D800 or D3s ?

Home · Register · Search · Software · Hosting · Software · Join Upload & Sell

FM Forum Rules
Nikon SLRs, primes, and zooms lenses reviews

FM Forums \| Nikon-mount SLRs \| Join Upload & Sell
1 2 end

D800 or D3s ?

robby521
Offline
• •
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #1 · D800 or D3s ?

i am looking at getting one or the other in the next few weeks.i have a D7000 and sigma lens now.sold d300 and d90.i do sports 85% of the time.indoors and out but i also like to drive around and do pictures of animals or just anything.the inside sports dont have good lighting.my biggest thing is the d3s is old but great,if something happens to it will it be able to get fixed from nikon.was told my lens will work fine,sigma 17-50 2.8 ex dc hsm,70-200 apo ex dg hsm.like i said my biggest thing is if something happened to the d3s in a year couldn't get it fixed.

Jan 25, 2013 at 06:44 PM

Dpedraza
Offline
•
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #2 · D800 or D3s ?

well if you do sports 85% of the time you answered your own question. D3s would probably be your better option. I've never personally used one but it's low light performance is much better than the D800. Also its frame rate is MUCH better.

Jan 25, 2013 at 06:49 PM

davidnholtjr
Offline
• • •
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #3 · D800 or D3s ?

robby521 wrote:
i am looking at getting one or the other in the next few weeks.i have a D7000 and sigma lens now.sold d300 and d90.i do sports 85% of the time.indoors and out but i also like to drive around and do pictures of animals or just anything.the inside sports dont have good lighting.my biggest thing is the d3s is old but great,if something happens to it will it be able to get fixed from nikon.was told my lens will work fine,sigma 17-50 2.8 ex dc hsm,70-200 apo ex dg hsm.like i said my biggest thing is if something happened to the d3s in a year couldn't get it fixed.

For what you're doing, i'd go for the D3s all the way. The D3s should still be fixable for many years to come if it needs to be fixed.

Jan 25, 2013 at 07:06 PM

James R
Offline
• • • •
Upload & Sell: On

p.1 #4 · D800 or D3s ?

robby521 wrote:
i am looking at getting one or the other in the next few weeks.i have a D7000 and sigma lens now.sold d300 and d90.i do sports 85% of the time.indoors and out but i also like to drive around and do pictures of animals or just anything.the inside sports dont have good lighting.my biggest thing is the d3s is old but great,if something happens to it will it be able to get fixed from nikon.was told my lens will work fine,sigma 17-50 2.8 ex dc hsm,70-200 apo ex dg hsm.like i said my biggest thing is if something happened to the d3s in a year couldn't get it fixed.

I've owned both. The D3s is probably best for what you shoot. Not familiar with your Sigma lenses, but any lens that is slow to acquire focus (Nikon or 3rd party) reduces the D3s performance for sports. Guess that is the same with any camera.

Both are great cameras. I went from a D3 to a D800e to a D4. The reason was the D800e didn't feel good in my hand. Also, the smaller file size did speed up post processing.

Jan 25, 2013 at 07:53 PM

ct8282
Offline
• • •
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #5 · D800 or D3s ?

D3s. You need something that will just capture the shots.

The D800 makes you work for the shot. Yes, it delivers when you get it right, but its harder to get it right.

D3s any day.

Edited on Jan 25, 2013 at 09:11 PM · View previous versions

Jan 25, 2013 at 08:07 PM

nick53097
Offline
• • •
Upload & Sell: On

p.1 #6 · D800 or D3s ?

+1 for D3s (I have both and use D3s for dance photography)

Jan 25, 2013 at 08:14 PM

bpark42
Offline
• • •
Upload & Sell: On

p.1 #7 · D800 or D3s ?

The D3s sounds like a better fit.

Note that your Sigma 17-50 is a DX lens, so you can only use it on the D3s in crop mode, which is only ~5 megapixel. You would have the same restriction on the D800 of course, but the crop files would be 16 megapixel there.

