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A little bit better: Nikon D810 First Impressions Review

Published Jun 26, 2014 | Barney Britton

The Nikon D810 replaces both the D800 and D800E, and although it might appear to boast few improvements over the older models, the changes that Nikon has made are significant. There's no OLPF to get in the way of resolution, and as well as a lower base and higher maximum ISO sensitivity, the D810 is 25% faster than its forebears, offers a slightly improved AF system and 1080/60p video with built-in stereo recording. It also features an electronic first-curtain shutter option and a redesigned mirror mechanism intended to reduce vibration.

Click here to read our First Impressions Review of the Nikon D810

Tags: preview, nikon

Comments

Total comments: 1710

Fine camera, where is the D900 to fix the rest of the minus points?
Photokina maybe?

0 upvotes

Minor correction, Nikon has had Group Auto Focus since the D2H came out.

0 upvotes

@ Rishi Sanyal

The review says that not all VR lenses have difficulty compensating for mirror/shutter vibration. Can you please share the information on those lenses as well? Which VR lens did you find capable of handling the mirror/ shutter vibration well?

1 upvote

I`m a photojournalist for 40 years. I have D800 and I had D200 and D100 and several other Nikons. Why?
Because of Nikon´s ergonomics. That is the main reason pros choose cams. When a pro shoots, he keeps both eyes open. The left eye looks what happens all around the area the camera is aiming at. The right eye checks framing. Together we see a slightly soft area where the framing is sharp in center . (english is my third language sorry bout that.) Keeping the left eye shut means the right gets wet and hard to use. Etc. many reasons.
For me the prism of Nikon is sufficiently to the left. Some faces need canon or others.
Reading these reviews, very little about ergonomics indeed. If one really uses the camera, the more handling means. Pros very seldom talk about noise etc. I`ve never done it and writers never talk about Word or their keyboard.
Couldn`t there be at least one professional photographer in Your team? So the really meaningful things could stand up.

3 upvotes

I enjoy my Pentax DSLR for these same reasons. I like the layout or whatever, and something about it just compels me to use it way more than past DSLRs. But l also think Nikon is the king of JPEGs (among other things) and lately I'm thinking at the end of the day IQ above all else is the most important thing to consider. Of course I could start shooting RAW, and I suppose I should, but I think I've been sort of stuck in advanced beginner mode for a long time! But I understand what you're saying!

Edited 16 seconds after posting

0 upvotes

We all know that this cam is great practically in every aspect.
DPR guys please have in mind that if you chose to publish a review, the posting has to be done at most after 3 months after you get the cam in your hands. Lack of personnel is a serious issue, as important and serious as your readers are.

1 upvote

Does this mean we can look forward to the review of the Canon 1d Mark iii any time soon?
(If you remember when DPReview used to have reviews within a month of a camera's release, you must be very old)
:-) :-)

2 upvotes

Thanks for a good review. I don't have a d 810, but I do have the Sony A7rII which I love. Still, it has been obvious for some time now that the D810 has become the standard by which other cameras are judged...one of the great classics. It has its shortcomings,but it seems to me that we tend to blow the shortcomings out of proportion, and consider less important, the overall achievement that this camera represents. Especially looking back at how wonderfully this camera and the D610 have emerged from the black spot disaster of two years ago.
Especially with this review coming as late as it has, when the camera has already proved itself a hundred times over with the user community, if there ever was a camera that deserved a 90 and a gold star, this is it. In fact the whole discussion points to it...a camera so good that all the testing systems had to be redesigned just to measure how good it is.

1 upvote

I am really liking the D810a.

0 upvotes

Great images from Iceland.

"we found it to be a nuisance at dim wedding receptions, or romantic candle-lit dinners".

From my personal experience the D810 AF is much better than the D800 in all kinds of light also at weddings where I have found no problems with AF at all. (Note: -2EV corresponds to ISO 6400 at 1/8 sec and f/1.4 which would require a flash anyway)

The AF is just in a different league than the predecessors and can be used very confidently as a sports camera with long burst and very fast action (limited of course by 5 or 7 frames/sec).

