Underwhelmed with the D800

EphTwoEight

When I have the 70-200 2.8 mounted to the monopod, I noticed the camera has a lot of play in it.

If it was a $600 firearm with that much play in the action, you'd take it back, or never buy it. If it was a 2000 dollar bike frame with that much play in the headset, you'd call it unacceptable.

But I bought this camera in pieces, and now I'm stuck with a wobbly $6000 dollar toy.

Plus, pics still aint all that sharp.

:dunno

perroneford

What are you talking about?

Play where? At the mount? And if so, what does the 70-200 have to do with it? And why mention a monopod? If the mount isn't tight, then the monopod should make no difference at all.

What do you mean you "bought it in pieces"? And if you don't have a solid connection between the lens and the camera body, of COURSE the pics are not going to be sharp.


Sorry dude, you've completely lost me with this post. And my D800 has zero play and is as sharp as a razor.

ZBlack

That's an expensive D800!

thegridrunner

You mentioned something about slop between your 70-200 lense and the camera mount in another post. I would take the camera and lense in for servicing, it may be that your lense mount needs to be tightened. I have no play in my mount, in fact, all my lenses are quite snug with my D800.

ziggy53

It's not at all unusual for a large and heavy lens to loosen over time. (It is never desirable but it really does happen.) If the lens is loose on the body it is most likely a loose mount on the lens, with the possibility of a loose mount on the camera.

The situation will not improve on its own. Take, or send, the lens and body in for service at the first opportunity.

EphTwoEight

I should send it in, but I use it daily. And know how awful Nikon is to deal with as a company, I'd hate to be without it for several weeks.

babowc

It's either send it in, or deal with soft images.
You can always rent another 70-200 while yours is being repaired.

My D800 and 70-200 pairs up perfectly, and produces very sharp images.

pathfinder

If the lens is loose on the mount it needs to be repaired.

Sorry to hear your experience with Nikon service is less than stellar.

Then send your camera/lens off to a qualified repair shop, or do it your self, like Dan is doing here... This is a real photo, not a Photoshopped faux-tograph.




What he is actually doing is removing the mount from an old Nikon film body to move it to his digital body that had the mount damaged while on a workshop in Alaska ( and unable to get timely repair). The transferred mount worked just fine, and he continued to shoot all week with his self repaired Nikon. Great story!

But there should never be looseness in a lens/body mount. If there is it needs to be fixed before the lens falls off onto the cement below. That can and does happen, too.

My experience with Canon Factory Service has been first rate.

Wayupthere

This is a all time photo...lol
Gary

pathfinder

He does look serious, doesn't he?

EphTwoEight

Wow. That is just nuts! I don't think I'll be hammering on my camera anytime soon.

I wish Canon would feel bad for me and replace all my N gear with C gear. I now have no brand loyalty. And kinda wish I still had the 5D2. But for video, the 800 is pretty awesome.

Maybe I should sell it and wait for that full frame mirrorless if and when they come out. ?

perroneford

You posted two photos here:

http://www.dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=222156

Both are tack sharp, contrasty, and show no trace of a problem. Therefore, I must conclude that you've done something since late June to either your camera or your lens if you now have a lot of slop, and you can't get sharp images. But laying that blame on the D800 or Nikon is just trolling. Sorry.

Matthew Saville

EphTwoEight wrote: »

Wow. That is just nuts! I don't think I'll be hammering on my camera anytime soon.

I wish Canon would feel bad for me and replace all my N gear with C gear. I now have no brand loyalty. And kinda wish I still had the 5D2. But for video, the 800 is pretty awesome.

Maybe I should sell it and wait for that full frame mirrorless if and when they come out. ?

Send it in for service, (body AND lens) ...and rent a replacement. Cost of doing business. Or take it back to the store you bought it, if it was recent... Nikon west-coast is fine to deal with, I've never had a problem either with their attitude or their handiwork. Or there is a third-party authorized service center in So Cal as well, they're awesome.

The fact is, the D800 is indeed every bit of a flagship camera as any other, certainly moreso than the crap-tastic 5D mk2 and in some respects even the 5D mk3. I've shot extensively with them all, BTW; I'm not just an armchair advice-giver.

