D800e Questions

Skynet-T800 · 23 Mar 2013 at 23:11

Just curious!

Would DX mode on the D800e be as good as say the D7000?

Can the resolution be lowered (quality) if FX mode?

How does video work filesize using 36mp? again does it lower it to 1080p?

HDR mode anybody tried it?

Thinking of getting one and selling the D700!

Would adding the grip give any more FPS?

Cheers Paul

King Damager · 23 Mar 2013 at 23:16

Why would you buy a d800e and use HDR mode....

An Exception has two I believe.

kd

Skynet-T800 · 23 Mar 2013 at 23:19

King Damager said:
Why would you buy a d800e and use HDR mode....

An Exception has two I believe.

kd

Just curious thats all, does it do a half decent job?

I'm suprised its even in there tbh.

An Exception · 23 Mar 2013 at 23:25

Skynet-T800 said:
Just curious!

Would DX mode on the D800e be as good as say the D7000?

D800E has no AA filter, thus it would be better 99% of the time.

Skynet-T800 said:
Can the resolution be lowered (quality) if FX mode?

No, although you can import the files as 36mp adobe raws (DNG) and they are only around 12mb. Or you can import them at lower resolutions like 20mp or 10mp and file sizes are less than JPG while still retaining IQ of a NEF.

Skynet-T800 said:
How does video work filesize using 36mp? again does it lower it to 1080p?

It lowers the res to 1080p. It does this by skipping lines off the sensor. While this delivers sharp video, it also mean ISO isn't as good in video as the 5D3 and moire could be more of an issue (been fine with me so far though).

Skynet-T800 said:
HDR mode anybody tried it?

Not tried it, tbh it's better to do it with raw files, but as the dynamic range is immense, you can achieve a HDR with a single exposure.

Skynet-T800 said:
Thinking of getting one and selling the D700!

Would adding the grip give any more FPS?

Cheers Paul

Yes, but only in one of the crop modes, I think max FPS goes to 6 FPS.

xaldub · 23 Mar 2013 at 23:28

Yes, you can use the D800E in DX mode ... and it will give you nearly the same resolution as a D7000. The image from the D800E is of better quality.

You have three choices : shoot in FX, 1.2 x crop mode or DX mode. Personally I don't bother with the latter two - I'll just downsize the images in post if I need to.

With regards video - yes, the output is scaled to 1080p ( or some other lower resolution if you want ).

As for HDR mode, not tried it .... and don't plan to either. More a gimmick than of any real use. If you shoot the D800E ( or D800 ) at ISO100 it has phenomenal dynamic range - you'll wonder if you even need HDR !

Shooting in DX crop grabs you an extra FPS ( to 5 from 4 ). If you add a grip you can get up to 6 fps.

An Exception · 23 Mar 2013 at 23:48

Here is a sample you can do an HDR with. It's over a 2 minute exposure so there might be a little more noise than usual.
Sample File

An Exception · 24 Mar 2013 at 00:08

Here is another one but with a more reasonable exposure time.
Sample

Skynet-T800 · 24 Mar 2013 at 23:07

Cheers for the info & pics.

Looks an epic camera.

How is live view on it also compared to D700? I found the D7000 better to use in live view than the D700.

Ksanti · 25 Mar 2013 at 00:47

The D800's live view is much better than the D700, and is easily on par with any other Nikon camera. It's a much more thought through addition and is a genuine feature of the camera depending on your usage, rather than the afterthought that it was on the earlier Nikon full frame bodies.

That said, I do have to ask, why do you want to move? A lot of these questions seem to be ones that could be answered by a quick google search of any relevant info sources that most would be D800 owners would know and probably frequent, or ones that should really only concern a fairly inexperienced user. I'm still unsure if you're using the D700 or the D7000 as you seem to flip between the two an awful lot.

An Exception · 25 Mar 2013 at 07:30

He had a D7000, then upgraded to a D700 a few months before the D800E was released.
If I remember correctly, he felt 16mp was too much, and 12mp would be plenty.

olv · 25 Mar 2013 at 10:20

That dynamic range is amazing. Is that the result of simply upping the 'fill light' or would you increase the exposure for the rocks, export it and then blend the two?

An Exception · 25 Mar 2013 at 10:30

Just lifted fill light in LR4. Sometimes I use the gradient tool for the sky to create the same effect as an ND grad.
However ND grads as well as multiple exposures don't work so well if the horizon isn't strait, as in this case it would also lower the exposure of the rocks. With multiple exposures you could mask a layer and paint it in, but that's a pita.

Skynet-T800 · 25 Mar 2013 at 11:13

Tbh I was always going to get a d800 at some point. I got the d700 because I couldn't wait (my downfall in life) anyways I'm always trying to learn and asking questions here is great. Just after general feedback of features.

Some things I like better on various cameras and I can only go off what I've used.

I'd love to get into wedding photography and various other bits.
12mp is still enough but I'm accepting the fact nikon are pushing the mp count for whatever reason so ill just have to get used to the larger filesizes. Tbh thinking about it the amount you can crop must help when your out of reach or in a bad position!

The dynamic range is looking good with the amount of detail you can pull back!