Off to buy a secondhand D800, what to watch out for?

Soldato
Joined
10 Mar 2006
Posts
3,975
As title really. Going to meet a guy tonight to buy a D800. £1100, 18k clicks, as new condition. I can't verify the shutter count In camera which is a little annoying, so will have to make a judgement on that, but what else should I look out for?

Dead pixels (how?)
AAuto focus
SSensor cleanliness

What else?
 
Thanks for the help. I'm on my way now. I don't have a laptop I can take with me, so will have to trust his word. He himself said to bring a laptop along to check for myself, so I'm inclined to believe him. He sounds genuine from his texts, if that makes sense.

I don't have a CF card but I've brought along an Sd card to check the photos. Hopefully it will be fine...!
 
Yeah, I didn't realise it only had one Sd card slot, I assumed it had two Sd card slots and a CF slot. Will have to investigate that further.

Camera seems to be in perfect condition, he bought it second hand himself and then sold it to me after only three weeks of ownership. Needed the resolution for a wedding, a specific requirement laid out by the customer - assume it was the resolution as he didn't say exactly what it was. Uses D3's himself.

The shutter seems fine but it does seem aggressive. Is that normal? That kind of 'slap' I think I've read about. I can feel the camera shake as the shutter flicks, but I'm probably just looking for faults. He's an obsessive photographer, so I believe in him that I shouldn't experience any faults with it.
 
Last edited:
I've got a D600 so the mirror I'm guessing is the same size, but the force with which it comes down is much less than the D800. Surprisingly so! I can hear a spring ring out once it's gone down, do you get that? I'm sure it's fine, it just sounds extremely fast and less deadened.
 
I don't find the shutter that loud, slightly more than my D90, and a clean sound.
I think the mirror in the D800 is larger than in the D600.

Anyway if you are not sure I would go and try a D800 in a shop and see how it compares.

It's very clean, a very sharp sound. A quick Google shows that others have experienced the same. Hopefully it's not knackered, I'll just live with it until it dies if so.

No I don't get a spring ring sound.

You can kinda hear it here, if you turn it up loud enough.

 
Back
Top Bottom