Hi alt fellows,
Could you share your real life experience with Nikon D800 and Zeiss ZF lenses (or other manual lenses)? Zeiss Z* lenses is the most crucial factor (in the bunch) to be taken into consideration that's why it's posted here.
- overall impression
- manual focusing features and difficulties (if any) and help of camera AF system
- viewfinder brightness and distracting factor of AFsquares and AF zone borders for making a good composition
- LV focusing convinience
- grip and ergonomics
- other non-obvious features or striking experience
N.B. RAW-shooting is considered. And wide open aperture shooting draws my attention more.
And it would be totally awesome if a reviewer also has an experience with Canon 5DII/III to compare these two FF systems for alt users with manual focus lenses.
And please no holy war - just your real life experience and facts.
Here are answers (added on 10-Jun-2012).
Some time ago I had an opportunity to put my hands on Nikon D800 and as well as Canon 5D3 cameras at a local camera shop. I can’t judge IQ aspects but I have plenty to say about handling and operating these cameras. The next words reflect my personal opinion only, and please remember I’m a 5Dc user in past.
First impressions come first. “What a bulky brick?!” when I took D800. And “What a handy grip!” when I grabbed 5D3. Assume it as a introduction.
1) Focusing with MF lenses. Everyone is aware of Nikon rangefinder focus assist system and no doubt it works but… In the lower left corner in VF there are 3 indicators: 2 arrows and one green dot that has quite a large tolerance (with a 50/1.4G lens on). So its accuracy is in question. Somebody suggests to make MA so that consecutive blinking an arrow and the dot tells about acquiring focus. Canon’s implementation of manual focus assistance is straight forward. A single dot lights green if the focus is nailed and it seems to have less tolerance. Moreover ¬ and it’s the most important thing IMHO - 5D3 informs of acquiring focus by an audio signal (beep) and illuminating a focus point in red. So with 5D3 a photographer has no need to turn his eyes to the green dot in a corner and may pay all his attention to the VF frame and making a good composition.
2) I couldn’t find any difference in brightness level of viewfinders of both cameras at first glance. They are quiet bright and large. Also I’d want to mention that AF points of 5D3 can be customized so that they are illuminated in red or black only if focus is nailed and but stay transparent all the other time and do not distract from making a composition. Consider it as a small trick and not as a huge advantage.
3) LV focusing. Handholding a camera and trying LV MF focusing is a real pain and no difference how grainy a picture on LCD is. It’s a real challenge. On tripod D800 may give quite good results whatever people say. And no doubt Canon’s LV implementation is much convenient and eye-pleasing. Just don’t zoom too much, he-he ) The only thing that can make sense is the time you shoot in dim light and then 5D3 is in favour.
4) Ergonomics. Well, what would I say? I’m on Canon side. D800 grip seems uncomfortably fat. 5D3 grip dimensions are more appropriate for my hand. All buttons and dials are on their places. Maybe it’s a matter of a habit who knows. Menu navigation is equally complicated on both cameras yet custom menu helps a lot. And both cameras feel heavier than 5Dc.
Additional 5D3 advantages: side-by-side playback mode for 2 images comparison, silent continuous shooting mode that id really silent (opposed to Nikon postponed shutter release after a mirror gets up), MA for both wide and tele ends of a zoom lens.
And finally some more pros to D800: a built-in fill flash that weights nothing and doesn’t need separate batteries, a built-in VF shutter that a must have option for LV and tripod shooting, a cheap plastic LCD cover that is useless in fact yet very welcome by a customer.
i went from 5dII to d800e.
i shoot landscapes.
i use zeiss zf lenses.
i prefer the files from the 800e. resolution is king in my world. shadow recovery is exceptional.
the LV implementation on the 800/e was a gigantic blunder on the part of nikon. it sucks to use though i am still able to get tack sharp files/prints
drdrew wrote:
i went from 5dII to d800e.
i shoot landscapes.
i use zeiss zf lenses.
i prefer the files from the 800e. resolution is king in my world. shadow recovery is exceptional.
the LV implementation on the 800/e was a gigantic blunder on the part of nikon. it sucks to use though i am still able to get tack sharp files/prints
How is manual focus with the Nikon finder without the use of LV? Does focus "snap" in and out or do you have to rely on other aids (AF confirmation lights for instance)?
i don't rely on AF confirmation or lights. the "snapping" into focus is usually a feature of the lens more than the VF. i am happy with the VF on the nikon without a doubt. all of my shooting is off a tripod, never on the fly so i cannot comment.
I just got my D800 and mounted my 35/2 ZF.2 and 100/2 MP ZF.2. Now, I can't take them off to test my other Nikon 2.8 zooms.
I need to test the zooms because of the focus issues I read, but then the ZFs are easy to MF on the D800 and the renderings are better than what I expect. Most photos are of family and hence can't be posted online. Will try and post some later of inanimate subjects.
vovkinson wrote:
Does D800 have any feature for precise manual focusing?
No, it is the same as D700. However, that is an improvement over D300. The focus confirmation on the D800 view finder look like > o < . So, the < and > helps you to know when you are nearing focus as the o indicates focus. The D300 just had o, which was a little bit of a pain.
If you really want SLR style MF, I think replacement screens from Katzeye should help. I am not sure if they have the one for D800 yet or not, but eventually they will have it and it is a great tool.
I rented the D800 for a week along with a ZF 21/2.8 and shot it along side my 1ds3 with ZE 21/2.8.
I will post some shots soon. But the main differences for me is the better DR and better noise performance in the shadows so you can push the shadows more. The LV implementation of the D800 is the weakest point, and makes focusing a little harder with LV compared to my 1ds3 but I can live with it. The grip/ergonomics was fine but I think that kind of stuff is a personal preference thing.
I also shot the D800 with my 24/1.4G. The AF was ok and not a problem.
The viewfinder was nice and not a problem. I mostly used LV for focusing because I was trying to make sure perfect focus for comparison shots. To get the best IQ I agree with others on shooting as much on tripod or with twice the old 1/focal length shutter speed rule.
The high iso performance was nice too as it is about at least 2 stops better than my 1ds3.
I think this camera is great for slower landscape type shooting which is what I will be getting if for.
I also shot a few frames with my ZF 35/2 on it and thought it was easy enough to focus manually.
It is really hard to compare how easy it is to manual focus between D800 and 1ds3 as the higher resolution D800 requires more accurate focusing to get the full benefit of the extra resolution.
carstenw wrote:
Since you are already invested in Canon, why wouldn't you just pick up a 5DIII?
5DMK2 for alt lens is pretty much same as 5DMK3. Sure 5DMK3 has nice AF confirm (which really works). But if you would prefer "eye confirm", than not gonna happen..
Yea and 5DMK2 has better colors slightly (and worse noise, but thats kinda logical as its tied together).
IMHO wouldnt upgrade from 5DMK2 to MK3 if I was Zeiss user. For AF lens its very logical upgrade.
) The only thing that can make sense is the time you shoot in dim light and then 5D3 is in favour.