Never used a D800. Use a D600. Recently shot a wedding in a restaurant on the basement level, very dark, only a few cam lights. I didn't have trouble getting any of the shots.
trenchmonkey wrote:
The D800 AF also rules TC use. Stupid fast AND accurate...with any of them (mounted on quality glass)
Can't imagine an entry level body being able to keep up with things that move, regardless of the light.
I know my D7K (similar AF) can't touch the old in the tooth D3/D700 let alone the D800 AF's mastery, especially
when TC's are employed. Naked fast glass the MutiCAM4800 does well enough, but let's not kid ourselves.
If your forte is static on sticks, you'll be just fine with the D600/D610. Stopped down landscapes? NOT a test of AF.
My D7000 AF was HORRIBLE, always getting soft shots, back or front focus, blur from movement even with fast shutter speeds. Sold it. Bought a D600, 99% of shots are sharp and in focus.
If you don't apply the appropriate focus tuning for each camera/lens combination then you cannot count on any camera giving accurate focus, let alone correctly determine that one camera is better than another.
Mine was serviced by Nikon before I bought it from lensrental, and as far as I can tell the AF system is fine. The last D800 I owned was also fine - excellent, I should say, overall - but the 35 f/1.4g is simply not a consistently accurate lens from my experience. It has random misses.
