The D800 tripod myth

[Geoffc]

Over the last couple of years many have posted about the D800 needing a tripod for sharp images because of the 36mp resolution. I recently did a 3 week trip to the states and took a 30lb bag of gear plus a tripod. Very quickly I decided I was on holiday to visit and see places where I would record the journey, not a photo expedition where that was the primary purpose. Therefore the tripod didn't get much use.

I set my auto ISO to give a shutter speed of 1 / 2x focal length (eg 200mm = 1/400 sec). Now because the US has one of those things we don't see much in the UK (a sun) I was at ISO 100 most of the time so that was good. Back home my pictures are all very sharp. This is not new for me but worth sharing for those concerned about it. I also have my D7100 set the same way.

With regards to the 30lb bag of gear which I mention in a thread before I went, yes I used it all at various points, however I reckon My 24-120 could have covered 95% of situations.


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[Cowleystjames]

I very rarely use my tripod and like you, find the 24-120 attached to the D800e most of the time. The majority of images are sharp, the only ones that seem to catch me out are fast moving objects. In those cases the D4s rules supreme. But I guess the new D810 with the same Expeed processor as the D4s will mitigate this problem.

 

[BackdoorArts]

I remember going back and reading all the theories posted just before the D800 came out that it would be impossible to use above f/5.6 or without a tripod because of the pixel density, and people would rattle off the math and physics behind the idea. The funny thing is, every article I can find was posted before the release, and there are none that post proof afterward. I'm sure there are still doubters out there, and I do find that I prefer setting my shutter speed a little faster on the D800 than on the D600 when in Auto ISO, but I almost never use a tripod - at least not when I can get away with handholding.

 

[sonicbuffalo_RIP]

I remember going back and reading all the theories posted just before the D800 came out that it would be impossible to use above f/5.6 or without a tripod because of the pixel density, and people would rattle off the math and physics behind the idea. The funny thing is, every article I can find was posted before the release, and there are none that post proof afterward. I'm sure there are still doubters out there, and I do find that I prefer setting my shutter speed a little faster on the D800 than on the D600 when in Auto ISO, but I almost never use a tripod - at least not when I can get away with handholding.

Jake,

I was just wondering if it's a myth that you need greater computer hardware since you're processing 36 MP's? Just wondering if you need anything special when dealing with the larger files?

 

[gqtuazon]

Knowing how horrible my shots can become with this camera when shooting indoors with SS less than 1/80, I tend to rely more on my tripod and remote control even more.

Outdoor with good light, my comfort zone is above 1/320.

Re: CPU power. Comparing my AMD 6 core vs my son's 8 core i7 when converting 1080p HD video files, my AMD CPU would normally run at 98% where the i7 only runs around 38% using Adobe premium suite software.

I'll be upgrading my CPU and moboard soon in order to have a better windows experience.


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[sonicbuffalo_RIP]

Knowing how horrible my shots can become with this camera when shooting indoors with SS less than 1/80, I tend to rely more on my tripod and remote control even more.

Outdoor with good light, my comfort zone is above 1/320.

Re: CPU power. Comparing my AMD 6 core vs my son's 8 core i7 when converting 1080p HD video files, my AMD CPU would normally run at 98% where the i7 only runs around 38% using Adobe premium suite software.

I'll be upgrading my CPU and moboard soon in order to have a better windows experience.


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Glad to see someone besides me uses Windows....more bang for the buck!

 

[gqtuazon]

My editing softwares are all Windows based and I am more comfortable with it. I find it easier to upgrade components.


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[fabulas]

I don't think I have ever used my tripod with my d800e. I also use Windows and have zero issues with file size.

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[wornish]

Large D800 files work fine on iMacs with Lightroom and Photoshop as well. You do need a lot of storage though whatever computer you choose especially if you start using tiffs as they can get very large.

 

[BackdoorArts]

Jake,

I was just wondering if it's a myth that you need greater computer hardware since you're processing 36 MP's? Just wondering if you need anything special when dealing with the larger files?

