Nikon D800 and D800E Review

Mike's-eye view

I thought it would be a good idea to collate our various articles about the Nikon D800 and D800E in one place, to make things easier to find and so I don't have to get a headache whenever anyone asks where something is. (I'd ask my assistant, but my assistant is me and he's notoriously absentminded.)

If anyone is arriving at this page from the wilds of the Internets and just wants to know what I think, jump to Part 7. You can probably perceive from the titles that these were ongoing blog posts and not (ahem!) a formal review.

Here are my peregrinations on the subject so far:

Part 1: The Big Dragoon Arriveth; I Take to the Night
Part 2: More Experiments on the Virgin Mary
Part 3: D800E Haptics
Part 4: Day Three: A Bust
Part 5: D800E Day 4: ER a.k.a. DR
Part 6: D800E Day 6: Moiré
Part 7: Final Verdict: the Nikon D800E and AF-S 35mm ƒ/1.4G
Part 8: Attack of the Photo Ninja!

I know I said the "Final Verdict" post was the last post on the subject, but hey, I bought the thing—no doubt I'll have more to say about it as my life with it progresses. I'll add to this list if/when I post anything new that's directly on topic.

And by the way, my advice to anyone with the misfortune to be sane is to buy the D600. Or keep your D700.

Mike

Original contents copyright 2012 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site.
A book of interest today:

(To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below.)
Featured Comments from:

Kent: "As a D700 user since the thing came out (two of 'em, actually), I'd be interested in more of your thoughts on 'or keep your D700.' The whole 'the D800/E is amazing!' thing is causing me to treat my D700's with less love than they probably deserve."

Mike replies: I have a lot of respect for the D700, which I also tried out when it was new. It was the camera that I got the best digital B&W out of prior to the D800. It also marks the only time in history that the thing I wanted a camera company to do, before it did it, was exactly what it eventually did. (A prosumer variant of the D3 in a smaller body—the D700.) I'm grateful that it happened that one time. Finally, in my judgement it's one of those cameras that Nikon makes from time to time that stands head and shoulders above its normal procession of models. When everything comes together. Like the N8008, which was also a landmark in its day. Or the F3. Or....

As for what you should do, may I recommend Lensrentals? I had a great first experience with them, and got everything I wanted out of my 5-day rental period, despite persistent bad weather. It was enough for a fair trial. Some things you just have to see for yourself. And as a Nikon shooter already, you wouldn't have to rent a lens.

Comments

[psu]

The other rational guy just keeps his D700.

[Mike Johnston]

psu,
Also a sane option. Added. Thanks.

Mike

[Bahi]

And by the way, my advice to anyone with the misfortune to be sane is to buy the D600. Or keep your D700.

If offered a brand new D700 as a swap for your D800, together with the difference in retail cost, would you swap? (I consider you an exemplar of sanity.)

[Mike Johnston]

"If offered a brand new D700 as a swap for your D800, together with the difference in retail cost, would you swap?"

Nope.

Mike

[William]

The D700 is excellent (I have two as well).

The D800 is more excellent. No... the D800 is much more excellent.

If I had to replace my D700s tomorrow, the insurance money would go towards a D800 ( not the E) and a D700 for back up.

As things stand, I can live with the D700's excellence level.

I look forward to hearing more about your B&W experiences.

Congratulations! I wish you a long, satisfying relationship your new purchase.

[Dennis Ng]

I bought the D600 (partially I do not have time to deal with the left focus issue; just want to use it as you said not to optimise it). I am still however envy your D800.

Hence, can you explain now why I am sane, even though I am of course sane.

[Colin]

Dear Mike, one aspect I'd appreciate some insight into is how slow your computer is to open up the large images captured by the D800. I'm contemplating buying the camera as a simple upgrade (all I need to do is add a '0' to my D80 and then stare into the huge pit that opens up in my bank account), but I think I'm going to need to buy a new computer at the same time. Whatever your setup is, do you notice it's struggling? I've done some searching on this subject, but not managed to find much info.

Best, Colin.

PS thank you for publishing such a wonderful blog

[Mike Johnston]

Colin,
I just opened a small JPEG and it seemed to take just under 2 seconds. Then I opened a D800 NEF file and it also seemed to take just under two seconds. (I'm just looking at my computer clock, I have no way to do more precise timing.) I haven't noticed any difference in handling D800 files as opposed to any other kind. I think my computer might be more powerful than average but it's also not extraordinary by any means--it's a mid-2010 27" i5 iMac with 16GB of RAM and a 2TB hard drive.

One trick I got from Lloyd Chambers to help files open and save faster is to disable compression of PSD and PSB files in Photoshop Preferences>File Handling. I can't tell you if that actually helps as I didn't test it.

Mike (not a computer expert by any means)

[Colin]

Hello Mike, I'm predominantly a Lightroom user, but this is interesting. Many thanks.