D600 vs D800

jdeg

^ broke something
Staff member
Below is a comparison of the D600 and D800. First the differences:

160_25488_D600_front.png
D600
160_25480_D800_front.png
D800
Price$2,099.95$2,999.95
Pixels24.336.3
Media2 SD1 CF, 1 SD
Fastest shutter1/40001/8000
FPS5.54
Exposure/flash bracketing2 or 3 frames2 to 9 frames
AF points3951
File formatsJPEG: JPEG-Baseline Compliant; can be selected from Size Priority and Optimal Quality
JPEG: JPEG-Baseline Compliant with fine (approx 1:4), Normal (approx 1:8) or Basic (approx 1:16) Compression
NEF (RAW): Lossless Compressed, Compressed or Uncompressed 12 or 14 bit
TIFF (RGB)
JPEG: JPEG-Baseline Compliant with fine (approx 1:4), Normal (approx 1:8) or Basic (approx 1:16) Compression
NEF (RAW): lossless compressed 12 or 14 bit, lossless compressed, compressed or uncompressed
TIFF (RGB)
JPEG: JPEG-Baseline-Compliant; can be selected from Size Priority and Optimal Quality
MovieHD 1,920x1,080 / 30 fps
HD 1,920x1,080 / 25 fps
HD 1,920x1,080 / 24 fps
HD 1,280x720 / 60 fps
HD 1,280x720 / 50 fps
HD 1,280x720 / 30 fps
HD 1,280x720 / 25 fps
HD 1,920x1,080 / 30 fps
HD 1,920x1,080 / 24 fps
HD 1,280x720 / 30 fps
HD 1,280x720 / 24 fps
HD 1,280x720 / 60 fps
GPSGP-1/GP-1aGP-1
Wi-fiEye-Fi Compatible
WU-1b
Eye-Fi Compatible
WT-4A
Top FP High Speed SyncUp to 1/4000Up to 1/8000
X-Sync Speed1/2001/250
PC Syncnoyes
10-pin connectornoyes
DimensionsWidth: 5.6 in. (141mm)
Height: 4.4 in. (113mm)
Depth: 3.2 in. (82mm)
Width: 5.7 in. (144.78mm)
Height: 4.8 in. (121.92mm)
Depth: 3.2 in. (81.28mm)
Weight26.8oz (760g)31.7 (900g)



What's the same?
  • Sensor size: 35.9mm x 24.0mm
  • FX format
  • ISO 100-6400 expanded 50 - 25,600
  • EXPEED 3 image processing
  • 2,016-pixel RGB sensor
  • 100% viewfinder coverage
  • Built in flash
  • Exposure comp: ±5 EV in increments of 1/3, 1/2 or 1 EV
  • Slowest shutter speed: 30 seconds
  • CLS supported
  • In body focus motor
  • Live view
  • Virtual horizon indicator
  • HD video (see different settings above)
  • Max movie recording time: 20 min at highest quality, 30 min at normal
  • Stereo microphone jack
  • 3.2in 921k dot LCD with wide angle viewing
  • EN-EL15 battery with 900 shots per charge
D600D800
353_25488_D600_front.png353_25480_D800_front.png
353_25488_D600_left.png353_25480_D800_left.png
353_25488_D600_right.png353_25480_D800_right.png
353_25488_D600_back.png353_25480_D800_back.png
353_25488_D600_top.png353_25480_D800_top.png


http://nikonites.com/d600/7894-d600-vs-d700.html
 

Disorderly

Senior Member
Two other distinctions you missed: the D600 lacks a PC sync connection and has a lower max sync speed (1/200 vs. 1/250). There are more differences; whether they matter to you depends on how you shoot.
 

jdeg

^ broke something
Staff member
Two other distinctions you missed: the D600 lacks a PC sync connection and has a lower max sync speed (1/200 vs. 1/250). There are more differences; whether they matter to you depends on how you shoot.

I'll update it, thanks :)
 

Disorderly

Senior Member
Also, there's no 10-pin connector. That would have meant that the remote release and GPS receiver I bought for my D300 and use on my D800 wouldn't be usable on the D600.
 

jdeg

^ broke something
Staff member
Also, there's no 10-pin connector. That would have meant that the remote release and GPS receiver I bought for my D300 and use on my D800 wouldn't be usable on the D600.

Ah I see - Is the GPS receiver you have the GP-1? They list it for the D600.

Edit: nevermind - I see that there were 10 pin GPS units.
 

Disorderly

Senior Member
Ah I see - Is the GPS receiver you have the GP-1? They list it for the D600.

