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Nikon D800 topic
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    Specifications:

    • A 51-point AF system for improved subject acquisition and focus performance under dim lighting. In addition, 11 focus points (five at center with an addition three to each side) are fully functional when lenses with a maximum aperture of f/8 are used.
    • A 3.2-inch, approximately 921k-dot LCD monitor with reinforced glass, automatic monitor brightness control, and wide viewing angle
    • A virtual horizon that shows the degree to which the camera is tilted sideways (roll), or forward or backward (pitch) with display in the monitor and viewfinder
    • A new shutter unit that has passed testing for 200,000 cycles and supports a maximum shutter speed of 1/8000 s and flash sync speed of 1/250 s
    • Continuous shooting at 4 (FX-format/5 : 4 image area) or 5 (DX-format/1.2x image area) fps*
    • CompactFlash and SD dual memory card slots
    • Support for SuperSpeed USB (USB 3.0)

    The D800 records movies exhibiting superior resolution with optimal processing of information acquired from the 36.3-million pixel image sensor. Recording of 1920 x 1080p/30-fps full-HD movies is supported, and users can choose to record using the FX-based movie format or the DX-based movie format according to recording conditions. The FX-based movie format offers a shallow depth-of-field with an emphasis on blur characteristics while the DX-based movie format enables recording of movies that bring subjects closer when lenses with short focal lengths are used. The D800 is also equipped with a headphone jack and supports precise adjustment of microphone sensitivity. In addition, it supports simultaneous display of movies or the movie live view display in the camera monitor and on an external monitor. Further, the D800 responds to the needs of professionals who require uncompressed movie files with the ability to record movies directly to an external HDMI recorder in movie live view mode. The D800 also offers a time-lapse photography function that captures images at a selected interval and then combines the images to create a time-lapse movie that shows the changes in a particular scene that occur over time.

    Nikon D800 price: $2999.95 Nikon D800E price: $3,299.95

    Available at:

    Links:

  • 246 Replies sorted by
  • The Motorcylce video:

    BTS:

  • So freaking amazing! This and the D4 will (hopefully) rearrange the HDSLR landscape. Great time for filmmakers everywhere!

  • I will get one as soon as I can get the money for it.

  • Waah! Want D4, can only afford D800!

  • @Lpowell,

    I was expecting a $3999 price tag for the D800 non "E" model, which was out of my range. But for $2999, which is within my range, also with probably a possibility of it being lower after maybe 6 to 8 months of being for sale, it's not that much more than the D700 was when it first came out.

    The only thing I am waiting to see is if I will will really need to buy higher resolving modern Nikon lenses like the "G" series lenses or if I can still probably use my Nikon Ai-s lenses. I am worried that the Ai-s lenses will look soft to really soft on a 36.2 resolving image sensor.

  • Nice showcase of low-light and DR - I knew Nikon would not give up its title of low-light king anytime soon. Also great to have the option of 9 and 20 MP lower sized RAW files to shoot too. Let's see what Canon comes up with the 5D2's successor.

  • Nice bike video. Somebody has been watching tron legacy though methinks.

  • Where are all the Cabs cutting him off and potholes throwing him onto his ass ?

    needed some slow-motion in there too, like of politicians picking his pockets when he fills up for gas at the highest prices in the country...

  • Hang on... is that moire at 0:47/48 on the bridge ground?

  • Looks right now like a great A cam for the GH2... (with HDMI recorder) Any thoughts?

  • Ok, this camera looks great, but why so many MP???

  • I wonder if Nikon have made a mistake in their downscaling..

  • 5D Mark III has some big boots to fill...

  • @NickBen And the homeless people... they are actually all "photographers"...

    And the ones buying the cameras are all "doctors"...

  • @rikyxxx that's what I was asking my self too but I am sure it has something to do with it being sold as a camera for "stills".

    Great thing is it raise the bar for other cameras to follow (hopefully).

  • Gorgeous cam. They raised the bar with the specs and.....at that price. This is good against Canon. They will release a higher mp cam. They don't like to be 'upstaged'.

    The rumors have been 2 releases. A 5D something which is around 24mp improved AF for 2K-something (low-end FF) and a higher-end 5D whatever to have the 40mp and more like 1DX/C300 lowlight capabilities. The higher-end FF should 'upstage' the d800 but probably can't be too much higher price. We'll see soon. Just guessing. I'm looking forward to the GH3 just as much.

