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Technical Details
- Brand Name: Nikon
- Model: 25498
- Optical Sensor Resolution: 36.3 MP
- Optical Sensor Technology: CMOS
- Optical zoom: 1 x
Nikon D800 Hands-On Preview by dpreview.com
Product Details
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Product Description
From the Manufacturer
The Nikon D800E
The Ultimate Attention to Detail
The D800E is a specialized camera that differs from the D800 in just one way yet requires some extra care to get optimal results. Use the information below to determine if the D800 or D800E is right for you.
D800 and D800E
Which is right for you?
Every Nikon DSLR camera uses an optical low pass filter (OLPF) in front of its sensor to slightly blur the image at a pixel level in order to reduce the occurrence of false colors and moiré that can appear when shooting repetitive and/or fine patterns. For the vast majority of photographers, the D800 provides an ideal balance between sharpness and effectively prevented moiré and false color, ideal for shooting using all file formats. D800E is a specialized camera that removes the "effect" of the OLPF, which results in a slight gain in sharpness and resolution and is recommended for studio and still life professionals but carries an increased possibility that moiré and false color will appear.
| D800 | D800E |
|---|---|
| Strikes an ideal balance between sharpness and preventing the occurrence of false color and moiré for consistent performance | Slight increase in sharpness and resolution with increased occurrence of false color and moiré |
Ideal for:
| Ideal for:
|
D800 and D800E: Comparison of false color and moiré
D800 and D800E: Comparison of resolution
What else is different?
Other than the very slight image quality differences described above, the D800 and D800E perform exactly the same. Focus speed, exposure metering, shooting speed, movie recording, accessory compatibility, control location and function, and all other aspects are identical.
Reveal every nuance, every detail
The 36.3 megapixel FX-format advantage
Wedding, commercial or landscape, the D800E is the ultimate 36.3 MP FX-format camera for creative genius. Witness tonal range and precision rendered to supreme clarity, depth and texture. Make poster sized prints without sacrificing detail. Explore creative opportunities with ISO 100 to 6,400 (expanded up to 25,600)—shoot from dawn to dusk. Experience Nikon's new Advanced Scene Recognition System featuring a 91,000-pixel RGB light meter capable of rendering unprecedented levels of accuracy to AF, AE, i-TTL flash control, face recognition and auto white balance. Nikon's new EXPEED 3 image processing reduces color phase shifts seen with lesser systems, producing more faithful colors and tones while managing massive amounts of data at breakthrough speed. With the D800E in your hands, achieve what was once unreachable.
Broadcast quality video
A full cinematic experience
Filmmakers, multimedia professionals and event photographers—record Full HD 1080p at 30/25/24p or 720p at 60/50p in AVC-HD format. Produce to your exacting vision when working in manual mode, controlling aperture, ISO, AF and shutter speed. Record uncompressed files via HDMI to an external recording device via HDMI. Widen production perspective using either Nikon FX or DX lens formats at Full HD 1080p and 16:9 aspect ratio. Attach headphones and check audio levels or monitor input via peak audio meters as displayed on the camera's LCD monitor. Microphone sensitivity can be adjusted in up to 20 steps. Remotely start and stop video. Simultaneously Live View footage on the camera's LCD monitor and external monitor during recording are possible.
Render every megapixel with precision
Fast, precise 51-point wide area coverage
Precise AF detection is critical to sharply render every pixel of the D800E's massive resolution count. An improved 51- point AF system with 15 Cross Type AF sensors, versatile AF area modes and superb AF detection in even the dimmest lighting deliver immediate, pinpoint focus. Fast shot-to-shot time, full resolution frame rate up to 4 fps, 6 fps in DX crop mode using MB-D12 Multi-Power Battery Pack and ultra fast CF and SD card write times. For more productive workflow, high-speed data transfer using USB 3.0 is realized. For demanding professionals, the D800E responds immediately and precisely.
Versatile shooting, fluid operation
Streamlined ergonomic design puts critical tasks a touch away
Intuitive design makes D800E operation a thing of beauty. A streamlined ergonomic body allows critical photography and video tasks, including Movie Record, Live View, White Balance and Picture Control to be performed at the touch of a button. Confirm image capture and view menu options, histograms, video settings and more using the D800E's super sharp 3.2-inch 921,000-dot LCD screen with 100% coverage. Anti-glare coating and auto brightness control ease of viewing, no matter the environment. Enlarge images up to 46x for on-the-spot focus confirmation. Magnesium alloy construction and environmental sealing make the D800E as comfortable in the field as in the studio.
EXPEED 3 image processing
Nikon's EXPEED 3 technology extends and assures breathtakingly rich image fidelity and reduces noise, even at high ISO's. EXPEED 3 is so powerful that it handles data-intensive tasks such as Full-HD video recording at 30p with ease.
