The Nikon D810 takes its spot in an impressive lineage of SLR cameras that began when the Nikon F was first introduced in 1959. It is shown here next to a couple of FTn models that were just as revolutionary in their day and the new D810 is today.
This Nikon D810 camera hands-on review is by Tom Grill (Web | Blog, you can see his previous [NR] reviews here):
The first thing you notice about the new D810 is its sound, or, more exactly, the lack of sound. It is quiet with a muffled dampening to the normal shutter and mirror noise, your first indication that something different is going on inside this camera. The new sound is a result of a redesign of the mirror sequencer / balancer unit to minimize shutter vibration — a big improvement over the D800/800E models, whose high resolution sensors were offset by the increased sensitivity to motion blurring.
The 36.3-megapixel sensor has improved microlenses for gathering light. When coupled with the new EXPEED 4 image processor the performance is said to be increased by 30% with a new native base ISO of 64 and a range extending one more stop to 12,800 (32-25,600 extended). These improvements also result in clearing the buffer faster, which translates into overall speed improvement.
The sensor on the D810 no longer has an optical low-pass (anti-aliasing) filter instead of just cancelling it out as was the case on the D800. This should theoretically improve the resolution of the camera, and indeed the D810 recently just nudged itself to the top slot on the DxOmark sensor ratings. What these results are missing is the improvement to sharpness made by the dampening of interior motion of camera parts. From what I have found, the images I am achieving from hand-held shots with the D810 are considerably sharper than the prior D800/E. Take a look at the high res shot of the Empire State Building later in this blog.
The color, tones, and noise control of the new EXPEED 4 processing engine are quite noticeable. The images have a different look to them. The colors are richer, gradated tones smoother departing an almost 3-dimensional quality to the image.
Exceptional dynamic range, from the bright window to the deep shadows with no noise and smooth tonal transition. No fill was added to this severely back lit shot.