No, mine is a 3rd party receiver. But are you sure the GP-1 supports the D600? I thought that used the 10-pin connector. I'd expect Nikon will have a new GPS receiver that uses USB or something.

Updated: There is indeed a new GPS unit for the D600. The GP-1A has the special connector for the dedicated GPS port on that camera.
 
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RRRoger

Senior Member
I have both cameras now.
They priced them correctly, the D800 definitely is worth $900 more.
However, the D600 may be "good enough".
I would have bought two if the rumored $1500 was correct.
Smaller, lighter, cheaper.
Nearly the same image quality only less resolution.
Smaller, easier to use file size.
Two user settings
Two of the same type image storage cards
Faster shooting, I had to turn the frame rate down to 4 to avoid shooting each image twice in CL mode.

Enough for now, I have to go play with my new toy.

I played with it and it hurt my hand.
The grip is too narrow for my fat fingers.
The controls and buttons are not as well layed out.
The Manuel Mode is hard to use
You have to cycle the info button to get clean HDMI out.

I traded my D7100 and D600 to get a second D800 an e.

Since then I also got the (latest & greatest) D5300 for 1080P 60 Video.
I am amazed how good the images are at 12800 ISO (both stills and Movies).
Must be the Expeed 4 Processor.
And, the new swivel LCD is really bright and sharp.
I got a Meike D5200 grip and two Vivitar batteries (higher capacity)
makes the camera much more comfortable to hold and still very light weight.
 
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Marcel

Happily retired
Staff member
Super Mod
Thanks for the feedback Roger. I'm still in between the two. D600 would increase my D700 resolution. How much would I see for my use… That remains my big question.
 

RRRoger

Senior Member
Thanks for the feedback Roger. I'm still in between the two. D600 would increase my D700 resolution. How much would I see for my use… That remains my big question. QUOTE

It depends on what you are using your camera for.
If portraits, a D700 is more than enough.
If you are shooting posters of the Grand Canyon, you will either have to do some good stitching, get a D800e or both.
 
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Expertneo

New member
Hello Guys!

I would like to move to full frame for its low light capabilities. I am hesitating between D610 and D800. The comparison reviews always look at the spec sheets of the cameras, however there are plenty of other things to consider.

I compared the ergonomics of D610 and D800. I found that the D800 fits better in my hand. It has a slight angled shutter button which makes it comfortable to hold. Not to mention my small finger at the bottom of the grip can stay on the D800 while the d610 is too small for it.

There is nothing mentioned about the d800 software advantage. I could not take my time, but I am sure the d800 offers a way more options for shooting than the d610. It must do. It is a pro level camera. If I am right about this; what does it offer in addition to the d610?

I am just about making my purchase, but I cannot decide. The 36 mp is not my need, but it is really nice to crop if it makes my final picture better. I am not a professional photographer, but I think i would like the D800 more than the d610 just for the ergonomics and for the better AF system that allows me to shoot in more complex situations. Currently I crop a lot, since I do not have a wide lens park. In lack of telezoom lenses I like to crop the picture to bring the scene closer. I know it is wrong, but it is still acceptable (I think :) for pictures that is just for me to put on my wall )

THERE IS ONE THING WHICH IS NOT HIGHLIGHTED. The D800 does have an AF-on button, thus the focusing and shooting can be separated. I don't know how big this advantage is, but as my understanding it can be very useful in many situations. What do you thing?

Could you confirm my thoughts, please? I would like to hear more experiences people before I purchase my camera about the things that I mentioned.

Happy new year!

Bence Papp
 

gqtuazon

Gear Head
Hello Guys!

I would like to move to full frame for its low light capabilities. I am hesitating between D610 and D800.

THERE IS ONE THING WHICH IS NOT HIGHLIGHTED. The D800 does have an AF-on button, thus the focusing and shooting can be separated. I don't know how big this advantage is, but as my understanding it can be very useful in many situations. What do you thing?

Could you confirm my thoughts, please? I would like to hear more experiences people before I purchase my camera about the things that I mentioned.

Bence Papp

Bence - I don't know where you read the specs but the D800 does HAVE an AF button.

Nikon_D800_back_Dial-580-100.jpg


D800 is a great camera as long as you know its limitation on fps. I love it for macro, landscape, and studio photography. I do occasionally use it for sports too.

Good luck with your decision.
 

BackdoorArts

Senior Member
Bence - I don't know where you read the specs but the D800 does HAVE an AF button.

Nikon_D800_back_Dial-580-100.jpg


D800 is a great camera as long as you know its limitation on fps. I love it for macro, landscape, and studio photography. I do occasionally use it for sports too.

Good luck with your decision.

Glenn, I believe his comment is that the D600 does not have an AF button. And while he is right, the AE-L/AF-L button can be set to function that way.

