Wildlife Photography across the Water: Nikon D800-Ordered

Saturday, 10 March 2012

Nikon D800-Ordered

The Nikon D800 was announced about 5 weeks ago and all the big retailers sold their pre orders in a matter of hours, However Amazon and BH reopened their preorders with the same delivery date of March 20th, I managed to scrap the money together and just as i was about to phone around when Gary from Hunts Photo phoned me as he had seen that i was interested by a comment on one of the forums and we came to an agreement and the order for a D800 with battery grip and spare battery was placed and now i will sit and hope that in the next 2 weeks i have one in my hands, Hunts have a great reputation here in the States and i would rather deal with them than say one of the bigger dealers here, I have to say that i have ummed and arred for a couple of weeks whether i should go for the D800 or the D800E but in the end i decided to play safe and go for the plain D800, I do shoot a variety of subjects and looking at the samples on the Nikon website i think the D800 was the one for me, I also had to get my head straight that another full frame camera to go with my D3s was the right way to go as i like to have a FF and DX to cover all eventualities, The D400 will be out this year at some point and i did wonder if that may be a better bet for what i do but there is lots of rumors that it may also be FF and by the time i find out and then get one in my hands it could be 6 or more months away, Both Martin and myself have always said not to be a beta tester and rush in and get a new model-let others test it and sort the firmware out etc and i totally agree with this, However i think that Nikon have had extra time to get stuff sorted due to the tsunami etc and all the raw files that have hit the market have looked great and for the amount of megapixels look amazing, I have also kept an eye on the D4 and have looked at a lot of the Raw files from that at all ISO's and to be honest its not much of a jump if you already have a D3s and although it does look an amazing camera i will sit this upgrade out, If the D800 arrives by the end of this month i will take it away for a weeks testing and will probably go up to the Smoky Mountains for both scenics and wildlife, Fingers crossed

Dave

1 comment:

Iain Clyne10 March 2012 at 17:02
Hi Dave,

You should be alright with the D800 as it will give you the best of both worlds with the DX crop being 16mp so it will be like having the D7000 when you need it.

I look forward to seeing some shots when you get it.

Iain.
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Bio's

David Courtenay, a self taught wildlife and nature photographer, has been capturing images for over 30 years. He has had a passion for wildlife since early childhood and remembers being glued to the television whenever Survival, Wildlife on One and other natural history documentaries were shown. In the 2006 he swapped his established career for the life of a wildlife photographer, such a move demands a measure of uncompromising passion and commitment.

David has travelled extensively throughout Europe as well as spending more than 7 months in India working with local guides and trackers in search of Bengal Tiger, Asian One horned Rhino and Asian Elephant. He has also photographed Wildlife in Australia, Malaysia, Thailand, Sumatra, Africa, Canada and America. Working closely with Conservation companies he tries to raise funds to help Wildlife that has been put on the endangered list by poaching and habitation loss

Martin Dyer has had a passion for avian wildlife since childhood, particularly raptors. Photography was also another keen interest and it was with the specific availability and control of the whole process that digital offers that Martin was then able to combine the two in 2003. Based in the UK, Martin is a regular visitor to Scotland, specifically the Isle of Mull to watch the Eagles resident there. Other trips to Europe and around the UK are usually part of Martin’s agenda in a typical year.

However, as a firm believer on making the most of the local patch, Martin has spent a lot of time and hard work creating a wildlife garden which is reaping the rewards with many new species and varieties of wildlife. A keen member of a number of wildlife photographic groups, Martin is keen to expand his portfolio into other areas of wildlife, and has already established a wide portfolio of images of fungi.