Nikon d800 DSLR

[potwnc]

As many of you know I've never owned a digital camera. Since it's getting harder and harder to source - and especially to process - good quality slide film I finally bit the bullet and ordered a Nikon d800. It will arrive this week. If anyone is interested I'd be willing to post sample images and/or short video footage.

Ray

[davegee]

Ray,

You face a fairly steep learning curve, but your experience with slide film will certainly help.

Good luck with your new acquisition!

What are you going to use as a RAW converter and which version do you have?

DG

[Gilio]

Ray, that is a very fine camera, I work with the new D 600 almost the same as D 800 full frame and a lot of possebillitys.

I lke to see your new show!

[nelson]

When I travel I now use the D800 and the D600 ( they use the same batteries)

You will love the resolution that is obtainable that allows cropping into the frame.

If you shoot hand-held, the one piece of advice that I can give is to use lenses with VR when possible, and also a high shutter speed... 2X or 3 X the reciprocal of the focal length, not the 1/focal length of olden days!

The new camera should come with the latest firmware A:1.01 / B:1.02 for the D800. It made an improvement in focusing especially incandescent light.

In Thailand recently shooting traditional dancers putting on their make-up. Some were out of focus, recent testing seems to confirm that this issue has been resolved.

You will need some of Nikon`s finest lenses to get the most out of the D800.

Good luck with your choice, I am sure you will enjoy it.

Kieron

[crossfade]

If you shoot hand-held, the one piece of advice that I can give is to use lenses with VR when possible, and also a high shutter speed... 2X or 3 X the reciprocal of the focal length, not the 1/focal length of olden days!

1/fl works the same as always and with VR, you can do even slowr. Ive taken handheld at 1/8th, looks fantastic. I still use a tripod where I can though.

[nelson]

1/fl works the same as always and with VR, you can do even slowr. Ive taken handheld at 1/8th, looks fantastic. I still use a tripod where I can though.

Curious if you noticed any difference with the new firmware?

[potwnc]

In answer to these questions:

I plan to shoot RAW stills and (eventually, but not just yet for $$ reasons) to record video via hdmi out to an external recorder. I don't yet know what software I'll use to process the RAW stills. I've always been a Photoshop person but Adobe's CC-subscription-only announcement recently scares me.

All my "old" glass is Canon FD manual focus primes. So for now I've also bought a Nikon mount Samyang/Rokinon 85mm f1.4 manual focus portrait lens (most of my work is portrait) and the AF-S Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8G ED VR II lens (the third lens in what has become known as the Nikon "holy trinity" of lenses). For now I'll adapt my Canon FD 35mm f2.8 and my Canon FD 300mm f4 to the d800 body and see what the quality looks like in the final image/video. These lenses have always been excellent for me on ISO 25 to ISO 400 film so I believe they'll be optically acceptable on a 36MP FX digital sensor.

My film camera is a Canon A1 and I won't be retiring it in a hurry. Although, like I said, it's getting harder and more expensive to shoot with good-quality film I'll still travel with the A1 body and film stock.

Anyway my post was originally only to ask if anyone wanted me to post samples. If it becomes a discussion about equipment also I'm OK with that but please also let me know if you want me to post samples from the d800.

Ray