Noise, noise, where’s the noise????
I am starting to feel like and idiot, for days now I’ve been running tests that have not turned out how I expected them to turn out! I was not sure that 36 mega pixels was going to be as impressive as it has turned out to be! I was sure sure that packing 36 million pixels on a 35mm size FX sensor was not going to work so well in the noise department. I selected an airplane hanging from the ceiling in our work area in the Nikon sponsored Sun n’ Fun Media Center, and carefully shot identical shots of the plane at ISO’s 100 – 200 – 400 – 800 – 1600 – 3200 – 6400 and 128,000. The image above is at ISO 1oo directly below are examples of a cropped section of the original files at each ISO. You may notice that I jump from ISO 100 the first shot, to ISO 800! What happened to ISO 200 & 400? No need to show them, they are identical in every way to the ISO 100 shot, yes no noise change of any consequence until 800 and even then I think the noise is only very slightly greater!
ISO 100 Crop
ISO 800 Crop
ISO 1600 Crop
ISO 3200 Crop
ISO 6400 Crop
The D800 goes to High 1 which is 128,000, but it was noisy enough to not bother showing it, however I think the D800 is spectacular out to 3200, and very usable at 6400. My personal stsandard for noise is any ISO that will not require noise reduction later is usable for me. Any ISO that does require noise reductions software, in the past, meant some significant sharpness would be lost in the process of processing the noise. Not true with the D800! The D800 files are so incredibly sharp to start with, a small loss of sharpness is almost not noticeable! So I have to run over to the restaurant for another slice of humble pie!
I shot some more examples this morning and the ability to blow up these files is nothing short of amazing! Enjoy!
And now another tight crop this time image one is full frame, image two is a 100% view!!!!
This entry was posted on Thursday, March 29th, 2012 at 8:26 pm
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Wow is right!! This definitely is the “bomb” as they say. Nikon has really put their superior engineering to work,and the D4 and the D800 are just some of the milestones they are creating daily!!!
Yes, it is a real game changer and the lack of noise is outstanding.
Bill:
The photographs with the D800 are spectacular which is clearly a reflection of the skill of the photographer and the quality of his equipment. If I pose my question again that I posed in my email to you earlier this week “Which camera (D4 or D800) would you choose?”, if you had to pick only one. How would you respond now having had the experience with the D800? If I am still premature with my question, I will continue to follow your blog as you proceed with your experience with both cameras.
Peter
Tough call, for general photography, for someone wanting maximum image quality I would lean to the D800, but if you need speed, and extremely low noise the D is the ticket! The best answer is both!!!
This is both street smart and innelligett.
Bill, I don’t even know what to say. I’ve been avidly following your posts on the D800 and I can’t believe it. That last crop from the Tuskegee Airmen is just unbelievable. Am I right in assuming that any concerns about whether this camera can be handheld are negated by the fact you can boost the ISO so much without loss of quality? I really appreciate the tests you are putting it through. I would love to see what the quality looks like if you switch to DX mode compared to a similar shot cropped out of an FX mode shot.
Lynn
I think most of the fear about hand holding is resolved, however i would still recommend higher shutter speeds, at least twice the focal length, and use a tripod whenever possible, but yes this camera can be handheld with great success. the use of VR is also a big help! The quality of a DX mode shot and a crop would be identical, both use the same amount of the sensor. In High Speed Crop Mode (DX) the camera shoots a 15.5 megapixel file.
Impressive shots. We just drove to Orlando today and picked our D800 up… I love this camera. I can’t wait to take it out for a spin…
You will love it, shoot be some examples!
Bill…….just a word of thanks for your postings about the D800!!! I appreciate so much you taking the time to share with us how it looks and performs. Your shots are amazing!!!! That is some kind of clarity in those crops. I can’t help but think about your description on your Kelby Training “Intimate Landscapes” where you talk about “pieces of the scene….I call them extractions”. Well…..it looks like you’re truly getting your extractions from this camera. As you said, we always try to fill the frame but if you don’t have that long lens with you, this is certainly a way of getting the “extraction” right from the shot you have. That certainly is an impressive camera. Again, thank you so much for the detailed evaluation of the camera. I appreciate that so much. Also thanks so much for your sharing of your faith with us also. That’s truly a blessing to me to hear.
You are more than welcome on both counts!