Upgrade to D810, 24-70mm f2.8 & 70-200mm f2.8

eric727

Hi!
I am currently own a D7000 with couple of DX lens and Nikon Speedlight.
Thinking to upgrade to full frame D810 but worried the Nikon quality issues.
Is any of new D810 user willing to share their experiences?
Any issue you are facing? I am also planning to purchase 24-70mm f2.8 (non-VR) & 70-200mm f2.8, please feel free to share your opinion.
Thank you.

proudgeek

I've owned this camera for over a year and haven't experienced a single issue relating to quality. If you're serious about your photography and have the computing power to manage the large file sizes this (IMHO) delivers tremendous bang for the buck. I'd buy it again in a second.

Nikoniser

I have this combo and it is stellar, a real winner. People pixel peep on about the corners of the 24-70, I can tell you that unless you are doing landscapes and printing at 20inches by 30 its a total non problem. One thing I would say it is well worth learning to light with this combo, get a flash stand and a shoot through umbrella and use the flash commander on the D810 to trigger it, shooting at iso 64 gives amazing skin tones and perfect eyes.

Nikoniser

Here is a 100% Crop of eye with D810 and 24-70

[url=https://flic.kr/p/J93H9B][img]https://c8.staticflickr.com/8/7459/27658044871_bfe5d5c233_b.jpg[/img][/url][url=https://flic.kr/p/J93H9B]eye_crop[/url] by [url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/114988713@N02/]Nature Ist[/url], on Flickr

Here is the original to show you how much I cropped

[url=https://flic.kr/p/HjvD5w][img]https://c3.staticflickr.com/8/7351/27120107394_d333c5379f_b.jpg[/img][/url][url=https://flic.kr/p/HjvD5w]crop_full[/url] by [url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/114988713@N02/]Nature Ist[/url], on Flickr

Ironheart

I don't recall any issues with the D810. The D800 had some focus issues initially, but those were sorted quite a while ago.

paulr

Well you can wait for the next generation but the D810 offers great photographic opportunities now, I sold my D4 because I did not use it once I had acquired the D810, So far after 14 months no issues.

eric727

proudgeek said:

I've owned this camera for over a year and haven't experienced a single issue relating to quality. If you're serious about your photography and have the computing power to manage the large file sizes this (IMHO) delivers tremendous bang for the buck. I'd buy it again in a second.

Thanks proudgreek.
Just asking, is latest i5 cpu + 6gb ram + basic graphic card (not onboard) able to process the file?
Or do you mind to share your computer specs?
Thank you.

eric727

Nikoniser said:

I have this combo and it is stellar, a real winner. People pixel peep on about the corners of the 24-70, I can tell you that unless you are doing landscapes and printing at 20inches by 30 its a total non problem. One thing I would say it is well worth learning to light with this combo, get a flash stand and a shoot through umbrella and use the flash commander on the D810 to trigger it, shooting at iso 64 gives amazing skin tones and perfect eyes.

Thanks Nikoniser.
Your photo are nice!
Do you mind to share your computer specs?
So I can have some idea whether my current computer is sufficient to manage the file. ^_^
Btw, do you try out the 24-70mm vr? is there any significant different than the non vr version?

WestEndFoto

You should probably describe your workflow to get a useful answer on this.

eric727

paulr said:

Well you can wait for the next generation but the D810 offers great photographic opportunities now, I sold my D4 because I did not use it once I had acquired the D810, So far after 14 months no issues.

Thanks for your comment paulr.
I would prefer to go with current generation which already out for 2 years which a lots of issues (big & small) might be solved.
One question, do you think D810 af performance (speed, accuracy etc) is close to D4?
Thank you.

paulr

They are different cameras for different jobs Depending on your workflow each camera stars in different area's You have to decide which suits the majority of your specific needs. The D810 with the grip fitted at Jpeg will shoot at 7 FPS I use the D4 battery in the grip and then I do not have any problems with battery life. You need a relatively good computer to cope with large file sizes especially if you work in Tif files
my spec is has follows: I just find the resolution works for me.and i buy the best lenses possible. sadly not always Nikon.

Nikoniser

Yes an i5 will do fine, 6GB of ram is bit low but easy to upgrade. Onboard graphics will be fine, the CPU will do most work.

