Which D810 accessories will I need?

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Deleted

Senior Member
The last SLR camera I had was a Canon A1 about 25 years ago when I did semi-pro portrait work. This time around it with a DSLR will be mainly landscapes, character portraits & close-up/macro.

I'm aiming to be ordering a D810 next week, along with a 24-120mm f4 & 105mm f2.8 macro. I'll then have barely a week to figure out all the buttons before taking the D810 + 24/120mm on vacation.

I only have mail-order sources for cameras & accessories, so have little time to get everything I need for the vacation. I will have access to mains power & can recharge the battery when needed. I'm thinking of the following things that I need to get:

Small camera bag
Hoya HD protector filter
Sandisk Extreme Pro 32gb CF card
Sandisk Extreme Pro 32gb SD card
Kindle book about the D810

I will have a small laptop with me. At the moment, it only has an SD card reader.

Is there anything else I need to take?

Is 32gb enough?
 
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Bill16

Senior Member
I'd get a shoulder strap, extra battery pack or two,a card reader for the CF card,and if you can afford it so soon a flash for portraits if I were you. :)

The flash might not be absolutely needed with the iso abilities of your Nikon, but a good flash can make a better shot at times regardless of the iso abilities! :D

Have a blast my friend! :D
 
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Deleted

Senior Member
J-see said:
Above all, take an extra battery.
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[MENTION=31330]J-see[/MENTION]
Thanks for your reply, but as I mentioned I will have ready access to mains for recharging the batteries. At the very least, I can charge every night. Is there still need for a spare battery?
 
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Bill16

Senior Member
YES! Always get and carry a spare battery for DSLRs! :D
Ask anyone! Lol :D

Gorf said:
[MENTION=31330]J-see[/MENTION]
Thanks for your reply, but as I mentioned I will have ready access to mains for recharging the batteries. At the very least, I can charge every night. Is there still need for a spare battery?
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WayneF

Senior Member
Gorf said:
Is 32gb enough?
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There is a Memory Card Capacity chart in the manual, D810 page 489. There are a few choices about Raw file compression and bits, but 400 or 500 Raw files on 32 GB should not be much issue.

I took one trip and got 1004 Raw files on a 32GB card, but some of that time, I was shooting DX format to make more space. That often works fine, but DX 24mm is NOT wide angle. :) If you also have the SD card in there, overflow can go to it.

A USB card reader can handle both card types.

I have a couple of extra batteries, but I've never taken enough pictures in one day to need one.
 
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Blacktop

Senior Member
Bill is right. Take an extra battery just in case. Are you taking a tripod or a monopod?

Also I would transfer the pics from the cards to the laptop every night back at the hotel. Last thing you want is something to go wrong on your last day and lose all the pics. I don't even like to think about that happening.
 
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photogramps

Senior Member
Unless you plan to go snap-crazy I would have thought that 1 x battery (its rated by Nikon at 1200 images) and 1 x 32GB card would be fine, excluding emergency backup.
 
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J-see

Senior Member
Gorf said:
Thanks for your reply, but as I mentioned I will have ready access to mains for recharging the batteries. At the very least, I can charge every night. Is there still need for a spare battery?
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It occasionally happens to me that my battery runs out since I prefer to not load them until fully empty. In the days of yore, doing that prolonged the life-expectancy and storage of the battery but I'm not sure that's still the case.

The loading usually it isn't the problem; the camera dying when there's that splendid shot in sight. Unless it's a building, you can't really ask your subject to hold still and wait some hours until you're ready again.
 
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Deleted

Senior Member
Bill16 said:
I'd get a shoulder strap, extra battery pack or two,a card reader for the CF card,and if you can afford it so soon a flash for portraits if I were you. :)

The flash might not be absolutely needed with the iso abilities of your Nikon, but a good flash can make a better shot at times regardless of the iso abilities! :D

Have a blast my friend! :D
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Battery pack or 2? That's the second suggestion for that so I must consider it carefully. How many shots can I take on a battery? An Internet search suggest I can get 1200 shots on 1 battery, or is there some other reason I need a spare?

I can buy a CF card reader. The issue is that the laptop only has an 80gb drive, but including the operating system & applications. There's probably only about 60gb available. I have no PP applications on the laptop.

I can't afford a flash yet & won't have the space. My plans are to get the R1C1 flash kit for macro & close-up work. There's also a weight issue for the plane.

Interested about the shoulder strap. However I will also have the small bag which will be necessary due to the likelihood of rain. I'm thinking that if I'm running around with the camera for a while I will be able to figure out which sort of strap I would like, maybe a Blackrapid RS Sport &/or a Blackrapid wrist strap.
 
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Deleted

Senior Member
J-see said:
It occasionally happens to me that my battery runs out since I prefer to not load them until fully empty. In the days of yore, doing that prolonged the life-expectancy and storage of the battery but I'm not sure that's still the case.

The loading usually it isn't the problem; the camera dying when there's that splendid shot in sight. Unless it's a building, you can't really ask your subject to hold still and wait some hours until you're ready again.
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Good point, thank you for the explanation. :)
 
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Deleted

Senior Member
Blacktop said:
Bill is right. Take an extra battery just in case. Are you taking a tripod or a monopod?

Also I would transfer the pics from the cards to the laptop every night back at the hotel. Last thing you want is something to go wrong on your last day and lose all the pics. I don't even like to think about that happening.
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Extra battery - check.

No tripod or monopod, I can't afford one yet & no space in the bags.

I've not touched an SLR for many years, the first 2 weeks are going to be figuring out which button does what! Being able to manage a single half decent shot the whole vacation would be great.

The laptop only has 60gb of storage. We are chartering a boat, so I am not going to be wandering about taking shots all day - a lot of the time I'll be driving the thing. :cool:
 
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Bill16

Senior Member
Since you haven't used a SLR in years, be prepared for the weight. Because you bought a pretty big beast of a DSLR, and you'll find it heavier than you might think. Even my D300's though heavy, are not even nearly as heavy as your D810 is I believe. But maybe my D300's are now that I think about it, since they have the battery grips on them. Lol :)
 
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Bill16

Senior Member
Oh ya one thing I forgot to mention! A good rod and reel! Lol ;)

I sure hope you have a blast my friend! It sure sounds like you should with a D810 to play with! Lol :D
 
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Deleted

Senior Member
Bill16 said:
Since you haven't used a SLR in years, be prepared for the weight. Because you bought a pretty big beast of a DSLR, and you'll find it heavier than you might think. Even my D300's though heavy, are not even nearly as heavy as your D810 is I believe. But maybe my D300's are now that I think about it, since they have the battery grips on them. Lol :)
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The weight was something that concerned me. I was with a client who had a D5300 & 55-300mm yesterday. It was what convinced me, the D5300 & zoom lens seemed much too light to me.
 
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