Image Quality

Specifications Page 6
Conclusion

Image Quality

All of the sample images in this Review were taken using the 36 megapixel Fine JPEG setting, which gives an average image size of around 15Mb.

At full resolution, the Nikon D800 produces images of 7360x4912 pixels, which yield sharp 24”x16” prints at 300ppi with no interpolation. The level of detail captured is stunning and comparable to many medium-format digital cameras and backs. However, there is more to the Nikon D800's image quality than pure resolution. The photos, especially those shot in NEF format, also have great dynamic range and generally low levels of noise.

When scrutinised up close at 1:1 view, they may seem noisier than most other full-frame DSLRs, especially at ISO 6400 and beyond, but given the insanely high levels of detail captured you can apply quite a bit of noise reduction to them and still walk away with a sharper and more detailed final image than if you had used a cleaner but lower-resolution photograph to begin with. Thus noise really only becomes a problem when shooting at high ISO settings in in DX crop mode, and even then it's comparable to what you've been used to seeing from top-of-the line 16-megapixel APS-C dSLRs.

Nikon's Active D-lighting and HDR technologies work well in contrasty light, the built-in flash produces even exposures with no detectable red-eye, and the camera is also very well suited to night photography and long exposures in general.

Noise

The base sensitivity of the Nikon D800 is ISO 100 but you can go down to ISO 50 (L1.0) if you wish. At the other end of the scale, the highest native sensitivity of the Nikon D800 is ISO 6400 but two boosted settings, ISO 12,800 and ISO 25,600, are also available.

JPEG	RAW
LO 1EV (ISO 50) (100% Crop)	LO 1EV (ISO 50) (100% Crop)
ISO 100 (100% Crop)	ISO 100 (100% Crop)
ISO 200 (100% Crop)	ISO 200 (100% Crop)
ISO 400 (100% Crop)	ISO 400 (100% Crop)
ISO 800 (100% Crop)	ISO 800 (100% Crop)
ISO 1600 (100% Crop)	ISO 1600 (100% Crop)
ISO 3200 (100% Crop)	ISO 3200 (100% Crop)
ISO 6400 (100% Crop)	ISO 6400 (100% Crop)
HI 1EV (ISO 12800) (100% Crop)	HI 1EV (ISO 12800) (100% Crop)
HI 2EV (ISO 25600) (100% Crop)	HI 2EV (ISO 25600) (100% Crop)

Sharpening

The out-of-camera JPEGs often benefit from some sharpening in a program like Adobe Photoshop. Alternatively you can change the in-camera sharpening level to suit your tastes. Here are two pairs of 100% crops - the right-hand images have had some extra sharpening applied.

Original (100% Crop)	Sharpened (100% Crop)

File Quality

The file quality settings available on the Nikon D800 include Basic, Normal and Fine for JPEGs, and the camera can also shoot 12- or 14-bit NEFs (Nikon's proprietary raw file format) and 8-bit TIFFs.

Fine (100% Crop)	Normal (100% Crop)
Basic (100% Crop)	Raw (100% Crop)
Tiff (100% Crop)

Flash

Unlike its main competitor the Canon EOS 5D Mark III, the Nikon D800 features a pop-up flash, with a guide number of 12 in metres at ISO 100. This little on-board Speedlight has a number of functions including front- and rear-curtain sync, red-eye reduction, i-TTL, Manual and Repeating Flash. Additionally, it can act as a trigger for up to two groups of wirelessly slaved system flashes, alleviating the need to buy an SU-800 commander unit or use a more expensive flashgun as the master. As the shots below demonstrate, red-eye isn't a common problem with the built-in flash even if you don't use red-eye reduction.

Flash On	Flash On (100% Crop)
Flash - Red-Eye Reduction	Flash - Red-Eye Reduction (100% Crop)

Night Shot

The Nikon D800 lets you dial in shutter speeds of up to 30 seconds and has a Bulb mode as well for exposure times of practically any length, which is very good news if you are seriously interested in night photography. There is an optional long-exposure noise reduction function that can be activated to filter out any hot pixels that may appear when extremely slow shutter speeds are used, though I found no need for this when taking the photograph below at a shutter speed of 30 seconds, aperture of f/11 at ISO 100. We've included a 100% crop for you to see what the quality is like.

Night Shot	Night Shot (100% Crop)

Active D-lighting (ADL)

D-lighting is Nikon's dynamic range optimisation tool that attempts to squeeze  the full dynamic range of the sensor into JPEGs. Active D-lighting works “on the fly”, before the in-camera processing engine converts the raw image data into JPEGs. The available settings are Off, Low, Normal, High and Extra High.

Off	Low
Normal	High
Extra High

 

HDR Capture

New to the Nikon D800 is the ability to shoot two differently exposed images in rapid succession, which are then blended in-camera to form a single, high-dynamic-range image. The exposure differential can be 1, 2 or 3EV, and you can choose from three different levels of smoothing (low, normal and high; with normal and high producing  more realistic results than the low setting). Note that this feature is only available when shooting JPEG.

