http://www.photographydailynews.com/2012/02/nikon-d800-breaking-news/http://www.chassimages.com/forum/index.php/topic,146552.0.htmlNikon D800 : Chasseur d’Images breaks the news and stops rumors
fév 03, 2012No Commentsby Raphaël Lessinger
Nikon has invited a bunch of journalists worldwide to a press event on Febr 7th. A press event widely relayed by leaks on rumors websites. Everybody expects that day to be the release date of the delayed D800 we almost got to announce in September. Nikon rcently came up with new new NDA rules (a bit silly by the way when you read the rumors that have been spreading these past months and that seem to be confirmed….). My colleagues at Chasseur d’Images, Guy-Michel and Ronan are not happy AT ALL. Their magazine is powerful and they decided to break the news and stop the silly rumors once for all. Here are the main specs of the D800 according to the magazine.
Magnesium alloy body
The D800 will get a magnesium alloy body with more sealing rings. It is 100gr lighter than the D700.
Nikon D800 sensor
The new CMOS Full Frame sensor will offer the expected 36-megapixel count to the D800. This Exmor sensor provides high dynamic range and low noise images. Expect grain free images, printed in A2 up to ISO 1600. The D800 will range from ISO 100 to ISO 6400 (extended modes ISO 50, 12800 and 25600).
Video
Full HD 1080p in 30p, 25p and 24 p. There will be a PCM recorder. Like the D4, the Nikon D800 will be able to output uncompressed video on its HDMI port. Like the D4 again, it will allow users to control aperture while recording and it will offer contrast detection AF with face detection and tracking.
D800 Viewfinder : 100%
The D800 will have a 100% coverage viewfinder (champagne !!!) when the D700 was barely 94% ! An other good new : the D800 gets the smart scene recognition 91,000 pixel sensor of the D4 (that can detects faces while used with the optical viewfinder) as well as the 51-points AF, sensible till as low as 2EV, equivalent to the moonlight. This AF system has 11 points which can work at f/8 for lenses with extenders. The screen is the same TFT 921,000 dots, 3″.
Other specs of the Nikon D800
- 4 fps in 14-bit RAW / 6 fps with additional hand-grip
- SD / CF memory cards (what a relief, don’t wanted to buy XQD cards and hoped to use my CF and SD)
- USB3
- WT-4 compatible (no WT-5 support, a bit of a pity)
- Expect a second version of the D800 without optical low pass filter for very very very high resolution.
Nikon D800 : price and availability
Chasseur d’Images stops the price rumors as well : the Nikon D800 will be sold under euros 3,000. The high resolution D800 (without the OLPF) will sell for about euros 200-300 more. According to Chasseur d’Images, the D800 will be available early March 2012, pretty soon then. But if you don’t get it now, you will probably have to wait for a few weeks as the stock may be sold right at launch. I have a friend who is a photography gear dealer. He has 8 D800 pre-ordered even though this camera is not official nor exists ! With these specs and if image quality is as good as a D7000′s sensor in full frame size, they will sell D800 like crazy.
