D800E owners?

V-Spec

V-Spec

V-Spec

Soldato
Joined
8 Jun 2005
Posts
3,698
Location
London
Hola,

Thinking about moving from Large format 5x4 to a D800E in the next few months before I do a big USA trip,

I was thinking of a MF digital, like a Pentax 645D or a second hand Phase-one, but if the D800E is coupled with a Distagon or other high quality prime, the difference in quality is going to be so close - it makes no sense to spend an extra £2-3k....

Any D800E owners in here? any experiences?
 
A lot of people definitely saw the D800E as a death knell for medium format, but I'd take that with a pinch of salt. In prints smaller than the 60"x40" you'll struggle to tell the difference between a D800E and a good lens and any larger format, even if you can see the difference in very tight crops. That said, the 645Z looks incredibly promising (barely any more expensive than the D4s/1DX while bringing the CMOS sensor from the new Phase One $40k CMOS camera). If you need a camera soon then the D800E is the answer but if you feel like after looking at samples you want to go medium format I'd say wait until the new 645 comes out because it will be far and away worth the wait judging by the Phase One CMOS compared to the 645D.

http://petapixel.com/2014/04/13/det...-leaked-24-hours-ahead-official-announcement/

Also for what it's worth there are generally objectively better lenses (sharper, brighter, less distortion, less aberration) than the Distagons available on Nikon e.g. Sigma's 35mm wipes the floor with both Zeiss 35's (f2 and f1.4), though of course the Otus is a taller order to beat given it nearly outresolves the D800 sensor Sigma seems to have done a damn good job of trying. Similarly you might want to consider a 14-24 2.8 rather than primes.

The D800E will be a much lighter and easier to travel with setup but of course it depends what sort of travelling you're doing - you're not gonna have much fun wandering around with a 645Z for street photography in between tourist attractions etc.
 
Last edited:
As Ksanti says, at prints up to 60"x40" or slightly bigger you wont tell the difference between the D800E and a MFD or LF film. At sizes smaller than that the D800E has much bbetter DR, colour depth and ISO capabilities than most MFD except the new 40K phase ONE and possibly the unreleased Pentax.

Get good lenses, use good technique (tripod, MLU, remote) and for most practical purposes you have a setup that beats MFD and has a DR similar to good MF colour film. If you print bigger than 60"x40"then nothing will beat LF film.

As Ksanti points out, the Zeiss lenses are not necessarily the best, esepcially for landscape where sharpness and microcontrast are important and not interesting bokeh or soft corners that many Zeiss lenses offer. The Sigma 35mm is far sharper than any Zeiss in the range. Similarly the Nikon 14-24 wipes the floor with Zeiss, Contax and Leica primes at the wide end (not at 24 though).
You probably also want to consider the 24mm PC-E lens t get the most out of the D800E. Diffraction is the big issue from f/11 so ideally you will use a PC lens to change the focal plane to be better aligned with the subject and hyperfocal techniques to maximize DoF at faster apertures like f/8
 
D.P. said:
The Sigma 35mm is far sharper than any Zeiss in the range. Similarly the Nikon 14-24 wipes the floor with Zeiss, Contax and Leica primes at the wide end (not at 24 though).
Click to expand...

Hmmm I was already looking at possibly getting the 14-24 for the D800E, it seems like a pretty sweet lens,

But from that Ksanti is saying, that 645z looks amazing.. but I bet it comes with an amazing price-tag.. (I probably have no more than £6k to spend) with that I can get a D800E and a few lenses, but only a 645D and one lens..

I won't be getting anything until July, so hopefully I'll have a chance to see how the 645Z is received, and it's price..


One question I have - sharpness is one thing, but what about things like lens distortion? my large format lenses are absolutely free from things like distortion, I remember shooting my Canon 1D a few years ago and things being all over the place, (think it was a 17-40) if I went with the 14-24, would the image be nice and straight corner to corner?
 
Yeah, the 645z looks to be amazing but will be around 5K GBP on resale (I saw an $8000 USD price tag) and you will then need to be buying MF lenses, so a bargain compared to a 40K Phase one but not the same value as a D800E.

The 14-24 wont be perfectly straight corner to corner but the distortion is well controlled for such a lens and is also a simple distortion that is easily corrected in software. The distortion would be noticeable for architecture but not for landscape. The distortion is moderate at 14mm but is fairly light already 16/17mm

One thing to note it has a large bulbous front element so standard filters don't work. It is unlikely you want a CPL when so wide due to non uniform effects and for ND(grads) there are several option of external holders. Not cheap but affordable compared to an MFD setup and lenses.
 
