Nikon D800 handheld - Is it me or the camera? :)

[Roland Vink]

On my D600 I often use the "quiet mode". With this setting it feels like the mirror flips up more slowly (and quietly) which has the side effect of reducing mirror slap. Of course this won't reduce shutter-induced vibrations but I think helps with hand-held shots at slower shutter speeds. It might be worth seeing if the D8xx cameras have a similar mode and if it helps to reduce vibrations and blurry images

[Zang]

The D800 was Nikon's first high-resolution camera and it suffers a bit from shutter-induced vibration. The D810 offers a limited-use EFCS (in M-UP mode only) which can reduce significantly the effects of shutter shake, and its shutter itself and the mirror chamber are also designed to minimize vibration. This is also exhibited in its quieter sound. The D850 by contrast is designed to be faster and its sound is worse. However, the D850 allows the EFCS to be used in Q / Qc modes in addition to M-UP and this means in practice one can benefit from the EFCS feature also in hand-held shooting, which I've found to be a big help. The mirrorless cameras also can and do take advantage of EFCS in regular shooting when in the appropriate mode. EFCS makes a surprisingly big difference in sharpness at normally problematic shutter speeds.

Thanks for all the details. With Z9 released, I hope full electronic shutter eventually becomes a standard. Even though I have great sentiments to (D)SLR, D800 is most likely my last mirror equipped camera As I have quite long gear refresh cycles, I hope my next mirrorless camera will have full electronic shutter.

[Zang]

Yes, i hear your pain Zang.
Like many, I often went for lowest ISO i thought Icould get away with (once I'd tried all the devices & techniques to make myself & the camera steady)

But I've so often come back with images that suffered because I couldn't use a high enough shutter speed. In these cases, the alternative of having slightly higher noise from a higher ISO would have been the least of my problems because often, the unsharp image just wasn't usable.

Yes, I do agree with all your points. When using longer lenses, people might quickly realize that high ISO quality is not only appreciated by those who take pictures after dusk.

[Zang]

On my D600 I often use the "quiet mode". With this setting it feels like the mirror flips up more slowly (and quietly) which has the side effect of reducing mirror slap. Of course this won't reduce shutter-induced vibrations but I think helps with hand-held shots at slower shutter speeds. It might be worth seeing if the D8xx cameras have a similar mode and if it helps to reduce vibrations and blurry images

I have never tired quiet mode on my D800 but I heard people complaining about it being ineffective. I might give it a try soon.

[Roland Vink]

I don't use the quiet mode to be quiet (although in the case of the D600 it does produce a less sharp sound), I use it because it seems to reduce camera shake

[Zang]

I don't use the quiet mode to be quiet (although in the case of the D600 it does produce a less sharp sound), I use it because it seems to reduce camera shake

LOL same here. I rather like loud shutter sounds. There must be a reason they add shutter sound to those toy point and shot cameras

[beryllium10]

I will echo Ilkka's comment.  When thinking about moving up to a full-frame camera I borrowed a D800 for a couple of days to try it out.  I was surprised by the proportion of motion-blurred photos at speed/aperture/ISO combinations that I would have expected to give good results on the D7000 I owned at the time.  When I eventually bought a D810 I was pleased to discover that it was much more tolerant of low shutter speeds.  At least for the way I support and fire the camera the D810 seems better behaved than my (admittedly brief) experience with the D800.  The D850 shutter doesn't seem to be quite as well damped as the D810, but I've got used to it, and get by at slightly higher shutter speeds and ISO settings.
Cheers and good luck,  John