The buffer has also increased a lot compared to its predecessors - in 14-bit lossless compressed raw it shoots 28 images in FX-mode and 97 images in DX-mode and 58/100 images in 12-bit compressed.

“High ISO performance surpassed by peers” – yes but by how much - maybe ¼ of a stop? I have compared the D810 to the D3S and they show around the same amount of noise when the D810 files are down sampled to 12 MP.

0 upvotes

Why does the Sona A7r II and D800e get higher ratings for their raw files?

Edited 22 seconds after posting

0 upvotes

D810 has good dynamic range sure. But 4EV push for shadows is only for small prints and facebook photos and it shows all the symptoms of over processing. The recent preoccupation with DR is blown way out of proportion.

0 upvotes

I have been shooting Nikon, Canon, and Sony side-by-side for 7 + years now.

I love my Nikon D810. The ergonomics on the pro body are also much better than on the D750.

But Nikon ergonomics still lag other manufacturers:

1.) There is no "Quick Menu " , that let's you change all major settings on the rear LCD, using only the rear control pad and "ok " button. I miss this from my Nikon D5300, Canon 7DII, & Panasonic G7.

The limited functions available on the "i" menu are all things that I don't change as a Raw shooter- D-Lightning, etc.

2.) Most function buttons cannot be reassigned, or have a very limited set of possible assignments.

3.) The AF mode and AF area can only be changed using the lever on the front left. Along with the limitations inherited from the mechanical lever in their lenses- like no aperture changes in video. Which is why Canon lenses are so much better for adapting.

The best camera ergonomically I have used is the Canon 7DII. I love the ergonomics!

Edited 2 times; latest 5 minutes since posting

1 upvote

"Nikon should've offered a drive mode where a shutter button press lifts up the mirror and shutter, with the exposure initiated electronically a fraction of a second later."

That's what the Quiet Mode on my D7000 does. Doesn't the D810 have something similar?

0 upvotes

Glad the 810 'rivals medium format image quality at ISO 64' since it is the size and weight of a medium format camera.

It's enormous. Every time I look at it I think; 'why is it so big?'
And; 'How come it's so big but it still doesn't have IBIS?'.

0 upvotes

I went for the D750 because it's relatively small for a full frame, sitting somewhere between the size of the entry level D5200 and the D7200. In fact, people often mistake it for an entry-level APS-C body once I replaced the strap with something more generic. Something like the D810 and Canon 5DmkIII are just a little too heavy for me because I have an injured right wrist, but still need a workhorse DSLR.

Plus I specialize in low light shooting, and the D750 really shines in that regard. Images look very acceptable even at ISO 12,800, and the AF module is generally very reliable in extremely low light.

Edited 13 minutes after posting

0 upvotes

How did you injure your right wrist ? lol

2 upvotes

Well, i use the D700. So for me, in terms of weight, it would actually be a step in the right direction. It's all relative ;-)

0 upvotes

This "Canon f.f. defector" to the a7Rii is always surprised to read posts from people who have switched or considering switching from the D8#0 family to the a7Rii. They may be disappointed.

Especially since the adapter situation for Nikon lenses is much less mature than for Canon lenses.

2 upvotes

As a Sony user I must admit Nikon, with it's excelling D7200 and D810, almost become my brand of Choice if not because of a7RII's timely arrivel to derive my mind at the last minute. Even then, if oneone with a vast interest into landscape/ doesn't want petty mirrorless/ has a desire to burn through their cash stash, D810 is still my No.1 recommendation.

1 upvote

Are you basing the poor low light AF when combined the the Sigma ART lens? I.e was it more prevalent when used with Sigma rather than a genuine Nikkor?

1 upvote

We tried many lenses, mostly Nikon's own lenses. We tried 3 different D810 bodies. I also personally shot with the D810 for about a year, with Nikon 20/1.8, 35/1.8, 85/1.8, and frequently noted focus hunting in low light where my 5D Mark III, and my current a7R II with fast primes, don't.

It's unfortunate, but it's well backed up by our tests, and Wenmei's experience with her D810 as well.

