A short ‘leak’ about the Nikon D800 released surfaced early this morning and right around 12 noon (local time), the official press release that the Nikon D800 and D800E was available.
The Nikon D700 had tremendous success in the full-frame (FX) market despite the onslaught of high-megapixel competition from the first industry-standard Canon 5D Mark II, then from the high megapixel Sony Alpha A900 and A850 DSLRs. The combination of relatively low megapixels count guaranteed class-leading high-ISO image quality as well as fast, ready-for-sports burst speed coupled with the same AF-system of the pro-grade D3 line.
The Nikon D800 and D800E
The Nikon D800 naturally replaces the ageing D700 and it’s not a minor upgrade too, which is great news.
First up is the insane 36.3 megapixel CMOS sensor with 7360 x 4912 resolution, that’s leaping towards medium format pixel count already.
With native ISO range of 100-6400 that is expandable to ISO 50 to ISO 25,600, it’s well suited for events photographers as well. Clearly, the target market of most small-body, full-frame, high-ISO DSLR these days are towards the lucrative wedding photography market and this Nikon D800 would sure make many professionals happy.
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Come to think of it, it’ll make many computer and hard-drive manufacturers happy as well with the file sizes the Nikon D800 would require!
The Nikon D800E – No Anti-Alias Filter
For quite some time, many have drooled over the image quality of sensors that are devoid of an anti-aliasing filter like Sigma’s Foveon sensor. The images with AA filters tend to be softer and less detailed due to the additional thin film that’s in front of the image sensor.
This AA filter prevents many image problems from occuring such as moire and color bleeding, for example, at the expense of resolution and sharpness.
The Nikon D800E have accepted this issue and handled it the way medium format digital camera manufacturers handle issues like moire by having the software handle it during post-processing! The result is a full-blown, 36.3 megapixel data that’s fully ‘absorbed’ by the sensor without a filter blocking the details!
This makes the Nikon D800E a perfect studio camera and reduces the need for post-processing sharpening as well, improving workflow and production time.
Pricing
The Nikon D800 will retail for about $2999.95 while the Nikon D800E would retail for $300 more ($3299), which is quite a steal compared to the price of the most basic medium format system.
Specifications (From DPReview)
| Sensor | |
|---|---|
| Max resolution | 7360 x 4912 |
| Other resolutions | 6144 x 4912, 6144 x 4080, 5520 x 3680, 4800 x 3200, 4608 x 3680, 4608 x 3056, 3680 x 2456, 3600 x 2400, 3072 x 2456, 3072 x 2040, 2400 x 1600 |
| Image ratio w:h | 5:4, 3:2 |
| Effective pixels | 36.3 megapixels |
| Sensor photo detectors | 36.8 megapixels |
| Sensor size | Full frame (35.9 x 24 mm) |
| Sensor type | CMOS |
| Processor | Expeed 3 |
| Color space | sRGB, Adobe RGB |
| Color filter array | Primary Color Filter |
| Image | |
| ISO | 100 – 6400 in 1, 1/2 or 1/3 EV steps (50 – 25600 with boost) |
| White balance presets | 12 |
| Custom white balance | Yes (5) |
| Image stabilization | No |
| Uncompressed format | RAW |
| JPEG quality levels | Fine, Normal, Basic |
| File format |
|
| Optics & Focus | |
| Autofocus |
|
| Autofocus assist lamp | Yes |
| Digital zoom | No |
| Manual focus | Yes |
| Number of focus points | 51 |
| Lens mount | Nikon F mount |
| Focal length multiplier | 1× |
| Screen / viewfinder | |
| Articulated LCD | Fixed |
| Screen size | 3.2″ |
| Screen dots | 921,000 |
| Touch screen | No |
| Screen type | TFT Color LCD with 170 degrees wide-viewing angle |
| Live view | Yes |
| Viewfinder type | Optical (pentaprism) |
| Viewfinder coverage | 100 % |
| Viewfinder magnification | 0.7× |
| Photography features | |
| Minimum shutter speed | 30 sec |
| Maximum shutter speed | 1/8000 sec |
| Exposure modes |
|
| Built-in flash | Yes (pop-up) |
| Flash range | 12 m (at ISO 100) |
| External flash | Yes (Hot-shoe, Wireless plus sync connector) |
| Flash modes | Auto, On, Off, Red-eye, Slow sync, Rear curtain, High-speed sync |
| Flash X sync speed | 1/250 sec |
| Drive modes |
|
| Continuous drive | Yes (4,5 fps) |
| Self-timer | Yes (2 to 20 sec, 1 to 9 exposures at intervals of 0.5, 1, 2 or 3 sec) |
| Metering modes |
|
| Exposure compensation | ±5 EV (at 1/3 EV, 1/2 EV, 1 EV steps) |
| AE Bracketing | (2, 3, 5, 7 frames at 1/3 EV, 1/2 EV, 2/3 EV, 1 EV steps) |
| WB Bracketing | Yes (2 to 9 frames in steps of 1, 2 or 3) |
| Videography features | |
| Format |
|
| Microphone | Mono |
| Speaker | Mono |
| Resolutions | 1920 x 1080 (30, 25, 24 fps), 1280 x 720 (60, 50, 30, 25 fps), 640 x 424 (24 fps) |
| Storage | |
| Storage types | Compact Flash (Type I), SD/SDHC/SDXC UHS-I compliant |
| Storage included | None |
| Connectivity | |
| USB | USB 3.0 (5 GBit/sec) |
| HDMI | Yes (Mini Type C) |
| Wireless | None |
| Remote control | Yes (Optional, wired or wireless ) |
| Physical | |
| Environmentally sealed | Yes (Water and dust resistant) |
| Battery | Battery Pack |
| Battery description | Lithium-Ion EN-EL3e rechargeable battery & charger |
| Weight (inc. batteries) | 900 g (1.98 lb / 31.75 oz) |
| Dimensions | 146 x 123 x 82 mm (5.75 x 4.84 x 3.23″) |
| Other features | |
| Orientation sensor | Yes |
| Timelapse recording | Yes |
| GPS | Optional |
| GPS notes | GP-1 |
You can read the official Nikon press release here.
Can you say “drool”? Wow.
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About David L. Tong
yo dude.. any truth to what this guy’s saying?
http://fakechuckwestfall.wordpress.com/2012/02/07/the-nikon-d800-less-than-meets-the-eye/
Haven’t touched the D800 yet, but if what he’s saying is true, then Nikon may need to upgrade the processing software/firmware to compensate.
I’m curious if it’s really that bad, however, maybe there are customization settings that can be made to reduce the smearing and banding…
It’s easy to dismiss an initial release, especially if the press only gets to test a review, non-production unit, but just like the Canon 5D II, it faces a plethora of issues that FCW highlighted as well.
He based the 5DII endlessly in the past as well hehe. http://fakechuckwestfall.wordpress.com/2009/04/24/banding-and-pattern-noise-eos-5d-mark-ii-and-eos-50d/