Paul Bohman – Blog – Washington DC Photographer

I just put in my order for the new Nikon D800E (Available through Adorama and B&H). I had been debating whether or not to get the camera, in part because I’ve been investing my time in film photography lately, but with a price of just over $3000 for a 36 megapixel camera, I just don’t think I can resist. Here’s the thinking that went into my decision:

I used to own a Hasselblad H3D-39 (39 megapixels), but sold it a few months back (the current equivalent model, as of right now, is the Hasselblad H4D-40). That was a fantastic camera, and, to be honest, there have been times when I regretted selling it, but it’s also a bit of an aging technology. It produced fantastic results at ISO 50 and ISO 100, but anything above that started to break down. ISO 200 was passable for some things, but ISO 400 and 800 just weren’t worth much. With film, on the other hand, I could get great results with Portra 400 (ISO 400) and Portra 800 (ISO 800) and high resolution negatives that were almost as detailed as the H3D-39 files. And with my Nikon cameras I could get great results at higher ISOs too, which can be really handy for late evening or night shots. And with the Nikon cameras, I can always stitch images together to produce higher resolution files if necessary. So I sold my Hasselblad, not knowing exactly what I would do or buy next. I was content to stick with film and my Nikons for the time being

That didn’t stop me from at least looking at other options though. I tried out a Pentax 645D, which is a stellar camera and, at $10,000 is several thousand dollars less than comparable products by Hasselblad (e.g. the H4D-40 at $18,000), or Phase One, or Leaf. If the Pentax 645D back were detachable, I would have already bought it. The trouble is that I want to use a digital back on my Mamiya RZ67 and on my view camera. I can’t do that with the Pentax 645D.

The one thing that makes me less than fully enthusiastic about the Nikon D800E as an alternative to a medium format camera is the 2:3 image aspect ratio. I’m just not a fan of the wider format. I love the squarer 4×5 format of the RZ67 and the 3:4 format of the 6×4.5 smaller medium format cameras. I can always crop. That will give me a reduced resolution in the range of 31 to 33 megapixels, which still is pretty good. And if I need to go bigger to compete with the people out there using the Hasselblad H4D-60 (60 megapixels) or the Phase One IQ80 (80 megapixels) or the Leaf Aptus II 12 (80 megapixels), I can still do that with stitching.

The Nikon D800E will come without an anti-aliasing filter, which means that, in theory, it should resolve as much detail as the medium format digital backs. There may be other intervening limitations, such as the lenses or the pixel density, but I think the camera should perform quite well. There will be a version with the anti-aliasing filter too, for about $300 less.

I really like the fact that Nikon decided to put this large sensor in a small camera body. The Nikon D3x, which I owned for a couple of years — in fact, I used to own two of them — is a great camera, but the large pro body isn’t really necessary, especially since the camera isn’t capable of high frame rates for action or sports photography, at least not at 14 bit image quality. The smaller size of the
Nikon D800E will make it easier to travel with. A vertical grip is available as an option too, for those who still want that.

I’m excited to get my hands on this camera!