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Gear Review: Nikon D800 SLR Camera

Click here to read my full review of the Nikon D800 SLR camera body

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29 Comments
  • wow. those dynamic range examples are incredible.. nikon always seems to make me a bit jealous in that regard.

  • Great post man! 77mb is absolutely ridiculous to say the least. That dynamic range is also pretty decent I’d say, ha

  • Another great review Sam! Thanks for taking the time to put it all together.

  • Y NO SRAW?!?!?!?!?!

  • Hmmmm. I’m not sure what I want to upgrade anymore. I still have the D3/D700 combo, and it seems to be working fine for me. I do like the idea of increased ISO performance in the D3s, but I’m not into video so I’m not sure what the advantage to going with a D4 would be over finding a used D3s at a good price. But I think I want a Fuji XPro1 more than any of these bodies. I wish Nikon had released a D700s. They didn’t make the decision easy.

  • Bob

    Many thanks for that Sam. It’s not so long ago that whole PCs ran on a 200MB hard drive. In a year or two’s time 75MG RAW files will be common place and we’ll be wondering what all the fuss was about. Photography is as much about computers as cameras these days and no-one should blame Nikon for being ahead of the game.

  • Solid review, solid camera. We’re aiming for D700s, but it’s good to read about the future.

  • You >>>> all other reviews because it’s not pictures of brick walls, a room full of assorted color knick knacks, etc but real world stuff. The last image at the end is ridic.

  • Good stuff as usual Sam. I’m still waiting for my D800 from Amazon. You know what would be cool? A close in crop of the couple in the Great Falls landscape/engagement shot. That photo seriously needs to be blown up 40×60 to really show off the detail this camera can produce.

  • Thanks Sam for the review ! Was it a regular D800 or a D800E ? Thx

    • Sam

      Just the D800 right now… The d800E isn’t shipping for a few more weeks

  • So you will review it too ??? How lucky you are !

  • Awesome review, dude. Maybe i should hold onto the d700 a little longer, I’ve only go so much hard drive space at the moment. Cheers.

  • Fantastic review… again! Love what you have to say!

  • I was thinking of changing my D3’s for D4’s – but I’m really considering the D800 after reading your BLOG. Thanks for your comments.

  • I shoot my D800 in RAW+JPEG(basic) with lossy 14-bit RAW compression to get files of about 35MB+5MB. I’ve written about my reasons for using the lossy compression method here: http://www.backgroundexposure.com/blog/2012/02/lossy-compression-of-raw/

    Even so… dumping 300 photos makes a notable dent in my free disk space. I’m probably going to have to update my (raid-1) 1TB drives to larger models soon.

    — Brian

  • Thanks Sam for the review !

  • Sam

    Great review Sam and just what I thought it would be and I’m excited to get my hands on mine. But as you said, it’s not for high volume. My plan is to use the D4 for majority of the wedding and the D800 as the 2nd camera during the ceremony and for the formal portraits.

  • Julie

    Hi Sam! I just found your blog for the first time and have only read this one entry (thanks by the way!), but can’t wait to look over your other stuff. I wanted to get your opinon….. I am a “serious hobbiest” heading in the direction of professional but I have 3 small kids that are my priority right now. I shoot a limited amount of sessions for others that range from family photos to an occasional wedding. I have a D90 and it’s been a great camera, but I’ve been patiently waiting to upgrade to a new camera, leaning towards full frame. I considered the D7000 for crop or D700 for full frame, but once I knew a new release would be on the way, I decided to wait longer. I’m so anxious to get new gear…lol…. I have a D800 on pre-order but am curious if it’s a good fit for me? I also considered switching to Canon, but I’ve always used Nikon and feel like I’m cheating on a spouse. lol…. would love any advice or opinions you can offer. Thanks in advance! 🙂

  • Sam, enjoy popping by your blog and saying hi! You’ve spent a time of time on your new site and it really shows! Well done! If you are ever in Minneapolis, lemme know and I’d be happy to roll out the red carpet for you!

  • […] Camera: Nikon D800 […]

  • […] Camera: Nikon D800 […]

  • […] Camera: Nikon D800 […]

  • […] Camera: Nikon D800 […]

  • Hi there, Im big on the Dynamic range capabilities of any DSLR camera I consider for purchase. Given the D800 has incredible DR as you mentioned, the 36MPixel size files are a bit much for me so I am seriously considering the D600 with its 24Mpix size. Do you know if the DR performance of the D600 is on par with the D800??

    Thank you

  • […] Camera: Nikon D800 […]

  • Glenn Edgar

    “Lossless Compress” of Raw files means you get bact exactly what you would get over just saving the raw file. Why waste space?

  • […] are the items I currently bring to every editorial and portrait job: D4 or Nikon D800 – read my review Nikon sb-900 Nikon 50mm f/1.2 lens – read my review Paul C. Buff Einsteins E640 Nikon 24-70mm […]

  • First of all, thanks for your reviews!
    After two years, which of the two cameras is the best for you today?
    Thanks!