After long consideration I bit the bullet, I ordered the D800. While it wasn’t advertised as a concert camera, I felt confident it could be perfect for my needs, and as of now, I’m still convinced of that.
The Good:
First of all, when I got it, it feels more ergonomic, and while the shutter speed is only 4 fps, the speed between the pressing of the button and the moment the shutter hits is amazingly fast. Even so fast that I need to adjust my timing. The 100% viewfinder makes me fall in love with my 14-24 all over again, and the 36 megapixel really bring out the details in the people. I could see myself in the reflection of the eyes of a girl I shot at a few meters away. Wow!
The ISO feels around the same, which is an amazing feat.
The way I will deliver for the paper will not change at all. Chances are that I will just give them a 15ish megapixel image. Still more than enough for printing. Magazines, they might get the bigger versions, I have more than enough.
The Bad:
The higher file size however, will change the way I store images. Everything that is not good enough will be deleted, and only the best images that are published or used, or important, will be saved and copied to my archive drives. While that isn’t that bad at all, since it means I have to step up my game again.
The Ugly
Counting the pores in the skin. Eewwwww. ;)
For real now, having a much more detailed way of seeing what you captured really shows when you missed something. Something that looked sharp on 12MP looks blurred on 36MP. So, another reason to make even better images. A camera for parties this aint. If I will get another assignment for a party, I will set it to small JPG. Also, a 8 gig card holds roughly 150 pictures, so while shooting this might be an obstacle while trying to work your way to the look you are searching for.
Another sad thing, my amazingly fast MacBook Air now feels like a year old computer trying to handle the 50 MB Pictures.
Conclusion:
It’s a BEAST! Sharp, fast, but big. If you can’t handle riding an elephant, and have no place to store it, stay away from it. If you think you can handle this, you will love it!
