Photography News 11

Camera review

27

The move of the bracketing button feels fine – and it’s in a similar place to that on the Nikon Df, but smaller. It is easy to find with your eye up to the camera and without changing hand position. Incidentally, the whole top-left hub has also been tilted back slightly. This makes reaching it slightly less of a stretch for your thumb and it’s also easier to see when mounted high on a tripod. The AF mode selector on the lower front left has received some raised dimples, making it quicker and easier to locate, and similarly, the movie record button sits higher, making it easier to distinguish from the mode and exposure compensation buttons with your eye to the finder. The movie record button can also be customised; you can have it adjusting white-balance, ISO, image area and shutter speed, or aperture lock. The latest firmware for the D800 offers broadly the same. The technology inside Elsewhere, the D810 borrows features from the flagship Nikon D4 s , inheriting that camera’s improved EXPEED 4 processor and Group Area AF for more accurate subject tracking. The ISO range is extended with a new lower-end ISO 64 and a high of 12,800, and is expandable through the Lo and Hi settings to 32 and 51,200 respectively. These are incremental changes, sure, but they certainly offer more flexibility and, combined with the new processor, the sensor is said to have been retooled with improved light-gathering microlenses, which should give improved signal-to-noise performance. Nikon has also squeezed in an extra frame-per- second over the D800, and this increases from 5fps to 7fps when in DX crop and with a battery pack attached. There’s also the option of a new electronic first curtain shutter too, which, allied to a redesigned mirror mechanism, is designed to reduce the vibrations that can stop you getting the best from all those pixels. Although having tried both options, the benefit isn’t major, which is perhaps testament to the new low vibration, low noise mirror mechanism. Audibly, the D810’s shutter operates at a much lower pitch, making it far more suitable for times when you don’t want to attract attention, like wildlife shoots or weddings. If

The verdict Whether the D810 will appeal to you depends on your perspective. If you’re an existing D800 owner and happy with your camera’s performance, you can probably comfortably wait for the next generation. If you’re a D800 or D800E owner and want more resolution, the D810 may loosen your purse strings. What is certain is that the D810 represents an even more compelling full-frame option than the cameras that came before it and if you’re thinking of upgrading from a Nikon D600/610 or a DX camera like the D7000, it’s the one to aim for. Nikon currently has no plans to remove the D800/E from its product line, so don’t expect prices of those cameras to fall through the floor any time soon. A D800 will set you back £2000 and the E is still around £300 more, while the guide price for the D810 body only is £2700, although that could fall slightly as the dealers compete for your custom. However, at this stage, it seems an acceptable amount for the changes, because Nikon has taken
two great cameras, applied sensible upgrades and come out with a single body that’s genuinely superior.

you need even more hush, the Quiet (Q) mode is joined by a continuous version (Qc), though at the loss of frame rate. The wider native ISO range is always going to be a bonus, but it’s only one
stop more at either end, so while shooting at ISO 64 was useful for exposing wide open in bright light, or for extreme long exposures, those problems are easily solved using a good old-fashioned ND filter. Most useful, day to day, I found was the advantage in noise performance, meaning I could use Auto ISO with more confidence, and shoot at a higher base level (of around 800) without worrying about noise. It’s no surprise that the D810 produces richly detailed images. All the shots shown here started life as full-size Raw files and these were processed using the recently released latest version of Adobe Lightroom, 5.6 – you’ll need to update to this version for D810 support. Default noise reduction and sharpness settings were used. For test purposes I explored the high ISOs as well as delving into the ISO 32 and 64 settings. At the low to medium ISO speeds, image quality is very impressive even on handheld shots. Stick the D810 on a Series 2 Gitzo Mountaineer tripod, use the electronic front shutter, set a mid lens aperture and take the shot with a remote release and you can’t help but be impressed with the image quality. I tried a couple of files printed on A2 glossy paper at full size without any interpolation and cropped to fit. Without question, D810 files are razor-sharp and detail rich. Very impressive. Take a look at the images here and you’ll see that, like so many of the modifications, the changes are incremental rather than sweeping, but nonetheless effective. It’s no surprise that theD810 produces richlydetailed images. All the shots shownhere started life as full-size Rawfiles

NIKOND810

24/25

FEATURES

Plenty of pixels and much more besides HANDLING Impressive and the quiet shutter is amazing PERFORMANCE Capable of awesome image quality VALUE FOR MONEY 22/25 Highly priced but still competitive for what you get 25/25 24/25

ABOVE Although results are impressive handheld, image quality can be improved still further by using a tripod, the electronic front shutter curtain and a remote release. LEFT The D810’s metering coped well with contrasty lighting.

OVERALL

95/100

A top DSLR with a great deal to commend it

PROS Image quality, handling, quiet and low vibration shutter CONS Nothing significant, price maybe

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Issue 11 | Photography News

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