D800 rating #1 at DxOmark

...what the hell is DxOmark?

DxOMark is "the trusted industry standard for camera and lens independent image quality measurements and ratings. "


In other words, if you wonder how your sensor performs against an other, and argue online based on your visual interpretation of  a 1:1 crop, give it up, check DxOmark, close the debate. Then you'll be able to stop counting pixels and do some actual photography :)


Now wait, if I despise pixel counting, why am I mentioning that ranking? Answering this question requires asking an other question: why do some people still shoot film? Well among the reasons, film has a much superior dynamic range than any digital sensor. That is simply an awesome property and one of the reasons I shoot mostly film no matter what. It means you can shoot a high contrast scene and both dark and bright zones will come out with a proper level of exposure. Beyond the technical talk, it just makes photographs way more subtle, refined, colors are nicer, and landscapes in particular looks a zillion times better. Digital photographer use filters, or HDR (high dynamic range) to simulate the better dynamic range of film. 


But now, look at this: 

At ISO100, 200 and 400, the D800 offers even better dynamic range than a D4. This + 36MP + built in HDR mode make it the best landscape SLR you can which for. Of course, any large format camera will destroy it, but for digital, it's good stuff. It overtakes the D700 all the way, and only the D4 ranks better from ISO 800 and above.


Every camera is best at something, for large prints plenty of light shots, or long exposures, the D800 is your friend. 


Oh and according to the ranking, the D800's sensor doesn't only overtake the D4, it also is ahead of the 50000$ Phase One IQ180MP best of the best digital medium format camera... So i'll say it: when I heard about the 36MP, I was like "yeah right...crap". I was wrong.

D800 and low light performance

Very interesting, I took it from mansurovs.com, who downscaled the jpeg file to the size of a D700 file (12mp). I then applied a noise reduction filter in PS Element 9. Keep in mind that this is a jpeg file, raw files will be a lot cleaner. 

Now I promise I won't patronize you with the usual "any camera is good if you're a good photographer". Although I'll remind you again that is you strive for perfection you should look into medium format film.  

This post is to adress the worries of a lot of people complained that so much pixels would run low light sensitivity.

Well technology evolves. The facts are: 

- The pixels are a bit larger than the D7000, a camera praised for its low light performance.

- To compare VS a D700, you have to downscale to the same size file (as in here)

- Unless you shoot wildlife or warfare at night, you got no reason to shoot at 6400 or above. And in that case, you get a D4.

Now verdict on those samples: 

That is pretty clean to me, more than enough for 99,9999% of what I do. I have to admit the D800 seems to suffer for color noise in particular, but that's the easiest to remove during post processing. Considering the video capabilities of the camera, the large prints for commercial work, the price tag significantly lower than the 5D MK III, Nikon's superiority in lens making, built quality and metering, I think the 5D / D800 match is a no brainer. But once again, go try and see for yourselves. I'll make my final call when I get a chance to shoot both.

You can order your D800 on Amazon.

JPEG ISO 6400 downscaled to 12MP

this is 1:1 view ISO 6400

Nikon D800, FINALLY !!!

And great news ! It is 1000$ cheaper than originally rumored at 2999$ :D

It is available for pre-orders on Amazon. Here is the link to the official brochure. The D800E is a little more expensive at 3200$ without antialiasing.

Here is the promotion video:

Joy Ride from Sandro on Vimeo.

F@#&in' Finally ! Nikon D800

The D800 will be announced on February the 7th.

It's aiming at pros doing landscapes and fashion, requiring very large prints, hence the 36MP sensor. It will indeed cost 4000$ more or less.

Since it's totally useless for the casual art shooter, I'll be waiting for the D400 announcement. I have the secret hope that it will be a full frame (although I have absolutely no insight)...I want to use my 35mm as a 35mm, not as a 50.

Until then, the best DSLRs for a non pro remains the Nikon D7000 , and I have to admit, the Canon 5D MKII . At this price tag, the Canon 5D MKII is no less that a Nikon D800 with a little less innovation for half the price.

I am actually a bit skeptical about the price, why would anyone want to pay 4000$ if Canon pulls a 5DMKIII at 2500/3000$?
According to recent leaks, the 5DMKIII would be a 22MP camera, which makes a lot more sense for an amateur than the 36MP D800, also leading to better low light performance.

Last interesting piece of intel: the D700 and D300S are officially discontinued. It may be time to search for a cheap D700.

Wait and see...

Nikon D800 pictures

Here it is. From the pics, unless some spent a week on photoshop, those pics are real. They at least correspond to a real prototype. It's in the details. I can only hope that means Nikon is getting closer to refresh their digital lineup.

Damnit Nikon !!!

Ok it's not really their fault, but that D800 seems like it's never gonna come out. Due to flooding of the Thailand factory apparently, announcements planned today have been postponed to...whenever.

Now I got a interesting piece of information from a Irish reseller who was originally invited to an announcement in the UK (very likely it was going to be a SLR announcement).

Well his "informed guess" is that the D700 will be maintained for 2 reasons:

• to justify a high price for the D800
• because a D700S or something like that (basically the same + video, similar to the D300 / D300S change) could come up

That's all I got so far, so I'm thinking getting a FE2 as a complement to my FE, to allow 1/4000 shutter speed. Then, instead of wasting money on an expensive body, I might get the 50mm F1.2 AIS Nikkor...

Why? because the lens makes a bigger difference than the camera body, and you'll keep it forever so overall, it's always a better investment :)

Nikon D800 rumors ?

According to Japanese site digicame-info , the future Nikon full frame would have the following features:

• 36MP FX sensor
• 4 FPS (6 FPS in DX mode)
• the usual full HD video
• dual slot SD / CF
• 300 000 yen price tag...i.e. 3900$ !!!
• UPDATE: ISO range up to 6400. It confirms my fears: too many pixel affects low light performance.
• OTHER UPDATE: I forgot it's a Nikon's policy to push people not to shoot above 3200 iso, so performance at 1600 / 3200 might still be good. Overal I don't believe it will be priced at 4K. There is no real market here, and it would leave too much room to the Canon 5D...

Now my OWN SOURCES (yes, I do have some, local distributor contacted by Nikon for an announcement), the D700 will remain at a slightly lower price tag, in order to allow a slighly more expensive D800 (around 2900€ / $).

Those cameras are for action, sports....please FPS + low light performance !

Those are rumors, but nikonrumors.com give the 36MP a 99% credibility...they are usually pretty accurate close to announcements.