Does anyone actually buy the Nikon D4

[JR1]

I have been seriously looking into this camera but it now appears exceedingly over priced.

Also According to K Rockwell the D800/E, 600 and D4 are in act the same camera inside !!!!!

Thanks

[Ian H]

I think you will find Mr Rockwell is a little off the mark.

[NorthernFocus]

I own both a D4 and and 800E. Totally different cameras for different purposes. I learned a while back not to bank on anything that KR says. He's good for entertainment value, that's about it.

It was hard to pull the trigger on the D4 due to the cost. But it is one awesome piece of kit. But if you don't need the frame rate, buffer capacity, or high ISO performance, there are better ways to spend your money. IMO the D800 is the best camera that Nikon currently makes. Only downside for my purposes is frame rate.

[Manfred M]

I think you will find Mr Rockwell is a little off the mark.

Mr Rockwell is oversimplifiying quite a bit; as he often does. The cameras do share some common components, but the sensor is completely different and build quality is quite different as well. I had a good, hard look at the D4 before opting for the D800. If I were an action photographer, I would have gone for the D4, but I do not need the low light performance, high frame rate, etc. I'm more of a landscape and portrait photographer, so the D800 is a far better fit for me. In fact if you look at the Nikon literature, Nikon really aimed the D4 at sports and wildlife photographers and the D800 at landscape and studio / portrait photographers.

I do know a couple of D4 shooters and it really is a sweet camera. The D600 (and D610) is nice enough, but has some of the features that I never really liked on my D90 (the eyepiece design and lack of eyepiece shutter to start with) and the positioning of some of the controls are one reason I would only consider it if I were in the market for a backup full-frame camera.

[JR1]

I own both a D4 and and 800E. Totally different cameras for different purposes. I learned a while back not to bank on anything that KR says. He's good for entertainment value, that's about it.

It was hard to pull the trigger on the D4 due to the cost. But it is one awesome piece of kit. But if you don't need the frame rate, buffer capacity, or high ISO performance, there are better ways to spend your money. IMO the D800 is the best camera that Nikon currently makes. Only downside for my purposes is frame rate.

Thank you both, I do need the frame rate and buffer as you can see from my site which I started last year, mainly sports, power boat racing etc, I was just concerned that he may have been right.

[Shadowman]

I have been seriously looking into this camera but it now appears exceedingly over priced.

Also According to K Rockwell the D800/E, 600 and D4 are in act the same camera inside !!!!!

Thanks

if you read his review of the 300s, KR suggests buying the D4 instead, especially if you are interested in sports photography. If you do a Internet search of older model Nikon's which do you see more readily available?

[Ian H]

I have stuck with my faithful D700 as I don't need the frame rate of the D4, Shooting mainly macro I am quite often at f22 or f32 so this makes the D800 no good for me what so ever.

Cheers

Ian

[Manfred M]

Shooting mainly macro I am quite often at f22 or f32 so this makes the D800 no good for me what so ever.

You'll have to explain this one to me, as the D800 sensor performance is a lot better than the D700. I had a look at both the D700 and the D800 and ended up going with the D800 because of superior image quality. If you are concerned about the diffraction limit; there is only about a 1 stop difference between the two cameras and at f/22 and f/32 you are definitely diffraction limited on the D700.

[Ian H]

I ran some experiments a while ago with a scientist friend of mine using my D700 and his D800 with my Nikkor 200mm f4 micro fitted to them, at f22 the D700 showed very little signs of diffraction where as the D800 the images where unusable. We were amazed at the difference, the only thing we could put it down to was the pixel density of the sensors.

[PhotomanJohn]

For what it is worth, the D4 is apparently getting in short supply around the world and Nikon Professional Services in Japan are no longer selling it. This is all being interpreted as the replacement model for the D4 is on its way.

John

[NorthernFocus]

For what it is worth, the D4 is apparently getting in short supply around the world and Nikon Professional Services in Japan are no longer selling it. This is all being interpreted as the replacement model for the D4 is on its way.

John

If one listened to the rumor mill, I'd still be shooting a D300 and awaiting the release of a D400.

[Black Pearl]

I ran some experiments a while ago with a scientist friend of mine using my D700 and his D800 with my Nikkor 200mm f4 micro fitted to them, at f22 the D700 showed very little signs of diffraction where as the D800 the images where unusable. We were amazed at the difference, the only thing we could put it down to was the pixel density of the sensors.

