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12 Hard Facts About the New Nikon D800 Full-Frame DSLR Camera

Photo © Nikon Corporation image

  1. Forget the rumors! The new Nikon D800 full-frame DSLR has finally arrived, having been officially announced by Nikon on February 6, 2012. The company considers the D800 as the future replacement of the D700. The Nikon Web site displays the D800 as the fourth camera from the top-of-the-line D4, which was also recently introduced (with the D3S and D3X between them), but this is solely based on price.

    Read real customer reviews of the Nikon D800 here.

  1. For some professionals, especially those shooting weddings, portraits and fashion, the D800 may have jumped to the top of the Nikon list. Its biggest feature phenomenon is a sensor that simply goes off the charts: FX-format, full-frame at 36.15 megapixels. This is 7360 x 4912 resolution, which is more than twice the pixel density of the D4.

  1. Nikon has paired the enormous sensor on the D800 with its latest version of the EXPEED 3 image processor. The photographers who choose to shoot with the D800 would have demanded nothing less, since they need the minimization of color phase shifts, absolutely spot-on colors and tones and incredibly fast processing of their images’ huge data streams.

  1. Nikon has purposely separated these two new powerhouse DSLRs by touting the D4 as being designed for fast burst of images and an extreme low-light capability. Its continuous shooting mode is 10fps compared to the D800’s 4fps. The D4 offers an astounding expandable ISO to 204,800, while the D800 is “limited” to ISO 25,600. It’s important, therefore, to match carefully your digital photography demands to either camera before spending the big bucks (although the D800 is approximately half the price of the D4).

  1. Pros will also like the smaller dimensions and weight of the D800, which will make a long day of shooting a wedding or a fashion session less tiring. The D800 is 5.7” W x 4.8” H x 3.2” D (144.78mm x 121.92mm x 81.28mm) and weighs just less than two pounds at 31.7 oz. (900g).

  1. Nikon’s solidifies its reputation for one of the most precise metering systems available by giving the D800 the 91,000-pixel 3D Color Matrix Metering III System. Again, this is a feature wedding, portrait and fashion photographers will recognize immediately as a must-have. Add Nikon’s new Advanced Scene Recognition System and the pros will be simply drooling over its amazing accuracy for AF, AE, i-TTL flash control, face recognition and auto white balance.

  1. Nikon couldn’t falter when it came to an equally impressive auto-focus system. The D800’s has a total of 51 points with 15 cross-type sensors, plus 51 3D tracking. The auto-focus system also provides an auto-area AF mode and single-point AF.

  1. Nikon has also purposely designed the D800 to appeal to multimedia creators who require broadcast quality video. They will be able to record 1080p Full-HD video at 30/25/24p or 720p at 60/50p in AVC format. Connect the D800 to an external monitor via its HDMI port for simultaneous Live View as well as recording to a computer or external drive without filling the dual memory card slots. Audio capabilities are also pro quality with connections to stereo microphones and headphones as well as monitoring audio from the LCD monitor.

  1. To view all the details of high-resolution stills and video, the Nikon D800 is built with a 3.2-inch, 921,000-dot LCD monitor. Brightness is automatically adjusted and allows you to magnify images to 46 times real size to be absolutely sure of focus.

  1. With all the large files the pros will be creating with the D800, they’ll appreciate the inclusion of USB 3.0, so data moves amazingly quickly through the workflow process.

  1. Nikon will also release the Nikon D800E during April. It will include a different low-pass filter, without anti-aliasing characteristics, so photographers can achieve even greater sharpness for RAW files.

  1. As of the writing of this PhotographyTalk article, the Nikon D800 (body only) can be pre-ordered from B&H Photo Video for $2,999.95 (for a projected March delivery) at http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/search?Ntt=Nikon+D800&N=0&InitialSearch=yes.

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