This 10 Year Old DSLR Is Better than Modern Cameras (Nikon D810 Review in 2024) 

"You kiddin right?", we still use our D3's (12MP) and 4's, (16MP) no cameras are obsolete, don't be fooled my marketing, if it worked for professional photographers back then, then it works now, nothing has changed. We love our D800's and D850, no reason to change to anything else, despite some trying to flog the mirrorless systems. It is not the kit, it is not the kit, it is about the user! Nikon felt good in the hand compared to others so we invested in that system.

the video footage is noticeably much better than the Fujifilm

There's also a strange perception with clients, I started using an X-T5 on a shoot and when I pulled out my D850 they were like, oh good he's brought the real camera 😂

I have D810, Z7, ZF, and Fuji XT5 cameras, but the D810 is still my favorite all-time camera and the first camera I ever made money with.

on the D810, you can set the multiselector button to zoom in out. I press once to zoom in to 100% and again once to reset. it will centre the zoom wherever you put your focus point. No need to endlessly press the zoom in and out buttons. I literally never use those. You can set the button to zoom to 200% if you really want to punch all the way in and out.

As a long time user of D810, I can tell you that using that camera for video shooting is like using an Abrams tank for grocery shopping. That camera is for stills - especially action shots such as birds in flight, sports, fast moving vehicles and indeed, air shows! It must be paired with Nikkor prime lenses for the best results. With its focus tracking feature, particularly if you have activated the back focus button (do a web search for that fascinating feature which only high end Nikon DSLRs offer), tracking two raptors dog-fighting 200 meters away would be a cinch. What many users of mirrorless cameras consider a disadvantage (the weight of the body), wildlife photographers see as an asset. The extra weight gives the body the much needed stability. Also, no mirrorless can replicate with its digital display the speed of a physical viewfinder. This camera (and the 850) will be in demand long after their production has ended.

I’ve used a D810 last 5 years, beast of a camera used correctly, built to last and a workhorse of a camera. Don’t be fooled by the sales pitch of newer cameras and sensors it’s mostly the person using it that matters

@6:00 It has a Compact Flash (CF) card slot. It is not CFExpress anything (A or B). CF has been around a LONG time. IBM made a 340MB "microdrive" CF card that was huge in the late 90's. The D5 was the last CF-able Nikon camera. It came in (2) flavors (XQD and CF). XQD is basically CFExpress type B. I bought a D750 as a backup to my D500 primary camera, but should have gotten a D810, since the button and menu layout is the same as the D300/500 series.

I just bought a D810 two days ago. BRAND NEW for $649.50 out the door, from an authorized dealer as well. Great deals on mirror DSLR all over the place!

I have used the D810 for months and the file is incredible up until today. Thank you for a review!

The D810 is the best camera I have ever owned. It will always be my go to for studio photography.

On the d810, you can map the middle button of the control dial to zoom to say 1:1 with the press of a button, and then press it again to zoom back out.

With such a high resolution it is possible to find the exact point of focus even in scenic photos by enlarging them. I had to send in my used D810 to get the focus aligned perfectly. Nikon also provides a fine focus tuning override for each lens you own. This is not a problem for mirrorless.

With a flash like the SB-900, you can use its SU-4 optical slave mode, and have it as a remote triggered by the camera's pop-up flash.I'm doing this with my D600.

The flash is for trigger the Nikon system of flashe's, try it and you love it.

This Sony 36mpix sensor is one of the best sensors ever made. A great balance between resolution and low noise in higher ISO. In a Pentax K-1 you even get IBIS.

Bro I love the video out of my Z6 I and Zfc w/ flat profile. The Z6 III takes it up a notch.

Got my D810 when it first came out in 2013. It still spits out absolutely gorgeous images and I have no desire to switch to anything newer. It just works for me!

I've been using one since almost 10 years, got it when it was just new. Still use it a lot, to this day. Lenses I use a lot these days are 85 1.4, 35 F2 (super small and light, perfect to carry with me), 24-120 as an all purpose zoom. Still love the IQ it produces, love it a lot. Better in my opinion to my fuji xpro3...