The 5x4 will naturally have more movements than the D800E and the tilt shift lenses for the Nikon for architecture or landscape aren't on the same level as Rodenstock or Schneider etc. If I were you I would seriously look at a Sony A7R. You can mount almost any lens to it including the excellent Canon 17mm TS-E and Leica R glass as well as Zeiss ZF glass and it has the sharpest autofocus lens tested so far in the Zeiss 55mm f/1.8.
 
ffs

UK pricing released for the 645Z, $8400 in the US but it's £6700 here ($11k) might just pick one up in america, screw paying UK prices, wouldn't mind having it for a bit beforehand mind.. ;_;
 
V-Spec said:
ffs

UK pricing released for the 645Z, $8400 in the US but it's £6700 here ($11k) might just pick one up in america, screw paying UK prices, wouldn't mind having it for a bit beforehand mind.. ;_;
Click to expand...

Add 20% VAT and the US price is $10,100 so not so different.

The 645z will be much better thang be D800 and is relatively cheap for MFD but is still in a totally different price range. You also have to consider lens costs, the awesome 25mm f/4 is over 5grand
 
Last edited:
How big are you going to be printing? For £6k you could get the D800E and some nice lenses. A 645z and lenses you might be coming in at £8-10k or more if you go for their top lenses. The D800E and a few Zeiss primes and Nikon zooms like the 14-24 would be on my radar for that budget.
 
Printing A2 max (I have my own workflow and an Epson 3880)

Yeah, unless the price drops by July - the 645Z is gonna be out of my price range plain and simple.

Looking at the D800E, I could get one, a 14-24 and a 70-200 (I like telephoto landscapes) and still be way within budget, if I went with a standard 645D I'd only be able to afford one lens... and probably not really tell the difference?

DECISIONS DECISIONS...
 
Printing at A2 you could use a £300 Sigma DP2 Merrill and struggle to tell the difference. I use the D800 with some nice primes and zooms and it is a very capable camera and at A2 you would struggle to tell the difference. For my money it has killed off the lower end digital medium format market.
 
lol

I just looked at some sample shots of the Sigma DP2 and they're awful, looks like a watercolour painting, the resolution in terms of image size is obviously there - but the images themselves look like decent phone camera quality to me.

I'll hold out for a few months and see where I end up, the one thing that's bugging me is the aspect ratio of MF - is similar to what I'm already shooting (5x4) which isn't as wide as 35mm, I prefer the squarer format..
 
I'm not convinced at all, especially reading people who are complaining that it isn't very good in low light situations, or where a wide exposure latitude is required - which is pretty much 100% the conditions I operate in,

I dare say in some situations, you'd struggle to tell the difference between a D800 and pretty much *any* point and shoot, but I'd argue that in difficult conditions with especially challenging light (especially landscapes) It'd be left wanting,
 
Yeah avoid the Sigma's they're okay for the price (sort of) but they have far too many compromises, they're basically an experimental technology and they're basically as bad as CCD with high-ISO stuff. If you're printing A2 a D800E is my recommendation all day every day.

EDIT: That said if you honestly think that a D800E would be indiscernible from a point and shoot in the right light I have to question if it's really wise to be spending several thousand pounds on camera gear...
 
Last edited:
V-Spec said:
Printing A2 max (I have my own workflow and an Epson 3880)

Yeah, unless the price drops by July - the 645Z is gonna be out of my price range plain and simple.

Looking at the D800E, I could get one, a 14-24 and a 70-200 (I like telephoto landscapes) and still be way within budget, if I went with a standard 645D I'd only be able to afford one lens... and probably not really tell the difference?

DECISIONS DECISIONS...
Click to expand...

At A2 print sizes you would never tell the difference between a D800 and MFD.
 
What are you shooting and what ISO are you likely shooting at? If you are printing A2 then you could shoot with almost any DSLR and save a load of money. I've got the Sigma DP2M and the D800 with some of the best lenses you can get and the Sigma files are excellent. I wouldn't use it for high ISO, but I wouldn't use a P65+ or IQ280 for high ISO either.
 
D.P. said:
At A2 print sizes you would never tell the difference between a D800 and MFD.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I think my mind is made tbh... going MFD just doesn't seem to make sense, considering I could also get back to doing wildlife with a D800E,
 
V-Spec said:
Yeah, I think my mind is made tbh... going MFD just doesn't seem to make sense, considering I could also get back to doing wildlife with a D800E,
Click to expand...

And that is really where the D800 shines, not alonely is it formidably for landscape work but the relatively high pixel density and 35mm sensor means that it works great for wildlife. So it is the ultimate nature camera, capable of easily swapping between both wide and super-tele setups with ease. And you don't pay much of a price for th high resolution, the high ISO capabilities is still top of the class. The only thing it doesn't shine at is high speed sport because of the more limited buffer, the D4 (or canon 1DX) are aimed at the sports market.
 
The fps makes it a bit of a pain for wildlife or sports, but on a tripod or in a studio it really shines. The crop mode is good for wildlife where reach is king, although the D7100 is even better in that respect if you are really into wildlife shooting. Can't go wrong with a D800E really.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom