diediealsomustdive
Senior Member
Hmmmm.... This is curious, everywhere reviews says D800 has superior focusing to D700. My experience bears the same too. But, it's you opinion.
upgrading to a d800
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Hmmmm.... This is curious, everywhere reviews says D800 has superior focusing to D700. My experience bears the same too. But, it's you opinion.
I don't know about everywhere but online I think Ming Thien and Digiloyd both thinks the D800 AF is inconsistent. google it. As I said many times, it is just my experience with my D800/D700 and lens.
diediealsomustdive
Senior Member
Well, the others who've responded to you in this forum also had different experience from you. Maybe bad apple?
could be. could be user error too. could be expectations too. rem i am not saying that the d800 misfocus all the time. i am saying that MY d800 nails focus on a Moving subject less often than MY d700 using MY nikon 35mm at f1.4 . who replied here has used both bodies regularly on a wa f1.4 lens? i came to my conclusion after shooting thousands of frames on both bodies on the same lens.
the prob with all user reports are that sample size is limited, not scientific testing and based on experience. but they have thir uses.
Ming Thien was talking about the left focus point issue for large aperture wide lenses. That issue has been mostly resolved by point by point calibration in NSC. If you have not already done so, maybe you want to send it in to get it done. Also there is also a new firmware out in Apr... https://nikoneurope-en.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/55951
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Is that really what you said at first? Actually this is what you said:
Which I know to be untrue due to my experience with multiple copies of D800 and multiple copies of D700, over a wide variety of lenses. Even lensrentals.com's controlled tests has proven what you said to be inaccurate.
If I did not ask for clarification other readers would have taken it at face value as a statement in general about D800's AF performance. After the discussion it seems more like your copy of D800 and/or 35/1.4 have some issues more than anything else.
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Luminare
Senior Member
Having used the D800 for more than a year with several lens, i do not think it is the D800 that have AF issues. I would believe that certain lens when fitted onto the D800 exhibit either backward focus or forward focus at the largest apertures and might need AF fine tune but it does not happen to all lens so i wont attribute it to the D800.
When coupled with my 70-200 f/2.8 VR II, AF was no problem although under the previous firmware, 3D tracking was unreliabale but that has been solved with the current firmware update.
Birds in flight in snowing conditions and Football at night proved to be accurate without any AF fine tune and it nails the AF all the time. This is even so when using a TC-20E III at F8
When coupled with my 70-200 f/2.8 VR II, AF was no problem although under the previous firmware, 3D tracking was unreliabale but that has been solved with the current firmware update.
Birds in flight in snowing conditions and Football at night proved to be accurate without any AF fine tune and it nails the AF all the time. This is even so when using a TC-20E III at F8
diediealsomustdive
Senior Member
We are quickly side-tracked from TS's question, with someone's bold statement proclaiming D700 being superior to D800 in focus acquisition over thousands of frames.
Sorry I had only taken hundreds of frame on D700 (loaner camera), and several thousand on D800, and non on 35mm f/1.4. The only f/1.4 I have used is the AFS and AFD 50mm f/1.4, so I guess I am not qualified to comment.
But I can disagree.
Now what's that question again...?
Sorry I had only taken hundreds of frame on D700 (loaner camera), and several thousand on D800, and non on 35mm f/1.4. The only f/1.4 I have used is the AFS and AFD 50mm f/1.4, so I guess I am not qualified to comment.
But I can disagree.
Now what's that question again...?
xylphz
Member
Tried my friend's d800 as well, he told me he shot with 70-300 VR, even at daytime, @ 300mm it exhibits not sharp, blurry shake & imperfect focus, I tried myself it still had the same problem, not sure whether is user fault or the lens itself, but tried on other telephoto & prime lenses everything is ok with VR on. So maybe it's the lens which needs focus calibration.
Hi Bro,
this type simple one let me try to answer.
cheem one leave to expert. You need to state what speed you shooting at 300mm. There is one Nikon article which my friend showed me last time. it mentioned that you need more than 1/focal length speed for D800 due to the sensor size...so my guess is you need 1/300s above? what aperture were u shooting at? f4? f5.6? the dof very thin. your prime lens what focal length? most lens need AFMA in D800. You may also want to read more about VR in this article. Nikon VR explainedcheers
Hi Bro,
this type simple one let me try to answer.
cheers
While cameras like D700 you need 1/focal length, Actually for D800 you need faster shutter speed (something in the region of 1/(2xfocal length), mentioned by some early reviewers).
The 70-300 at 300mm is not particularly sharp on the borders... it is a consumer telezoom after all.
