D810 FX-format Digital SLR Camera Body

Having previously owned the Nikon D90, D7000 and D700, and currently shooting the D7100, I would like to compare the D810 to these bodies, particularly the D700. Obviously, with a five star review, I am really liking my experience so far. First of all, the D810 is a very solid, well built camera, with a feel very close to the D700. I prefer the size with larger lenses, such as the 24-70 and 70-200 zooms. The smaller bodies are great with smaller lenses, and are lighter for better portability, but the larger lenses don't balance as well for me. Coming from a D700, I can say that the handling is so close that it only took a day or two to become completely familiar with the button layout and menu system. Having the D7100 also helped, since some of its controls are nearly identical to the D810...the focus mode lever and center hub button on the lower left come to mind as one of those similarities. Auto focus was a concern for me, and kept me from really considering the D800/D800E cameras. The D700 was 98% accurate with AF, and I am happy to say that the D810 seems to have an equal hit rate. I prefer to use the AF-ON button and AF-C mode for focusing, which allows you to be in continuous AF as long as the button is pressed, or having the camera act like AF-S mode by releasing the button. You get both types of operation simply by pressing continuously or pressing to acquire focus and then releasing to keep it set. The D810 snaps into focus quickly and is deadly accurate. I look forward to trying the "group area" AF, as it is reported to work well for locking on and tracking fast moving subjects that may leave your selected point if only using one point. Group area uses 5 points in a circular cluster simultaneously, that may be moved anywhere in the focus array with the multi-selector. My lenses are all highly accurate and sharp, with only minimal fine-tuning needed on some of them. Video is equally impressive, with the 1080/60p setting producing absolutely beautiful quality. Live view focusing seems a bit quicker to lock, with less hunting than even the D7100. Image quality overall is phenomenal. Super clean with great colors, accurate white balance, and with that beautiful FX look that cannot be matched by smaller sensor cameras. Better in every way over the D700, and I was always very happy with the silky look that D700 images had. The D810 just pushes all those great qualities to another level entirely. Dynamic range is one area that really blows the D700 away. And metering so far is the most accurate of any DSLR I have ever used. Another impressive feature is the super quiet shutter mechanism. Easily less than half the noise that the clanky D700 shutter makes. I have also used the electronic first-curtain shutter on a few occasions, and found the shots to be very, very sharp. This is intended to eliminate any potential vibration from the shutter mechanism causing slight blur, and it certainly looks as if it works. The few tripod shots that I have taken have been crystal clear, no matter the shutter speed. Seems as though Nikon has effectively addressed some of the complaints that D800/E users had with shutter vibrations affecting image sharpness. Kudos!! I love the 1.2x crop mode, which both speeds up the frame rate from 5 to 6FPS, and also reduces the files from 36 to 25MP. RAW file pixel count is also reduced, so if you need more manageable file sizes or need to fit more images on your memory card, you can switch to 1.2x crop. There is also DX crop, which cuts the image down to 15MP and gives you 7FPS (with a battery grip), but I will probably not use that very often. The 1.2x mode, however, is going to be a great option for my dance competition shooting, where I am usually pretty far away, sometimes on a balcony, and could use a little more reach from my 70-200 lens. I crop many of these anyway, since the majority are taken at 200mm and still don't zoom in close enough. 