5 upvotes

@Rishi
talking about Medium Format Quality, the DP2 Merrill really excels here at lowest ISO, and the D8x0 series is for sure then not a match. ;) But only at controlled conditions (enough light, tripod and ISO 100)

Just an old Proof, from "The Camera Store":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3VjyHQiqdE

Edited 2 times; latest 53 seconds since posting

0 upvotes

Good info in the review folks. Well done.
One point - on P14 (the lighthouse shot), the D800 shot is fairly severely back focused. This doesn't make a difference of course when one is purely assessing the noise in flat areas, but if anyone is wanting to compare the sharpness of the non AA filtered D810 against the D800 (as I guess a number of people will), then the position of the default magnification box is going to give a very unrealistic result, as is looking at most of the foreground detail.
Check out the shoreline lights on the far right hand side and you'll see what I mean. Might just be worth making a note of that in the text!
Cheers.

2 upvotes

Yeah that shootout was tough. Apologies we couldn't get it perfect. One can only really use it for dynamic range/noise analysis.

Ideally, we'd have a lab scene with incredibly dynamic range, but as it turns out, that is incredibly difficult to do.

1 upvote

No worries. It wasn't meant as a criticism (I know how hard it is to get these tests spot on with multiple cameras in a time limited situation!). I just thought that a little note somewhere on the page pointing it out might save some potential issues as I bet there are still some D800 users who wonder what the sharpness increase would be if they switched to a D810. That actually was the main reason I scanned around that particular scene - more than checking for the DR increase to be honest.

0 upvotes

You should probably use our studio scene for that. :)

But yes I see what you mean. I'll add a note.

0 upvotes

Good to see the much maligned Nikkor 35/1.4G in play; great lens.

4 upvotes

Pretty much what I have found in use: High ISO not that good and AF in poor light not that good.
Otherwise a nice machine. Could be made better by removing video and jpeg capabilities and making it a RAW only stills machine.

0 upvotes

How would that make it a better camera?

10 upvotes

cheaper ?
oh, if it was Leica, remove also the LCD and it would be even more expensive !

Edited 24 seconds after posting

2 upvotes

I've never found the presence of functions that I personally never use and can mainly be accessed through menus to be a nuisance. It's not as if they add bulk or weight to the camera, and as long as they don't manifest themselves in obnoxiously placed buttons and dials, what's the problem? I just don't use them.

0 upvotes

So, if they can resist the temptation to 'improve' the sensor and graft on the new AF/processing from D5/D500…

Oh, why are we so demanding!

Edited 1 minute after posting

1 upvote

This review was obviously written before the K1's DR test was done, because the K1 beats the Nikon in Pixel Shift mode by several stops.

2 upvotes

Yeah, it does. In Pixel Shift mode. So for most everyday photography the benefit is irrelevant. In conventional (single exposure) shooting the D810 at ISO 64 is superior.

21 upvotes

Depends on what you primarily shoot. I mostly shoot landscapes so for me it's very relevant.

4 upvotes

But why would you need great dynamic range when shooting landscape, right? ;-)

5 upvotes

Problem with Pixel Shift is that it doesn't work well when there are elements in your scene that are moving. Like water and trees- common to landscapes. The results look worse than the blur (often a creative choice even) that results from movement in longer exposures with traditional cameras. So comparing to Pixel Shift isn't exactly an apples to apples comparison (and yet we did it anyway in the K-1 dynamic range analysis).

21 upvotes

Rishi, the K-1 supports motion correction for the Pixel Shift mode, and also keeps the 4 RAW files. This means that even if in-camera motion correction is not successful (and reports are that it is successful 90% of the time), you can always open the 4 files in different layers in your image editor and "paint away" any movement by only leaving one layer visible in problematic areas.

The end result is that you'd still have the superb DR and sharpness of this mode, without any visible motion related issues. This is pretty much unparalleled by any other FF camera - with or without post processing.

Edited 24 seconds after posting

9 upvotes

But Surely if we are prepared a faff around with 4 RAW files we can have all the dynamic range we want by bracketing....

