There are a number of discussions and comments out there on the susceptibility of the D800 to motion induced blur because of the high MP count. I have a D800 on order, but I am getting concerned on whether it is going to be a problem shooting it hand held. I have issues with temors in my hands, but I have managed quite well with my D700. All of my lenses are VR, except for the 24-70 which I normally use on a tripod. I shoot landscape and macro using a tripod much of the time, but I also do a fair amount of hand held work. Any thoughts on how the D800 will compare to the D700 for hand held shooting?

Gene Eckholt

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Bah...

Watch this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFmO5W5zROk

Hasselblad H4D-60 (as in 60 megapixel).

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When most of us went from 4 to 6MP to 10 to 12MP. There was a lot of talk of motion blur, and a lot of tripod upgrades. But we were focused on clean files at 100%. It seems likely that with the D800 handheld in low light downsizing will play a role - it simply wouldn't be reasonable to shoot for a clean file at 100%. I'll be interested to see how this plays out.

Jim

>When most of us went from 4 to 6MP to 10 to 12MP. There was a
>lot of talk of motion blur, and a lot of tripod upgrades. But
>we were focused on clean files at 100%. It seems likely that
>with the D800 handheld in low light downsizing will play a
>role - it simply wouldn't be reasonable to shoot for a clean
>file at 100%. I'll be interested to see how this plays out.

My argument to these things is simple. Wedding photographers, fashion photographers, studio photographers, etc, have been shooting on 2x2, 4x5. and 6x7 handheld for YEARS. With WAY more resolution than the D800 is going to be able to muster. You see any of those guys or their customers complaining? No.

Much ado about nothing as far as I am concerned.

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But not too many of the DSLR users on the internet were doing this. This camera will undoubtedly produce MF results in the right hands and under the right circumstances.

Jim

>But not too many of the DSLR users on the internet were doing
>this. This camera will undoubtedly produce MF results in the
>right hands and under the right circumstances.

True. But my point is simply that just because a camera has a lot of resolution doesn't mean it's suddenly not going to work hand held.

Does anyone even remember the Speedgraphic? A totally handheld press camera that shot 4x5. That used to be use for SPORTS photography!

Heck the old Rolleiflex was a 6x6 camera if memory serves and absolutely intended for handheld use.

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They also were not able to instantly view the image at the tremendous magnification that people routinely do today. Unfortunately many people do/will expect perfect sharpness when an unprocessed image is viewed at 100% on their relatively low resolution computer screens.

The monitor I am using right now displays about 100 PPI so if I were to view a D800 image at 100% it would be the equivalent of viewing a 73.6 inch wide image (At less than half normal print resolution) with about an 18 inch viewing distance. I would not expect to see tack sharp details at such a large size at such a low resolution.

We will see many posts stating that the D800 is soft or that it has some sort of focus problem based on the unrealistic expectations of people pixel peeping such large files.

Once the image is processed, printed and viewed at a normal (normal = a distance that the entire is visible all at once) viewing distance most of these perceived issues will disappear. Remember if you output at 300 PPI to print a D800 image at full resolution the image will only be 24 inches wide compared to viewing at 100% when the image is about 73 inches wide.

So for all practical purposes I agree.... "Much ado about nothing..."

Dave
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>We will see many posts stating that the D800 is soft or that
>it has some sort of focus problem based on the unrealistic
>expectations of people pixel peeping such large files.

OMG, Thank you for that laugh.. I am still chuckling.

Visions of the D7000 dancing in my head now... I remember reading all that same stuff. And this was after I had been shooting the Canon T2i at 18.2MP for nearly 2 years. What a riot.

Since I have been shooting motion pictures the past few years, I also find it absolutely HILARIOUS that the images up there on that 80ft screen are 2MP. And the "fantastic" images we see on our new HiDef televisions aren't even 2MP and we are looking at them on 50, 60, and even 80" televisions... And here we are worrying whether we can get a sharp image out of 36MP camera that's moving an inch or two. Mission impossible is filming jumping out of airplanes with a 2MP pixel camera... And for the record, those movies are shot at 1/48 of a second at F2.0 to F4 typically.

I just have to shake my head.

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>There are a number of discussions and comments out there on
>the susceptibility of the D800 to motion induced blur because
>of the high MP count.

That makes no sense at all. Motion induced blur severity should be unchanged to what you are shooting now, whatever that may be. Moreover, the greater megapixel count of the D800 will help you take advantage of any improvements in reductions in motion induced blur that you are able to introduce into your technique in the future.

Peter

Why don't you actually test one BEFORE you order the freakin thing to find out its strengths and weaknesses and to determine if this will be a product that you will enjoy using. I can say a lot more, but I think I will just shut up at this point.

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