84-240mm equivalent is very exciting for what I frequently shoot. Great for speeding up processing times when working with lots of files, too. I can see myself using this quite a bit. And it's easy to switch modes since you can program the top "record" button to be a crop mode button when you are in picture taking mode. You just press the record button and rotate the thumb wheel to change modes, which are visible in the viewfinder. Very cool! And you can set the menu to darken the unused area for a clear view of your image area. Now for the high ISO comparison (and I can handle some noise, but don't like it to be too rough): none of the DX cameras can come close here. The D90 was ok up to about ISO800, D7000 to ISO1600, and the D7100 can be pretty comfortably used to about ISO2500. And I am comparing RAW output that has been processed with appropriate noise reduction. The D700, with its 12MP FX sensor could do about ISO5000 if shot RAW, but only 3200 if shot JPEG. The older processor did not handle the noise that well compared to ACR. It left too much noise and still smeared the image far too much above 3200. For comparison, I have already used the D810 for actual low-light action (stage show with dancers), and can report that ISO10,000 is about comparable to D700 ISO5000, and both RAW and JPEG are perfectly usable at that high setting. I was so blown away by the great colors and reasonable amount of noise, I nearly fell over when viewing them on my 24" monitor. At 100%, there is noise, but when viewed normally, or moderately zoomed in, the images are just astonishingly good. I would be perfectly comfortable printing a 24x36 poster of even a ISO12,800 JPEG photo right out of the camera. Yes, they are really that good. I believe that the smaller pixels actually create a finer grain that is much less objectionable (and less visible) than the coarseness found in the D700 high ISO images. Quite a feat to go against the common belief that high pixel counts would equal high noise. I'm sure that advances in sensor design, as well as processor performance has a great deal to do with that. This is one amazing camera! Needless to say, I am very happy that I went for the D810 as a FX replacement for my D700. I was going to wait for the D750 to be introduced before purchasing, but the more information that was "leaked" about it being a D610 sized body, and no AF-ON button, I went ahead and got this one. Yes, it's a pricey camera, but well worth it, as far as I'm concerned. I should be set for a very long time with the D7100 as a lighter everyday, wildlife, and backup camera, and the D810 as my main body for portraiture and low-light work. Really looking forward to putting this combination to work. Both cameras are working perfectly and ideally suited for my intended uses. Well done, Nikon! Edit, April 13, 2015: Still finding the D810 to be a nearly perfect camera. Great looking files and comfortable to shoot (mostly). Only one complaint after using it for several months. The AF-On button on the back is too stiff and has a shallow travel that makes it a bit uncomfortable to shoot with when doing extended shooting. The amount of force required is too great and the feel of the button is just not as good as it could be. It requires increasing force to keep it pushed in rather than "popping" into place to the point where you can let off the pressure a bit without it coming out. It doesn't seem that bad until you've been using it off and on for an hour or so. Your thumb starts to get cramped and tired. For comparison, I would prefer it to feel like the AF-L/AE-L button on the back of the D7100 (which can be programmed for back-button focus). It is shaped a bit better, requires less force, and sticks out more, giving it a better feel. Issue is not enough to lower the score, but is something that bothers me a little for my type of shooting. Edit, April 21, 2016: Just picked up a D750 as a companion to the D810. Loving both cameras! Each has shared strengths, with some differences that compliment one another. High ISO is a little better on the D750, but that crisp 36MP is really impressive, even at relatively high ISO, and dynamic range is unbeatable. The D810 has a much quieter shutter for shooting in quiet environments, and the D750 is more portable for when you need to go smaller/lighter. It's great to be able to keep a 24-70 on the D810 and a 70-200 on the D750 for almost limitless coverage of a very wide range of focal lengths without swapping lenses. The D810 continues to impress with its beautiful images and reliable operation. I will be relegating its use to video at this year's dance recital, while the D750 takes its place for stills. Happy camper here. Great work, Nikon!!

