Nikon D800 review in 2023

Pros

+ Excellent 36MP full frame image quality
+ Professional build quality and handling
+ Low prices for excellent examples
+ Wide choice of Nikon F lenses

Cons

– Very heavy
– Slow AF in live view
– FHD video only
– Fixed rear screen

The Nikon D800 caused a storm on its release in February 2012. No-one had ever seen a 36-megapixel sensor before, and this was uncharted territory for full frame camera resolution. Nikon also made a D800E variant with no anti-aliasing filter in front of the sensor for even higher pixel-level resolution, and this was considered even more desirable, mostly through reputation rather than any obvious gains in image quality.

Nikon went on to release an improved Nikon D810 in 2014, but this essentially offered feature improvements including dropping the anti-aliasing filter,  a more powerful processor for a wider ISO range and slightly faster burst shooting. 

In 2017 Nikon launched the D850, a replacement for the D810 with a new 45.7MP back-illuminated sensor, 4K video capture, a tilting screen and other enhancements. It keeps the same form factor and broad handling as the D800, but is a more modern camera that commands much higher prices. The resolution improvement is worthwhile but not necessarily a game-changer. If your main priority is resolution, stills photography and value, the original D800 ticks all the boxes as a used buy.

See also
• Best used cameras to buy today
• Are used digital cameras any good for photography today?

Nikon D800 specifications

• Type: DSLR
• Lens mount: Nikon F
• Sensor: Full frame CMOS, 36MP
• ISO range: 100-6400, exp 50-25600
• Autofocus: 51-point phase-detect (OVF), contrast AF (live view)
• Continuous shooting: 4fps
• Video: FHD up to 30p
• Viewfinder: Optical pentaprism, 100% coverage, 0.7x magnification
• Rear screen: 3.2-inch 921k dot fixed
• Storage: 1x CF, 1x SD UHS I
• Battery: EN-EL15, 900 shots
• Dimensions: 146 x 123 x 81.5mm, 1000g

Nikon D800 key features

The Nikon D800 is a DSLR from 2012 so, as you would expect, it’s very different to a modern mirrorless camera – though very similar to current DSLRs in overall handling. It has an optical pentaprism viewfinder so you are getting a ‘real-life’ view of the world with no lag, though it won’t simulate exposure or white balance adjustments.

The D800 does offer live view via a lever and button on the back, but this is a pretty primitive experience as the camera must first lock up the mirror and activate the main sensor. It can focus in live view but only using a pretty slow contrast AF system. 

This is a key point about the DSLR design that could easily be forgotten in the mirrorless age – effectively, they have two viewing systems and two autofocus systems. When using the viewfinder, the camera uses a dedicated AF sensor in the camera body, not its main sensor. In live view, this AF sensor is no longer in the light path because the mirror is flipped up, so the camera swaps over to sensor-based autofocus. It’s only in newer cameras that you get sensors with faster phase-detection AF capability. DSLRs of the D800’s age focus much faster using the viewfinder.

The D800 can shoot video, but only in full HD resolution at up to 30fps. The slow live view autofocus means video is probably best shot on a tripod with relatively static subjects. The rear screen is fixed, so low-angle shooting is trickier too.

There are two card slots on the D800. One is for UHS I compatible SD cards, which is fine, but the other is for CF cards, which were on their way out even when this camera was launched, so not of much use today. Realistically, it’s best to think of the D800 as a single-slot camera these days.

Nikon D800 build and handling

The Nikon D800 is a bit of a brute. It weighs a kilo with battery and memory card inserted, which is a lot by today’s standards. When you add on a decent lens, like the AF-S 24-140mm f/4 that I use with this camera, it’s heavier still. Personally I don’t mind – I like a camera with a bit of heft. But this is not a camera for the faint hearts or dainty digits.

The viewfinder is a good size but not that bright. This is the thing about DSLRs – the viewfinder image depends on the brightness of the lens, so with the 24-120mm f/4 it’s not as bright as with the AF-S 50mm f/1.8 I also use.

The power switch is around the outside of the shutter release, which is the perfect position for me (why do camera makers ever put it anywhere else?) and the front and rear control dials have a positive, sturdy feel.

There’s a good-sized mono LCD status panel on the top, which I like because it takes away some of the pain of not having aperture rings and shutter speed dials on Nikon cameras (not just Nikons, of course).

There’s no focus joystick, but then this isn’t a camera for fast action anyway, and the four-way controller works perfectly well for moving the AF point around. There is a separate AF-ON button for those who like to separate the focus action from the shutter action.

The rear screen is fixed without even a tilt action, but it is a 3.2-inch screen rather than the slightly smaller 3-inch screens you get these days, and its 921k-dot resolution is easily enough. It’s bright, crisp and clear, too. Is this really a screen from 2012? It’s very good.

Also on the back is a lever for switching between stills and video, and a button in the center for activating the live view. All the controls, this one included, feel very positive and well made – though the clanking and shunting involved in switching in and out of live view reminds you that this is not really what DSLRs were designed for.

Nikon D800 performance

The viewfinder autofocus performance is dictated to a large degree by the lens you’re using and the speed of its AF actuators. The 51-point AF sensor in this camera is fast and positive, and tried and tested in many different models. Like other DSLR AF sensors, it clusters its AF points in a central area of the screen. 

The high resolution and 4fps burst speed means the D800 is not exactly suited to action, but Nikon’s Dynamic Area AF is still pretty good at following moving subjects if you can keep them under the AF cluster. Many continuous AF systems, this one included, get more effective as you become more practised at using them – it’s not always about specifications and AI subject recognition.

The live view autofocus is, as you might expect, pretty slow – but still surprisingly usable. The D800 is by its nature a camera to be used deliberately, so the live view focusing speed isn’t the issue it might be on other cameras. You can also move the focus point anywhere on the screen. You would have to be pretty brave to try to use live view for continuous autofocus on moving subjects, though.

As far as image quality is concerned, that’s more down to your lenses than the D800’s sensor. Even then, Nikon had a knack with dynamic range especially and image quality in general. The D800 does have an anti-aliasing filter in front of the sensor where many modern cameras don’t, and this does take a tiny edge off its pixel-level definition. Even so, you definitely get your 36 megapixels-worth of resolution. The D800 will outresolve most modern mirrorless models, and its age in no way hampers its resolving power.

It’s possibly true to say, though, that Nikon’s DSLR lenses are not quite on the same optical level as its newer mirrorless lenses. The mirrorless revolution and the smaller lens mount to sensor distances have enabled a newer generation of optical designs.

Nikon D800 verdict

The shortcomings of the Nikon D800 are obvious. It’s a DSLR in a world obsessed with mirrorless cameras, its video capabilities are primitive and it doesn’t even have a tilting rear screen. It also weighs a ton. Well, a kilogram.

But its 36-megapixel full frame sensor can deliver excellent image quality even by today’s standards, its big, hefty design will appeal to those who like their cameras to have a bit of meat to them, and it does open up a wide range of affordable/used Nikon F lenses.

The build quality and controls are pretty spectacular. My example has a low shutter count of just a few thousand, its original packaging and accessories, and looks and feels like a camera made yesterday. I spent some years working on N-Photo, the Nikon magazine, using cameras exactly like this one, and having one again reminds me that they really are a class act – even today.