Nikon D810 vs D800e

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Nikon D810 vs D800e

Post by Stany Buyle »

Got my D810 yesterday... :D

Image

Using my D800e and D810 at this moment side by side for a D810 vs D800e user review. I will sell my D800e with approx. 11.000 clicks after having finished this comparison.
My main reasons for the upgrade are the much more silent camera, AF system like D4s and improved LV shooting next to the fact that you only live once... ;)
Going from D800(and D800e) to D810, Nikon claims many improvements like:
A new (I think "re-designed") sensor; the CAM 3500Fx AF sensor from D4s :o ; increased fps both in FX and cropped modes; A higher resolution and brighter LCD; Improved LV use; Faster processing unit; sNEF; Both lower and higher native iso (iso 64 -> 12.800); New mirror system reducing vibration; Quieter shutter :arrow: D800 vs D810 shutter sound ; 15 cross-type AF sensors with 11 focus points that will work at F8 :o ; Group Area AF like D4s :o :o ; Faster live view AF ; Whereas D800e still had an optical low-pass filter (OLPF) where the AA(anti aliasing) filter part was left out (>< regular D800) and replaced by another neutral glass to keep thickness, D810 has no OLPF at all, which should enable to provide even sharper images than D800e; Video possibilities have improved a lot with 60fps, auto iso for video, stereo sound recording, etc. ; and more...

Next few weeks I will see if the above is as spectacular as the Nikon PR department wants us to believe... ;)
I will update this topic several times this and next weeks with my thoughts and findings on the D800e and D810 differences and improvements.
I will provide samples with both cameras in both jpg and RAW format (downloadable for registered users)

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Nikon D810 vs D800e - First impressions

Post by Stany Buyle »

First impressions after a couple of hours using both side by side:
  • While firing the first couple of shots, anybody who is used to the harsh shutter and mirror operation noise of D700-D3-D3s and D800 will notice that D810 is sooooooo much quieter. :arrow: D800 vs D810 shutter sound
  • AF speed is very impressive, it seems more snappy and locks faster, especially with not-so-fast lenses and lens-TC combos, even though I was very happy with the D800e AF performance. I notice the significant difference in AF speed and locking very well with my 105 AF-S VR + 2x TCIIIe combo and with my prehistoric, light and handsome(because of 1:2 macro) 28-105 as my walk around lens... Also with my recently acquired tamron 150-600 VC, AF speed is noticeably faster.
    While D810 shares the same AF engine as D4s, now I can understand the excitement of D4s users about the AF improvement vs D3s and D4
    While using my 85 mm AF-S F1.8, 24-70 and 70-200 VRII F2.8 lenses difference is less obvious to none
  • The fps increase is much more perceptible than I expected
  • LCD and LV improvement is noticeable, I think it will help a lot in critical manual focusing...
  • Images at high iso (+ iso 3200) look cleaner and sharper without PP...
  • and more...

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legal disclaimer
:!: :!: :!: :!: Important note before reading further this topic: :!: :!: :!:

Legal disclaimer: The contents and photographs in this article are based on findings of a user, written and made ​​with the best efforts and intentions.
The owner of this website and the author of this review disclaim all responsibility for any errors or incorrect conclusions.
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Nikon D800 vs D810 shutter sound

Post by Stany Buyle »

First image and sound in underneath movies is a D800e, second image and sound is D810
  • Nikon D800 vs D810 shutter sound - 1 shot
    [youtube][/youtube][/url]
  • Nikon D800 vs D810 shutter sound - salvo
    [youtube][/youtube]
  • Nikon D800 vs D810 shutter sound - 1 shot in Q(uiet) mode
    [youtube][/youtube]
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Some first snapshots with DX macro lens on D810...

Post by Stany Buyle »

A baby wasp... :D Image taken handhold with 40mm micro DX lens on D810
Original NEF image converted with NikonViex2.10 and resized to 1024px longest side, WB adjusted to cloudy, further more NO pp:
Image

and a crop of the above, no sharpening, NO pp:
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A couple more, image converted with NikonViex2.10 and resized to 1024px longest side, further more NO pp

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Image

Image

And a crop of the above. WB adjusted to cloudy, further more NO pp:
Image

Thanks for looking and kindest regards,

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About this review, by Rita Buyle, site owner

Post by ritaB »

In relation to this review and the hundreds of hours my lovely husband spends to make it without a dime of profit :( :roll: ..., I insisted to Stany to insert some pictures and links to our billiard cue production company rather than exclusive dragonfly pictures ;) to cover at least some of his time.
Links to Art & Craft -our preferred photography equipment supplier-, are inserted because of their technical support and excellent service.

