Nikon has just announced an upgrade to their excellent but aging 12 megapixel Nikon D700 full frame dSLR.
After several years of not challenging the 20 megapixel Canon 5D Mark II on resolution and price, they have finally produced a comparable camera, the Nikon D800, with a class leading 36 megapixels.
Brief over view of the Nikon D800:
- 36 megapixels full frame sensor
- 15mp DX 1.5x crop mode when using DX lenses
- 1.2x crop mode
- 91,000-pixel 3D Color Matrix Metering III System
- Advanced Scene Recognition System
- improved 51-point AF system (15 cross-type AF sensors, 9 of which are active with lenses up to f/8) with face detection in OVF mode
- EXPEED 3™ image processing engine
- native ISO range of 100-6400, expandable to 50-25,600
- in-camera High Dynamic Range (HDR) image capture
- access to Picture Control presets via a dedicated button on the back of the body
- weathersealed, USB 3.0, CF and SD card slots, intervalometer, optional GPS, 900g
- 921,000-dot, 3.2-inch fixed LCD monitor without touch
- flash sync 1/250th sec
- shutter speed 30sec – 1/8000th sec
- popup flash GN 12m at ISO 100
- AE bracketing only up to 1EV steps which could be limiting for the HDR types out there.
- 4 frames per second (fps) in FX mode at full resolution; 6 fps in DX mode using the optional MB-D12 Battery Pack;
- 1080 30/24p and 720 60/30p HD video with full manual control, uncompressed HDMI output (8 bit, 4:2:2), B-frame compression H.264/MPEG-4 AVC, mono mic, dedicated headphone jack for accurate monitoring of audio levels while recording. Audio output levels can be adjusted with 30 steps for precise audio adjustment and monitoring. Stereo mic jack can also be adjusted with up to 20 steps of sensitivity. Video recording can be set to be activated through the shutter button, opening a world of remote applications through the 10-pin accessory terminal.
- RRP $2995
There is also a Nikon D800E with identical features but without an anti-alias filter which comes in at $300 more.
There is much to like about the Nikon D800E, and studio/landscape photographers are likely to love it, but 36mp may be too much for most enthusiasts.
Now let’s see what Canon do with their soon to be announced Canon 5D Mark III.