1 upvote

So what's stopping me from taking 4 exposures with the D810 @64 and combining them in post to get a superior result to the K1? I get that it does it in body, but like most "extra" camera functions, wouldn't it be better to do it on a computer? I like the K1, but not sure why the PixelShift mode is getting such big fanfare. Maybe someone can explain?

5 upvotes

Pixel Shift has two advantages compared to what you can do with the D810 and post processing:

1. It is much sharper
2. It works in camera, including motion correction (most of the time)

You only have to deal with the files manually if there was movement in the scene and the camera couldn't correct it automatically. In other words, normally you don't.

Edited 25 seconds after posting

1 upvote

If you get blurry trees in your landscape shots it's because you were lazy and didn't get up early enough. Most days and most locations there is no wind at dawn.

1 upvote

SmilerGrogan, and even if there is wind, the K-1 motion correction fixes it in most cases (according to user tests).

0 upvotes

SmilerGrogan - ha! I have shots proving otherwise :)

Prognathous - do you know what setting is best to fix the motion issues? We've found the opposite so far - that with the motion correction on, we're still getting issues.

4 upvotes

I don't have the K-1, but I think this would be a good starting point:

http://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/57702745

According to this report, only 1 of 16 shots with motion correction enabled had motion blur, while 9 of 10 shots with this option disabled suffered from this issue.

1 upvote

Prognathous - interesting name btw, I still don't understand how it would be sharper, as post processing is highly variable, and if I have 4 perfectly sharp exposures, how would Pixel Shift be "sharper"? I appreciate that Pentax has a motion correction system built-in, but I suspect it's as reliable as the HDR layering or auto-pano implementation that most cameras and phones have built in as well. Which goes back to my initial thought, wouldn't it just be better to do "Pixel Shift" on a computer, where you have full control over different aspects of the image, it's alignment, and could possibly have more DR if you shoot a bracket of different exposures (-1,0,+1). To me Pixel Shift seems more of a convenience rather than some revolution of IQ that some are making it out to be. That's not to knock on the K1, it's an amazingly priced and very capable full-frame camera. But comparing its composite abilities to another camera's single exposure capabilities doesn't seem fair to me so far.

0 upvotes

Pixel Shift is "sharper" because there's no interpolation. A Bayer sensor produces color by averaging adjacent pixels. This averaging lowers edge sharpness as there's no clean separation between between adjacent pixels of totally different color or brightness--it produces a slight blur.

Pixel Shift allows even adjacent pixels to be of a totally different color and brightness and still show up as unique. This means an adjacent totally black and a totally white pixel will have a sharp edge difference, hence the increase in edge sharpness, and also resolution. That's why so many are interested in it.

4 upvotes

Mike - Oh. I thought the K1 uses a Bayer sensor and emulates that ability, which fovean sensors have.

0 upvotes

It does, that's why so many photographers who own Sigma cameras are interested in it (I'm one). For certain situations it will give us the best of many "worlds," much higher DR (and much faster processing) than any Sigma camera along with pixel equivalent resolution. There are still some differences, between them, though, as the Foveon chip produces its own unique color palate.

1 upvote

You can increase resolution of capture by taking multiple shots even with a D810, slightly moving the camera in between exposures, then using super-resolution software. It looks for inter-pixel detail due to almost certain registration shifts from just jostling the camera on a tripod. Check out PhotoAcute.

That said, more people will use it if it's just built into the camera, and Pixel Shift has really impressed us so far.

One thing that's odd: if they've gotten electronic shutter to work with Pixel Shift, why is it not available outside of Pixel Shift?

And thanks for the info - I see artifacts in all the examples in that post, though sometimes it's subtle. I'm not sure why the clouds have artifacts - they should've been frozen over the time-scale of the Pixel Shift.

3 upvotes

Rishi - Yeah, this technique is what I was referring to. Yet apparently the K1 has a way to emulate a fovean with a Bayer. I find that hard to believe. I still think it's just an in-camera process of composing photos together, something anyone can do on a computer with the right software. Similar to how Panoramas or HDR is built in nowadays - even then you can still achieve better, more tailored results on a computer. Mike tried to explain it, but he ended up explaining a fovean. There's no way you can do what he explained on a normal Bayer sensor. So, unfortunately, I still don't see what the commotion is about.

