Question to owners of both D800 and D4 or D3s->D4 upgraders or

Started Sep 7, 2012 | Discussions thread
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Senior MemberPosts: 1,902
Sep 7, 2012

D700 owner here, for the last three months I tried really hard to love D800. I invested a lot of time and money into it. I shot several weddings and eng. sessions with it. Countless hours of my little one running around playground or our house, trying to figure out AF techniques to get the best out of this beast. But...

I'm growing more and more dissatisfied with my D800. AF-C is hit or miss (mostly miss) and my 70-200 VR 1 sucks on it big time. I'm unhappy with color rendering on D800 and AWB (sorry, but white is not white on it.. tested-retested, and tested again). It's high ISO performance in real life situations ends up being same or worse than D700. Worse because I'm forced to shoot faster shutter and stop down 70-200 a bit to get the same crispiness in shots I've been getting with D700, hence, forced to shoot higher ISO than D700.

So, before I start investing more money into troubleshooting the D800+70-200 setup (which may involve renting another lens to see if this is body or lens, possibly rending another body, possibly sending the entire combo in to have it looked at, or perhaps upgrading 70-200 altogether) I decided to re-think everything.

So far this camera (D800) caused me a lot of insanity in financial department - upgrading computer, upgrading cards, upgrading backups, buying new extra batteries, extra charger, adjusting workflow, re-learning autofocus, suspending same day slideshows at weddings (hence less marketing opportunities, hence less bookings), considering upgrading 2nd camera too because D800 and D700 feel different (handling, metering and final files), I'm having hard time switching bodies back and forth at a wedding, etc,etc,etc - I can keep complaining, but that's not the point. All I wanted was a dual slot and a newer body because old ones are falling apart (3 years of heavey use at weddings, lots of wear and tear, shutters nearing their end of life, hot shoes are shot, grips falling off, etc)... So, I'm very close to dumping D800 and going with either D3s (most likely) or D4 (less likely). Just wanted some input from those who have experience with both (and/or all three):

Those of you who own both D4 and D800 -

1) How many stops better D4 over D800 when it comes to high ISO
2) Do you notice any difference in AF performance?
3) Any differences in AWB performance?
4) Does D4 have exact same LCD as D800? Colors/tint looks the same?
5) Does D4's DR feel the same as D800?

To those who upgraded from D3s to D4
1) Is it worth the upgrade?
2) How much better D4 low light performance comparing to D3s?
3) Are the extra 4mp any help, or is the difference pretty much negligible?
4) Any differences in AF performance?
5) Any differences in AWB performance?
6) Do you see any improvement in DR?

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Nikon D3S Nikon D4 Nikon D700 Nikon D800
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