I know very little about the D800 (or D700) for that matter. For a long time I've been happily shooting away with my D200 waiting patiently for the D400. Well it seems that the D400 is close kin to the Great Pumpkin and now I'm eyeing the D800. Never had any real desire for FX format but if I want a robust camera body that is newer/more advanced than a D300s then there is the D800.

I have a modest investment in DX lenses that I am quite happy with and I understand they will work on the D800 (I could be dead wrong). Knowing little about the camera or the FX format I'm wondering what the trade-offs would be using DX lenses on the D800 as compared to the D200. If there are no major trade-offs then the D800 might be the way to go for me since I also have some pretty nice full frame lenses as well. Any thoughts?

George Barron

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One thought comes to mind... Have you considered the D7000? Personally, I think it's robust enough.

Yes. My brother has one. It is very nice but does not compare with d200/d300 in terms of body size, feel and build. Not the camera to replace my d200.

George Barron

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I think the D400 (or whatever turns out to be the direct successor to the D300s) will, in all probability, turn out to be worth the wait. The D7000 is close, but it's not a full-size body. The D800 is radically different, and for your purposes possibly useless or overkill or something like that. So why not wait a bit longer for the D400 (or whatever Nikon is going to call the thing)?

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Howard Carson, Managing Editor
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They say patience is a virtue! Well, I'm getting frustrated that the new APS-C sensor pro camera doesn't seem to be on any close horizon.

I'm reading the posts of unpresidented pre orders for the D800, I just wish Nikon would pull their fingers out with the D300s replacement.

Richard

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>I'm reading the posts of unpresidented pre orders for the
>D800, I just wish Nikon would pull their fingers out with the
>D300s replacement.

It was predicted repeatedly on Nikonians that Nikon, in the wake of multiple disasters in Japan and in Thailand last year, would crank out the new pro bodies first in order to get production units into the hands of photographers worldwide well in advance of the Olympics in London. That's being done now with the D4 and the D800 surely. It makes sense to me that the next bodies out of the gate from Nikon's still-reduced manufacturing and production capacity would be another consumer body along with a successor to the D300s. So I think Nikon certainly did "pull their fingers out" as you put it, quite a long time ago. The speed with which Nikon is recovering from catastrophic disasters is, frankly, quite remarkable. I do not believe that any company, anywhere else in the world, could do any better.

I think we shouldn't forget the calibre of disasters which occured in Japan and Thailand last year. Recovery will continue for years, especially in Japan. 20,000 or so dead there and untold billions upon billions of yen/pounds/euro/dollars in damages and losses.

IMO, in the meantime, the D7000 is remarkable even if it doesn't have the pro bulk of a D300s or of some predictable D400. Technical image quality is outstanding too - limited only by the photographer's skill.

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Please forgive me if my comments were thought inapproriate and like you I applaud Nikon and Canon etc for getting production moving after such a disaster. Like all citizens worldwide we watched and have continued to watch the horrors unfold. It was a trite statement with no malice intended.

One thing I would say though, sure the D4 and many D800's for professional photographers perhaps and I hope I am wrong, but it's possible and highly probable that "Joe public" will be restricted to compact cameras only. It is more and more the case in the UK where dSLR and even more so fitted with longer lenses are not allowed in stadia. This happened to a friend last year in Manchester and Birmingham major sporting events and was forced to leave his camera at provided secure baggage area at the stadium entrance. Of course if this is the case they can still happily record images of tourist London and the UK. This, I don't think, is about security but Health and Safety and the risk of bashing someone when trying to get "that shot"! That what my friend was told to.

Yes, I shall continue with my D7000, but I'll also keep watching the bulletin boards.

Richard

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I did not intend this to be a discussion on the merits of patience, the reason for the 'delay' in a D300 successor, or the merits of the D7000.

I'm really just interested in how the D800 is likely to handle DX lenses.

George Barron

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George,

Sorry, things kind of ran off the track.

I'll tell you what I THINK I know.

The D800 will have a DX mode in which you can use your DX lenses. I THINK part of the photo will be cropped down a bit, but with the size of the sensor I don't think that will be a big deal.

Hopefully a techno-geek will chime in here and give you a better answer.

Beck

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>The D800 will have a DX mode in which you can use your DX
>lenses. I THINK part of the photo will be cropped down a bit,
>but with the size of the sensor I don't think that will be a
>big deal.

DX mode does not crop a photo. The image circle on the sensor cast by a DX lens is smaller than the image circle cast by an FX lens. Therefore, the image circle activates and smaller part of the sensor. The D800 shooting a DX lens produces a 15.3mp file as a result, instead of the 36mp file it would produce with an FX lens.

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Howard Carson, Managing Editor
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>DX mode does not crop a photo.

