upgrading to a d800


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It is not so simple. Things like focus hunting cannot be fixed. I thought the d800 focusing is less sure than d700. Not just me, other people also report same thing

Hmmmm.... This is curious, everywhere reviews says D800 has superior focusing to D700. My experience bears the same too. But, it's you opinion.
 

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.
 

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.

Well, the others who've responded to you in this forum also had different experience from you. Maybe bad apple?
 

The D800/800e sports the same AF module as the D4, how bad can it get?
 

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.
 

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.

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

Modifications enabled in this version

  1. Support for the AF-S NIKKOR 800mm f/5.6E FL ED VR has been added.
  2. Subject tracking performance in AF-C (continuous-servo autofocus) autofocus mode with framing using the viewfinder has been improved.
  3. Gamut for Adobe RGB images displayed in the camera's monitor has been changed. This enables more vivid display of images.
  4. With live view photography in [M] (Manual) exposure mode, exposure preview was always on. This issue has been resolved.
  5. In some very rare cases when certain memory cards were used, movie recording would stop, even when the time remaining display indicated remaining recording time. This issue has been resolved.
  6. With shooting at an image quality setting of TIFF (RGB) and an image size setting of Small, the right edge of images contained a purple line. This issue has been resolved.
  7. In some rare cases, images recorded in JPEG format could not be opened by some software applications. This issue has been resolved.
  8. In some very rare cases, colours would change with shooting when white balance was set to a specific colour temperature, as with Preset manual or Choose color temp. This issue has been resolved.
 

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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.

Is that really what you said at first? Actually this is what you said:
It is not so simple. Things like focus hunting cannot be fixed. I thought the d800 focusing is less sure than d700. Not just me, other people also report same thing

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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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

8874077062_8abfe414e3_b.jpg
 

my set also don't have af problems, do note that the dof is thinner than normal and the amazing sensor captures so much details that sloppy shooting techniques will be easier to spot
 

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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...?
 

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.
 

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 explained

cheers
 

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 explained

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.
 

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

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.
 

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
 

They are all good cameras with auto focus.
 

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

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 explained

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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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)

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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my rule is to switch the VR off, only when your shot has camera shake, only then do I switch it on.
but i would prefer to use a tripod if it is nearby
 

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.

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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