0 upvotes

It's not a Foveon sensor, it just achieves the same result by using 4 exposures, each with a slightly shifted sensor. Read this for more:

http://www.pentaxforums.com/articles/photo-articles/how-pentax-k-3-ii-pixel-shifting-works.html

1 upvote

No, you can't duplicate it in software, the Bayer averaging has already taken place before it's saved to the raw file. Also the accuracy of the Foveon emulation is directly dependent on the accuracy of the Pixel Shift, which seems pretty good in the K1.

1 upvote

Pixel shift is a bit of a gimmick, in my use of it in Oly cameras. Agree that in all the Pentax examples I've seen, there have been unacceptable artifacts in everything but still life scenes.

1 upvote

I actually don't mind the wait. As a matter of fact, I hope this review sets a precedent for DPReview examining some cameras that have been out for a while, but are still relevant enough to merit a review. This type of review would certainly be of interest to those of us who don't buy the newest camera immediately after it comes out.

1 upvote

I immediately dismissed it two years ago based on size, cost and megapixels I don't need. I used one for the first time yesterday, playing around with a friend's D810. I never had any interest in owning one. But that is no longer the case.

Edited 39 seconds after posting

2 upvotes

It's a great camera. Trust me.

0 upvotes

Excellent review, but how does this change the shooting technique for an owner? I have found that my D810 seems to overexpose about ⅓ stop with my Zeiss 35 1.4. Maybe a bit more. but I am always able to bring detail out of the shadows when I shoot with a minus ⅓-⅔ stop adjustment - quite a lot of detail, actually. Of course at that point my ISO is well over 64...

0 upvotes

So G7 and GX8 hang for shuttershock. Because otherwise they were just stellar in their class. Silver. Both have workarounds, but alas....

Nikon has shuttershock too with workarounds. Yet it gets cold. While I understand we cannot just compare one cam over another it is clear shuttershock has caused the Panny's to get silver. Wonder how Nikon gets away with this...

4 upvotes

Maybe because the D810 is a superior camera to those Pannys? Fanboi.

3 upvotes

Trust me, it almost didn't get a Gold. But the class-leading ISO 64 quality that rivals image quality from a class above it, and class-leading AF subject tracking steered it in the direction of Gold.

Cameras that don't get a Gold don't tend to have those benchmark qualities.

5 upvotes

to be honest rishi no camera in the G7 Gx8 class have those capabilities.

apples to oranges comparison.

One should have higher expectations from a 3 grand. camera vs a 700-1200 buck. camera.

Thr G7 shoots near flawless 4k which means for starting vifeographers it isn't gold it's platinum.

3 upvotes

Fair point. Hmmm. As you can see, we/I flipped back and forth on this award quite a bit. :)

1 upvote

I think we also need to consider that something like a D810 is going to be used professionally as a workhorse, while for the Panasonic GX8, it is more of enthusiast level camera. Doesn't mean the latter isn't a fantastic camera, but people who buy something like a D810 or 5DmkiIII aren't primarily buying it to shoot video, and might put the camera through some rough use.

And I guess despite having a lot of overlaps, we still judge mirrorless and DSLRs by different criteria. A mirrorless that can squeeze off 450 shots on a single battery would get a lot of plus points. But on a DSLR, that's nothing to shout about.

0 upvotes

Great review. Shows the benefit of a high quality sensor.

1 upvote

They never took 2 years to review others like Canon 5DS or so.. Amazing !!

2 upvotes

Rishi Sanyal

Excellent review photos. Best I've seen at DPR by far. Thanks

7 upvotes

Very kind of you, thanks. Carey also shot some great stuff in Iceland!

4 upvotes

Hat tip to DPR for a stellar review.

Evaluation of mirror- and shutter-shock should become a staple of camera reviews. This will prod the manufacturers to devote more effort to the problem.

7 upvotes

WOW. At last :-) Thanks

2 upvotes

Nice set of photos.Great camera.Interesting review.Thanks.

