Nikon D810 Review

on Thursday, November 20, 2014
After more than two years since the successful launch of the Nikon D800 and D800E cameras, which shook up the photography industry with the high resolution 36.3 MP full-frame sensor, Nikon finally introduced an update to the cameras and combined the two into a single camera body. Although the new Nikon D810 has the same 36.3 MP resolution as its predecessors, it features a new sensor with an expanded native ISO range and comes with significant improvements to camera features, performance and ergonomics. In this review, we will take a closer look at these improvements and compare the performance of the D810 to other Nikon cameras.

So far our team at Photography Life has been shooting with the Nikon D810 for over a month (since the day it became officially available) and we have tested three samples of the camera to evaluate its performance for different types of photography including portraiture, wedding, landscape, astrophotography and wildlife. Hence, the review is a collective effort and will be presented from different perspectives of our contributors.
Before I delve into the review, let’s first go over the camera’s technical specifications and compare them side by side with the predecessors, the Nikon D800 and the D800E.

1) Nikon D810 Specifications

Main Features and Specifications:
  1. Sensor: 36.3 MP FX, 4.8ยต pixel size
  2. Sensor Size: 35.9 x 24mm
  3. Resolution: 7360 x 4912
  4. DX Mode: 15.3 MP
  5. DX Mode Resolution: 4800 x 3200
  6. Native ISO Sensitivity: 64-12,800
  7. Boost Low ISO Sensitivity: 32
  8. Boost High ISO Sensitivity: 25,600-51,200
  9. sRAW File Support: 12-bit uncompressed
  10. Processor: EXPEED 4
  11. Metering System: 3D Color Matrix Meter III with highlight weighted metering
  12. Dust Reduction: Yes
  13. Weather Sealing/Protection: Yes
  14. Body Build: Full Magnesium Alloy
  15. White Balance: New White Balance System with up to 6 presets
  16. Shutter: Up to 1/8000 and 30 sec exposure
  17. Shutter Durability: 200,000 cycles, self-diagnostic shutter
  18. Camera Lag: 0.012 seconds
  19. Storage: 1x CF slot and 1x SD slot
  20. Viewfinder Coverage: 100%
  21. Speed: 5 FPS, 6 FPS in DX / 1.2X mode, 7 FPS in DX Crop Mode with optional MB-D12 battery pack
  22. Exposure Meter: 91,000 pixel RGB sensor
  23. Built-in Flash: Yes, with Commander Mode, full CLS compatibility
  24. Autofocus System: Advanced Multi-CAM 3500FX with Group Area AF
  25. AF Detection: Up to f/8 with 9 focus points (5 in the center, 2 on the left and right)
  26. LCD Screen: 3.2 inch diagonal with 1,229K dots
  27. Movie Modes: Full 1080p HD @ 60 fps max
  28. Movie Exposure Control: Full
  29. Movie Output: MOV, Compressed and Uncompressed
  30. In-Camera HDR Capability: Yes
  31. GPS: Not built-in, requires GP-1 GPS unit
  32. Battery Type: EN-EL15
  33. Battery Life: 1200 shots
  34. USB Standard: 3.0
  35. Weight: 880g
  36. Dimensions: 146 x 123 x 82 mm (5.75 x 4.84 x 3.23″)
  37. Price: $3,299.95 MSRP
A detailed list of camera specifications is available at NikonUSA.com.

A quick glance at the above specifications reveals that the D810 is similar to the D800E. And one would not be wrong in making that assumption, since there is nothing truly revolutionary about the D810 – many of the specifications are either the same or very similar.
The first thing you will notice in the above table, is that the Nikon D810 completely omits the Optical Low Pass Filter (OLPF), while the D800E has a slightly different design, with an OLPF that cancels itself out. Contrary to what some people think, although there is no low pass filter on the D810, it does not mean that there is no filter stack at all – the D810 still has a filter to cut off UV and IR. Does the omission of the OLPF actually increase sharpness in the Nikon D810? I ran a number of tests on both D810 and D800E using Imatest and came to a conclusion that there is practically no sharpness difference between the two cameras in the center of the frame. In the corners, however, the D810 resulted in sharper mid-frame and corners with some lenses, particularly the Nikkor 85mm f/1.4G and 85mm f/1.8G lenses. My detailed findings are shared in my “Is Nikon D810 Sharper than D800E?” article, where you can see comparisons between the two, with some additional commentary on flange distance variances.

There is also very little difference in noise performance between the two cameras, as shown in the camera comparisons page of this review. And as shown in my Nikon D810 vs D800E dynamic range comparison, there is practically no difference in dynamic range either (at same ISO levels). Thus, we can conclude that the D810 does not bring significant changes to image quality.
At the same time, we must understand that further improvements to image quality probably require new sensor technologies and we are almost hitting the innovation wall during the past few years when it comes to noise and dynamic range performance. We have seen this with the D3S and the D4 and subsequently with the D4 and D4S, where noise performance did not seem to improve as dramatically as it had before. It is getting tougher for Nikon and other manufacturers to set new image quality records with each camera announcement and hence, the Nikon D810 release is not focused around improvements in that area.
The Nikon D810 is all about features and that’s where it truly shines. Nikon might not have delivered much better image quality, but it certainly did deliver a very useful feature – decreased base ISO of 64, which is 2/3 of a stop lower than ISO 100. Why is this useful? Because 64 is a native ISO, which means that you are getting a real hardware change and not a software “boost”. This makes ISO 64 as good as ISO 100 (actually even better, since there is a bit more dynamic range) and better yet, you can now go all the way down to ISO 32 when needed. As far as I know, the D810 is the first modern DSLR that allows going below ISO 50 – the last DSLR camera that could do that was the Kodak SLR/n, which could go all the way down to ISO 6.
Arguably the best improvement in the D810 is its 30% faster EXPEED 4 processor. As I reveal in theAutofocus Performance page of this review, the faster processor results in much faster autofocus speed for acquiring initial focus and tracking moving subjects. The difference is quite drastic and something our team was able to feel while photographing wildlife. In addition, the new processor allows for faster data throughput, which translates to a number of improvements such as: faster frame rate for stills and video.
The addition of sRAW format is also relatively new – the D810 is the second Nikon camera after the D4S to get this format. Although we have previously covered the problems of sRAW format in detail in various articles, you can see our summary in the Image Sensor, RAW and sRAW Options page of this review.

Another welcome change is the completely redesigned mirror and shutter mechanisms, which significantly reduce both camera noise and mirror slap / shutter vibration. The shutter mechanism on the D800 / D800E was very noticeable when shooting with telephoto lenses at slow shutter speeds, resulting in often blurry photographs. The D810 shutter is much more damp, which not only improves sharpness at slow shutter speeds, but also does not spook wildlife. In addition, for the first time in DSLR cameras, Nikon provided the “electronic front-curtain shutter”, which can be used to completely get rid of any traces of shutter vibration.
The increased resolution on the LCD improves the quality of displayed images and those who have previously complained about the “green tint” issue on the LCD will be happy to know that Nikon is now allowing to change the color balance of the LCD screen through the Setup menu, so you can manually calibrate the screen and change it to any tint of color you like.
Last, but not least, is the number of additions and improvements for videographers and timelapse shooters. Timelapse shooters will be happy to know that there is now timelapse and interval timer exposure smoothing and the maximum number of images has been bumped up from 999 to 9,999. Videographers will appreciate such new additions as Zebra Stripes, simultaneous memory and external card recording, selectable audio frequency range, power aperture control for smoother changes in aperture and a “Flat” picture control for flatter “RAW” video footage that gives more room for editing during post-production.
source:photographylife

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