[Review] Nikon D800

Hold in your hands an HD-DSLR able to capture images rivaled only by that produced by a medium-format camera: extremely low noise, incredible dynamic range, the most faithful colors, the broadest tonal range. Meet the Nikon D800, a 36.3 megapixel FX-format D-SLR for professional photographers who require end results of the highest quality; who demand superior performance, speed, handling and a fully integrated imaging system. For multimedia professionals, 36.3MP means true 1080p HD cinematic quality video. The essential tool for today’s still and video professional, every photo will astound, every video will dazzle.

Explore creative opportunities with ISO 100 to 6,400 (expanded up to 25,600) — shoot from dawn to dusk. Experience Nikon's new Advanced Scene Recognition System featuring a 91,000-pixel RGB light meter capable of rendering unprecedented levels of accuracy to AF, AE, i-TTL flash control, face recognition and auto white balance. Nikon's new EXPEED 3 image processing reduces color phase shifts seen with lesser systems, producing more faithful colors and tones while managing massive amounts of data at breakthrough speed.

Every Nikon DSLR camera uses an Optical Low Pass Filter (OLPF) in front of its sensor to slightly blur the image at a pixel level in order to reduce the occurrence of false colors and moire that can appear when shooting repetitive and/or fine patterns. For the vast majority of photographers, the D800 provides an ideal balance between sharpness and effectively prevented false color, ideal for shooting using all file formats.

Filmmakers, multimedia professionals and event photographers—record Full HD 1080p at 30/25/24p or 720p at 60/50p in AVC-HD format. Produce to your exacting vision when working in manual mode, controlling aperture, ISO, AF and shutter speed. Record uncompressed files via HDMI to an external recording device via HDMI. Widen production perspective using either Nikon FX or DX lens formats at Full HD 1080p and 16:9 aspect ratio. Attach headphones and check audio levels or monitor input via peak audio meters as displayed on the camera's LCD monitor. Microphone sensitivity can be adjusted in up to 20 steps. Simultaneously Live View footage on the camera's LCD monitor and external monitor during recording are possible.

A streamlined ergonomic body allows critical photography and video tasks, including Movie Record, Live View, White Balance and Picture Control to be performed at the touch of a button. Confirm image capture and view menu options, histograms, video settings and more using the D800's super sharp 3.2-inch 921,000-dot LCD screen with 100% coverage. Anti-glare coating and auto brightness control ease of viewing, no matter the environment. Enlarge images up to 46x for on-the-spot focus confirmation. Magnesium alloy construction and environmental sealing make the D800 as comfortable in the field as in the studio.

Precise AF detection is critical to sharply render every pixel of the D800's massive resolution count. An improved 51- point AF system with 15 Cross Type AF sensors, versatile AF area modes and superb AF detection in even the dimmest lighting deliver immediate, pinpoint focus. Fast shot-to-shot time, full resolution frame rate up to 4 fps, 6 fps in DX crop mode using MB-D12 Multi-Power Battery Pack and ultra fast CF and SD card write times. For more productive workflow, high-speed data transfer using USB 3.0 is realized.

QUICK PREVIEW

• Extreme resolution 36.3-megapixel FX-format (35.9 x 24.0mm) CMOS sensor
• Full 1080p HD broadcast quality video and minimized rolling shutter
• View simultaneous Live View output on external monitors and record uncompressed video via HDMI terminal
• Multi-Area Full HD D-Movie Video Recording Mode
• Comprehensive high fidelity audio recording and playback control

Nikon D800
Reviewed by Garg Ankit Rating: 5.0