Every new camera that comes out has it's hiccups. The Canons, sometimes, have even worse bugs / flaws. It's just a price we pay for the low-cost, high-volume overseas manufacturing that we have grown used to... The saying "they just don't make 'em like they used to" is with us for a reason...

=Matt=

jhefti

Probably a long shot, but when this happens to my 400/2.8 it is because the lens mount screws are working loose. You might want to check this before sending it in...

EphTwoEight

perroneford wrote: »

You posted two photos here:

http://www.dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=222156

Both are tack sharp, contrasty, and show no trace of a problem. Therefore, I must conclude that you've done something since late June to either your camera or your lens if you now have a lot of slop, and you can't get sharp images. But laying that blame on the D800 or Nikon is just trolling. Sorry.

Maybe, but I'd say most of the pics are 'in-focus' but when I see others shooting with a 60D or 7D or D90 its like I can see the back of their models eyeballs. Their eyelashes could pop balloons.

Seems like the 24-70 has less slop in it.

I dont know, I was really excited about this new camera, and all the hype, and now, meh. Its ok. Probably just me. But yeah, if I can, I'll send it in.

They barely got rental cars in our town, I know theres no cameras for rent.

Icebear

Are you referring to a little radial play in the lens mount with the 70-200? That's common and normal. If its fore-&-aft play, you have a problem. Seriously, a perceptable radial play with the 70-200 is NOT an issue.

Matthew Saville

BTW, check the tightness of the screws in your lens and camera mount, of course. It sounds crazy and MacGyver-ish, but honestly it has saved my skin once or twice...

BTW, you seem slightly on the fence about what the real source of the problem is, and whether or not you're correctly comparing sharpness between different cameras.

Let me tell you, as someone who has shot with or at least processed the images from EVERY advanced and pro DSLR in production for the past 8 years, ...the D800 is an absolute top-notch performer, and the sharpness of the images is nothing different from (if not better than) the 60D, 7D, and D90...

If anything, I've found that as far as "back of the camera" is concerned, Nikon LCD screens usually look WAY sharper than Canon LCD screens. Especially when you turn the in-camera sharpness way up, if you shoot in RAW and thus aren't risking "over-cooking" your images' fine detail.

The camera is certainly demanding of lenses and technique, though. And a friend I know who recently got a D800 had to return the camera twice because of back-focus issues. I had to dial -18 on one of his cameras to get it to nail perfect sharpness!

Anyways, good luck in your endeavors with new cameras. I feel your frustration. :-(


=Matt=

ian408

If you're close to SLC, try this.

There's nothing wrong with the independents. Especially given your issue is more likely mount related only.

angevin1

Icebear wrote: »

Are you referring to a little radial play in the lens mount with the 70-200? That's common and normal. If its fore-&-aft play, you have a problem. Seriously, a perceptable radial play with the 70-200 is NOT an issue.

+1

EphTwoEight

Icebear wrote: »

Are you referring to a little radial play in the lens mount with the 70-200? That's common and normal. If its fore-&-aft play, you have a problem. Seriously, a perceptable radial play with the 70-200 is NOT an issue.

Yes, thanks for defining that, it is radial play, not so much fore-&-aft.

And yes, Matt, I too wonder if I need to have someone check them settings and back focus. I dont know how to do that. The pics are ok... just not spectacular. Maybe I need to be shooting at f/11 all the time to get a sharper image?

EphTwoEight

ian408 wrote: »

If you're close to SLC, try this.

There's nothing wrong with the independents. Especially given your issue is more likely mount related only.

Vegas is half as far from us, but maybe if I ever get up that way I'll be sure to stop in there.

Are there shops in LA that will look at it and have it ready in the same day? I'd rather drive twice as far to LA than SLC.

thegridrunner

Here is the manual for the D800...
http://support.nikonusa.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/17722/~/user%27s-manual---d800-%2F-d800e---guide-to-digital-photography

turn to page 338 and read the section on AF - fine tune. Try shooting at stationary objects with a tripoded camera and adjust the focus to your liking. (all the setting can be reset if you don't like them)

ziggy53

Icebear wrote: »

Are you referring to a little radial play in the lens mount with the 70-200? That's common and normal. If its fore-&-aft play, you have a problem. Seriously, a perceptable radial play with the 70-200 is NOT an issue.