After taking about 500 pix I can say that this camera is a step up from the D800. The biggest change is the focusing speed as well as the elimination of the blur in the D800 that was apparently due to the image sensor filter. Using either my 105 mm macro lens or the 70 to 200 mm telephoto lens produced excellent results. When zooming in during post processing the detail is preserved and produces great 8.5 x 11 photos even after heavy cropping. I feel (which is subjective) that the color is more rich on the D810 than on the D800 but that may just be my perception. Focusing is very fast and at one point I thought I was on "Manual" focus mode since I didn't hear the lens motor working but after further testing it was focusing just fine. And very rarely does the focusing get lost like in past "D" series camera where it would hunt and seek for several seconds before locking in on the subject. However, focusing in very low light conditions still is not perfect and at times does not focus like it does in normal lighting conditions. This really isn't a limitation for the kinds of pictures that I take. I haven't really compared the noise between the ISO 3200 and 6400 settings as I never really had to go above 3200 for the pictures that I take. I find that most indoor and wedding environments have sufficient light to be able to use ISO settings of 3200 and below. The results are just fine. The newly formed grip does provide a bit different feel over the D800 grip, However, it isn't that significant in my mind. The "Quiet" shutter is a good feature and keeps the shutter noise level down for quiet moments. The AF-ON button is a bit of a reach for me but then again I have short fingers. Setting up the various focusing or exposure modes is very easy and is accomplished by using the LCD screen. The layout of the various controls and especially the monitor menu are layed out very well and there never is a time when one has to hunt to change a function. This isn't always true on other cameras that I have owned. The D810 has upgraded many of the video functions over the D800. However, given that I don't do much video I will not comment on any of these changes. However, it is nice to know that top quality video is capable with the D810. The only negative was that the first D810 I received locked up within a week and I had to take the battery out in order to get it to work again. This occurred several times and after discussion with Nikon service department they determined that the camera was defective and to return it. This only occurred under certain conditions and was repeatable. This must have been a quirk with that given unit as the new unit works flawlessly. I contacted Amazon about the problem and given their absolutely superior return policy I had a brand new D810 in less than 24 hours. Can't say enough about how well I was treated by Amazon regarding their return policy. I give them 10 STARS. Yes.........I would recommend the D810 to anyone who wants/needs a high quality DSLR camera.

I have a D800 and have just purchased the D810. I was a bit nervous from reading "previews" that the difference in performance between the two bodies were not enough to justify the purchase of this new body. I am glad to say that at least for me, I am very happy and have not touched my D800 except once since purchase. The differences are subtle, but they make the package. It's sort of like driving a Toyota Camry, and then jumping into a Lexus. You still get there, and the Camry's not bad, but the Lexus just makes the drive so much better. First of all, and I think most important of all is the autofocus is so much quicker. I was demonstrating it to my friend by just turning the camera to anything and press the shutter and it instantly focus and takes the picture. I set the menu mode for shutter release on focus only. On the D800, you will get the focus just a bit slower. Although this may not sound like a big difference, it allows me to get "that" picture with more confidence. I was never able to to use autofocus "c" mode to follow a flying bird because it is just not fast enough, or maybe I am not good enough of a photographer. However, on the D810, I was able to follow a dragonfly buzzing around my backyard and out of 6-7 pictures, I got 3 excellent in focus one. One of the picture looked like 3D because it was so clear! The second difference, which I think is just as important to me is the improvement of ISO performance. I compared the noise level between ISO 800 - 12800 on both cameras. On the D800, I could definitely see annoying noise, even with noise reduction turned on by 1600, and by 3200, it was definitely unacceptable. On the D810, I could definitely see noise by 2500, and by 8000, it was definitely unacceptable. So, I can see that the improvement is about 2/3 -1 stop better. On the D800, I limit ISO to 1600. On the D810, I now limit it to 2500, although I think that ISO 3200 is comparable to ISO 1600 on the D800. If you think this is not important, it is 1 stop difference. On my 24-70mm f2.8, with a 1 stop increase, it's like an f2.0! On my 24mm 1.4, that's like f1.0! I was at a restaurant the other day with the family and was able to click away many pictures without flash! The pictures were at ISO 2500, and looked amazing! Another difference is the much quieter shutter click. It's not a big deal to me, but it sounds much better than the D800. I have noticed though, that some of my pictures are not as sharp as I am used to on the D800. I would retake the picture, but I would slow down; breath out, and kept everything super steady, and then the picture would be supersharp! I think the D810 is so sharp without the low pass filters, that any subtle shakes will show. I guess this can be a "minus" if you want to consider that a minus. :)) Another thing I like on the D810 is the "group focus". This is 4 squares instead of one square to focus. So instead of aiming to focus with one square in the viewfinder, the D810 can be programmed to have 4 square next to each other. It is my opinion that this may result in better focus than the one square focus. The one square focus option is still there. Overall, I really like the D810. I would definitely recommend this body, even if you have the D800 if you want that extra advantage. This is what the D800 should have been. :)

What can you say, this is the best digital Nikon ever. Best of everything in my view. Enough resolution so you can take that long-shot and then crop/zoom and still have details! My unit had a weird lens flare issue. I've heard of this on other models, but no the D810. I had a D800E for a shot while about two years ago, and loved it, and this D810 is even better. The price is dropping as is typical during this period just before they announce a follow-on product (maybe a D820?) in early 2016. So since camera updates are often nothing but a few ergonomic features and maybe GPS/Wifi additions, I'd say take advantage of the savings and get the best Nikon has to offer.