As an owner of the D3, D750 and Df, I would love to try out D800 series Nikon. I just came back from using a Df which I find to be a lot of fun, and the colours and dynamic range in these cameras are quite excellent. I use mirrorless quite a bit and as much as I love them, I will always hold on to my DSLRs.

Thank you for this! Upgrading from a D7100 I’ve had for the last 8 years, ready to go full frame!

If image quality has improved in the past 10 years, it's hard to see. I shoot with a 2018 Pentax K1 Mark II (same sensor as the D810) and the images I get from it always seem to please me more than the images I get from my much more recent mirrorless cameras.

Bought my D810 back in 2015 and never saw any reason to buy anything else (except a smaller X100F which I love too). I think you may have missed an important aspect of the older lenses that you can stick to the D810: it gives a really nice vintage look to your images, with some vignetting and sometimes imperfect focusing... which is much more charming than what you get with the almost perfect modern lenses. The D810 is definitely a keeper, I will never sell mine ! Thanks for your video. You should try the old and cheap 50mm 1.8 D lens on it!

my d810 has a shutter count of 640k and ive seen much higher. So i wouldn't worry.

I use my D810 with battery grip, Sigma Sports 70-200 plus a Godox V1 for event photography. Heavy AF, but you get used to it. The weight also acts as an additional stabiliser. I would not really want a lighter weight camera. Just something better to do more than occasional video clips. Btw the Sigma dock plus Datacolor focus Checker take a while to get in tune, whereas the Nikon 85mm 1,8 is tack sharp from the getgo. I switched to Nikon from Canon BV and had to change quite a bit of studio great, flash triggers, lenses of course. But boy, did that make a difference

You can calibrate each lenses to work on the Nikon D800. It will memorise it and each time you change the lens, it will know and switch to that setting. That's the difference between mirrorless (no calibration needed vs DSLR which can be calibrated for each lens). I use F4 to calibrate my settings as I want crisp sharp at F4 and not F5.6 as most of my lens are F1.4 - F4 so I know anything over F4 is going to be sharp anyway.

8:56 as someone who primarly only shoots on sigma ART lenses for the past 5 years on the OG D800 i can tell you that there is a bit of a learning curve to using those lenses on a D800, without fail every new lens I've owned id have focusing issues for the first couple of shoots I do but eventually after adjusting some focusing settings they do eventually work as intended. this was especially true for the 24-35 f2 which i thought had front focusing issues but after a while i learnt how to use it and it worked perfectly fine if not a touch bit slow because i had to make sure its definitely focusing.

I still own mine as well as a D3s with only 11k on the shutter.. total BADASS!!

I have 2 of them and the files at iso 64 are wonderful. I also have the fuji X100v but Nikon NEFs are way better than the fuji.

The D500 can record 4K video. It's a very capable APS-C camera! To zoom back out in Live View, click the center of the 4-way button (right side of monitor). It has a little button in the center that restores the zoom.

Just a small info : The screwdrive focus is very accurate. The problem is you did not calibrated the lens for your camera body. Also the D series lenses have much better quality compared to new G series lens. The G lenses are sharper, but the colors, micro contrasting and the build quality are inferrior.

Still Have My Pentax K-1 ,Great Camera Great Images !

you can see trough the viewfinder with manuel lenses en look for the dot-and-arrows to focus!

Went from a Z7 to a D810 and don't regret it. The D810 feels just right for landscapes. For wildlife it's just ok but if you don't shoot wildlife that much it's perfectly serviceable.

Excellent camera. It took me some time to crack the PP routines for colours - it is gimmick but it is beauty. One thing to mention: be very careful. Nikon used polycarbonates in order to “refine” the lineup of the cameras like d750, d780, d500 probably other as well. This means that lens mount is sitting around the plastic mirror box and when camera falls and hits the ground with the lens, the mirror box is most likely obliterated. My d810 had it twice..

