My only issue with the move from D700 to D800 was the silly way you change from single AF to continuous AFC AFS. I don't use AF much anyway but when I want to change to continuous for wildlife shooting I usually forget. Now that's my stupid story but I'm sure there are other slight things that will annoy someone that has used the D700 a long time but the D700 is old news and technology has moved on. May the D700 RIP.

It's easy to fall I love with the D800

I have just changed from a D700 to a D800 and first of all would agree with andy sharp, the D700 is a fabulous camera and one that I loved using. In particular, I thought its low light level performance for theatre work was outstanding. Even at ISO 3,200, it would produce slightly noisy but usable results.

Personally I found the transfer to be almost painless with very little trouble in programming the few changes into my old, personal memory banks! The major change that affected me was the AF settings and the transfer of the AF designation button to the front of the camera. It is all second nature to me now and I think it is simpler to use in many ways.

My main reason for changing was that I wanted to get at the new sensor because of its ability to auto focus properly with f4 lenses and teleconverters. It manages this significantly better than the D700. (there is a separate thread discussing this) The lower fire rate does not really worry me and the 36 megapixels is a nice bonus. You can boost the fire rate up to 6fps (I think) with an extra battery grip.

In studio, the better rear display is an unexpected improvement, especially in 'info' mode, and I have found it to be an excellent studio camera. The image quality is obviously very good, with the dynamic range being noticeably better- rather like the jump between the tonal subtlety of 120 film when compared to 35mm film. You can blow images up to a very impressive degree retaining a quality that is significantly better than the D700 and I think the White Balance is better, even 'Auto WB' that I never found was that good on the D700. The manual setting for studio flash is absolutely spot on, requiring no adjustment at all after shooting. The 'video' capability? Dunno, I have never used it! I probably will one day though.

Bad points? Not much really. The battery does not seem to last quite as long and it is a complex beast to use but then so is the D700. On the whole, I am glad that I changed but regret not having had enough money to have kept the D700 as well!

I also think there is quite a lot of misleading information about what lenses you should or should not be using on the D800, most of it rather shameless marketing hype. Your lenses are going to be just as sharp as ever, the only change being that the resolution of the sensor is now possibly able to outstrip the resolving power of the lens. Big deal! That happened with fine grained film for decades as well! I still use my old 28-105mm AF 3.5-4.5D lens that is really only a budget priced 'do it all, carry around lens' that produces very good images, just as it always has done. Even the 'macro' is pin-sharp and I have absolutely no intention of getting rid of it because someone tells me that I should use an 'approved' lens!

andy sharp said:
I've been a huge fan of my D700. I'd like to retire my old D300 body before the year's end. The D800, however, doesn't really seem to be a replacement for the D700, far more megapixels than needed, slower frames per second. I'm guessing there's a grip that would add a bit of speed to the D800? The latest release, the D600, seems to be a an enthusiast camera rather than a workhorse like the D700. And so far, Adobe is not supporting D600 raw files anyway. That said, I'm a poor photographer (aren't we all?) and can't plunk down $6K for a D4 right now. I know old D3s cameras are good, but don't think any new ones are still out there to be had. I just wish Nikon would give us a true D700 replacement, not a retooled D7000(D600). Maybe I need to quit fretting and look at the D800. I don't shoot much sports, and when I do, the D700 is still going strong. No way I'm moving over to Canon, either, too much Nikon glass and gear accumulated to make that viable. Suggestions or thoughts?

Maybe over here some folks will comment on how the D800 replaced their D700

Yeah, easy-ISO first came in the D90. To be honest I don't know why it hasn't been implemented in more Nikon DSLRs.

JY said:
Just found out other thing last night while looking through the menu. Apparently, with the same setting, while on Aperture priority mode, the main command dial will work for changing the ISO. This is awesome as it means we can change the ISO with one hand!!! Furthermore, when reviewing pictures (can't remember if I did activate this separately), when I use the multiselector buttton to zoom and use the sub command dial it will scroll through all faces detected by the face detection sensor. I found this nice for checking focus in group portrait.

These features are also in the D7000. I use the easy-ISO adjust feature all the time. Same with the face detection review.

Rikki said:
Zoom buttons swap was a KILLER for the first few thousand shots.

That is still killing me!

Battery life is due to new Japanese laws - there is nothing Nikon nor anyone else can do about that - all companies will be limited on this until technology catches up.

Personally...

Zoom buttons swap was a KILLER for the first few thousand shots.

The record button where Mode used to be is a pain too.

Viewfinder being 100% caught me out as I always knew there was "fudge" room with the 95% so would shoot close to frame edge, now Im too far in and have to remember to add space.

The battery life is shocking compared to the D700.

The left AF point is crap and doesnt work

Bar that, its flawless :P

Just found out other thing last night while looking through the menu. Apparently, with the same setting, while on Aperture priority mode, the main command dial will work for changing the ISO. This is awesome as it means we can change the ISO with one hand!!! Furthermore, when reviewing pictures (can't remember if I did activate this separately), when I use the multiselector buttton to zoom and use the sub command dial it will scroll through all faces detected by the face detection sensor. I found this nice for checking focus in group portrait.

