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NIKON has announced the D800 in Malaysia, the long-awaited successor to the popular full-frame D700.
Like the recently-launched D4, the D800 comes with all-new styling along with a host of changes underneath the hood.
The most notable of these new features is a 36.3-megapixel full-frame CMOS sensor, which is (for now) the highest resolution image sensor of any DSLR on the market.The 36.3-megapixel count is quite a jump from the 12-megapixel D700 and is even higher than the 16-megapixels of the top-of-the-line D4, although the D4's larger pixel pitch (i.e. the actual size of each individual pixel on the sensor) means that high ISO performance of the D4 is still better than the D800.
Nevertheless, the D800 has a pixel pitch that is nearly identical to the APS-C-sized image sensor of the 16-megapixel D7000, which means ISO performance should also be similar, as evidenced by the standard ISO 100 to 6,400 settings available on both cameras (extendable from 50 to 25,600 in ISO boost mode).
Video recording is also as good as the D4, with the capability to record in H.264/MPEG4 video at up to 1080p at 30fps (frames per second).
The D800 also comes with a built-in stereo microphone port as well as a headphone port for audio monitoring and the ability to output uncompressed video via the HDMI port.
Apart from the differences in the sensor, the D800 actually features many of the innovations carried over from the D4, most notably, a 3.2in 921,000-dot LCD screen, a dual axis virtual horizon, 51-point Multi-CAM 3500FX AF system and a 91,000-pixel RGB metering sensor which can also be used to track subjects and recognise faces to aid the autofocus sensor.
Like the D4, the D800's autofocus system works down to EV-2 as well as with lenses with apertures as small as f/8.
In terms of storage, the D800 comes with CompactFlash as well as SD card slots, both supporting the highest transfer speeds currently available for each format.
The D800 also natively supports EyeFi wireless SD cards which allows the camera to wirelessly transfer images to a PC at a remote location as the photographer is shooting.
It is also Nikon's first camera with built-in support for USB 3.0, promising much faster data transfers from camera to a PC with USB 3.0 port.
One interesting feature that the D800 carries over from the mid-range D5100 is the ability to shoot HDR images by combining two JPEG images shot in quick succession. At the same time, Nikon is also releasing a D800E, which is identical in every respect to the D800 except that the optical low-pass filter's blurring effect has been removed.
In doing this, the D800E actually has a slight resolution edge over the D800, which uses a low-pass filter to blur fine detail to prevent moire patterns and false colour when shooting textiles and other subjects with fine, repeating patterns.
Without this blur filter, the D800E is thus able to resolve more detail when shooting landscapes and people, and any resulting moire when shooting textiles can still be removed in software using the latest version of Nikon's Capture NX 2 software.
Local prices for the D800 and D800E have yet to be announced but availability for the D800 is by end of next month, while the D800E will be available by end of April.
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