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Would you use a Nikon D800 for wedding and portraits?


11 years 7 months ago #251799 by Tony Imaging
As I posted in another thread, my wife and I are expanding our photography business and one of the larger purchases I plan to get is another camera body. Currently I'm shooting with a Nikon D700. I've been considering the D800 and would like to hear from those that own the camera, would you recommend the camera? What type of photography work do you shoot with it?

Would you recommend this for portrait and wedding work?
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11 years 7 months ago #251803 by Stealthy Ninja
I own a d800 and a D800e. I sold a d3s to get the latter.

I shoot events that last all day with these two cameras. The files are great. Just a little large at 35mb.

Combine this with dual card slots and excellent video and IMHO you got a winner.

Some will argue 36Mp is too much for weddings but I disagree. Buy more cards and hdd. Include the cost of a 100gb portable hdd in every shoots budget perhaps?
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11 years 7 months ago #251814 by Tony Imaging
Good information and thank you. Now do you notice with large file sizes that your computer resources get taxed when opening up larger files like this?

Now I don't plan to do much high speed photography, but still do you find the 4fps can be slow?

You bring up a good point on the memory cards, what size cards are you using? I know the D800 has 2 slots.
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11 years 7 months ago #251818 by Stealthy Ninja
Right now I have a 32gb SD card which I simultaneously write smaller jpeg files to on a 16GB CF card (we have to get the files to computers/display fast so guest/parents/whatever can see.

I am buying a bunch of 32GB cards for a video project that's coming in October, so in the future I'll shoot with two 32GB cards (SD and CF). I use a generic brand for both because they're all made in the same factory anyway.

Ideally you'd have this for a wedding IMHO. 32gb SD card (x2, per camera). 32gb CF card (x2 per camera). Then you can shoot simultaneous RAW files to both card for backup (you don't want a card failing at a wedding). You probably won't need 64gb per wedding, but better to have it than not.

It's all up to you and how you shoot. Some people shoot more than others. Some are more careful. My friend will shoot much more than he needs then spends ages getting rid of the ones that aren't the best. I tend to try and get less shots that are basically the same. My approach works well for the D800 because of the space.


You'll love the extra resolution BTW. The files from the D800/e are amazing. I highly recommend the D800e for photography over the D800. It's just better.
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11 years 7 months ago - 11 years 7 months ago #251819 by Stealthy Ninja
If you have a fairly new computer with say 8GB of ram the RAW files will open fine in LR. Of course the faster the computer and the more RAM you have the better. Basically I don't find much trouble opening and using the RAW files.

4fps can be a little slow if you're doing sports.

Here's an article I wrote about it:
www.aidavproductions.com/articles/D800sports.html

Also a comparison between the D800 and D3s high iso:
www.aidavproductions.com/articles/D3svsD800.html
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11 years 7 months ago #251820 by Tony Imaging
Did you have any interest in the D4? I'm curious why you dropped your D3 and picked up another D800 vs D4?
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11 years 7 months ago #251826 by Stealthy Ninja
No interest in the D4. The D4 only had a small resolution advantage and not much of an advantage in high ISO.

I didn't need the high FPS and loved the IQ the D800/e gives me. I also quite like a lighter body personally, though "pro" bodies are nice because of the built in grip.

Just FYI I had a D3s not a D3.
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11 years 7 months ago #251827 by Stealthy Ninja
That said, for weddings the D4 would be a nice camera to have.
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11 years 5 months ago #259994 by studiotoffa
If you need a full format/FX camera for weddings and portrait, I would go for Nikon D600 rather then the D800. As with the larger files you get with the D800, the resources of you computer will be hard taxed (try stiching a pano with 7-8 full resolution images of the D800, and you'll be doing much house work while waiting for the computer to render the pano, not to speak of time any edits will take). Even with dual card slots, the camera will quickly eat away on the memory cards. And I don't think that many couples is interested in making their wedding-picture into wallpaper so the increased resoultion is wasted if they are only gonna get prints at 12x16 inch. If you ask me, the D800 is more a tool for those who need the resolution of medium format, but don't have or justify the cost of one. Also, with the high resolution of the D800, you'll need to get quality glass as any minor flaws of the optics will be more present.
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11 years 5 months ago - 11 years 5 months ago #260002 by Stealthy Ninja

studiotoffa wrote: If you need a full format/FX camera for weddings and portrait, I would go for Nikon D600 rather then the D800. As with the larger files you get with the D800, the resources of you computer will be hard taxed (try stiching a pano with 7-8 full resolution images of the D800, and you'll be doing much house work while waiting for the computer to render the pano, not to speak of time any edits will take). Even with dual card slots, the camera will quickly eat away on the memory cards. And I don't think that many couples is interested in making their wedding-picture into wallpaper so the increased resoultion is wasted if they are only gonna get prints at 12x16 inch. If you ask me, the D800 is more a tool for those who need the resolution of medium format, but don't have or justify the cost of one. Also, with the high resolution of the D800, you'll need to get quality glass as any minor flaws of the optics will be more present.


D600 is ok but it has some flaws. First and foremost is the small AF area coverage. It uses the AF system of the D7000 which is fine on a crop camera, but put it in an FX body and it's all in a small area in the centre of the VF.

Also the ergonomics aren't for everyone. It does have a more realistic amount of MP though.

Though I agree that the file sizes are kinda overkill the D800 does make an excellent event cam. The file sizes aren't as big as people think though. They're only about 45Mb when using 14bit lossless compression. 35Mb when using 12bit. There is zero need to use uncompressed 14bit 75Mb files.

Lastly, why would you do a 7-8 shot pano with the D800? Shoot wider.

As for processing a bunch of images in LR or something. I've done multiple event shoots with the D800 and processing isnot a real bother.

Now thy said. I think if they made a D800 style camera with 18-22MP, 6 FPS and everything else the same it would be a way better choice for weddings. But shooting weddings with a D800 is possible and actually kinda fun because you know you can crop like crazy and still have a bunch of resolution. ;)
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11 years 5 months ago #260005 by Stealthy Ninja
One other thing. What I like most about D800/e files are their flexibility. It's not all about the resolution or printing huge. Downscaled to 12MP it's almost as good as the D3s. Also you can crop like crazy.

Still, not for everyone and even I switched to something else. Most people (me included) don't need that many MP. It's just fun to play with and being able to just keep zooming and zooming in on photoshop.lol
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11 years 5 months ago #260017 by studiotoffa
I must agree when it comes to the flexablity of the D800. It one of it's winning features.

I only mentioned the 7-8 image pano as an example, but shooting a pano, a 7-8 image pano is not far off, as one tend to not use wide angle due to distortion.

Here also a blog post by Scott Kelby on the subject of the Nikon D800. Scott Kelby Blogpost.
Please visit me at Studio Toffa Photography www.studio-toffa.com
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11 years 5 months ago #260023 by effron
I don't completely agree with Kelby. It DOES depend on your needs and where you're coming from. I own a D700 now, and would consider an upgrade to the D800, but the D600 lacks enough improvements to make the change, and Adrian is correct about the AF limitations. I like landscape and macro, so there's the reason. Maybe a wedding shooter would think otherwise. If coming from a DX, then the D600 might make more sense. For now my D700 still rocks, great AF, very good in low light, the 12+ MP sensor is fine, and its a rugged camera...why I use it to pound in tent stakes when camping and don't need to carry a hammer.... B)
Why so serious?
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