I have been using this camera for almost 5 years now mostly for wedding photography, and it is so wonderful that I am about to replace it with the exact same model. This one is coming up to the end of it's shutter-life because I have used it so much and incase you don't know: cameras have life expectancies kinda like a car's mileage. The shutter-expectancy for this one is about 200,000 shutters I believe, and I've started having some issues with it (freezing, stalling, strange lines and things on images here and there) now that I've gotten to about 180,000 shutters, but I also am very often having to subject my camera to hours in direct sun in 100º+ weather so I kind of expect it to poop out on me a little early. That is still a good life for most cameras though, and it has been extremely reliable before now. The lenses you use are extremely important, the difference in image quality between one of $150 lenses and and my favorite 50mm sigma lens (I think it was about $600-$700) is massive, despite being the same camera. The photos in this review are using the sigma lens. Other points of awesomeness: The speed in low-light situations is unmatched by any camera any of my photography friends have, and being able to bump that ISO way up is amazing, especially for sparkler send-offs if you want to keep the ambiance and not use a flash. With my flash on I can freeze motion easily without having to bring the ISO higher than 800-1000 and I love that it keeps the golden tones of background lights unlike some Canon's that I've seen. The quiet mode is really nice when shooting a wedding that is very ..quiet. Sometimes a church will have a lot of echo, and while the quiet mode doesn't make it silent it does slow down the sound and take the edge off which helps a lot with reducing how much attention it draws. The megapixels.. I can shoot a wedding ceremony entirely on a 50mm from far-ish away if I want to and then just zoom in and crop some of them to have close-ups. Shoot on f/2 and they'll be sharp as a tack.

Absolutely fantastic. I upgraded from a D200 and love the D810. In short, the D810 is capable of some high quality photographs, with a tremendous amount of headroom in the RAW files. The camera does require the use of good glass and solid hand holding/high shutter speeds to ensure sharp files. I don't have much to say yet about the video capabilities since I use it mainly for stills, however I am looking forward to learning more about its video capabilities as time goes on. Pros: - Resolution, Colors and Dynamic Range are incredible - Autofocus is quick and accurate in reasonable light, I found continuous AF to be pretty accurate and kept up with most things I tried shooting - Build Quality, and handling are what you would expect from a pro/pro-sumer camera. I do wish the grip was a little wider (like the Nikon F6), but it is still comfortable to hold; there seems to be a Nikon design trend of thinner, but deeper grips. I wish they would widen them up a bit. - The viewfinder is huge and very bright. Even with the advancements in EVFs, I still prefer optical viewfinders and the D810's is a pleasure to look through. Also, I'm also glad that the built-in diopter goes down to -3 this saved me from having to buy one since I hate wearing my glasses when I shoot. Cons: - High ISO could be better; I'm fine with the quality up to 3200 ISO (I feel like I'm being nit picky since 3200 is already fairly high) - You can't use the live view to create multiple exposure overlays...you can do it in-camera later by combining two images, and the camera will actually save a new RAW file which is neat. It's just a fun thing to shoot, and I'm hoping Nikon adds this capability via firmware in the future.