8 upvotes

A truly wonderful camera. I continue to be amazed by its BW capabilities, something I didn't expect from it.

1 upvote

You're not kidding about the lack of leeway in grading D810 video, it falls apart very quickly. Luckily if you use custom white balance and are careful to get exposure dead on, the camera produces beautiful results--especially under HMIs and in regular daylight.
And, if you think ahead you can dial in a look with a custom camera profile.
Also, Nikkor lenses were very popular in Hollywood for a long time so audiences are used to the NIKON "look".

2 upvotes

Were you grading in-camera footage, or uncompressed HDMI?

0 upvotes

I think it's pretty unfair to compare the D810 to newer cameras at this point. This overall conclusion should reflect what the camera was like in comparison to the rest of it's competitors a few years ago. At that point it was revolutionary and outstanding. Everyone else was playing catch up. Just because it took nearly two years for your review that shouldn't influence the overall results.

6 upvotes

The only sensible way of reviewing a camera is against its peers at the point when you complete the assessment. Otherwise it's of academic interest only (at best). And as we've made clear in this review, the D810 actually does very well against its peers. I mean... we gave it a Gold Award.

22 upvotes

If I you wait 2 years to complete any review it's always going to be substantially worse than it was at the point of entry. It's very easy to compare it to it's peers because you simply remove the other cameras produced after it from the equation. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying we don't appreciate the review... however scoring it in this manner makes it look like a significantly less remarkable achievement than it was at the time.

2 upvotes

Well, as I think we've explained in several places, we didn't 'wait two years'. We've been working on this review in some way or another almost continually for two years, and we posted a great deal of heavyweight content on the D810 during that time. It just took two years for you to see a final score.

12 upvotes

I envy your patience, Barney ;)

Edited 20 seconds after posting

5 upvotes

Give it gold, and people still complain. So DPR.

3 upvotes

"however scoring it in this manner makes it look like a significantly less remarkable achievement than it was at the time." ... I think just the opposite is true. As the reviewers and others have mentioned, the fact that this 2-year-old camera still stacks up to the newer (and some pricier) competition and was also awarded a Gold... is way more impressive than the Gold it would have earned 2 years ago!

4 upvotes

Guys I know that you might wonder what am I doing here ....I am a Pentax owner but let's admit it D810 is simply stunning. Great ergonomics , great sensor, amazing image quality this is the benchmark for everything else.....

Edited 52 seconds after posting

4 upvotes

Nice photos.

4 upvotes

one question. Nikon D810 has built-in Auto focus motor?

1 upvote

Yes.

1 upvote

OMG m crazy about this camera. Love it and soon i get it

1 upvote

I'm curious as why they show a D800 for the D810.

2 upvotes

On what page are you seeing this?

1 upvote

Does anyone know about Error 19? Buffer, low light etc......The camera stopped shooting my high surf as I was on ASA 125, 1/640 F 11 and continuous shooting. My SD card was 64 at a 600x. Why did the camera stopped shooting? I tried manual focusing. Error 19 kept coming back.
Thanks for your help. High surf is back this week in Hawaii.

2 upvotes

I've Shooting d810 since basketball season began. Love it!
Shot video for first time yesterday. Really very good. Basketball pix excellent, portraits excellent. Haven't had a god Milky Way night yet. Except for how big and heavy it is, I love it!

3 upvotes

Love my D810... shot this image of ANTM semi-finalist ChloeL in Catalina with it.
https://scontent-lax3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xap1/t31.0-8/12110035_10206609739473559_25492653129014770_o.jpg

Edited 2 times; latest 5 minutes since posting

3 upvotes

i bought Nikon d810 recently. It is a great camera. The problem is the "network" option in the setup menu is greyed out. can you please tell me how to work with this option?

0 upvotes

You will need to connect an optional wifi accessory (WT-5A or Eye-Fi).

4 upvotes

It would be nice to have the full review of this camera to compare with Canon and Sony 7R2. But I already know this is the best of the bunch. I just want to know what I'm giving up really if I go with sony's smaller form other then glass that can't touch nikon's glass.