EphTwoEight wrote: »

Yes, thanks for defining that, it is radial play, not so much fore-&-aft. ...

Good call John.

EphTwoEight, slight radial/axial play is normally no cause for "any" concern. It cannot cause any visual problems whatsoever. If you are attached to the monopod via the lens' tripod ring mount you will notice the play in the lash of the lens/camera mount, but that's perfectly normal.

EphTwoEight

ziggy53 wrote: »

Good call John.

EphTwoEight, slight radial/axial play is normally no cause for "any" concern. It cannot cause any visual problems whatsoever. If you are attached to the monopod via the lens' tripod ring mount you will notice the play in the lash of the lens/camera mount, but that's perfectly normal.

Ok thanks.

Matthew Saville

EphTwoEight wrote: »

Yes, thanks for defining that, it is radial play, not so much fore-&-aft.

And yes, Matt, I too wonder if I need to have someone check them settings and back focus. I dont know how to do that. The pics are ok... just not spectacular. Maybe I need to be shooting at f/11 all the time to get a sharper image?

Dude this is a cutting edge $3,000 camera, I'd definitely suggest mastering things like focus calibration, and general focus technique for shooting wide open in tough conditions. That camera is fully capable of nailing focus every single time, and delivering flawlessly sharp images. (With good lenses)

Again, this slightly casual attitude towards the problem makes me think the camera is working perfectly fine, you just need to spend some time to master it. The D800 is an unforgiving beast of a camera, if you want to fully utilize all 36 megapixels' worth of sharpness, you really need to know everything about the camera and about precise focusing technique and stuff like that... No more of this "maybe if I shoot everything at f/11 it will be sharp"!

Each time I get a new camera, I give myself at least 6-12 months to truly master it. Especially with a dramatic jump in resolution like that; you won't be able to "shoot sloppy" like with a D700 or something.

=Matt=

babowc

I do have to say, getting focus *just right* on the D800, was far different from the D700.
I still often miss focus on the eyes because I focus, recompose, and shoot in larger (f2.8) aperture from the minimum focal distance.

EphTwoEight

Matthew Saville wrote: »

Dude this is a cutting edge $3,000 camera, I'd definitely suggest mastering things like focus calibration, and general focus technique for shooting wide open in tough conditions. That camera is fully capable of nailing focus every single time, and delivering flawlessly sharp images. (With good lenses)

Again, this slightly casual attitude towards the problem makes me think the camera is working perfectly fine, you just need to spend some time to master it. The D800 is an unforgiving beast of a camera, if you want to fully utilize all 36 megapixels' worth of sharpness, you really need to know everything about the camera and about precise focusing technique and stuff like that... No more of this "maybe if I shoot everything at f/11 it will be sharp"!

Each time I get a new camera, I give myself at least 6-12 months to truly master it. Especially with a dramatic jump in resolution like that; you won't be able to "shoot sloppy" like with a D700 or something.

=Matt=

Ok, point taken. Ive read its best not to mess with the fine tuning focus thing unless you really know what youre doing. But yes, more time and more patience. But what about the left side focus thing I read so much about? How do I know if mine is affected?

ian408

D800 or 5Dxx, you shouldn't have to work to make a camera focus. That's just my $.02 worth.

I'd send it back or take it in to an independent.

babowc

ian408 wrote: »

D800 or 5Dxx, you shouldn't have to work to make a camera focus. That's just my $.02 worth.

I'd send it back or take it in to an independent.

The camera focuses perfectly fine, it's the user-techniques that makes the camera shine.

ian408

babowc wrote: »

The camera focuses perfectly fine, it's the user-techniques that makes the camera shine.

If I bought a camera and having focus issues, I'd be pissed. Kinda like the early 1dmkIII bodies...that absolutely sucked.

EphTwoEight

Heres a sample. Untouched, straight from camera. Yes they were under a big tent, so I tried the spot meter mode, slightly overexposed but... this is $6k worth of camera. I would expect this from my phone maybe.





33% crop


They wasnt moving much, I wasnt moving. This is what I get a lot.