I use a workflow that makes for a balance of maximum quality/speed.

First I use Photomechanic to import and rename to files on my hard drive. Then I use Photo mechanic to rate the files via stars and zoom in to check sharpness ( re-map the shortcut on your keyboard to something easy ) Photo mechanic is about 20 times faster than lightroom or any other program to cycle through files.

I then load DXO Optics pro, this reads the star rating, so I filter by star rating so only best file show up. Then I apply a DXO preset with my favourite auto options ( smart exposure based on face recognition, prime noise reduction, dynamic lighting based on DXO 9, auto Correct distortion and CA from exif, sharpen to 100 )

I then manually crop, straighten and fine tune exposure and colour, before exporting.

If they require further work in photoshop I export as 16bit TIFF, if not I export as JPEG directly to Flikr, review it, then share the album link with my client

PRIME noise reduction is the real CPU hog, it take about 2 mins 30 seconds for a full size d810 file. However its worth about 2-4 stops ! so its well worth it.

rmp

I have a d4, D810, and a D500. I also have the 14-24, 24-70 and, 70-200 f2.8 lenses. I have not had any problems with any camera or lens.

Pistnbroke

d810 yes yes yes and get the 24-85 rather than the 24-70..you could get the 28-300 and stop all the messing about lens changing.......!!!!

Nikoniser

Pistnbroke said:

d810 yes yes yes you could get the 28-300 and stop all the messing about lens changing.......!!!!

If you like soft images, crap bokeh, a dark viewfinder, lots of distortion and slow focusing by all means.

If you want to see what the D810 can really do, the F2.8 pro zooms are the minimum price of entry.

rmp

If Image Quality (IQ) is your main issue, primes or the pro-zooms are the way to go.

WestEndFoto

Yeah, I think a D4 with a pro zoom would take sharper images than a D800/810 with anything less.

proudgeek

eric727 said:

proudgeek said:

I've owned this camera for over a year and haven't experienced a single issue relating to quality. If you're serious about your photography and have the computing power to manage the large file sizes this (IMHO) delivers tremendous bang for the buck. I'd buy it again in a second.

Thanks proudgreek.
Just asking, is latest i5 cpu + 6gb ram + basic graphic card (not onboard) able to process the file?
Or do you mind to share your computer specs?
Thank you.

I use a Mac. 2.6 GHz i7 processor with 16GB of RAM. Don't skimp on the RAM. All my images are stored on an external Drobo drive (4 3TB inserts) connected via Thunderbolt. It's not quite as good as having the images stored local in terms of editing speed, but I find it meets my needs.

eric727

Nikoniser said:

Yes an i5 will do fine, 6GB of ram is bit low but easy to upgrade. Onboard graphics will be fine, the CPU will do most work.

I use a workflow that makes for a balance of maximum quality/speed.

First I use Photomechanic to import and rename to files on my hard drive. Then I use Photo mechanic to rate the files via stars and zoom in to check sharpness ( re-map the shortcut on your keyboard to something easy ) Photo mechanic is about 20 times faster than lightroom or any other program to cycle through files.

I then load DXO Optics pro, this reads the star rating, so I filter by star rating so only best file show up. Then I apply a DXO preset with my favourite auto options ( smart exposure based on face recognition, prime noise reduction, dynamic lighting based on DXO 9, auto Correct distortion and CA from exif, sharpen to 100 )

I then manually crop, straighten and fine tune exposure and colour, before exporting.

If they require further work in photoshop I export as 16bit TIFF, if not I export as JPEG directly to Flikr, review it, then share the album link with my client

PRIME noise reduction is the real CPU hog, it take about 2 mins 30 seconds for a full size d810 file. However its worth about 2-4 stops ! so its well worth it.

Thanks for the advise, I will try your method then.

eric727

proudgeek said:

eric727 said:

proudgeek said:

I've owned this camera for over a year and haven't experienced a single issue relating to quality. If you're serious about your photography and have the computing power to manage the large file sizes this (IMHO) delivers tremendous bang for the buck. I'd buy it again in a second.

Thanks proudgreek.
Just asking, is latest i5 cpu + 6gb ram + basic graphic card (not onboard) able to process the file?
Or do you mind to share your computer specs?
Thank you.