    @RRRR: I'm looking forward to seeing more samples with this downscaling too.

  • I Don't think you are going to see better downscaling in a 36.3 megapixel $3000 camera than we've seen in a 16.2 megapixel $6000 camera but, Hey, I am more than willing to be wrong. I accepted a short time ago that the trade off for a high-end photographic stills camera with great video capabilities would be some Aliasing and Moire. Although it may not be up to the GH series hacked image quality, its close enough.

    So if there is still Aliasing and Moire in the D800 images, no problem. I would still get a 36.3 MP FX( which will be 91% of the width of a true full frame width sensor in movie mode (32.67 X 24 instead of 35.9 X 24) and a 15.3 MP APS-C stills and video camera with an 8-bit 4:2:2 "clean" HDMI out feed for around $3000 along with other video and photographic features not present in other cameras.

  • Looks very nice, but I'm awaiting some in depth reviews (especially video). Also, it's important to think about what lenses would be good for basic use. I shoot some documentary hand held, and lens stabilisation is very important. Neither canon or nikons f2.8 24-70 normal zooms have IS/VR.. Maybe Tamrons newly announced alternative will be sollution.

    Also, "details" like how it handles audio realtime is very important. From the press release (I only read a norwegian version), it almost seemes like it's not possible to listen with headphones during recording, only before your record?? And how about changing audio levels during recording? Many small details, that I really need confirmed before making an opinion.

    It will be very interesting to see how Canon will answer. And ofcourse how the Pana GH3 will turn out. In the mean time I'm a happy GH2 user.

  • Is it just me or is that 'Joy Ride' clip above just the same old DSLR looking shit we've been seeing ever since Reverie? Still the same image...

    From a quality standpoint I don't think the footage looks that great either - no texture at all, as if the noise reduction was either cranked in-cam or heavily applied in post.

    It's really disheartening that this is someone's idea of good filmmaking in 2012.

  • @Oedipax,

    But how many Manufacturer's initial representational video of it's new camera really ever does look good?

  • @bleach551, agreed, but check the Vimeo comments. It's clear a lot of people think this kind of thing is desirable.

  • @Oedipax,

    I Understand what you are saying, it seem like every company uses the same basic video model for their videos. These are cameras( d400, canon 1dx, sony a-77, panasonic gh2...etc) with characteristics closer to 35mm motion pictutre film cameras but these videos are shot almost like they are "Eng" type video cameras.

    I mean show me the camera at it's best, with good lighting and in a truely cinematic presentation, not in its most vulnerable situation, a 36mp camera in a low-light night scene. I know most people want to see that but it never makes a good "First impression".

  • @rikyxxx 36 megapixels is what you get when you take the Nikon D7000's 16mpix APS-C sensor and extend it to full-frame size (acutally 15mpix in DX mode on the D800, but close enough). In many ways, the D800 is a dual-sensor FX/DX upgrade of the D7000, with support for all NTSC/PAL standard frame rates, and uncompressed 4:2:2 8-bit HDMI real-time video out. If it does this without the hearbreak of moire or rolling shutter, it will be the next best choice to a Red Scarlet, at a quarter of the price.

    As an example in terms of GH2 focal lengths, my Nikon 24-120mm f4 zoom will have a 12-60mm GH2 FoV in FX mode, and an 18-90mm GH2 FoV in DX mode.

  • @bleach551 - you talk about 91% crop in FX mode in the horizontal dimension, and it rings bells back to the discussion over the D4

    http://www.personal-view.com/talks/discussion/comment/35128#Comment_35128

    I'll assume dpreview are incorrect again.. look at the crop diagram of Nikon's own site for the D4 and see that the 91% crop is the height crop to take an FX sensor down to widescreen 16:9 aspect ratio.

    @LPowell helped clear that up over in that thread. I'll assume its the same deal again here. The horizontal FOV of your lenses will hopefully behave pretty much the same in movie and still mode.

    I sure hope that's the case or it'd be a bit frustrating to have spent that money for a fullframe sensor only to NOT get fullframe fov when in movie mode.

  • @Jimtreats,

    That is what I was thinking too, but I thought maybe that is just how Nikon is doing it. I know what you mean by not getting what we thought we paid for. So more like a 35.9 x 21.84 instead of 32.669 x 24 , which are both bigger than the 30 x 15 sensor size of the "Red" Epic and the 27.7 x 14.6 sensor size of the "Scarlet"