Second hand D800E

bandit993

Senior Member
Looking at a second hand D800E. The asking price is $1800 Canadian. It has 27000 clicks on it approx. Is that reasonable. Seems close to me, but maybe a little high. I have a D7200 and D500. I do mostly wildlife. I do get the chance to do some "wildlife portrait" shots. Would like to try full frame. I probably wouldn't print above 13x19. What do you think? Thanks
 
Remember that you will
Have to get full frame lenses too. The DX lenses used on your present cameras will not work correctly on a full frame camera


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bandit993

Senior Member
Thanks Don. I only have 2 dx lenses. The 18-55mm and a 35mm 1.8. But I have a 85mm 1.8, a 70-200mm 2.8 and the 150-600mm... What do you think about the price?
 

pforsell

Senior Member
Thanks Don. I only have 2 dx lenses. The 18-55mm and a 35mm 1.8. But I have a 85mm 1.8, a 70-200mm 2.8 and the 150-600mm... What do you think about the price?

I think the price might be pretty close. CAD 1800 is something like USD 1300~1400 and for a low mileage D800E that is not terribly bad. Are the strap, charger, battery, body cap, instructions manual, and box included?

Some merchants make you pay extra for the used accessories (I won't name any names but you might want to surf the web). For example one merchant sells "camera body & battery" only, and charges $25 for the used strap and $90 for the used charger that both came with the camera originally. So, when comparing prices make sure you compare apples to apples.
 

Danno

Senior Member
Looking at a second hand D800E. The asking price is $1800 Canadian. It has 27000 clicks on it approx. Is that reasonable. Seems close to me, but maybe a little high. I have a D7200 and D500. I do mostly wildlife. I do get the chance to do some "wildlife portrait" shots. Would like to try full frame. I probably wouldn't print above 13x19. What do you think? Thanks

It seems like a reasonable price if you get the basic accessories, but it would be worthwhile looking at a Refurbished 750. I bought a used D700 with low shutter count last year. I got it at a good price and I wanted to see what FX was like. I really enjoy the Full Frame. It has ended up being the camera I use most and now I am saving for the 850... I figure I will have the money about the same time they stop being on Back Order...

I still use my 7200 but mostly with my Nikon 200-500 f/5.6 or occasionally my 70-200 if I go to one of my nieces or nephews sporting events.
 

spb_stan

Senior Member
Did you get the D800e? It is still a great camera ad 27,000 clicks is not even broken in. I have 300,000 on mine and it still works as new. It has a pro grade and has been used in a lot of rough conditions that lighter weight cameras might not have survived.
 

bandit993

Senior Member
Hello spb_stan. No I didn't buy it. Thanks for asking. I see a D810 for sale as well but I have to figure out why I want or need it. What is your opinion of a D800E vs D810? Both are slow cameras in terms of frame rates, But I have a D500 for the faster stuff but I don't need a full frame but would like to try one..
 
Hello spb_stan. No I didn't buy it. Thanks for asking. I see a D810 for sale as well but I have to figure out why I want or need it. What is your opinion of a D800E vs D810? Both are slow cameras in terms of frame rates, But I have a D500 for the faster stuff but I don't need a full frame but would like to try one..

Have you looked at the D750?
 

bandit993

Senior Member
Yes I have looked at the D750 Don. I did some reading and they actually say the D7200 is sharper.. I have both a D7200 and D500. I know the D750 would be slightly better in low light. I'll keep thinking and looking at the options. Thanks Don for you reply.
 

hark

Administrator
Staff member
Super Mod
Contributor
Yes I have looked at the D750 Don. I did some reading and they actually say the D7200 is sharper.. I have both a D7200 and D500. I know the D750 would be slightly better in low light. I'll keep thinking and looking at the options. Thanks Don for you reply.

I have a D750 as well as a D7200. Both are sharp and both handle higher than normal ISO's very well. The thing about the D8xx series is the higher number of pixels means your technique needs to be extremely good. The slightest bit of movement will show up when pixel peeping. If you decide to crop files from the D800E (which you might do for a number of wildlife shots), any slight movement that was captured will become even more apparent. The D8xx series is great, but if you're primarily interested in wildlife, a DX body might serve you better.

There is software called ON1 Resize that is even better at upsizing than Photoshop. A few of our members used it to create larger prints and even murals. So it's an option for any large prints.

