SonyBug

Here is a shot I took handheld yesterday with a D800e with a 14-24 lens. Priority was Aperture, and set at f9. Auto the rest. The state capitol was at least a half mile away. So, what would be earthshakingly different with a D810?

No PP adjustments in either picture. Shot with both RAW and JPG at Fine setting. Photo uncropped is from the original JPG, not a converted RAW.


To Quote Charlton Heston, "You'll have to pry my D800e out of my cold dead fingers." Well, I thought that was what he said!

(Download)

ebbote Loc: Hockley, Texas

Awesome camera.

Rongnongno Loc: FL

Well, I would so some PP anyway because despite the incredible range of this camera there things to do to make your original picture even better (see the trees on the right? Open the shadows a might (PP)

I have the 800e and it is great. PPing makes the pictures taken with it even greater which is the purpose/goal, right?

SonyBug

Yes, one could do that, but the example here is to show what the camera will natively do.

Mary Kate Loc: NYC

So; does the glass make for a better camera or does the camera enhance the glass?
Would any full frame, same lens do as well? Of course.

SonyBug

In this case, the camera makes a huge difference. First, the glass, which is the low end of the Nikon Triumvirate, is the best glass you can get at that range. Then the low pass filter on the sensor is removed, so the focus would be better than ordinary. The low pass filter purpose is to defocus the picture slightly for color flare and moire. Look closely in the full picture and you can see some moire on the building on the right.

Then, the number of pixels means that it will store more information. I saw a demo once of a medium format (3 X 5 I think) vs a full frame (35mm) sensor blown up to 200%. The level of detail is incredibly different. The new 810 is supposed to be better yet, but only incrementally. Not the huge difference between the D700 and the D800e.

I was even surprised that I could see the lines in the cupola for the stairway, and the window glass dividers. Say that they are 1/2 inch wide and I can see them. The Capitol was at least a half mile away, and they were visible. I don't think that I need anything more. My point was that for incremental difference, it would not make sense to trade up. But if I had a 20 mp range camera, I would get a real detail boost in my photos by going to the D810.

The real reason that I took that shot was to test to see if I take long distance shots with that lens on the D800e, would I be able to crop it out to make panoramas. It would be a lot easier than shooting 5 pictures and stitching them together.