Used question

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Charles B

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Charles
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When considering buying a used Nikon D800e from a reputable source I find myself struggling with the following question. The camera in question is tagged as excellent but with a shutter count of 115,000. In contention is also a Nikon D610 for less money but tagged as like new and a much lower shutter count. I want the camera for portraits, copying film and macro work. Any thoughts really welcome.
 
One thing which would put me off the D610 is that the max shutter speed is 1/4,000 so that means with a wide aperture lens you could struggle in good light without an ND. I find fitting and removing ND's a faff so I'd be looking elsewhere for a camera with a max shutter speed of 1/8,000.

If you're going to use f2.8 or slower you'll probably be ok with the D610.
 
I have owned a D800 (not the "e" version) and the D610 (a free Nikon replacement for a D600). The D800 was a lovely camera to use and the pixel count gave great detail in images but my keeper rate with it was abysmal due to my shaky hands. It also demanded you use good quality lenses to get the most out of the sensor. In comparison, the D610 gave lovely images with beautiful skin tones in portraits and my keeper rate was very high. For me there wouldn't be any contest.

I never had a problem with the 1/4000s shutter limit, even when using f/1.8 lenses without resorting to ND filters - you just have to be careful to choose the right location :)
 
Bristolian said:
I never had a problem with the 1/4000s shutter limit, even when using f/1.8 lenses without resorting to ND filters - you just have to be careful to choose the right location :)
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I find that rather odd but it's possible you live in a rather light deprived place or don't shoot with wide apertures as even in the half light that passes for daylight in Cleveland (North East England) when shooting at wide apertures I was often limited to f2.8 (and sometimes f2.8 can need in excess of 1/4,000) or forced to use ND's with a camera limited to a max shutter speed of 1/4,000. Thankfully I no longer own any and I don't think I'd buy another.

As to being careful to chose the right location... In good light I tend to use wide apertures for limited DoF shots possibly of people with trees, hills and the general landscape and/or wider world around us as the background but those background features tend not to be portable and are not easily moved to a more shaded spot.

Anyway. It's just a personal view (I'd buy a camera with a higher max shutter speed.) It also depends on the OP as if the OP isn't interested in taking pictures with wide apertures (larger than f2.8) in good light or only uses f2.8 / f4 / f3.5-5.6 zooms it's possible that the shutter speed limitation will never be a limitation.
 
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Charles B said:
I want the camera for portraits, copying film and macro work.
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I had a 610 and it's a great camera, but your needs would suggest that you'd be better off with the higher resolution of the 800. (y)
 
d800 is better for big prints but one thing to remember is you need a really good lens to resolve anywhere near 36mp
 
I'd go for the D800e out of those but ideally something newer, they're old cameras now and a lot could have happened to them. A D750 could be a decent option, newer camera and should find one with a low shutter count
 
I had a D610 - decent enough camera, very flexible over lens choice, OK sensor, weak AF. The D800e is good because it doesn't have the anti-aliasing filter that's fitted to so many cameras, meaning that a photo taken with a highly resolving lens will hold fine detail much better than were an AA filter fitted. Not so much an issue at 24MP but certainly an issue at 40MP.
 
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