Off	Low
Normal	High

Picture Controls

Nikon's Picture Controls are akin to Canon's Picture Styles in being preset combinations of sharpening, contrast, brightness, saturation and hue. The Nikon D800 offers all four Picture Controls that were present in the D700, namely Standard, Neutral, Monochrome and Vivid, and adds Portrait and Landscape to the list of available options. All Picture Controls can be tweaked to your liking, then saved and transferred to other cameras. New to the Nikon D800 is a dedicated quick-access button that takes you directly to the picture controls menu - if you use these profiles often, you will appreciate this improvement over the D700.

Standard	Neutral
Portrait	Vivid
Landscape	Monochrome

Crop Modes

The Nikon D800 is an FX camera but it can also shoot in one of three crop modes, including a 25-megapixel “1.2x crop mode”, a 15-megapixel “DX crop mode” and a special, 30-megapixel “5:4 mode” that uses the full height of the sensor but trims the sides. The boundaries of the cropped areas are denoted with thin black lines in the viewfinder, which otherwise continues to show the full FX view, allowing you to see what's happening outside the cropped frame - perfect for sports and action shooting. Using one of the crop modes carries the added benefit of a slightly faster maximum frame rate of 5fps, which can even be raised to 6fps when using the optional MB-D12 battery grip and shooting in DX mode.

FX	5:4
1.2x	DX

Sample Images

This is a selection of sample images from the Nikon D800 camera, which were all taken using the 36 megapixel Fine JPEG setting. The thumbnails below link to the full-sized versions, which have not been altered in any way.

Sample RAW Images

The Nikon D800 enables users to capture RAW and JPEG format files. We've provided some Nikon RAW (NEF) samples for you to download (thumbnail images shown below are not 100% representative).

Sample Movie & Video

Product Images

Front of the Camera

Isometric View

Isometric View

Isometric View

Rear of the Camera / Image Displayed

Rear of the Camera / Main Menu

Rear of the Camera / Info Screen

Top of the Camera

Bottom of the Camera

Side of the Camera

Side of the Camera

Side of the Camera

Front of the Camera

Memory Card Slot

Battery Compartment

Conclusion

The Nikon D700 has been a hot seller ever since it was introduced back in the summer of 2008. It had a great sensor, a robust but relatively lightweight body and a comprehensive feature set, and was sold at a price that many thought was reasonable for all the goodness it offered. Yet after 3.5 years it was admittedly a bit long in the tooth, and by not offering a higher-resolution successor at an affordable price, Nikon was increasingly at risk of losing its full-frame user base, particularly as rivals Sony and Canon have been marketing competitive 20+ megapixel cameras for quite a long time. With the introduction of the 36-megapixel D800, Nikon is obviously targeting users who have been looking at high-resolution alternatives to their aging D700s, as well as users of other brands who might feel the extra resolution and compelling feature set may be worth the trouble to switch - or switch back - to Nikon.

On the resolution front, the Nikon D800 delivers images with a truly stunning amount of detail, comparable to what you can achieve with a number of medium-format digital cameras and backs. The 7360×4912-pixel photographs print to 24”x16” (60×40cm) size at industry-standard 300ppi with no interpolation required, which also means they are ideal for double-page spreads in a large-format 12”x12” photo book. Additionally, they offer a lot of leeway for cropping. The extremely high levels of detail captured also means the files respond very well to noise reduction, often allowing you to walk away with a sharper and more detailed final image than if you had used a cleaner but lower-resolution photograph to begin with. Raw dynamic range, tonality etc. are also excellent; just what you'd expect from a top-of-the-line camera in 2012.

In actual use, the Nikon D800 is a fantastic tool that seldom disappoints - the biggest quibbles you are likely to have with it, especially if coming from a D700, D300 or D300S, concern interface changes such as the swapping of the zoom buttons, the disappearance of the physical AF Area selector or the repositioning of the Mode button. Otherwise the Nikon D800 is a highly dependable and capable camera that offers a versatile and improved auto focus system, an enhanced viewfinder with 100% frame coverage and a very good movie mode. The maximum frame rate of 4fps in FX mode might seem a tad low but if you remember that we're talking about images that compare favourably to medium-format cameras that shoot at 1-1.5fps at most, you'll probably agree that it's actually a very high shooting speed for a camera that specialises in resolution, first and foremost.

At £2499.00 / $2,999.95, the Nikon D800 is not a cheap camera - especially in the UK where it costs £500 more than the Nikon D700 did at launch - but is still quite a bit cheaper than its most obvious competitor the Canon EOS 5D Mark III.

Ratings (out of 5)
Design	4.5
Features	5
Ease-of-use	4
Image quality	5
Value for money	4

Review Roundup

Reviews of the Nikon D800 from around the web.

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