Here Comes The D800!

[MikeMac]

Hi Bernard
Thanks for the new D800 review. Interesting to read, although I got the feeling you were maybe either a little underwhelmed, or maybe just the camera is evolution rather than revolution (as happened with the D3). Not that that is a bad thing.
Anyway, I was interested in your upcoming pano ideas. What projects/subjects are you working on? What aspect ratio or angle of view? What are the computer applications of stitching the much larger image files and what is your target final image size and print sizes? Basically I love panos and would love to hear about yours?
Kind regards
Mike

[BernardLanguillier]

Hi Mike,

I am not sure what conveyed that impression, but I would say that the D800 is everything I had hoped for as a camera.

Now the d3X was an amazing performer 3 years ago and still is an amazing camera today. So we have to be realistic about the expectations here. :-) My skills and creativity are much larger bottlenecks than any limitations the D800 might help reduce.

As far as panos goes, there are too many things to write for an iPhone! :-)

Cheers,
Bernard

[theguywitha645d]

Nice summery and congrats on the new camera. Looking forward to seeing more from it.

[DaveCurtis]

Thanks for the review Bernard. Most interesting.

Michael, do you plane to review the camera ?

[michael]

Thanks for the review Bernard. Most interesting.

Michael, do you plane to review the camera ?

Absolutely. I have one on order, and hopefully will receive it by the time I'm back from Mexico in a week or so.

Michael

[E.J. Peiker]

A major missed point in the comparison to the D3x is that the D800 has an automatic sensor cleaning mechanism.  D3x sensor cleaning is difficult and often an exercise in frustration.  This should be significantly reduced with the D800.

[BernardLanguillier]

A major missed point in the comparison to the D3x is that the D800 has an automatic sensor cleaning mechanism.  D3x sensor cleaning is difficult and often an exercise in frustration.  This should be significantly reduced with the D800.

Good point, thanks.

Cheers,
Bernard

[MikeMac]

Hi Mike,

I am not sure what conveyed that impression, but I would say that the D800 is everything I had hoped for as a camera.

Now the d3X was an amazing performer 3 years ago and still is an amazing camera today. So we have to be realistic about the expectations here. :-) My skills and creativity are much larger bottlenecks than any limitations the D800 might help reduce.

As far as panos goes, there are too many things to write for an iPhone! :-)

Cheers,
Bernard

Hi Bernard

Good to hear, it's nice when our new toys, sorry, I mean tools, are all we had wished for:-)

I'll keep my eyes peeled on LL in hopes of an article on your panos sometime.

Will going to the slightly lighter D800 allow you to carry a smaller/lighter pano head, or will you be sticking with your existing pano head? Cost vs a lighter pack I guess.

I went to have a look at your existing panos on your site, you must have had some beautiful experiences making those, some of the colour palettes are so sublimely subtle. I also read your text about your Panoramix where you mention that you stitch to "achieve higher resolutions required for very large prints" and looking at your images they could perhaps have been made with a single shot i.e. the field of view is not super wide. Will the higher resolution of the D800 change the way that you make panos i.e. are you likely to crop a single frame rather than stitch?

Kind regards
Mike

[billh]

Michael, have you heard whether the D800E will be shipped for the originally scheduled April 12 delivery date?

Thanks,

Bill

[BernardLanguillier]

Hi Bernard

Good to hear, it's nice when our new toys, sorry, I mean tools, are all we had wished for:-)

I'll keep my eyes peeled on LL in hopes of an article on your panos sometime.

Will going to the slightly lighter D800 allow you to carry a smaller/lighter pano head, or will you be sticking with your existing pano head? Cost vs a lighter pack I guess.

I went to have a look at your existing panos on your site, you must have had some beautiful experiences making those, some of the colour palettes are so sublimely subtle. I also read your text about your Panoramix where you mention that you stitch to "achieve higher resolutions required for very large prints" and looking at your images they could perhaps have been made with a single shot i.e. the field of view is not super wide. Will the higher resolution of the D800 change the way that you make panos i.e. are you likely to crop a single frame rather than stitch?

No intention to change my stitching habits at this point of time.

This being said, the ability to shoot only one row will help in case of very quickly changing skies, which could deliver very good value.

Cheers,
Bernard

[KT]

I'm particularly interested in this comment in your article:

"It seems to work pretty well with the 70-300 f4-5.6 VR although the gap in sharpness compared to top primes is obviously there. I am therefore not sure that the doomsday discussions about how demanding on lenses the camera is really applies,"

I carry my gear over long distances so weight is a significant issue.  Using a 70-300 f4-5.6 VR vs a 70-200 f2.8 ED VR II would mean much less weight, but reduced sharpness.  I don't need f2.8, but I've not used the 70-300 and wonder just what its performance is on a D800, particularly at its longer focal lengths.

Thanks for your review.

[kers]

I'm particularly interested in this comment in your article:
"It seems to work pretty well with the 70-300 f4-5.6 VR although the gap in sharpness compared to top primes is obviously there. I am therefore not sure that the doomsday discussions about how demanding on lenses the camera is really applies,"
I carry my gear over long distances so weight is a significant issue.  Using a 70-300 f4-5.6 VR vs a 70-200 f2.8 ED VR II would mean much less weight, but reduced sharpness.  I don't need f2.8, but I've not used the 70-300 and wonder just what its performance is on a D800, particularly at its longer focal lengths.
Thanks for your review.

Having both lenses and a d3x I already can tell you the 70-300 performs well from 70-200 - 70 is very good. the central sharpness is good- if you need corners sharpness go to d8 or 11- at 200mm corners stay weak
at 300 the lens is hanging too much ( cheap mechanics) and sharpness is not that good. Still it is a very excellent value for the money and you can come very close - more than with the 70-200
Then the 70-200 has beautiful bokeh and nanocrystal coat.