therefore, we suggest selecting medium or small for normal use and choosing large only for, say, group portraits or very high resolution landscape shots."

I thought this was interesting given the big focus on 36 mp on the net!

Yes but a big V8 in a car is useless if you are just cruizing around. But the power is there when you need it.

[arthurking83]

Just had word from my supplier of the D800 that Nikon should recieve them into Australia on March 23, 2012. Hopefully, they should have them in store a few days later, and as an official Nikon seller, I am hoping that they get them before other sellers as I am 5th on their list.

Which probably puts you about 60005th on the world list - should get your copy somewhere in Mid June :P.

I'm also 5th on a list so it will be interesting to see what the pre-order filling is like in Australia. Just quietly I hope it becomes available to ship for the 23rd as that would make an already excellent day even better .

LOL!

... each store will probably only get a limited consignment of only four for now due to high worldwide demand!

[arthurking83]

Just had word from my supplier of the D800 that Nikon should recieve them into Australia on March 23, 2012. Hopefully, they should have them in store a few days later, and as an official Nikon seller, I am hoping that they get them before other sellers as I am 5th on their list.

Which probably puts you about 60005th on the world list - should get your copy somewhere in Mid June :P.

I'm also 5th on a list so it will be interesting to see what the pre-order filling is like in Australia. Just quietly I hope it becomes available to ship for the 23rd as that would make an already excellent day even better .

LOL!

... each store will probably only get a limited consignment of only 4 bodies just for now, due to high worldwide demand!

[Xebadir]

Lol, I said that in an email to my supplier when I pre-ordered - that by being 5th I was hoping the first shipment was 5, not 4 .

[I @ M]

I thought this was interesting given the big focus on 36 mp on the net!

Rod, the megapickle count of cameras has always been a selling point since the fairly rapid explosion of sensor technology after the "birth" of digital cameras.
Sure, many comments on the 'net have focussed on the resolution of the D800 but in general I think they come from people that are at best ill informed and at worst just those who like to see their name online at a forum or blog.
The actual megapickle count of the D800 is relatively modest compared to the larger format cameras / digital backs that have been available for quite a while now.
What makes it attract the attention it has is that the sensor is a 35mm format and the cameras price.
As for the different size images that are available from the camera, the D# and D### series at least have long had the ability to select between 3 image sizes in jpeg and then again 3 different levels of quality for those settings.
As I understand the physics of it all, those sizing parameters in the D800 are no different to the previous models and will not apply to nef files.

[rodw]

I@M, thanks for the clarification. I was pretty sure that the designers were referring to JPEG files. I will be very interested to make my own judgement on the performance of the D800 and if I will shoot in JPEG or RAW. Technology is advancing very quickly and we may find that yesterday's view that RAW was the way to go will not still hold into the future. I also think we should consider the environment we are shooting for. For example, why do we need to bother with 12 bit Colour depth and the associated 4096 colour shades if shooting for print in publications when the offset press is only capable of displaying about 50 shades or even less if on newsprint. I suspect for the majority of my photos, I will prefer to let the Nikon technology do the work for me because I am shelling out a lot of money to access the technology!

Having said that, it may also be interesting to see how well Lightroom 4 can be set up for default RAW conversion as if that is good, I may run with RAW.

Moving up from a basic Nikon to a pro (or is it prosumer?) camera will be quite a big technology step but with a very good understanding of digital image file formats and Colour gamuts, I am looking forward to applying that knowledge to the D800.

[RRRoger]

The D4 has already left Japan for Europe and is supposed to arrive March 15th.
Hopefully the D800 is in the same shipment and will arrive worldwide very soon.

[swifty]

It seems a lucky NPS Aussie has his D4 already. So things look to be on schedule.

Rather than start another D800 thread, I'll jz discuss this here.

As many of you probably have been following info on the D800 like myself, one area of concern to some and as a direct result of the large pixel count is the frame rate. It's probably the only spec worse than a D700.
But since it'll do 6fps with the additional grip, getting the data off the sensor is obviously not the bottleneck. Neither are supporting electronics as the grip only adds additional power. The shutter/mirror system can also obviously handle it too because those aren't changed.
One has to wonder why the limitation?

I'm not sure if this had been resolved with the D300/D700 since they both share the same characteristics boosting fps with grip.
But it seems the D700 and D300 can be tricked into more than 6fps (although not quite 8) without the grip with some clever custom settings. Not something I've tried myself cos I have no use for the faster frame rate but there are YouTube videos showing this.

So is this frame rate limitation purely marketing??

[rodw]

So is this frame rate limitation purely marketing??

Bound to be. At work we have a $200k output device which is the bottom of the range in terms of performance and there are three levels above it. The only difference between models is a software license that controls the speed of the device. The software upgrade costs about $50k per step. So for another $150k, I can double the speed of the device.

I would not be surprised at all if the limits between models are controlled by a variable in the firmware of the camera!