There wasn't much progress in sensors during the last decade, while in autofocus, in shutter speed, in video capture the progress is mindblowing. If great colour and dynamic range is all you're interested in, go for D810 and be happy. But if you also value precise and fast autofocus, smaller body and weight, the mirrorless is the way to go. Besides, new mirrorless lenses are so much better that for me there's simply no returning. Even the modest 24-70 F/4 blows away anything from AF-S series, leave alone more sophisticated glass

I've recently got a d750, after having a d7000 for a while and a d7200 more recently. One note, Nikon doesn't make a dedicated 50mm for apsc sensors only a full frame. with every so many switching to mirrorless lenses are super cheap if you're willing to buy used.

The D850 is still my main camera. Had the D800 converted to full spectrum. Still happy.

Well done man, I think you were made for this .. nice talk flow.. everything to the point...

Hmmm, I have tried the zoom focus shoot on my 810, but on my 7500 I don't have to back out to take the shot...maybe a firmware update?

I love how the video on the D810 looks. I guess we can succeed if we all emphasize our craft rather than our gear.

I have a D810 and I really like it, it's like an industrial strength version of a standard DSLR. It can be a little heavy but it gives excellent results by any standard. One of the false promises of mirrorless was focus accuracy. On still subjects my D810 focuses more accurately and more reliably than my mirrorless camera.

I have a D810, swapped a Mirrorless Nikon for a D750. Sigma Art 40mm is best in tests & Sigma Art 28mm for daily use, wider. *Nikon Cameras can zoom to 100% by setting up the ok or another button

Oh i use the Sigma 20mm and 105mm F1.4 art series and also used the 120-300mm f2.8 OS lens for ten yrs for sports and aviation and Speedlight SB910 for years !

But unless you use live view you also don't really see, if the image is in focus. Yes, you should see it by looking at the focus indicator or by using autofocus, but there are several issues that can cause your images to be soft anyway (especially if you use fast lenses like for example an 85mm f1.4): 1) Focus shift. DSLRs have this issue when using certain lenses (like for example the Nikon 58mm f1.4 AF-S G). When the camera changes the aperture before exposing the image, the focus point can shift to the back or to the front. 2) Backfocus/front focus (can happen because of mechanical issues of the lens like screwdriver af or because the lens is not calibrated correctly, calibration may be impossible for all aperture values for focus shift). It can also happen when using manual focus. If the mirror is not in its correct position, you'll see a sharp image in the view finder, but the resulting image will be soft. The only reliable fix for these issues is to use live view which turns a dslr more or less into a mirrorless camera.

I own a Nikon D810 and I mostly use it for landscape photography. Since I'm new to photography, I don't know much about cameras (I only had a Nikon D300 before the D810), but it seems to me that my phone, both in raw mode, does a better job of capturing more accurate colors and smaller details in photo, such as a delicate and subtle haze. I am using high quality, professional grade lenses on the Nikon D810, which then makes me wonder: is it the fact that it is an older processor? Do newer processors do a better job of capturing color? (Again, I am talking only Raw mode here) Whatever, the case, I would greatly appreciate any feedback. Thanks

I'm looking to jump in the photography game and checking out videos on different cameras to get an idea of what my next camera should be, presuming I can gain some traction. You talked about video, and not using a DSLR. I like the DF given the lightweight feel (and retro) and was wondering how much of a shot it'd be to versatility if the camera lacks that feature. Curious to hear what you shoot video with, if you're not using a mirrorless or DSLR?

Never heard of focusing problems with the Art lenses on a D810. The focusing might work worse in live though compared to through viewfinder (on all lenses).

Of the now 10 year old DSLRs, I'd say the D750 is still the top. It was affordable, and offered very good low-light noise performance even against its bigger siblings the D800-series. The D800 series might have had more megapixels, and maybe the D850 now can dethrone the D750 in terms of overall performance of IQ, but I'd say in the D800/D810 era (so 2014) the D750 was the king.

Love my d810, video is even not that bad.

I bought the D810 and paired it with a Voigtlander 58mm F1.4 and wow, it's a unique experience.