Luminare
Senior Member
Blurry shake - What was the shutter speed? Was the other lens tested at 300mm too? Hand holding at 300mm needs to wait for the VR to settle before shooting unless VR is off and shoot at shutters greater than 1/300sec
Not sharp / imperfect focus - it depends on the contrast of the background/distant of subject. Certain lens don't focus on the right place when the background exhibit more contrast / or is very busy or is too far away .... read the article on the 200-400 f/4 VR Best Nikon Lenses for Wildlife Photography
Not sharp / imperfect focus - it depends on the contrast of the background/distant of subject. Certain lens don't focus on the right place when the background exhibit more contrast / or is very busy or is too far away .... read the article on the 200-400 f/4 VR Best Nikon Lenses for Wildlife Photography
Luminare
Senior Member
A quote from the website
Quote"
1) Nikon 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G VR
If you want to get into wildlife photography on a tight budget, the Nikon 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G VR is the lens you want to get. It is a great buy that will get you to 300mm at under $600 USD. Its autofocus is pretty good in daylight and its versatile zoom range of 70-300mm is great for large animals and perched birds. The lens is light and compact, making it easy to carry it around when scouting for wildlife in parks and wildlife spots. It is capable of producing relatively good bokeh, especially on its longest end, although its sharpness performance also drops quite a bit at 300mm. Having VR is a definite plus when hand-holding the lens. "
Best Nikon Lenses for Wildlife Photography
Quote"
1) Nikon 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G VR
If you want to get into wildlife photography on a tight budget, the Nikon 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G VR is the lens you want to get. It is a great buy that will get you to 300mm at under $600 USD. Its autofocus is pretty good in daylight and its versatile zoom range of 70-300mm is great for large animals and perched birds. The lens is light and compact, making it easy to carry it around when scouting for wildlife in parks and wildlife spots. It is capable of producing relatively good bokeh, especially on its longest end, although its sharpness performance also drops quite a bit at 300mm. Having VR is a definite plus when hand-holding the lens. "
Best Nikon Lenses for Wildlife Photography
xylphz
Member
Hi Bro,
this type simple one let me try to answer.
cheers
shutter speed is 1/1000, f/5.6 until I change the VR mode to Active everything is ok, Normal mode the blurry problem seems to be a mysterious one.
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Luminare
Senior Member
When hand holding and shooting standing still, the VR mode to use is "Normal mode".
Use "Active mode" when on a moving platform else it will cause the photos to induce motion blur. Or if you rested the lens on a hard platform, it will cause motion blur as well when VR is "On"
To understand VR better here is a Quote for easy reading from Nikon USA website that I used back in 2009:
"In addition to the "Centering Before Exposure" System, Nikon’s VR System offers Normal mode and Active mode, original technologies to help you cover various shooting situations. In Normal mode, slow and wide camera movement is regarded as recomposing movement and VR operation is controlled accordingly. In Active mode, however, even large amounts of camera movement are compensated for to give a smooth viewfinder image. This mode is quite useful when shooting from a moving vehicle or some other unstable position.
A tripod is generally believed to prevent image blur, but camera shake can occur due to the movements of the quick-return mirror or shutter curtain, or winds. This camera shake movement has different characteristics compared to normal camera shake caused by handheld shooting. Nikon’s VR technology makes it possible to detect and compensate this type of camera shake, as well. (Note: Some VR lenses do not have this function.)
Nikon has developed its original VR technologies by rigorously studying the various aspects of camera shake."
Nikon | Technology | VR (Vibration-Reduction)
Use "Active mode" when on a moving platform else it will cause the photos to induce motion blur. Or if you rested the lens on a hard platform, it will cause motion blur as well when VR is "On"
To understand VR better here is a Quote for easy reading from Nikon USA website that I used back in 2009:
"In addition to the "Centering Before Exposure" System, Nikon’s VR System offers Normal mode and Active mode, original technologies to help you cover various shooting situations. In Normal mode, slow and wide camera movement is regarded as recomposing movement and VR operation is controlled accordingly. In Active mode, however, even large amounts of camera movement are compensated for to give a smooth viewfinder image. This mode is quite useful when shooting from a moving vehicle or some other unstable position.
A tripod is generally believed to prevent image blur, but camera shake can occur due to the movements of the quick-return mirror or shutter curtain, or winds. This camera shake movement has different characteristics compared to normal camera shake caused by handheld shooting. Nikon’s VR technology makes it possible to detect and compensate this type of camera shake, as well. (Note: Some VR lenses do not have this function.)
Nikon has developed its original VR technologies by rigorously studying the various aspects of camera shake."
Nikon | Technology | VR (Vibration-Reduction)
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Cheesecake
Senior Member
not a mystery la. the handhold, breathing technique not there.
even when using my 16-35 VR, at 16mm handheld, i might still get blurry photos shooting in 1/30s.
its the handhold/breathing technique that will be severely punished by D800/E.
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