Of D800's and Ferraris and Bad Engines

[Geoffc]

Jake I totally agree with you principle here and I don't even get hung up about cleaning the lenses or sensors as the errors rarely show for me. The only thing I would say is that whenever I use my 70-200 2.8 lens (my most expensive) it provides an image that stands out from the rest, be that the bokeh or the sharpness. I can pick those shots out of a line up with ease. Now that's not just a D800 thing, just a good lens on any camera.

But to your post, I can't spot the difference in your images and for most practical use I agree that the resolution doesn't matter as we discard it.

Personally I don't print big from my D800 so resolution doesn't matter for that, however down sampling images removes lots of noise and makes them look sharp. To me this is the advantage if the 36mp sensor (plus DR etc). Having said that, it's only something concluded through use, not why I bought it.


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[BackdoorArts]

I plan on doing something a little more scientific with the cheap lens and the big sensor. I expect it to show the flaws, but I'd expect the same from my D600 as well.

Great glass is obvious once it's on a camera, and I'm not discounting the fact that there is a huge impact to the IQ when you use it. What I am trying to do is refute is the prevailing wisdom that you can't or shouldn't use a D800 without it. The amazing thing is, most of the people who say that don't own one, and have likely never used one outside of a camera shop or show demo.

 

[Whiskeyman]

The one advantage I need most that most cheap lenses do not have is extra speed. With camera performance at higher ISOs improving, that may not be so important to me in the future. The "cheap" lenses that are fast have done just fine by me, but I don't have a D800.

I'm anxious to see what the D7100 can do after it arrives, although it won't really exercise any lens the way a D800 would since it's using the sweetest portion of the lens to capture the image.

I look forward to more of your testing, analysis and reports on this issue.

And it's nice to see someone else is a Calvin & Hobbes reader.

WM