But than Nikon will probably come out with the sensor used in the 7r2 in the near future so I guess Ill just have to wait for the 850 or will it be a 910?

3 upvotes

I love my Nikon d810, I have noticed that this camera has little room for error. I find the Nikon d4 or d4s an easier camera to master but I always go back to my d810

3 upvotes

and one note
This camera is not forgive bad glass.
One recomendation Nikkor AF-S 20mm 1.8G , you will do not believe what you see !!!

3 upvotes

For D810 what can i say , after testing for my own knowlegge 6 cameras in one year in real life shooting of any kind.
It is amazing first the D800E , i would never sell it , but only for one reason,
when you shoot in a theater in a church or in a seminar room with a speaker , the sound of D800E/D800 is very annoying too loud to ignore disturbing i would say.
With the D810 is silent !! like Sony A77 II i can say the same sound maybe a little more silent !!! . great job nikon only for that.
And with a fast telephoto you can go for sports unlimitted shooting with jpegs in 7 FPS , great AF performance.
Low ISO native 12800 very usable results directly from the camera depend on cituation (Jpeg !)
You have something between D4s and D800E features of the d4s and all the benefits of D800E improved ... excelent .
If you have the money and want the top usable DSLR this is it.
The only drawback is the EXTRA money that you will need for the top Lenses

2 upvotes

Hi All, I shot concert photography and some of the venues have poor lighting. I shoot on a canon 7D and the images suffer past iso1600. Lightroom helps a bit but not much. Native iso for d810 is 6400. Does anyone know if I will have the same issues if I switch to the d810? I like the features on the d810 but if the camera can't handle low light, i may have to look elsewhere. Can anyone comment?

0 upvotes

There are so many fine labs and blogs in the net that have been writen reviews on the D810. Just google "D810 review" and you get them all. So you can learn everything about the camera, no need DPR 's review.

1 upvote

As the other commenter suggests, there are many good reviews to choose from on this extraordinary camera - but sadly not with DP Review - though they have posted some studies of what shadow can be pulled back in raw processing - where its clearly a leader. For me, its low light ability is exceptional, particularly when shooting raw. Maybe a D4S will give you more - but that's a different tool altogether.

0 upvotes

Hi there, I shoot with the D810 since 3 month now and I can say without a doubt that it's currently the better in the nikon lineup. I'm in love with this camera, absolutely gorgeous.

The image quality is just insane, mid-format level, there's nothing else that can match it (I've used both Canon and Nikon for years). 36Mpix give you so much details that noise is really small, files are great until 6400 iso, above it need some post production. I don't speak about dynamic range because I never seen something like this before, outstanding performance.

It handles better than D700 and 5D mk II and maybe as good as 5D mk III. So if you have money to buy it, don't hesitate a second ! This is a pro level camera, so you cannot be disappointed.

Good shoot man!

Edited 7 minutes after posting

3 upvotes

If you want superior performance in poor light go with a D750

0 upvotes

Hey DPR... where the F is the review???... you've reviewed dozens of cameras since the D810 came out... so whazsup?

9 upvotes

Indeed. This is a mystery - and my guess is there will be a full review of the Canon 5DS before the D810... DP Review has been an authoritative source of info for the camera world for years. But this inexplicable delay on one of the finest cameras ever produced suggests that there are commercial influences on the editorial team which questions their impartiality in future reviews.

2 upvotes

dpr will do the same with the D810 as they did with Pentax K3 and make all sorts of excuses.Excluding some cameras from reviewing without suffieient justification and favouring others on whim seems to be the only explaination one can think of.
A footnote to D800/800E mentioning the D810 is all that we will get.

2 upvotes

The biggest issue is that dpreview still says the review is on the way.. Just have the courage to say it is to late now and it will never be published!

1 upvote

Total comments: 1710

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Benchmark Performance: Nikon D810 review May 12, 2016	Heavenly bodies: Nikon D810 & D810A field test May 11, 2016	Nikon issues D810 and D810A firmware updates with remote control bug fix Apr 5, 2016	Readers' Showcase: Christopher Michel Jan 31, 2016

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