Full frame here I come! The D800e is over ten years old, but I’d say it’s still a beast of a camera, not just because it’s big and heavy and can produce 36 megapixel photographs.
Supposedly it’s the same as D800 with the only difference being that the D800e has no low-pass filter, which should produce sharper pictures. Or so I thought, more on that later.
You can read this about the D800. Everything except the low-pass filter is the same.
But let’s look at some of the details:
- Introduced in 2012
- 36 megapixels
- Full frame CMOS sensor (same as D800, D810 and D810a)
- 7,360 x 4,912 pixel exposure
- 91K-Pixel RGB Metering Sensor
- Expeed 3 processor
- ISO range 100–6,400, 50–25,600 with boost
- 51 focus points
- Fixed display, 3.2 inches, 921,000 dots
- 30 s to 1/8,000 s shutter speed
- Up to 4 frames per second
- Video: 1,920 x 1,080 (30, 25, 24 fps)
- CF and SD card slots
- EN-EL15 battery (optional MB-D12 battery grip)
- 1,000g incl. battery (D7200: 765g)
- 146 x 123 x 82mm (D7200: 136 x 107 x 76mm)
Let’s start with the physical. It is big, heavy but feels so good to hold and operate. Perhaps I have large hands! The weight would probably be noticeable if you were carrying it around for a long time (which you tend to do if you are into landscape photography). If you look at the difference in size and weight compared to the D7200 though, the D800e isn’t that much bigger at least. There’s a noticeable difference in weight, however.
I’ve not shot a lot with it so far, but I’d say that you can certainly notice the 36 megapixels. Both in terms of the detail the camera produces, and in the size of the files.
I would have liked it to take two SD cards, but it takes a Compact flash card and a SD card. So now I have to buy a Compact flash card (and they are not cheap!).
The viewfinder is big and bright – glorious!
The buttons and things are in pretty normal Nikon fashion, placed in similar places from other cameras. It makes sense and feels familiar and comfortable.
So, that thing about the low-pass filter, meant to minimize the effects of moiré. In effect, as I understand it, it blurs the picture slightly. Hence, removing it should produce a slightly sharper picture.
I had the understanding that in the D800e Nikon had removed this filter. But, that’s not so clear.
In the D800E, Nikon has moved the vertical LPF to the first position, substituted optical glass for the wave plate, and introduced an inverse vertical LPF as the second low-pass filter.
Nikon has changed the design to minimize the effects of the-low pass filter, not removed it all together. They have “cancelled out” the filter, is one way of describing it. What that means in actual photo quality, I have no idea, nor do I have a D800 to compare with.
Anyway, without a low-pass filter, there is apparently some risk of moiré in certain situations. For what I shoot, I don’t think that risk is very high, so I feel safe.
Concerning speed, this is a slow camera. Top shooting speed is four frames per second, a few less than the D7200, which is not a blistering fast camera either. Add to that the weight and bulk, and you are better off working slowly with the D800e, which suits me fine.
Now I will sell my D5500. It’s been a great camera, but it will have to go. I think the D7200 will be a good companion for the D800e.
I look forward to photographing with this camera.
And is the MB-D12 battery grip a must-have for the D800e? Apparently, you can use the higher capacity EN-EL18 battery in the MB-D12 if you have the BL-5 battery chamber cover. Sounds interesting, but I think I’ll stick with EN-EL15 for now.
More photos coming soon. In the meantime, read about when the D800e was put against a medium format Leica.
You can click and enlarge the pictures below. After each picture there is a 100% version. All where shot with 50mm f/1.4G at f/4. No editing other than saving the RAW photos as jpeg.