Sincerely yours,
Rita Buyle, site owner.
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D800 vs D810: LCD for image review

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D800 LCD vs D810 LCD for image review

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legal disclaimer
:!: :!: :!: :!: Important note before reading further this topic: :!: :!: :!:

Legal disclaimer: The contents, pictures and screenshots in this article are based on findings of a user, written and made with the best efforts and intentions.
The owner of this website and the author of this review disclaim all responsibility for any errors or incorrect conclusions.
********************************************************************************************


Is the D810 LCD better, sharper, brighter for image review than the D800 and D800e LCD?

Please note that: for this test, LCD settings were set exactly the same. Pictures with D800e and D810 were taken in M mode, with 50mm AF-S F1.4 at F4, 1.3sec.

Image
Image
Image
Image
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So, my personal opinion on the question "Is the D810 LCD better, sharper, brighter for image review than the D800 and D800e LCD?" after 6 hours of testing:
Definitely YES!


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A flower with D810 at iso 64...

Post by Stany Buyle »

A flower with D810 at iso 64... Taken handhold with 105AF-S VR AT f3

Straight out of the camera. No post processing. resized to 1024 px longest side to fit on this forum.

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The D810 AF system is amazingly accurate....
Focus point as I see it in Nikon ViewNX2.10
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And a 100% crop:
Image

Registered users can download the original file here.
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D800 vs D810: LV autofocus speed for still photography

Post by Stany Buyle »

TMHO and after many hours of shooting with both cams side by side, live view autofocus speed for still photography did not improve.
I will test live view autofocus speed for video next weekend (but I expect no improvement neither).

Normal autofocus did improve a lot though, with stunning speed and accuracy, thanks to the D4s AF system and faster processor.
I will come back on AF in a next part of this user review.
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D800 vs D810 LCD clarity in bright sunlight

Post by Stany Buyle »

********************************************************************************************
legal disclaimer
:!: :!: :!: :!: Important note before reading further this topic: :!: :!: :!:

Legal disclaimer: The contents, pictures and screenshots in this article are based on findings of a user, written and made with the best efforts and intentions.
The owner of this website and the author of this review disclaim all responsibility for any errors or incorrect conclusions.
********************************************************************************************


Is there any improvement in the clarity of the LCD in bright sunlight and shadow?

The setup for this test:

ImageImageImageImage

:!:
  • Please notice that Monitor brightness was set to "0" for both cameras. The D810 new feature "Monitor color balance" was untouched (--)
  • Images for this test have been made with my D200 at iso 100, M mode, spot, F2.8, 1/125sec for images in bright sun, 1/50sec for images in shadow.
D800 LCD vs D810 LCD in bright sun. D800 left, D810 right:

Image Image

D800 LCD vs D810 LCD in bright shadow. D800 left, D810 right:

Image Image
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D800e vs D810: AWB in artificial light

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D800e vs D810: AWB under artificial light

Image Image

D800e and 85mm AF-S F1.8, atF1.8, 1/40 sec, iso 800, AWB.
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D810 and 85mm AF-S F1.8, atF1.8, 1/40 sec, iso 800, AWB.
Image

Registered users can download the original file here.
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Nikon D810 : DR at iso 64

Post by Stany Buyle »

Native Iso 64 is for professional photographers one of the rational reasons to upgrade from D800e to D810.
The already exceptional DR of the D800 and D800e might even have been increased...

As a test I underexposed intentionally a picture with deep shadow areas. AF area with spot metering is shown in the underneath screenshot.

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While opening this NEF file in PS 6 I could recover...

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... as you see here below...



Image :arrow: Image

:!: You can download the full size jpgs while clicking on the above resized images.
:!: To get the RAW files you have to register on this forum. After that you can download them here.

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Nikon D810 AF- part one

Post by Stany Buyle »

After about 750 shots with both cameras side by side and while using the center AF points, -although slightly noticeable in AF speed and accuracy-, I do not see a very big difference with my D800e in the performance of the classic AF.
What is a stunning new feature in the D810 AF system though, is the group AF .

While shooting BIF with long teles and macro of flying insects handhold, you often get this kind of results in relation to focus point:
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and this...
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While using the D810 group AF feature first time this morning, I was simply astonished :o :o :o how well this works.
Underneath the screenshots of 4 shots taken within 2 seconds. Two of the shots were taken in the same second while the hooverfly moved quiet a bit, and it was still perfectly focused... :o

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And group AF as indicated in Nikon View:
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Underneath bigger samples of image 0740 and 0741 to illustrate sharpness:
Image

Image

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A wasp with D810

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A wasp with D810.
Image captured handhold, with D810 and 105 AF-S VR

Image

Thanks for looking and kindest regards,
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Nikon D810 vs D800e: Moire