As for other differences, the focus system is the biggest that comes to mind. Why they'd issue an Full Frame camera with focus points that only cover the DX portion of the sensor is a mystery (I, like most, suspect it was to purposefully differentiate the D600/610 from the D800 so as not to hurt sales).

After that, from a user point of view the next biggest difference is button placement. In place of the mode wheel you have an array of buttons (WB, ISO, BKT, QUAL) with the mode selection being a button on the right side top. If you're used to one of the consumer cameras this can lead to some real confusion at first, but if it's your first Nikon then it's part of the learning curve anyway.

You also get 9 frame bracketing vs. 3 on the D600/610 (or did they go to 5 on the 610?).

The rest is all in the menus.
 

Expertneo

New member
I must be beginner for this topic, but i cant see the reason for 9 frame bracketing. 3 seemed to be enough, 5 is excellent, but 9 is quite a lot. Will it be useful in the future? I would also invest to a future-proof camera :)

Some people says that the ae-l/af-l button can be set to function as AF-on, but it is not the same. As my understanding with the ae-l/af-l button you have to half pres the shutter button and then use the ae-l/af-l button. While AF-on is simply pushing it and firing with the shutter button. Is it the only difference?

Sorry for the armature question, I do not have a DSLR body to play with at the moment :( I also find many people unable to answer this question, so it might be useful for others as well.

Bence
 

Expertneo

New member
I just read that the D610 is not limited to 1Ev exposure difference between shots. People claim that 3 shot bracketing is enough with (-2ev, 0, +2 ev). What do you think?

Still the "D800 is pulling my hearth", but there is a 500 Pounds price difference which makes the decision difficult :( One more last question. What do you think about HDEW and other sellers that sell D610 and D800 with not Nikon UK warranty. They offer warranty, but not Nikon one. They cut the price quite a lot over the original resellers.. On the other hand nikon warranty sad to be bad :( (I had a D600 for 2 days but after 300 shots the pictures were not usable cause of dots on the sensor)
 

gqtuazon

Gear Head
Glenn, I believe his comment is that the D600 does not have an AF button. And while he is right, the AE-L/AF-L button can be set.

The rest is all in the menus.

Jake I obviously misread his post. Thank you for correcting me and I agree about programming the Ae-l button.


Sent from my iPhone.
 

gqtuazon

Gear Head
@ Bence - which exactly is more important to you? What features matters more? What makes you want to consider the d800 over the d610? Once you answer these questions, it should be able to help you make your decision.

There are things that you'll need to accept and compromise. Some physical differences includes cf/sd vs dual sd slots, image area feature (1.2x) not available on D610 (I'm not sure though and if that matters to you.


Sent from my iPhone.
 

BackdoorArts

Senior Member
With bracketing it all depends on what you want to do. I've done HDR with both cameras and with everywhere from 3 to 17 bracketed images, the latter done manually. 3 images bracketed at +/-2EV will give you the same edges as 5 images bracketed at +/-1EV, but with the extra images in between you get more information feeding into the program, which can make a huge difference in a scene that has extremely varied light. 3 images can be enough, but the end result may not be quite as natural looking. The idea is, the more light information you have available the more you can work with a photo.

Let me work through an example. I recently did an HDR rendering of the chapel at Princeton University. I used my D600 and shot 9 images that range from +/-2.5EV, manually altering shutter speeds. This range is not that different from a +/-2EV that you'd get from a 3 shot automatic bracket with the camera, but the difference in rendering is significant.

Here is the image with a basic 3 exposure bracket at +/-2EV. I've used Nik HDR Efex Pro 2 to simply merge the images, apply the Default settings and export the result.

Chapel-3frame.jpg


Now here is the same +/-2 EV exposure range but created with 7 images...

Chapel-7frame.jpg


Finally, here is a 9 exposure rendering at +/-2.5 EV

Chapel-9frame.jpg


While they are very similar, if you click on the first and then use your arrow keys to move from one to the next what you will see is a much higher contrast variation in the bricks and wood with the 3 images than you do with the 7, and you get even more evenness with the 9 image series. The more even the rendering the more information available to manipulate the final product, from very flat to very dramatic.

 
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Expertneo

New member
Excellent!

I am indebted to you guys! I have asked one of my question in a Hungarian forum and the outcome was the following instead of such a correct well explained answer: "Why do u want an expensive camera if u do not know these basics?". After my simple explanation they went mad and 1 day later I was banned with the comment of "It is a basic question that ruins a D800 forum. To find the answer for such a question go and buy some photography beginner books."

I cannot express myself, but I am so impressed. Thanks, and have a good year!
 
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