Nikon D800 36.3 MP CMOS FX-Format Digital SLR Camera (Body Only) (OLD MODEL)

Purchased preowned via Amazon fulfillment and could not be happier! Amazing saving to new item, I did homework and found this unit had only 35,000 shutter counts, about 17% of the standard expected. It arrived packaged professionally, no issues what so ever when putting it through its paces. The 36mp camera has 50% more than my d750 and the image quality especially as a landscape photographer is night and day! Yes I took a step back giving up wifi ability, however the amazing picture quality more than makes up for this minor inconvenience. I would encourage you to look at any preowned items that are offered through Amazon fulfillment, this still gives piece of mind if there is an issue, however this is the 3rd camera and/or lens I have purchased this way saving myself literally thousands of dollars, allowing me to expand my lens collection. The files are huge, however it allows for cropping if needed, without loosing detail or the ability to still create larger prints. Do your due diligence and there are amazing deals to be had! It is the perfect way to step up to a camera that otherwise would have been out of my reach financially.

Show more

So far so good. Have owned a a couple of cameras and have progressivley upgraded as my skills have improved. This is defintitely not your grandpas camera and not one to buy if this is going to be your first DSLR. Even after mastering the D610 the D800 still presents a bit of a learning curve, albeit an enjoyable one. The extremely high resolution requires one to be skillful and steady and to master all the technical aspects of the camera, else your picutres will look much worse than even those from an iphone. The build is very solid and has a professional feel to it. Many of the functions for which you would have to burrow through menus are right there on convenient buttons the D800 eg. ISO and bracketing. It is not a speed demon and is average at best for sports and action however and you would defintely need the battery grip as well the CF card for added performance (my next purchases). I am mostly a stills person and therefore I love the dreamy yet sutnningly realistic quality of the photos from the D800 so far and it is going to be my main camera for at least the next two years.

Show more

Writing review as a former d200 then d300 and now d800 user. I have been using the d800 for several months now with a variety of lenses in a range of shooting situations. I use the camera for a mix of professional work which includes portraits and product stills, and for fun. Controls: I upgraded from my d300 because I dropped it and the flash was no longer working. The transition has been relatively smooth although I do find that I have had to relearn and remap a few of the controls. The switching of the + and - zoom controls still gets me, and I do miss the old auto focus mode selector that used to be on the back of my d300. I like having the bracketing button in easy access have it set to easily shoot in camera HDRs. Overall I find the control layout an improvement from the d300 especially the one touch live view button, and simple toggle between AF and MF. Using DX lenses: I still use my 17-55 DX lens with the d800 and right now am very happy with the results. I have my custom button set to switch between FX, 1.2x, and DX crop modes which is a lifesaver when using my old 17-55. Past its widest settings I like to use this lens in the 1.2x crop mode to get nice detailed 25mp images without too much vignetting. I have a 27" imac an on this size screen I cannot tell the difference between a 15mp dx cropped image and a 36mp full frame image but for large prints it may make a difference. One thing I do love about shooting the full 36mp resolution however is penalty free cropping. I had to be careful on my 12mp d300 about not cropping to much and loosing image quality but now I will crop out half of a 36mp file still be floored by the amout of detail. Overall I see no problem with using my DX lenses with the new camera and actually enjoy the added flexibility and creative potential they provide. I sometimes enjoy the circular image the 17-55 creates at its widest setting at the FX crop. ISO: Based solely on my observations I would say the d800 gains about 2 2/3 stops in ISO quality. Before, I would shoot my d300 up to ISO 400 and be completely satisfied with noise, dynamic range, and color quality. With the d800 I can now bump up to ISO 2500 and be completely satisfied with image quality. In low light situations I find bumping the d800 to ISO 5000 is about as high as I am willing to go before the image quality starts to degrade significantly. Auto ISO works much better and is easier to setup. RAW vs JPEG: I like to shoot RAW + JPEG and find that most of the time I am happy with the JPEG. Reading reviews I thought that RAW would provide a HUGE headroom in the shadows and while I find there is a good amount of data in the shadows I would say no more than a stop. Files are very detail but you can definitely see the effects of the anti aliasing filter and sometimes I wish I had sprung for the d800E. By default RAW images are not especially sharp and I almost always need to bump up the sharpness in software. On a positive note in the thousands of pictures I have shot I have yet to see moire. Metering: I find that the metering is much better on the d800 than d300. I rarely switch away from multizone metering as it is just very good at figuring out the scene and I dont have to use a lot of exposure compensation either. Live view: Live view is a VAST improvement from the d300 which was almost unusable. Having a button to quickly pull up live veiw is great! Although live view focusing still leaves quite a bit to be desired it will eventually find focus in most lighting situations. Auto focus: About the same as the d300. Fast and dependable as long as you can find a point with good contrast to lock onto. Overall: I am very happy with my d800 purchase. I recently purchased the 50mm 1.8 and have been using this for shallow depth of field and low light shots and think the color quality and sharpness of this combination is just outstanding. If I could think of a complaint I would say the Live View focusing could be better, and the battery life is not quite as good as my old d300 which was just insane. The build quality is also just a tiny notch below the d300 but overall feels very professional. The rear screen on the d800 is great and I have not had any color tint problems. The left focus problems that have plagued so many other users has not been an issue for me. I would say everything about the d800s image quality is a step better than the d300 and the main thing it has been doing for me is allowing me to shoot more freely. I shoot looser crops because I know I can always crop in without losing quality, and I rarely worry about how high I have take my ISO which used to be a constant worry with the d300. I debated for a long time which camera would suit be best as an upgrade for my d300. I went between waiting for a d300 successor, getting a used d700, slimming down with an OMD-E5, buying a d600 or going for the d800. A direct d300 successor would have been nice but the added depth of field with full frame was a big decider for me as I shoot a lot of portraits. The OMD would be great but I am already pretty heavily invested in Nikon glass and was not ready to compromise on low light image quality. For me the d600 was just to plasticy and I was not happy with the control setup. In the end I am very happy with my decision although every once and a while when I am shooting landscapes I wish I had gone for the d800e.

