Nikon D800 Hands-On

The Nikon D800 is a full-frame 36 Megapixel DSLR with Full HD video capabilities. Announced in February 2012, it arrives three and a half years after the D700, Nikon's first 'affordable' full-frame DSLR. Three and a half years is a long time in the digital camera industry and to describe the D800 merely as highly-anticipated feels like an injustice. This is a camera which many people have been waiting a very long time for and Nikon has pulled-out all the stops.
The D800 features a brand new 36 Megapixel full-frame FX-format sensor, which makes it the highest resolution camera outside of the medium format world. That's one third more than Nikon's previous flagship, the D3x, more than a third higher than Canon's EOS 5D Mark III, and a whopping three times more than the D700. I'll go into much more detail later, but anyone with concerns over noise should find it reassuring the D800 shares essentially the same pixel density as the D7000 which bodes well for quality and dynamic range.

Design and Controls

 

Three and a half years may have passed between the D800 and its predecessor, but at first glance they look pretty similar from the outside with only the curvier sloping shoulders of the new model giving the game away. Nikon quotes the D800 as sharing the same degree of toughness and weatherproofing as the D700, although in a nice upgrade the D800 now enjoys 100% coverage from its optical viewfinder compared to 95% on its predecessor.
 

Measuring 145x122x81mm, the D800 shares essentially the same dimensions as the 147x123x77mm of the D700, but is 95g lighter for the body alone. Compared to the Canon EOS 5D Mark III, the D800 is 7mm narrower from the front, but 5mm taller and 5mm thicker, and 50g heavier including battery. Handle both bodies in person though and it's fair to say their size and weight are roughly the same. Once a lens is mounted it'll have a much greater influence over the overall size and weight.

In your hands the D800, like all higher-end Nikon bodies, feels superb. Years of refining the ergonomics has resulted in a body which feels very comfortable and secure with all the controls falling naturally under your fingers and thumbs. As always Nikon has implemented a hooked inner area on the grip for your fingertips which improves your hold, although I should note the rear thumb rest isn't as pronounced as that on the EOS 5D Mark III. Overall I actually found the Mark III felt a little better in my own hands, but it's a highly personal choice and I can't fault either of them on design and ergonomics.

Features

 

In terms of side-connectivity, the D800 features USB, HDMI and two 3.5mm audio jacks, one for external microphones and the other for headphones, the latter a nice update for videographers which the EOS 5D Mark III also shares. Note unlike the Mark III though, the D800's USB port supports USB 3 for potentially quicker transfer of data when directly connected to a computer which sports a USB 3 port and OS compatibility (although I only had a computer with USB 2 at the time of testing so can't speak of any benefits). And in a move which will make Mark III videographers jealous, the D800's HDMI port will also output a clean uncompressed signal (8 bit, 4:2:2), allowing you to connect a larger and more detailed monitor, or capture the feed with a higher quality external recorder.

 

The uncompressed HDMI output is inherited from the D4 alongside its microphone socket and headphone jack, all very welcome enhancements. The D4 does however feature a wired Ethernet port that's absent on the D800. For completeness I should also mention the D800 is lacking its predecessor's DC input, so for mains operation you'll need to go via the battery compartment with the optional EP-5B.

Round the front of the camera to the non-grip side of the lens mount you'll find two more connectors: a standard PC-sync terminal for connecting external lights and Nikon's ten-pin remote socket where you can connect a cable release or GPS accessory.

In another welcome upgrade over the D700, the D800 sports not one but two memory cards slots: one for CF cards and the other for SD, and it's possible to configure the camera to record duplicate files to both cards, JPEGs to one and RAWs to the other, or images to one and movies to the other. The D800 also exploits the speed of the UDMA-7 Compact Flash and UHS-1 SD standards. The D4 also offers dual card slots, but instead of traditional Compact Flash, it supports the new XQD format. It's always nice to support the latest standards, but by equipping the D800 with both CF and SD slots, it will support your existing cards regardless of which Nikon (or indeed Canon) model you're upgrading from.

Screens

Round the back, the D800 sports the same 3.2in / 920k screen as the D4; both are larger than the 3in screen on the D700, although the resolution and 4:3 aspect ratio remain the same. This means images in the native 3:2 aspect ratio are shifted to the top of the screen, leaving a black bar along the bottom for shooting information. On the one hand it's nice to have this separation of information, but it's worth noting Canon has been employing wider 3:2 shaped screens on its recent DSLRs - including the EOS 5D Mark III - which match the native shape of their images. This means images fill the Canon screens and maximise all the available 1040k pixel resolution, while 16:9 movies will appear larger and more detailed too.

 Entering Live View is very simple on the D800: just turn the switch on the rear of the body to the camera icon then press the LV button in the middle. Then with Live View active you can focus by either half-pressing the shutter release or pushing the AF-ON button. Like earlier Nikon DSLRs there's two Live View focusing modes, AF-S Single AF or AF-F Full-time servo AF. The latter attempts to focus continuously on the selected AF area, but like AF-F in the movie mode you may find it spends more time searching than actually tracking; indeed if you're anything like me you'll turn it off straightaway.

Sample Images

 

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