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Strange, but kudos to Nikon, D810 exhibits less moire than D800e occasionally did. As a matter of fact "no moire seen until now..."
In my struggle to decide between D800 and D800e I even sold my first D800e and exchanged for a regular D800 because of moire in fly eyes.
After nearly 1000 shots with my D810, with hundreds of fly and dragonfly eyes among them, I did not encounter 1 picture with moire...
I will add sample pictures later this week.
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Dragonfly eyes with D810

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Image

Image taken handhold with D810 and 105 AF-S VR + 2xTCeIII while using PUFlash at 1/320 sec.

and a 100% crop:
Image

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Nikon D810 iso 3200, straight OOC

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Image taken at iso 3200, in camera noise reduction switched off, no noise reduction in post processing, resized to 1024 widest side, no PP.

Image

Image taken handhold with D810 and 105 AF-S VR + 2xTCeIII while using PUFlash at 1/320 sec.

and a 100% crop:
Image
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Nikon D810 vs D800e: iso 25600 compared

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Nikon D810 vs D800e: viewfinder compared

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:!: This comparison is not well done while D800e was set to F4 and D810 was set to F1.4. Under while my D800e has a new owner, si I cannot redo this testshots. :(

Anyhow, it gives an idea. D810 is somewhat brighter/clearer than the D800e viewfinder and colour of the indications changed from green to white.

Image Image
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Nikon D810 Thermal Noise Issue

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Even a near to perfect camera can have a little issue. :?
Nikon D810 Thermal Noise Issue - :arrow: Issue, explanation by Nikon Europe and repair procedure:idea: .
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Nikon D810 vs D800e: interim conclusion

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My take on D810 vs D800e after using them side by side while taking approx. 900 similar pictures with both cameras :

Least difference between D800e and D810 is found in IQ, D800e was already a new benchmark about this. About IQ and D800e vs D810 I find only the addition of iso 64 something "important".
I have to mention that I found D810 images being a bit more punchy, giving the impression of getting a tad more in-camera sharpening(in RAW) while getting a tad noisier at low iso.
And, -this might sound strange- but D800e images are cleaner (less noise) at high iso than D810 images.

•The D810 AF system seems more snappy and locks faster than my D800e, especially with not-so-fast lenses and lens-TC combos. D800 AF was excellent, D810 AF system is outstanding.

D810 group AF is fantastic and a serious improvement against the D800 AF system. You can find samples using group AF here.

The much more silent operationis a great improvement since the terrible harsh "clack" from my D3, D700 and D3s.

Camera shake has been tremendously reduced against D800(e) because of redesigned shutter and mirror mechanism. Shooting handhold at slow shutter speeds gives visible better results now.

•LCD and live view focusing improved significantly.
Manual focusing with my D810 hanging on my Celestron telescope is now OK (still room for improvement), while it was a disaster with my D800e.

•D810 became overall faster, in fps and in operation compared to D800 and D800e. The 1 fps more is perceived as if the fps difference is more than 1 fps... probably also because of the bigger buffer....

•Sraw is very handsome to me for some specific use.

•...

The only thing I regret about my D800e ->D810 move is that I cannot open my D810 NEF files directly in Capture NX2. A workaround over Nikon View NX2 does the job, but leaves a lot to be desired...
I have PS6, but I prefer Capture Capture NX, by far. NX-D is no option for me, I prefer Nikon View NX2.10 over NX-D if there is nothing else.
But there is hope: There is a possibility to manipulate D810 NEF files into NEF files that can be opened with NX2 while disguising them as if they were D800 files. Raw experts Iliah Borg and Mr. Miguel Bagnon responded to my prayers in this topic on Dpreview...

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I like better one good shot in a day than 10 bad ones in a second...
http://www.fotografie.cafe
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D810 nef files in Nikon Capture NX2, it works!

Post by Stany Buyle »

The only thing I regret about my D800e ->D810 move is that I cannot open my D810 NEF files directly in Capture NX2. A workaround over Nikon View NX2 does the job, but leaves a lot to be desired...
I have PS6, but I prefer Capture Capture NX, by far. NX-D is no option for me, I prefer Nikon View NX2.10 over NX-D if there is nothing else.
But there is hope: There is a possibility to manipulate D810 NEF files into NEF files that can be opened with NX2 while disguising them as if they were D800 files. Raw experts Iliah Borg and Mr. Miguel Bagnon responded to my prayers
Thanks to Miguel Bañón and Iliah Borg Capture NX2 can be used for full editing of D810 NEF files ! yippee! :D :D :D

:arrow: D810 nef files in Nikon Capture NX2, it works!
kindest regards,

Stany
I like better one good shot in a day than 10 bad ones in a second...
http://www.fotografie.cafe
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