I still have and use D810 with the 200mm AF-D f/4 macro lens as a body cap. Sometimes I put up an old AIS micro MF 105mm f/2.8. I also have Fuji X-H2 mainly with 80mm f2.8 Macro lens. These two cameras are both fantastic and of superb IQ. Thanks for sharing.

having a D300, D5600,D7000,D7200,D810, newly purchased D850. ($900 off a brand new D850). No EVF for me. I shoot my videos with my trusty Canon Vixia. I'm good. Nice review BTW.

Hi Matt , Just wondering if you came across a setting where the flash pops up automatically when reaching a minimum shutter speed ???

hi i have the D800 from the beginning almost 2013 June using it every day ! so still DSLR shooter not yet Z Mirrorless .Just subscribed to help you !

Find yourself an independent camera tech, really a mechanic (probably an old guy)n, and you can get a shutter changed relatively cheap, depending on the market. If the body and sensor are in great shape, it'll probably be worth it if there's a failure. The body AF is slower, but is usually as accurate as your focus point selection is. I'm going on 10 years with my D810. Oh, and that Nikon designed sensor is great, made at a Sony plant using Nikon built manufacturing equipment.

You need to calibrate the lenses to the body with the AF fine tune feature.

I sold my mirrorless set and got a D780 and no regrets. Like You said, the dynamic range is crazy good.

I recently got a Z8 and I’m keeping the D810. The D810 has far better battery life and I really like the ability to grab it and look the view finder without having to wake it up. However, Z8 is fantastic for sports.

I was shooting a d800 just today. It is still a great camera. I mean a D850 is a beast to this day.

don't confuse CF Express type A with the good ol' regular CF cards lol CF Express Type A are modern cards only used in Sony cameras. Way different to the old Compact Flash format that has been in use since the dawn of time when it comes to DSLRs... my 1999 Nikon D1 has a CF port ! Also, about the zooming in on Nikon cameras : you can set a button up to punch in and punch out, I set the top record button in photo mode to do that, works great. Never had to touche the zoom in and out buttons again

Still using my Nikon D700 with any issue and I don’t need the last model in the market, my point is if people use film cameras in 2024 I believe my d700 is fine.

you dont actually dislike nikon mirrorless, you should check out the zf, the z30 is their entry and its quite good for basic video , the zf its the best camera in my opinion.

I rock the D810 its a great camera, I wouldn't mind a D3 and a F5.

I still have, and use, my Nikon D810. As a matter of fact, I’m doing some Astrophotography with it right now 😊

The shutter should last at least 300K (at Least the Higher Pentax Lines do and i assume i similar level of quality and endurance) Resolution, if you do not plan to do Double A0 Printouts reguarly, or your workflow usually is to extract chips of the picture and to drag them to A0 size 36 MP is really more than enough. If this is your workflow you probably have to switch to an 100MP Medium Format System Fuji or Hasselblad. Theses models D800, D810, D850, K1, K1-II are not very well suited for highspeed sports, or things where you need features like eyefocus or high speed burst rates. But an optical View finder is always a better experience than a EVF

interesting, I have D7200 (my Sony DSLR died and I couldnt find another one. And I refuse to live without proper DSLR :) ) and I was thinking about Sigma 50-150 for it, but I might reconcider it if that problem with Sigma focusing is true. maybe even going for 810 (it costs almost as much as 7200 anyway, even with reasonable shutter count under 50k and those most interesting Nikon lenses are for FF anyway). Might that be an issue with 3rd party lenses on Nikon in general? I have Tamron 17-50 and sometimes its soft, as if not fully focused. I have never had any problem with any Sigma lenses on Sony, most of my lenses for Sony-A mount are Sigma, they work great and are actually my prefered choice.

Hi Matt! I really enjoyed your review. I just to have a D800, I sold it ( shortly after I regretted ). I'm thinking about buying back another one, but I'm debating between a D800 or D810.