"Greater" all depends on what you mean. File sizes are in the 30-50MB size for RAW files (depending on details), so you're going to need sufficient RAM to deal with that. Everything you do with these files will take longer regardless of hardware, and some things are just not doable particularly when you're merging multiple RAW files. I've got 32GB of RAM on my Mac and have hit the wall when it's come to merging panoramas without first resizing. I suspect had I tried the same thing with focus stacking I'd find the same thing. Shot at a time shouldn't be problematic provided you have patience and don't start adding a ton of layers to your processing in PS.

 

[wornish]

"Greater" all depends on what you mean. File sizes are in the 30-50MB size for RAW files (depending on details), so you're going to need sufficient RAM to deal with that. Everything you do with these files will take longer regardless of hardware, and some things are just not doable particularly when you're merging multiple RAW files. I've got 32GB of RAM on my Mac and have hit the wall when it's come to merging panoramas without first resizing. I suspect had I tried the same thing with focus stacking I'd find the same thing. Shot at a time shouldn't be problematic provided you have patience and don't start adding a ton of layers to your processing in PS.

I agree my iMac (16GB mem) can cope with a few raw files when focus stacking but I would say about 4 or 5 is the limit. Beyond that you have time to make and drink a cup of coffee before its done. Its best to resize first and convert to jpgs then do the stacking on them that way its no problem doing 10. In terms of handling individual RAW files there is no issue it just works without any perceived delay thats in both LR and Photoshop. Adobe are only just beginning to make use of the Graphics Processors in modern graphics cards as that trend continues then the graphics card will become the limiting factor.

 

[Browncoat]

RE Tripods: Myth
Every camera can benefit from using a tripod in most situations, but to say that the D800 relies on a tripod is rather silly. I remember reading all those statements prior to the D800's release also.

RE Computers: True
36MP + the level of detail the D800 is capable of = very large files. The D800 has a USB 3.0 connection, so as long as your computer has a 3.0 port, some of the download speed from camera to PC is mitigated. When working with the files, you need a computer that A) has a decent amount of storage and B) has a decent amount of RAM. Detail editing of large files in Lightroom and especially Photoshop can really bog down the system. If you're looking for a new PC geared towards photo editing, look at the gaming spec PCs. They have better graphics cards, and a lot more memory.

 

[WayneF]

RE Tripods: Myth
Every camera can benefit from using a tripod in most situations, but to say that the D800 relies on a tripod is rather silly. I remember reading all those statements prior to the D800's release also.

Right. And especially if you downsample both a 36 megapixel and a 12 megapixel image to fit a 2 megapixel video screen, you're going to have about the same thing in terms of resolution.

 

[Silven]

I second what wornish said about the file size. I've had files climb in the neighbourhood of 1.5 GB and up when focus stacking macro and stitching large panoramas.

 

[ShaggyRS6]

This was handheld:

https://flic.kr/p/nW6qEM

 

[STM]

This really does not make sense. Lack of IQ due to camera movement, all things being equal, will be the same regardless of sensor size for the same lens and exposure conditions. The D800 may have more pixels per unit of measurement than say my D700 at 12 MP, but the level of unsharpness due to camera movement if both images are sized to the same size will be the same regardless

That is like saying I can only use my Hasselblad on a tripod if I want sharp images because the film has over 3 times the area of 35mm .

 

[WayneF]

This really does not make sense. Lack of IQ due to camera movement, all things being equal, will be the same regardless of sensor size for the same lens and exposure conditions. The D800 may have more pixels per unit of measurement than say my D700 at 12 MP, but the level of sharpness if both images are sized to the same size will be the same regardless

That is like saying I can only use my Hasselblad on a tripod if I want sharp images because the film has over 3 times the area of 35mm .

But you have to look at it.

It is Not that you can ONLY use the Hasselblad on a tripod, that's not applicable. The shake may be the same magnitude, but the sensor is certainly larger too, which shows the image larger without as much magnification to enlarge the shake more.
FX is half again larger than DX too, needs less magnification, so which also magnifies the shake less.

To print a 4x5 inch print (without cropping):

DX has to enlarge it 6.3x (not speaking pixels, speaking of the image projected by lens onto the sensor).
FX and 35mm film has to enlarge it 4.24x
6 cm roll film has to enlarge it 1.8x
8x10 sheet film has to reduce it to 1/2 size.