Nikon Unveils D800, D800E D-SLRs

By Greg Tarr -- TWICE, 2/7/2012

Melville, N.Y. - Nikon officially introduced Monday the long-awaited D800 professional/advanced amateur d-SLR with incorporated FullHD 1080p video recording.

Nikon's D800 (March, $3,000) follows the D700 by adding FullHD 1080 video recording, a 36.3-megapixel CMOS sensor, and a 91,000-pixel RGB Matrix Metering System.

The D800 HD-SLR (shipping in March at a $3,000 suggested retail) features a huge 36.3-megapixel (7,360 by 4,912) full-format FX CMOS sensor. It includes the latest 91,000-pixel 3D Color Matrix Metering III system and offers an Advanced Scene Recognition System, coupled with an improved 51-point AF system.

For video - offered for the first time in this spot in the d-SLR assortment - the D800 features uncompressed HDMI output, and high low-light video capability performance.

Nikon's latest Expeed 3 image processing engine is said to enhance color and dynamic range.

Like the D700 before it, the D800 was designed to shoot low-noise images from a wide range of lighting conditions. The D800 features a wide native ISO range of 100 to 6,400, expandable to 50 (Lo-1)-25,600 (Hi-2); an internal sensor design; an enhanced optical low pass filter (OLPF); and 14 bit A/D conversion with a high signal-to-noise ratio.

Images are further routed through a 16-bit image processing pipeline for maximum performance.

Modes are also offered for aspect ratios, such as 5:4 to easily frame for printed portraits or a 1.2x crop for a slight telephoto edge.

The camera can also be used effectively with Nikon's DX-format lenses offering 1.5x enhanced focal range at a high 15.4-megapixel (4,800 by 3,200) resolution.

Also included is an Advanced Scene Recognition System using a 91,000-pixel 3D Color Matrix Meter III and RGB sensor to analyze each scene, recognizes factors such as color and brightness and compares the data using Nikon's exclusive 30,000 image database.

The sensor will also detect human faces when shooting through the optical viewfinder.

An enhanced auto white-balance system accurately recognizes both natural and artificial light sources, and gives the user the option of retaining ambient lighting.

Users can expand dynamic range with in-camera High Dynamic Range image capture, and Nikon's Active D-lighting for balanced exposure. The D800 also offers direct access to Nikon's Picture Control presets via a dedicated button on the back of the body.

The camera adds a 921,000-dot, 3.2-inch LCD monitor with reinforced glass, automatic monitor brightness control, and wide viewing angle.

 The camera is ready to shoot is 0.12 seconds, and cam capture stills in up to 4 fps in FX mode at full resolution, or up to a 6 fps in DX mode using the optional MB-D12 battery pack and compatible battery. The camera is also equipped with a USB 3.0 standard port for ultra-fast transfer speeds.

 The body is made of magnesium alloy and is sealed for resistance to dirt and moisture.

The optical viewfinder offers a 100 percent frame coverage, and the camera includes dual storage card slots supporting CF and SD cards. The system allows record backup, overflow, RAW/JPEG separation, and the additional option of shooting stills to one card and video to the other.

Support is offered for UDMA-7 and SDXC/UHS-1 cards.

The D800 also features a built-in flash and is compatible with Nikon's Creative Lighting System, including a built-in Commander mode for controlling wireless speedlights.

In addition to the D800, Nikon also announced the D800E (April, $3,300) offering even higher sharpness from the same sensor. Nikon said the D800E  will effectively enhance the resolution characteristics of the 36.3-megapixel CMOS sensor by cancelling the anti-aliasing properties of the OLPF inside the camera.

By doing this, light is delivered directly to the photodiodes, yielding an image resulting from the raw light gathering properties of the camera. A color moiré correction tool will also be available within Capture NX2 to enhance the D800E photographer's workflow.