Rich image previewing
The D800E's 3.2-inch super-sharp 921,000-dot LCD monitor automatically adjusts LCD brightness and visibility according to your environment for bright, crisp image playback, menu adjustment and Live View shooting. Enlarge images up to 46x to make on the spot focus confirmation—crucial for high resolution shooting.
Expand dynamic range with built-in HDR
Create a single image revealing an extremely wide dynamic range, but with less noise and rich color gradation than ever before. Combine two exposures at up to 3EV.
Dedicated picture control button
The convenient Picture control button provides six preset options: Vivid, Monochrome, Neutral, Standard, Landscape and Portrait for stills and video while 9 customizable settings provide advanced, personalized color control.
Product Description
Available Warranties for This Item
Customer Reviews
Well I received my D800E two days before a planned trip to the St. Augustine Alligator Farm. After more than 2500 images under all conditions, I have to rate the camera as spectacular - a step beyond excellent. Image quality and detail are stunning. I was using a Nikon 200-400 f/4 VR and a Nikon 600 f/4 VR for most of my images. The level of detail is simply stunning. There is detail that I have never before seen from any camera. I'm seeing resolution at 100% (1/7th the image) that is suitable for a web post or small print. And noise is completely absent at lower ISO levels and minimal even at ISO 6400.
You know going in that the D800E only has a frame rate of 4 fps. That's enough for a quick burst at critical action. With birds I'm shooting at 1/1000 second or faster so I am already trying to capture critical action and a catchlight in just a few frames. At burst rates it does take a little time to write to the card, but I never came close to filling the buffer.
One of the things that has been underappreciated is the new AF system. The new AF system of the D800 is excellent - very quick and accurate. There have been some reports of AF errors with the D800 - especially using the widest sensor and a wide angle lens. I have not seen that issue on my copy of the D800E.
The ergonomics and controls are very intuitive. This is a camera you can immediately pick up and use - just like other Nikons. The one adjustment I had to make was with exposure compensation. The direction of the exposure comp has been reversed, but can be customized in the camera menu settings.
While there have been reports of the need for a tripod or special technique, I shot the D800E just as I would have used earlier cameras. If you miss focus the image is still soft, but there is no problem using the camera handheld or on a gimbal head.
File sizes are large - and as expected the large files put greater demand on your computer. Large files understandably take longer to open and to save. But this is to be expected.
Colors and dynamic range at ISO 200 are spectacular. Even at high ISO levels, colors are very acceptable.
Overall, I am very pleased with the D800E and highly recommend it for advanced amateur and pro nature photographers. This is not a camera for a beginner or someone who is not skilled. This is a camera for someone who is skilled, understands the tradeoffs involved, and wants the best image quality possible in a DSLR.
EDIT June 16, 2012
I've continued to use the D800E and my opinion has not changed. It's a great camera. One thing to be aware of is the depth of field. Because the in focus area is so extremely sharp, your specific focus point and depth of field require a little more thought. Your choice of what parts of the image should be in sharpest focus will be rewarded, but if you make the wrong choice you can really tell the difference.
In the meantime, a D800E arrived that had been on order since February 7th. After a week of shooting both the D800 and D800E, I decided to sell the D800 and buy another D800E. I like to have two identical bodies so I always have a backup camera on treks, and one that has the same controls as my other body. I was planning to keep the D800 as my backup until I saw the images coming out of the D800E and after I did extensive testing with the FoCal software from Reikan Technology.
I only shoot RAW (Nikon NEF format). While I could post process the images from the D800 and D800E using Adobe Creative Suite CS6, and make them look almost identical...they were in fact not identical. As long as I was shooting landscapes, the images from the two cameras would appear to have the same level of details in my first prints. However, when I started to do prints larger than 16 in x 24, I was convinced the D800E was the winner. You could clearly see the finer details.
After I started using the FoCal software to do my AF Fine Tuning, I also found major differences in the sharpness the D800E could produce. While FoCal is not currently designed for use in comparing camera bodies, it does provide that capability if you carefully control the lighting on your target, the distance to target and the camera/lens settings. When I did this apples-to-apples comparison between the D800 and the D800E on all of my Nikon lens (14-24mm, 24-70mm, 70-200mm, 200-400mm), I found the aperture sharpness results for the D800E were substantially higher than the results from the D800 for every lens...and consistently so. When I zoomed in on the shots of the target for a visual comparison, I could also see a difference, especially in the fine details in the target.
I don't yet know how much more details I will get for all types of shots, but I do know I can crop the D800E images significantly more than I can crop D800 images and end up with better details. For any kind of animal or bird shot, where I do not have the luxury of setting up for perfect composure, having more details means I can worry about composition later because I know I can crop more. I have cropped down to 10% of some D800E images, and still had enough details to make a nice 8x10 print without using special fractal software. Now that is detail I can live with!