Honestly I'm amazed. I've had a D800 since first introduction, and have never been completely happy with that camera. For reference my D800 has about 20,000 shots on it (that I've kept). With the D800, some lenses I got good results, others terrible results. When it focused properly, I got good results, but often it would not focus on what I wanted it to. Live view was almost unusable. Every lens required focus adjustment and that was a problem especially with zooms (you can only choose one adjustment for a lens ...). Shutter is noisy, let alone shook the camera. I could go on. Enter the D810. Received mine just a few days ago. It focuses quickly and accurately. Most lenses require no focus adjustment. The variability in sharpness that I experienced with my D800 is fundamentally gone. My 70-200 VR (not VRII) which was unusable on my D800 is only not great on the long end on the D810. My 70-300 VR is usable on the D8100, more than usable at most FL. I would not use it >200mm on the D800 for any reason, not so on the D810. The 70-200 f4 is great on both, as well the primes. Just to say, I have more lens choices now. In some cases I'm talking significant differences. I can only assume in some cases there is significant (and negative) interaction between the anti-aliasing filter and some lenses. I took flat field test shots with all of my lenses with both cameras yesterday, and the differences were clear and in some cases far out of proportion to simply the increased sharpness due to no AA filter (using the difference with 50 1.8G and 85 1.8G primes as a baseline). Differences with primes were honestly minor. Focus speed is improved. Focus accuracy is improved. That isn't taking the new focus modes into account, which I haven't tried yet. Mirror slap is very much reduced. Between these changes, I can hand-hold at slower speeds and get results I am amazed with. Especially with the 70-200 f4, I can hand hold at significantly less than 1/shutter speed and get very sharp results. With the D800, it took >1/200s or even much higher with longer lenses to get anything good handheld. Honestly, the difference is very significant in D810 results vs D800. Live view focusing is much improved. My D800 was terrible. D810 is quite sharp and gives very consistent results on each focus attempt. Some have possibly not seen a change in Live View focusing, but I did. I was reluctant to purchase the D810, but finally decided to give it a try. Within an hour, I was sure I was keeping it. I had decide to sell several lenses before getting the D810. Now, I will likely keep them. I can't comment on coming from D800E, as I don't own that. From a D800 owner, having both now, I will sell my D800 and love my D810. Honestly, with the D800 in situations such as on a vacation, at a race, or in any situation where you don't get a chance to do it over, I was never confident I was going to get a good result. That was never true with my D300, I knew what it would do and knew what the result would look like. . And I don't believe it will be true with the D810 as well - in fact I believe it will turn out to be even more consistent (and good) than my D300. That is piece of mind that I've needed and didn't get with my D800. There are other improvements as well few have mentioned. There is more control over what buttons you can overload. That is welcome. You can now overload the Lens M/A-M button, the Video Record button, and the Bracket button, as well as the buttons you could already overload on the D800. There are several other interesting Menu additions that I have yet to understand. Every issue I had with the D800 has been addressed on the D810. Focusing speed. Focusing quality, Focusing consistency. Quietness of shutter. Lens performance consistency. Live view focusing. And you can still use the same battery grip, and batteries, as the D800. It's not an inexpensive upgrade. But for me, it is worth it.

BUYER BEWARE - this is a gray market camera and NIKON will not service the camera because it was not made for the U.S. market. I purchased this camera two years ago and it needs to be cleaned of dust particles. I sent the camera to NIKON (at no small expense) and the NIKON service and repair department looked up the serial number and determined that my camera was made outside of the U.S. which makes this a "gray-market" product. NIKON will not service gray market products. Here is their response: "we are unable to service your D810 as it was meant for a region outside of the US. We will be returning it with no work performed, and you will not be charged. Our best recommendation would be to contact the Amazon seller for any further assistance." So there it is. I wish I had known this and I really, really want to return this camera for a refund to the Seller, but so far, no luck on that front because I am well past the return window. BUYER BEWARE