Yup, the af on this camera leaves a little to be desired as far as accuracy is concerned, even for when it was released. But depending on the type of photos one takes, it might not be a big deal. You can fine tune Nikon lenses in camera. Don’t know about the older Nikon or third party lenses. I own it for a little over 8 years now. Probably use it till it won’t function anymore. Probably get a new D850 or Z8 not take the loss on my F-mount lenses but would like to try the Sony & Canon line-up being their AF seems to be a little more accurate & easier to use, judging by reviewers. Happy shooting. PS; I have the pv button set for image preview which steps down the Aperture to what ever it set for plus, live view gives a decent idea of the exposure & can have a histogram display & highlight warnings.

I sold the gfx100s Fuji and bought the Nikon DF and never looked back I prefer the images of DF they look like color slide especially with ai lenses, I still own D200 D500 D700 D800 D 810a D850 z7ll z8 through the years it is a collection, but I still prefer the images of the DF.

Have you tried z8?

its my main camera

Awesome camera. I use the Sigma 35mm 1.4 lens on it as well and focusing is no issue. Other than trying to nail subjects at f1.4.

As from the z6ii you can do some nice videos

Holding the OK button can breen it back to fullsceen.

d800 etc. series shutter clap is legendary. Noisy as hell, but legendary.

Interesting. This is probably the same sensor as my A7R mark 1.

I can never understand the craze about "Fuji colour science". I have both an X-T3 and a Nikon D750, and the D750 beats the X-T3 hands down for colour and tonality. There's simply no comparison. So I use the X-T3 for street photography and the D750 for nature, landscape, portraits and just about anything else. On top of that the Nikon Raw files are much easier to process than Fuji's.

The Tamron 35 1.4 is a much better lens. Even better then the Nikon ones.

Steve Mccury shoot this camera...thats all you need to say 😊

My D810 is so much better than my D750. In that everything is sharper, and that I can use iso's under 100. The reason I will keep the D750 is that it is so light, and makes a good backup camera.

Still my main shooter!

I think when you want so zoom out at the live view, you can hit the "OK" button

I am still happily using my D700 and have no intentions of buying another camera.

Ok I got to criticize a bit here. About colors. You should shoot RAW. In that case your 'Film Simulations' are a moot point. You can get any colors you want unless you shoot jpg and rely on the Fuji profiles. 'Nikon color' is what you make of it. Actually any camera's color is what you make of it.

Those DSLRs are every bit as capable as the latest Sony or Panasonic. Its marketing that sells bodies, these companies can only sell so many lenses but endless 'updated' bodies.

I had the D810 for several Years, and it was a decent Camera. I stupidly traded it in on what turned out to be a Huge Downgrade, a D850. I am still kicking myself over that.

the D looks so much better in a analog way

You’re comparing a full frame to a crop sensor. Subjectively it’ll be better in some areas.

i used a d810 now im using the d850 im thinking of a d810 to back up my d850 ive had 2 z6,s hmmmm im back to my d850 !!

Screw focus is perfectly accurate its just not as fast

my sigma 150-600 works fine with focus on my Nikon d750 but if you a moaning at a 35mm being heavy then the 150-600 isn't for you XD

Color science looks wierd to me… but I’m a newbie…😮

Me gustaría tener una cámara de cada marca, pero no tengo tanto dinero. 😅😅😅

Also my D800E is better than most fragile mirrorless cameras, including all Z6 models.

They were very nice huge bricks.

💡 Matt, D810, you can zoom 100% when in menu, setting right •d-pad button to 'ZOOM 100%'. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-wdr7Kto6G9s.htmlfeature=shared •Sigma Art 40mm lens beats all other lenses in tests - for price.

I thought it was lefty Lucy, righty tighty.

Not ever one has deep pockets

Oh jeez. If it makes you happy, great. But don't make absoluteist claims like " Is Better than Modern Cameras". BS. DLSR - Been there, done that, go the t-shirt. But on MANY fronts my mirrorless is so much better, IQ included. And it's not the top tier level. So let's cool the jets, enjoy what we have. Pissing contests just get in the way of the real goal: learning to get better shots. Cameras are just tools.