Well... I suspect that statement might confuse some people

Whether you call it a "crop" or not (Nikon does - I don't know about the D800 manual, but it's referred to thus on page 59 of the D700 manual), the camera will use only the central, DX-format area of the sensor to capture the image.

We're in danger of straying from George's question - again - but just let me quickly point out that DX Crop Mode (or the other crop modes) can be engaged manually irrespective of the type of lens that is mounted.

Brian
Welsh Nikonian
Check out the Nikonians Team pages

>>DX mode does not crop a photo.
>
>Well... I suspect that statement might confuse some people
>
>Whether you call it a "crop" or not (Nikon does - I
>don't know about the D800 manual, but it's referred to thus on
>page 59 of the D700 manual), the camera will use only the
>central, DX-format area of the sensor to capture the image.

Not to put to fine a point on it but the DX mode uses a crop of the sensor not a crop of the image.

Archie

>I'm really just interested in how the D800 is likely to handle
>DX lenses.

It is likely to handle DX lenses perfectly well. In DX mode, the D800 will generate a 15.3MP DX-format capture mode compared to 5MP DX file size generated by the D700. The overview at DPReview has a lot of accurate, hands-on information.

Not sure what you`re asking though if the foregoing is not the information you`re looking for.

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Howard Carson, Managing Editor
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Yes, they will work, but your sensor will automatically be set to the crop mode so only the centered half of the sensor will record the image.

This is the reverse of when Nikon introduced their production line digital cameras. Every one had 35mm frame lenses (now labeled FX) and there was half of the projected image thrown out.

You might find The DX and FX Formats interesting and helpful.

George
My Nikonian Galleries

Thanks guys, that is pretty much how I expected things to work and that makes sense. And I understand that the Dx image is of lesser resolution, naturally. However, I don't know enough about sensors, etc to have any idea how this is likely to effect low ISO performance in DX vs FX mode. There may not be any difference at all.

When the D200 came out it was exactly what I needed and what I had hoped for. It is a superb camera. By all expectations the D400 (or whatever it might be called) would also be exactly what I need and what I'm hoping for at this stage of my amateur photography 'career'. And I might still wait for it a little longer. And while the D800 is almost certainly more camera than I can rationally justify, if it can use my current DX lenses to produce images of superior 'specifications' than my D200 then it remains high on my list of upcoming purchases.

George Barron

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George,

With the exception of a smaller viewfinder view when using DX lenses in auto DX crop mode, the D800 is better then the D200 in every way I can think of.

1. The DX crop photo in the D800 will give you the exact view as if you were using the D200 and the same lens from the same position.

2. Dynamic range will be much improved in low ISO images.

3. Noise will be much improved in high ISO images.

4. Autofocus will be better and probably faster.

5. You will be able to get tighter cropping because of the 15mp sensor size in DX crop mode versus the 10mp of the D200.

6. Resolution will be higher on larger prints.

You will pretty much get D7000 performance in a more robust and larger body. It's pretty hard to know what a D400 will be or even if there will be one. Since you are so committed to DX I would probably wait a little while longer and see what Nikon comes up with in the next few months.

Len

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This move (going to the D800 and keep using DX lenses ) would make sense only if you plan to replace them with FX lenses, at least some of them, in the near future. Have you looked thru the viewfinder of an entry level DSLR, like the D3100? If not, you should, before you go forward with this plan. Because the tiny viewfinder of that camera is considerably larger than the DX portion of the D800 viewfinder. People may have different tolerance for this, but I would not get any pleasure from shooting thru such tunnel vision. And since photography is a hobby for me, it is about pleasure.

So: if you want to keep your DX lenses and want to upgrade the body, I'd suggest looking for a DX camera. Otherwise you may find that you will have to replace your DX lenses (or get sell them and use just your FX glass).

Tom
Bay Area Nikonian

http://www.tkphoto.me/

hear hear .. excellent practical advice. My main reason for moving to D800 was for the FF on wide angle shots. I felt limited by the D300 when shooting down around 17mm since in effect is was more like 35mm.

Anyway ... we all have our own reasons ... my biggest concern is losing the FPS of the continuous shutter release of the D300 .. I had definitely gotten used to the 9 FPS of the D300 with the grip on ... now Ill be down to less than half of that. 5FPS with the grip.

Anyway .. my decision to go with the D800 was for 1. FF and 2. Video

Hopefully I will love it ! =)



___________________________________________________________

Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one. - A. Einstein

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The difference in frames per second isn't as great as that.

The D300 with grip (and the right battery) went to 8fps, whilst similarly configured the D800 will get to 5fps. If/when speed is paramount, you could still switch the D800 to DX Crop Mode and get 6fps with the grip

Brian
Welsh Nikonian
Check out the Nikonians Team pages

:-)
___________________________________________________________

Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one. - A. Einstein

Visit my Nikonians gallery.

Visit my Nikonians gallery.