Show more

This camera is great for low light and with a 36.3 mega pixel was ideal for me since I print 2 out 5 images on hard copy at poster size. The majority of my photography is shot when I travel, night time city scenes. Nikon has the power house cameras. You can not cheat when it comes to photography, people will claim DSLRs are a dying breed but these people never learned how to operate a "real" camera. The sensor cell in FX cameras are about as big a 35 mm film slide. Trying to jam 24 mega pixels in a tiny phone camera or point and shoot camera and you get a horrible image quality.

Show more

This is a phenomenal camera. I have owned it for about 3 years now. I dont find it too heavy or too light. The weight is just right. There are a lot of things to love about this camera, but the two things that really amazes me are: A) The cropping ability. You can take a photo of a persons face, crop the photo to just the eye, and still have a lot of resolution left over for a good print. B) Shadow recovery. If you take a photo, and under expose too much, you can get an enormous amount of detail back, in post work, on the RAW file, in order to make the photo look like it was taken with the right exposure. These two features beat any problems this camera may, perceivably, have I highly recommend buying this camera.

Show more

If you are interested in this camera you have probably read a lot of reviews on Amazon as well as DP reviews and Ken Rockwell. My 2 cents as a pro photographer this camera gives me full frame with a good number of pixels, sharp resolution from the sensor and the processor. Its a sturdy camera with a lot more features than anybody needs, but has most everything one person would need, as well as other features the next person would need. Remember Images also depend on optics, so I use the best Nikkors available. Im not rich or famous by my clients like my work and pay me good money for my images. Nikon takes care of the technical and I take care of the content. ( started with my first Nikon F in 1968) Yes Im and oldster. Great way to go if you dont want to spend 5 grand for a body.

Show more

I have always loved Nikons and I always will. If you are looking for a camera that will take amazing pictures, then this is the one. Sure its not the D810, but save yourself some dollars and sacrifice a few new features with the D810 and get the D800. You will be absolutely amazed by the quality and sharpness of the image. I thought I was doing good with my old D80 and D3000, but this will take your photo taking to a new level. I highly recommend this product as well as the seller, I got the product very quickly and in excellent condition. A++++++++++++

Show more

Amazon says I purchased this in Feb of 2012. I was out of the country when it arrived and I didnt begin to use it until mid May of 2012--still that means Ive been using it for about 19 months! Ive owned several film cameras, then the Nikon D50, D80, D90, D7000, and now this D800. I believe this is the best there is (in 35mm) for portraits and landscapes. The RAW files are large and they do tax my laptop but I have a 128G SD card and a 32G CF card so even at RAW+JPEG I have room for over 1500 shots in camera. I do wish it had user modes like the D610, D600, D7100, and D7000...I consider the "shooting banks useless, but for me the image quality is what matters most. Also, Compared to those cameras the D800 has much better bracketing too...3,5,7 or 9 shots vs just 2 or 3. ~Mark

Show more

I upload a 400 page user guide and purchased the Darrell Young Mastering the Nikon D800 book, so I am still just learning. It is quite complicated from the N70 I had with so many options, but all that is good. I have Adobe Photo Shop elements and that allows me to make corrections. I want to some day take good enough photos from the start without having to manipulate so much if any. I paired the camera with a new Nikon 28-300 mm lens so I dont have to carry extra lens, combined it is heavy so I ordered a camera backpack. I like to photo flowers up close so I will need a close up lens

Show more

Although the D800 isnt the newest model in Nikons full-frame line up, this camera is still an amazing product. Buying this camera used is one of the best decisions I made since I could get a camera with an amazing sensor and build quality for a very reasonable price. Sure theres a few bells and whistles that the newer versions have that this is missing (such as WiFi connectivity), but the value of those is very minimal to me. Great product, definitely recommend to anyone who is serious about photography.

Show more