D800 camera shake

EMA747

EMA747

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Andy
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I've been reading a lot about the D800 and this issue of camera shake sees to come up a lot. There is nowhere anywhere near me that has one to try out so can those that already have one/have tried one tell me if it's as big an issue as some reviews say it is?
If I bought one it would be paired up with a D3s and I would use the D800 as my travel photography camera. The big issue for me though is that how I normally shoot is fairly fast and spontaneous. I have read that the D800 IQ is vastly improved when used with mirror lockup and on a tripod. That type of shooting wouldn't really work for what I do and this is where I am unsure about the D800.

Ideally I would get a D700 over a D800 but I NEED one of the D3s or D800/700 to have good video so that would mean a pairing of a D700 with a D4 which would be idea but is probably a bit too much of a stretch of my budget.
 
Hi Andy

I would say camera shake would be an issue with any camera wouldn't it? Or am I missing the point? :lol: I'd say as long as your shutter speed is sufficient there shouldn't be a problem, reports of an over sensitive sensor has yet remained to be seen by me.

I've just taken some hand held shot (for the purposes of this thread) and it seems no different to my 10mpx D80.

Saying this when I'm out proper I always shoot on legs.

Scott
 
no issue that i can see or have experienced what so ever.

The way i look at it is thus..

Say the sensor pixel size on my old D300 was 10mm and on my D800 theyre 5mm. Now in order for me to shake the camera so that i wouldnt see camera shake on my D300 but would on the D800 i would have to shake it 6mm, or anything up to 10mm anyway. 6-9 mm would show shake on the D800 but not on the D300.

Now convert that to the microns that are the sizes in reality and i honestly cant see how you wouldnt see shake on both cameras, you simply couldnt move the D300 in small enough increments in order to see the same movement causing shakey images on the D800 but not on the 300. Add in VR and theres no chance of seeing a difference.
 
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Good to get some real world user feedback so thanks to you two.

I have been looking at sample raw files and some are very sharp and when you zoom to 100% the detail is stunning. Then I have seen others that when viewed at 100% look pretty ordinary or worse. I just wondered if the good ones are staged by "reviews" to make the camera look better than it is in general use.
 
EMA747 said:
Good to get some real world user feedback so thanks to you two.

I have been looking at sample raw files and some are very sharp and when you zoom to 100% the detail is stunning. Then I have seen others that when viewed at 100% look pretty ordinary or worse. I just wondered if the good ones are staged by "reviews" to make the camera look better than it is in general use.
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There is good and bad technique and equally good and poor optics. So you need both to take sharp (but not necessarily interesting) image. Shutter speed will play a big part - expect to use above 1/200s for really sharp handheld shots. IS will typically reduce shake to the minimum but may leave some residual blur at low speeds, which you may have just described.
On tripod, there are several forces shaking the camera. First it's the mirror itself, then your hand pressing the button. It can be very significant at 16MP, let alone 36! Then there is wind, and ground vibration (bridge, metro, etc). The most sensitive speeds are around 1s to 1/30s. If you use much slower or faster it is not a very big problem any more.
Also you will need to watch your focusing and probably shoot around f/8.
 
Isn't it's pixel pitch the same as the D7000? So in theory wouldn't that mean the D800 should be as susceptible to 'shake' as that camera?
 
Andy mate, its time you went out there and bought one!! :D :lol::lol:
You're pondering far too long. You know what manufacturers are like, they will have added another bloody model by the time you get one!! ;) :D:D

Kev.
 
The shake is there with any camera, it's just more obvious at a higher resolution. If you were to shoot with an IQ160 back or similar you would encounter exactly the same problem. It is not an issue with the camera, it's just physics. If you even tried to print files from a D3s, D4, or D700 at the size at which you begin to notice the camera shake on the D800, they would be unprintable due to the lack of resolution. Printed or viewed at the maximum size a D4 can do, the files will look identical in terms of shake. There is absolutely no point worrying about this shake issue, you will get it on ANY camera you use, just most don't have the resolution to show it!
 
Yep I am waiting for the D900 :D

As I don't need video,the D3/D700 suit me,I wouldn't think camera shake should be any more of a problem,than say shooting film with Kodachrome 25/64,it just a matter of being carful :)
 
kevshore said:
Andy mate, its time you went out there and bought one!! :D :lol::lol:
You're pondering far too long. You know what manufacturers are like, they will have added another bloody model by the time you get one!! ;) :D:D

Kev.
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Procrastination is a big stumbling block! :D
 
Andy - I don't know if this holds any water but bear with me;

I've just 'downsized' from a D2x to a D7000. I'm increasingly finding that shots from the D7000, especially when paired with a 70-200mm, display not severe but nonetheless noticeable camera shake. I know my technique is decent because I rarely suffered it on the same lens when fitted to the D2x. With VR on thee's maybe not so much a difference between the two combos but without VR, the D7000 shots have a higher miss rate and I put that down to the body being much smaller, lighter and not offering the same degree of purchase and grip.
 
specialman said:
Andy - I don't know if this holds any water but bear with me;

I've just 'downsized' from a D2x to a D7000. I'm increasingly finding that shots from the D7000, especially when paired with a 70-200mm, display not severe but nonetheless noticeable camera shake. I know my technique is decent because I rarely suffered it on the same lens when fitted to the D2x. With VR on thee's maybe not so much a difference between the two combos but without VR, the D7000 shots have a higher miss rate and I put that down to the body being much smaller, lighter and not offering the same degree of purchase and grip.
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I've noticed that small bodies can feel a bit awkward after using a pro size body so I can see there might well be some truth in what you say. Big bodies are cumbersome but do feel a lot nicer and better balanced in the hand imo.
 
EMA747 said:
I've noticed that small bodies can feel a bit awkward after using a pro size body so I can see there might well be some truth in what you say. Big bodies are cumbersome but do feel a lot nicer and better balanced in the hand imo.
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I agree. The additional weight of a big body like a D3 does help balance the setup and soak up movement I feel.... I could shoot at much lower shutter speeds than I can with the D7000. A grip is going to be ordered ASAP to at least make my D7000 fell half-decent :lol:
 
I totally appreciate I am thick but if an image is sharp on a d700 then shouldn't it also be equally sharp on a d800 (assuming same shutter speed etc etc etc).
 
ryanyboy said:
I totally appreciate I am thick but if an image is sharp on a d700 then shouldn't it also be equally sharp on a d800 (assuming same shutter speed etc etc etc).
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Because it has more m/p on the same size sensor,their is more of a chance of camera shake coming into play at lower shutter speed :)
 
EMA747 said:
Procrastination is a big stumbling block! :D
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Procrastination? :eek: you've been dithering over one camera or another for at least a year, possibly two. I lose track... ;)

Unless the camera is absolutely rock solid and with zero vibration, there is always some camera-shake present. The so-called rule about shutter speeds and a reciprocal of focal length for perfectly sharp hand-held pictures is, by strict definition, a nonsense.

All it means is that, as rough rule of thumb, it will usually reduce the visible effects of camera movement to an insignificant level and give you acceptably sharp pictures for most purposes. And if that sounds like a rather woolly explanation, then that's because it is. It has never been defined.

But obviously, as your resolution potential increases* then increasingly tiny movements will become visible as a blurring of fine detail, when previously it wasn't.

*Assuming you output at a large enough size to actually see it, and that your lenses are capable of resolving said detail.
 
ryanyboy said:
I totally appreciate I am thick but if an image is sharp on a d700 then shouldn't it also be equally sharp on a d800 (assuming same shutter speed etc etc etc).
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I would think that in the real world, as opposed to the laboratory, that will be the case.
 
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