If you are interested in landscape photography and/or portraits in general, then the D8xx series should work well for you. The thing is if you are looking to get wildlife portraits with it, you might wind up carrying 2 bodies (one a DX) when you are out shooting to capture moving subjects. The D8xx series has its strengths (as do all the different types of Nikon bodies). If you go with one, don't be surprised if you start branching out to other subjects besides wildlife. ;)
 

spb_stan

Senior Member
The D800e and D810 are similar in image quality but the AF is a little better on the D810 and it has a revised inner case frame that was changed to strengthen the bottom frame that had cracked on a number of dropped D800. For sports and wildlife, the D810 might be worth the difference.
Both are pro quality with good weather protection like the D500 and D5, and a higher grade of components. If you shoot burst, the D500 is a better wildlife camera because of the narrower field of view on all your lenses, that appears to be more reach. The D7200 is a fine general purpose camera that meets the needs of 90% of the photographer's subject matter. It is not as rugged or long lasting as the D8x0 series, has lower dynamic range, less able and slower AF, and fewer options in custom settings. For wildlife, the D500 is hard to beat because it is optimized for speed and more hostile environments. If you were doing portraits or landscape, by all means, D800, 810, 850, Z7 are better choices.
I never suggest anyone change cameras unless they have very specific restrictions on their current camera. If it is a vague feeling that a later tech or more pro-level camera is going to produce better results than one might be disappointed. Almost all "deficiencies" on cameras designed in the last 10 years really come down to technique or esthetic problems with an image. If you go to a photo gallery and see large prints, seldom is the equipment mentioned but you would not be able to tell which camera took any of them, but you might be able to identify film vs digital. Composition, vision, light/shadows subject, etc are all far more important in an imaging being appreciated. The best investment for a wildlife shooter is a workshop or mentor who had mastered fieldcraft....how to find and approach subjects.
Wildlife is getting harder to find most places in the world due to loss of habitat so skill in approaching or anticipating the subject's behavior becomes more important by the year. 50% of all mammal species that existed in 1950 are now extinct. In 30 years virtually none will be in the wilds except for some regions with vast habitat and no people like central or eastern Russia and some isolated areas of Brazil. So anything you can capture an image with now will be far better than any camera in 10-30 years.
 

bandit993

Senior Member
I have another chance to buy a used D800E but I am not sure if it will be worth it. My technique is quite good but not great, so I am afraid of that. Plus where as I shoot wildlife I know my crop bodies give a good reach, but cropping 36 Mp may not be as good. But for closer "wildlife portrait" shots it may be very detailed. Hard to pass up one with less than 8000 clicks though.
 

TwistedThrottle

Senior Member
I have another chance to buy a used D800E but I am not sure if it will be worth it. My technique is quite good but not great, so I am afraid of that. Plus where as I shoot wildlife I know my crop bodies give a good reach, but cropping 36 Mp may not be as good. But for closer "wildlife portrait" shots it may be very detailed. Hard to pass up one with less than 8000 clicks though.

I have a D800 and a D7500. Last time I went out to photograph eagles, I brought both bodies. The D800 did great at birds sitting in trees but the D7500 did much better with birds in flight. I cant crop too far into the shots I got with the D7500, (because the ISO was super high to offset the super high shutter speed) but I can go WAY into the D800 files (because the shutter speed and ISO were much lower).
 

spb_stan

Senior Member
I have another chance to buy a used D800E but I am not sure if it will be worth it. My technique is quite good but not great, so I am afraid of that. Plus where as I shoot wildlife I know my crop bodies give a good reach, but cropping 36 Mp may not be as good. But for closer "wildlife portrait" shots it may be very detailed. Hard to pass up one with less than 8000 clicks though.

I love the D800 series cameras but I am not a wildlife shooter. The image quality is superb with the D8x0 series and they are build much better than the crop camera except the D500. If you were doing portraits or studio shooting primarily I would say to grab it but it might be better to seek uses D500. I have D850, 800, D7000 and Z6 right now and have found nothing that ia lacking in the Z6 with better low light performance than anything below 102,000 ISO where the D5 takes over. Now with such a fast transition to mirrorless a lot of good DSLR bodies are dropping rapidly in price, even the D500. It is possible that the D500 is the only crop sensor camera that will get an update. The Z50 is taking over in the crop word. The D7x00, 5x00 and 3x00 series are likely the end of the line for hobbyist cameras from Nikon or anyone.
 

bandit993

Senior Member
spb_stan, I have a D500 and D7200 now. Not overly impressed with the AF of the D7200. Very hit or miss. The D800E would't be my main body, more for wildlife portraits. The D500 is my main body because of the AF.
 

Whiskeyman

Senior Member
spb_stan, I have a D500 and D7200 now. Not overly impressed with the AF of the D7200. Very hit or miss. The D800E would't be my main body, more for wildlife portraits. The D500 is my main body because of the AF.

If the D500 is working for you, I'd pass on the D800E. Unless the price is too good to pass up; but that would have to be really low for me to think about it. The D850 is a big step forward, capability wise, over the D800/D800E and they are selling new for about $2700 US, with a battery grip also thrown in for "free."

WM
 

bandit993

Senior Member
The D800E was taken off the market before I had a chance to go look at it. I want to try a high resolution camera to see the detail and what a full frame camera is like but I know the D500 is probably the best for wildlife anyway. The D850 would be good but at $4300 Canadian (yes we are ripped off up here) it is way out of my price range. Maybe a D810 will be in the future...
 
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