Ken Barlow
Having previously owned the Nikon D90, D7000 and D700, and currently shooting the D7100, I would like to compare the D810 to these bodies, particularly the D700. Obviously, with a five star review, I am really liking my experience so far. First of all, the D810 is a very solid, well built camera, with a feel very close to the D700. I prefer the size with larger lenses, such as the 24-70 and 70-200 zooms. The smaller bodies are great with smaller lenses, and are lighter for better portability, but the larger lenses dont balance as well for me. Coming from a D700, I can say that the handling is so close that it only took a day or two to become completely familiar with the button layout and menu system. Having the D7100 also helped, since some of its controls are nearly identical to the D810...the focus mode lever and center hub button on the lower left come to mind as one of those similarities. Auto focus was a concern for me, and kept me from really considering the D800/D800E cameras. The D700 was 98% accurate with AF, and I am happy to say that the D810 seems to have an equal hit rate. I prefer to use the AF-ON button and AF-C mode for focusing, which allows you to be in continuous AF as long as the button is pressed, or having the camera act like AF-S mode by releasing the button. You get both types of operation simply by pressing continuously or pressing to acquire focus and then releasing to keep it set. The D810 snaps into focus quickly and is deadly accurate. I look forward to trying the "group area" AF, as it is reported to work well for locking on and tracking fast moving subjects that may leave your selected point if only using one point. Group area uses 5 points in a circular cluster simultaneously, that may be moved anywhere in the focus array with the multi-selector. My lenses are all highly accurate and sharp, with only minimal fine-tuning needed on some of them. Video is equally impressive, with the 1080/60p setting producing absolutely beautiful quality. Live view focusing seems a bit quicker to lock, with less hunting than even the D7100. Image quality overall is phenomenal. Super clean with great colors, accurate white balance, and with that beautiful FX look that cannot be matched by smaller sensor cameras. Better in every way over the D700, and I was always very happy with the silky look that D700 images had. The D810 just pushes all those great qualities to another level entirely. Dynamic range is one area that really blows the D700 away. And metering so far is the most accurate of any DSLR I have ever used. Another impressive feature is the super quiet shutter mechanism. Easily less than half the noise that the clanky D700 shutter makes. I have also used the electronic first-curtain shutter on a few occasions, and found the shots to be very, very sharp. This is intended to eliminate any potential vibration from the shutter mechanism causing slight blur, and it certainly looks as if it works. The few tripod shots that I have taken have been crystal clear, no matter the shutter speed. Seems as though Nikon has effectively addressed some of the complaints that D800/E users had with shutter vibrations affecting image sharpness. Kudos!! I love the 1.2x crop mode, which both speeds up the frame rate from 5 to 6FPS, and also reduces the files from 36 to 25MP. RAW file pixel count is also reduced, so if you need more manageable file sizes or need to fit more images on your memory card, you can switch to 1.2x crop. There is also DX crop, which cuts the image down to 15MP and gives you 7FPS (with a battery grip), but I will probably not use that very often. The 1.2x mode, however, is going to be a great option for my dance competition shooting, where I am usually pretty far away, sometimes on a balcony, and could use a little more reach from my 70-200 lens. I crop many of these anyway, since the majority are taken at 200mm and still dont zoom in close enough. 84-240mm equivalent is very exciting for what I frequently shoot. Great for speeding up processing times when working with lots of files, too. I can see myself using this quite a bit. And its easy to switch modes since you can program the top "record" button to be a crop mode button when you are in picture taking mode. You just press the record button and rotate the thumb wheel to change modes, which are visible in the viewfinder. Very cool! And you can set the menu to darken the unused area for a clear view of your image area. Now for the high ISO comparison (and I can handle some noise, but dont like it to be too rough): none of the DX cameras can come close here. The D90 was ok up to about ISO800, D7000 to ISO1600, and the D7100 can be pretty comfortably used to about ISO2500. And I am comparing RAW output that has been processed with appropriate noise reduction. The D700, with its 12MP FX sensor could do about ISO5000 if shot RAW, but only 3200 if shot JPEG. The older processor did not handle the noise that well compared to ACR. It left too much noise and still smeared the image far too much above 3200. For comparison, I have already used the D810 for actual low-light action (stage show with dancers), and can report that ISO10,000 is about comparable to D700 ISO5000, and both RAW and JPEG are perfectly usable at that high setting. I was so blown away by the great colors and reasonable amount of noise, I nearly fell over when viewing them on my 24" monitor. At 100%, there is noise, but when viewed normally, or moderately zoomed in, the images are just astonishingly good. I would be perfectly comfortable printing a 24x36 poster of even a ISO12,800 JPEG photo right out of the camera. Yes, they are really that good. I believe that the smaller pixels actually create a finer grain that is much less objectionable (and less visible) than the coarseness found in the D700 high ISO images. Quite a feat to go against the common belief that high pixel counts would equal high noise. Im sure that advances in sensor design, as well as processor performance has a great deal to do with that. This is one amazing camera! Needless to say, I am very happy that I went for the D810 as a FX replacement for my D700. I was going to wait for the D750 to be introduced before purchasing, but the more information that was "leaked" about it being a D610 sized body, and no AF-ON button, I went ahead and got this one. Yes, its a pricey camera, but well worth it, as far as Im concerned. I should be set for a very long time with the D7100 as a lighter everyday, wildlife, and backup camera, and the D810 as my main body for portraiture and low-light work. Really looking forward to putting this combination to work. Both cameras are working perfectly and ideally suited for my intended uses. Well done, Nikon! Edit, April 13, 2015: Still finding the D810 to be a nearly perfect camera. Great looking files and comfortable to shoot (mostly). Only one complaint after using it for several months. The AF-On button on the back is too stiff and has a shallow travel that makes it a bit uncomfortable to shoot with when doing extended shooting. The amount of force required is too great and the feel of the button is just not as good as it could be. It requires increasing force to keep it pushed in rather than "popping" into place to the point where you can let off the pressure a bit without it coming out. It doesnt seem that bad until youve been using it off and on for an hour or so. Your thumb starts to get cramped and tired. For comparison, I would prefer it to feel like the AF-L/AE-L button on the back of the D7100 (which can be programmed for back-button focus). It is shaped a bit better, requires less force, and sticks out more, giving it a better feel. Issue is not enough to lower the score, but is something that bothers me a little for my type of shooting. Edit, April 21, 2016: Just picked up a D750 as a companion to the D810. Loving both cameras! Each has shared strengths, with some differences that compliment one another. High ISO is a little better on the D750, but that crisp 36MP is really impressive, even at relatively high ISO, and dynamic range is unbeatable. The D810 has a much quieter shutter for shooting in quiet environments, and the D750 is more portable for when you need to go smaller/lighter. Its great to be able to keep a 24-70 on the D810 and a 70-200 on the D750 for almost limitless coverage of a very wide range of focal lengths without swapping lenses. The D810 continues to impress with its beautiful images and reliable operation. I will be relegating its use to video at this years dance recital, while the D750 takes its place for stills. Happy camper here. Great work, Nikon!!