Jan 25, 2013 at 08:22 PM

Misty Mountain
Offline
•
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #8 · D800 or D3s ?

I have both. I shoot dog shows, retriever hunt tests, agility trials. D3s is my go to camera for most situations. The D800 seems old school when it comes to FPS. I need the burst capability to get fast moving dogs at just the right moment.

I use the D800 mainly for video but also for slower moving situations.

Bottom line is that I love them both for different reasons!

Jan 25, 2013 at 08:48 PM

mike-in-ak
Offline
• •
Upload & Sell: On

p.1 #9 · D800 or D3s ?

If I had the money, I would own not one but two D3s bodies for wildlife and night work.

Jan 25, 2013 at 09:08 PM

kylehess10
Offline
•
Upload & Sell: On

p.1 #10 · D800 or D3s ?

D3s, without a doubt. I owned a D7000 last year and upgraded to a D3s, trust me you won't regret it one bit. Worth every penny.

Jan 25, 2013 at 10:17 PM

brian_sp
Offline
• • •
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #11 · D800 or D3s ?

definitely D3s, for FPS and tracking on the D800 bites

Jan 26, 2013 at 01:45 AM

ja_joyce
Offline
• •
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #12 · D800 or D3s ?

I'd go D3S just because I don't want to deal with 36 MP. D3 files are a joy to process.

Jan 26, 2013 at 02:59 PM

Brandon Mizar
Offline
• • •
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #13 · D800 or D3s ?

I went from a D3 to D800 to a D3s. D3s destroys the D800 in everything but resolution. D800 eats up hard drives like nothing, requires a new hand holding technique and takes forever when processing.

D3s just rocks with everything!!

Jan 26, 2013 at 08:58 PM

lsutigerfan
Offline
• •
Upload & Sell: On

p.1 #14 · D800 or D3s ?

Ohh, forget these opinions. Get the d800 and never look back. You can use your d7000 (which out-resolves the d3s) for action shots. The d800 is an amazing camera, and downsized images (to 12MP) are nearly as clean as the d3s. Don't buy old tech....if you're doing that, then just get the d700 with battery grip for 8FPS.

Jan 26, 2013 at 09:36 PM

Steve Perry
Offline
• • • •
Upload & Sell: On

p.1 #15 · D800 or D3s ?

Another vote for D3s - the buffer alone over the D800 is worth it.

Jan 26, 2013 at 09:41 PM

pjheller
Offline
• •
Upload & Sell: On

p.1 #16 · D800 or D3s ?

+1 for the D3s. A great camera. Don't think you'll have any issues getting it fixed (if need be) in the foreseeable future.

Jan 26, 2013 at 09:43 PM

pcrit
Offline
•
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #17 · D800 or D3s ?

I just got a D3s and love it, considering you might need some new lenses have you thought of a D3 which is still very good for your style of shooting and the money saved can buy the lenses you will need.

Jan 26, 2013 at 09:50 PM

JusLookN
Offline
•
Upload & Sell: On

p.1 #18 · D800 or D3s ?

D3s!

Jan 26, 2013 at 10:18 PM

jbledsoe
Offline
• • •
Upload & Sell: On

p.1 #19 · D800 or D3s ?

This pretty much answers it for you. D3s

"i do sports 85% of the time.indoors and out but i also like to drive around and do pictures of animals or just anything"

As for repairs, I'm sure Nikon and Nikon authorised repair places will have parts for the D3s for many years to come.

Jan 27, 2013 at 12:32 AM

robby521
Offline
• •
Upload & Sell: Off

p.1 #20 · D800 or D3s ?

thank you all.i will be on a look out for a D3s in the next few weeks.

Jan 28, 2013 at 02:30 AM

1 2 end
FM Forums \| Nikon-mount SLRs \| Join Upload & Sell 1 2 end