Viewed in what way - pixel peeping at 100%?
For a real world end result the D800 would produce the better image.

[Manfred M]

I ran some experiments a while ago with a scientist friend of mine using my D700 and his D800 with my Nikkor 200mm f4 micro fitted to them, at f22 the D700 showed very little signs of diffraction where as the D800 the images where unusable. We were amazed at the difference, the only thing we could put it down to was the pixel density of the sensors.

This result does not make any sense. With the D700 the 8.45μm pitch versus the 4.87μm on the D800 should mean a more detailed image, even with a bit of diffraction coming into play. I could see someone reporting less image quality improvement than would have been expected with a higher resolution sensor, but there is simply no way that IQ can decrease.

I would have to assume that there was either some pixel peeping going on at two different levels of magnification, a problem during image capture or with the image processing.

[rpcrowe]

Ken Rockwell believes that the world is flat and that Christopher Columbus was a Mafia Don!

[Ian H]

Viewed at 100% in Lightroom 4 with everything turned to zero. Focusing was manual at very near the lenses minimum distance, which gives a depth of field of about 6 mm, focus was confirmed but the cameras.

[PhotomanJohn]

Viewed at 100% in Lightroom 4 with everything turned to zero. Focusing was manual at very near the lenses minimum distance, which gives a depth of field of about 6 mm, focus was confirmed but the cameras.

Ian - I think that is the point that others have been making is that you viewed the D800 images at a higher magnification than you did those from the D700. To do a fair test you need to adjust the magnification of the object in the images to be the same. Adjusting the images so that one sensor pixel is one pixel on the display greatly enlarges the D800 image as compared to the D700 due to the much higher pixel density on the D800..

John

[NorthernFocus]

Viewed at 100% in Lightroom 4 with everything turned to zero. Focusing was manual at very near the lenses minimum distance, which gives a depth of field of about 6 mm, focus was confirmed but the cameras.

Well there's your problem. You're comparing apples and oranges. If you took identical full frame images, unless you did something really wrong technique wise, there is virtually no way not to get a sharper image with the 800 when comparing image to image, NOT pixel to pixel. You have to compare the sum of the parts, not the parts themselves.

I've had several opportunities to shoot the D4 and D800 side by side. For comparable full frame images compared side by side, the D800 IQ is better hands down. The only exception to that might be at ISO settings above 3200. There the D4 begins to pull away. 6400 and up is no contest IMO, DXoMark tests notwithstanding.

[Ian H]

John, both were of exactly the same thing from the same distance, nothing was moved apart from swapping the bodies. So the objects were the same size on both sensors.

[PhotomanJohn]

John, both were of exactly the same thing from the same distance, nothing was moved apart from swapping the bodies. So the objects were the same size on both sensors.

But displaying at one to one on the screen magnified the object in the D800 image by around 2:1 compared to that of the D700.

John

[AussieInLondon]

Hi, I'm new here so I will try to keep to all the forum rules.

I own both the D4 and the D800. I have hardly used the D800 as yet as the D4 has done everything I have asked of it magnificently. Up to and including recording a Dance Concert for a local Dance Academy. Long story short, I took out the cards, used the HDMI connection to an Atomos Ninja 2 for a 10bit ProRes 422 quality film at 24fps. All the other gear that I used, for instance a Zoom H4n for the soundtrack that was hooked into the Sound Engineers desk and a Rode Video Mic Pro in the hotshot to get the room ambience to mix in, can be answered another time.

I have used the D4 and a host of Nikkor lenses (mostly primes, unless I am doing portraits in which case I use the Nikkor 70-200mm F2.8 VrII) for just about every type of scenario. It always comes through. I shoot uncompressed 14bit RAW and post process in Lightroom or Photoshop depending on what I need to do.

Is it worth buying? It is the price of a small car once you kit it out properly with the right lenses and accessories. So think carefully WHAT you want to do with it? Just a casual shooter... I would suggest the marvellous D800. I have used it on a few occasions and it does everything that Nikon advertise. And then some.

But if you are seriously wanting a DSLR from Nikon that will last you for years to come and just knock the socks of the competition, then I have to be bias and say BUY the D4.