I use a Mac. 2.6 GHz i7 processor with 16GB of RAM. Don't skimp on the RAM. All my images are stored on an external Drobo drive (4 3TB inserts) connected via Thunderbolt. It's not quite as good as having the images stored local in terms of editing speed, but I find it meets my needs.

Thanks for the advise. ^^

Pistnbroke

Nikoniser...I think many users don't even try JPEG at +9 sharp and think using RAW is some badge of honour ...I don't get out of focus pictures with my 28-300 because I have set the AF fine tune ,my customers are not interested in bokeh , I don't sell pictures of brick walls.
Do I want 1500 RAW images to process every few days and when finished jamb them onto a memory stick in JPEG...
I do think the joy of photography is doing what you want be it a Hassleblad or a disposable camera . There are no F2.8 or even F4 lenses that I can use and as I don't know the OP he may find the 28-300 suits his needs

WestEndFoto

Pistnbroke said:

Nikoniser...I think many users don't even try JPEG at +9 sharp and think using RAW is some badge of honour ...I don't get out of focus pictures with my 28-300 because I have set the AF fine tune ,my customers are not interested in bokeh , I don't sell pictures of brick walls.
Do I want 1500 RAW images to process every few days and when finished jamb them onto a memory stick in JPEG...
I do think the joy of photography is doing what you want be it a Hassleblad or a disposable camera . There are no F2.8 or even F4 lenses that I can use and as I don't know the OP he may find the 28-300 suits his needs

I do understand your style and approach Pistnbroke and it seems to make sense for your needs. I also appreciate your last paragraph where you point out that everyone may have a different approach that is suitable for their needs.

When I first bought my D800 a shot Raw plus JPEG. I found that I was never quite happy with the JPEGS and would always want to improve something and had to go to the raw file. Even now, unless I have taken multiple shots of the exact same or very similar composition, every file is processed with different settings. Sometimes I even process the same image with two different settings and keep them both because I like the differences. And then there is no way to predict which setting I will want when I take the picture so I will want to change it anyway. Worse, if I am shooting JPEGS I am thinking about a non-essential compositional element which is distracting me from essential compositional elements.

I want to thoughtfully customize every image so JPEGS are totally useless to me and I gave them up in a matter of months, but I can see where they are useful if a "rough stab" is good enough.

Pistnbroke

your comments are more than insulting ..plain rude and ignorant ..I don't do " rough stab" and I don't believe in in "good enough" or " managing" Qualified with the MPA BIPP and RPS I feel those who judge my work can judge how rough my stab is.

WestEndFoto

Dude, take a valium. No insult was intended. Did you not notice where I made the very specific effort to complement you in the first paragraph? I recall when you first joined this forum and everyone thought you were a spammer. I even recall a moderator stating that "trolls will not be tolerated" in reference to one of your posts. You have since earned a lot of respect, including mine.

But I am under the assumption that you use the same setting on a camera and don't change anything - enforcing that by taping down dials etc. If my assumption that this extends to JPEG settings is incorrect, I am sorry. But I have to ask, if you keep your JPEG settings constant, how can any one setting be anything more than a rough stab when conditions, such as lighting, shadows, colours, textures etc., are constantly changing.

PS:
I am curious to see your work. Where can I do that?

paulr

There is a Pistnbroke on Flickr Not sure if its the same ?https://www.flickr.com/photos/48076734@N06

Pistnbroke

No that's not me and I am not going to help you find my site because I am not interested in tom dick and Harrys comments .The last time the website got published the morons went through the 40,000 pics on there to find something to complain about and it took valuable time to remove comments on flicker etc that were incomprehensible to potential customers and damaging to my business. I don't claim to be anything special I just do a solid job for the money paid.
In my line of work its more important to 100% guarantee you get a solid picture than to find you knocked a dial and its all 6 stops over. Its important that the people are standing correctly with all the rules of etiquette obeyed and a proper background. Don't generate any causes for complaint.
Changing an iso from 100 to 200 or f stop from F8 to 5.6 or shutter speed will make no difference ..my camera has a computer to deal with all that while I get on with the main ingredient in a good photo ....using your mouth.

Eric your choice of lens will be fine just get one D810 for each lens and you will be a very happy bunny.