Is it possible to use the D800 in live view for night photography? If so how do I do this. I was out this last full moon trying to use live view on a landscape. All I could see is black on the monitor.

Steve
http://blog.wetzelphoto.com

Assuming you don't mean you were trying to focus on the moon, which should show brilliantly in LiveView, you probably didn't have enough light to do what you wanted.

My one recommendation would be to set your aperture full open to perform focus. Unlike normal phase-detect AF (and unlike all other Nikon cameras) during live view the D800 closes the aperture down in order to display accurate DOF during LiveView. Therefore you can get the most light onto the sensor by setting the aperture wide open, do your focus, then adjust aperture to your desired setting and do exposure. This might not help your situation in very low light, but it's worth noting. Also worth noting, Nikon screwed this up. The DOF should only be previewed using DOF preview, same as using the viewfinder.

I've used Live View to focus on stars in a moon-less sky, so it has some application, but stars are probably a lot brighter than what you were trying to focus on.

Larry - a Bay Area Nikonian
My Nikonians gallery

www.tempered-light.com

Hey Larry! Thanks for this bit of info! I did not know this, and it makes a big difference during live view (I might even start using it ).

Thanks again,

Tom
D5000IR, V1, Oly OM-D E-M5
Nikkor Zooms: AF-S 18-105 f/3.5-5.6 VR, VR, AF-S 18-135 f/3.5-5.6
Nikkor primes: 24 f/2.8Ai-S, 28 f/2.8D, Micro 60 f/2.8, 85 f/1.4D, Nikkor-C 500 f/8 Refl.
Nikon 1 lenses: 10mm f/2.8, 10-30mm f/3.5-5.6 VR, 30-110mm f/3.8-5.6.
Voigtlander 58mm f/1.4, Sigma 70-300 Macro f/3.5-5.6.
Oly 12-42mm f/3.5-5.6, 12-50mm f/3.5-6.3, 12mm f/2.0, 45mm f/1.8, 75mm f/1.8.
Lumix 20mm f/1.7, 14-140mm f/4.0-5.8, 100-300mm f/4.0-5.6
Gitzo GT3541L, Manfrotto MT293A4, MP 680B
Markins M-20, RRS BH-25 Pro

If subjects are close enough, use a flash light to illuminate the subject for focusing purposes.

Thanks everyone. What prompted my question was my taking out my tilt shift lens the other night. I don't think I will be doing that again

Steve
http://blog.wetzelphoto.com