SquamishPhoto said:
The D800 is so full of win its not even funny. I haven't missed my D700 for a second.

Hahaha. Love it!! "So full of win" is a classic line. I would only differ in that, "I haven't missed my plastic 5d mark II for a second." D800 = Exotic supermodel beauty

I owned the D700 for a short period. It was certainly a wonderful camera, and still is, even in 2012. D800 feels better, with notched grip in right hand. Weight is close to same. D800 has great ergonomics and slightly better, bigger VF IMHO. AF cluster is basically same. To me, D700 had faster focusing in broad daylight. Everything else, ergonomically, is a wash.

Good posts so far. The biggest improvement for me is the advancements made in Liveview mode. You can change focus more precisely to what your are shooting such as wide angle,and I like the options you get by pressing the info button. The framing lines, histogram, and virtual horizon options are great! It seems the 3D focus tracking is faster and more accurate over my old D700 as well.

i have had D700 and D800 and all i have to say is Buy it! Love it! Use it!, all round a great camera, moving from D700 a few little things to get used to but after a few days of playing becomes second nature.

Thanks everybody for the answers.

The D800 is so full of win its not even funny. I haven't missed my D700 for a second.

I have both and haven't miss the d700 much at all except the better feel of the grip on the d700.

I found the d800 enable user to less likely to go into the menu (once you have set up most of the stuff). For example the ability to turn on auto iso via the front dial. I know alot of people hate the change with the AF mode selection. It took me few days to get used to it, but now i love it. I dont have to go to menu just to change setting say changing from 9 points to 21 points etc. Some find it annoying that you have to hold down the AF button with your left hand finger while making changes to AF mode, AF-C AF-S, etc with your right hand finger (it is troublesome when you have a heavy lens attached). My solution is to make changes in the menu somewhere to change this behaviour just so you only need to press the AF button once (no need to keep holding while making changes with your right hand finger). I press the AF button once (go back to support the heavy lens), and just dial the front or back wheele to my liking, done easily.

Coreli, I owned a D700, have a D7000 and most other Nikon DX cameras. I tried the D800. They all have their control logic and when engineers change the controls for a new camera I have found in almost every case it was very thought out and proper. It takes awhile to get used to the next camera but a review like Ken Rockwell's makes me doubt some of his other articles. I have also used the Canon system for some years and a new Canon I have is not only not more fun to use it simply I feel falls quite short of a Nikon. I actually feel that the D800 is a marvelous FX camera. The D600 might turn out to be a great seller. All that said, show me the D400 in stores and really capable of being all it can be........and spare me the rest of the details. I am interested in real quality image capture (INCLUDING HD VIDEO) and I do feel Nikon is curiously late in developing a DX beyond the D300s and the D7000. I know D800s are in short supply and will be sold as fast as they make them available. I believe the volume and profits from a D7000 UPDATE and a D400 would way outsell and for me be a better choice than the D800 and the D700 which I sold.

Corelli, I have both, and also had a D7000, among others. The most difficult thing to get accustomed to on the D7000 was the autofocus. Buttons are located differently and it seems that the paradigm behind autofocus control changed. It took a while, and then I got used to it. Moving to the D800 then was not a big issue for me. Since I was already accustomed to the autofocus the move was relatively easy. There are some additional buttons on the D800 compared to the D700, but they make things much easier. I am a bit different in the use of the autofocus than msmoto, although I do not capture as many images as she, and unless shooting birds or animals, I should say photographing birds or animals, or rapidly moving people, I use single point autofocus; I do not shift back and forth between AF-C and AF-S very much. That works for me the best. I generally leave the focus point selector unlocked for compositional purposes, except for animals and birds that are moving, but that is a ccntrol that exists on the D700.

Hope this helps. Have fun!

It is always interesting when one who owns neither comments, but, the new focus control is similar on both the D800 and D4. And, it is great to be able to push a button, look into the viewfinder and change from continuous to static, and change the focus sensing areas. I will change from C to S on a regular basis as I shoot "candid" and compose with either non-moving subjects or in some cases actively moving subjects.

And the bracket control as a button on top....love it. As long as I can remember to switch back to non-bracket when finished. Ha, ha, ha.

Don't believe everything Ren Crockwell writes

Yes the AF focus controls take a while to used to but not a problem once you are familiar with the camera

An advantage of the 800 is, it is difficult to inadvertently, switch to manual

One thing to watch is, trying to maximise IQ by setting the ISO too low, resulting in a low shutter speed and subject movement

I don't use bracketing very often and the other day could not find the bracket button

sounds silly but it happened

RTFM and "play" with it for a few days, before taking it to a wedding

Hi everybody, I would be interested in experiences people made by going from a D700 to the D800. I am not talking about image quality or ISO performance, but usability of the body itself. In some reviews I read about the changed controls layout on the D800 (e.g. AF controls and Mode button) and I would like to know if this affects anybody (I know it depends on the personal shooting style).

So basically I would like to know if in terms of usability there is anything on the D700 that you miss on the D800 or stuff that the D800 offers and the D700 lacks. I'm just curious...