I came across another link by Cliff Mautner with initial comments about using the D800 for a wedding plus some images at ISO 3200 and 6400.

http://www.cmphotography.com/blog.cfm

The comment that stuck out for me was that Cliff says the D800 high ISO performance is about the same as a D3. If that is true, I'm sold!

Russ
Nikonian Team Member
Russell MacDonald Photography
Nikon CLS Practical Guide

Thanks for sharing!

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>I came across another link by Cliff Mautner with initial
>comments about using the D800 for a wedding plus some images
>at ISO 3200 and 6400.
>
>http://www.cmphotography.com/blog.cfm
>
>The comment that stuck out for me was that Cliff says the D800
>high ISO performance is about the same as a D3. If that is
>true, I'm sold!
>
>Russ
>
Thanks for the link Russ,

I downloaded all the full size jpgs from the Russian site yesterday and downsized them to compare to the D700 at the different high ISO settings. By directly comparing the noise patters in the out of focus dark areas I found the D800 and D700 performance to be nearly identical. This is not the 1 or 2 stop improvement that some folks are claiming but the same.

I plan on getting the D800 some time after the initial buying frenzy stops. I don't really need the camera because I already have a D3X and a D700, but in DX mode with my DX lenses it will more then replace my D300 and improve some performance like AF speed and added video. While 36mp sounds like a lot, it's really only a little increase over the D3X when it comes to cropping.

Len

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