Looking for RAW files from Nikon D800 or D800E to test a workstation

tkamiya · Oct 17, 2013

I need to test my workstation/software it's ability to process RAW files from Nikon D800 or D800E. Nikon site only has jpegs.

Would anyone owning these cameras be so kind to provide me with a RAW file of any subject? It can even be a picture of your cat or dog. It doesn't have to have any artistic value. I just need a RAW file from one of these cameras.

Please PM me, and we can arrange for file transfer....

Thank you!

L Gebhardt · Oct 18, 2013

Send me your email address in a PM and I'll give you a link to one.

edit:

Here's a file: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/2175281/20120826-134148.NEF
D800E, Nikon 300mm f/4 AFS with 1.4 teleconverter. ISO 2200 1/2500 at f/8 (equivalent). It's a bit noisy at 100%, but that should be a good test for you. You can try cleaning it up and seeing how well your system handles adding noise reduction.

I may take this down if I need the space on dropbox, so save a copy if you want it.

tkamiya · Oct 18, 2013

Larry,

Thank YOU! I just downloaded and to my surprise, my workstation is handling it fairly well. Response isn't as bad. I noticed this is in DX format though. So say, FX will be almost twice as much data. I think, the load isn't as heavy as I was thinking. Would you happen to have an FX format image that you can let me try as well?

I'm also wondering if I should go for E or non E, since Nikon now appears to be going toward eliminating AA filter entirely from even entry level bodies. Would you have any comment you can share on this as well?

I really appreciate your help.

tkamiya · Oct 18, 2013

By the way.....

This image is absolutely amazing. The detail available in leg, antenna, and the head...! I really don't see the noise you are talkina bout but Knowing you went quite high on ISO, that itself is amazing.

L Gebhardt · Oct 18, 2013

Sorry about the DX format. I rarely shoot in DX mode, so I just didn't think about checking. I'll get you an FX file tomorrow. I'll see if I can find you a low ISO file with deep shadows. From there you can see how well they pull up. I am continually amazed at the cleaness of the sensor. For what I shoot I think the E was the right choice. I have seen moire on fabric, but it's easy to fix in Lightroom. Still, if I shot a lot of portraits or regular patterns the regular version might be better. But as you can see the E version is very sharp at the pixel level (and that was with a tele converter on the lens).

tkamiya · Oct 18, 2013

Thank you, Larry.

I shoot a lot of portraits. In fact, that's my main interest. But since I only do this for my own interest (non pro), I do everything else. It's so hard to judge how much of a problem it is (to have moire show up) and how easy/difficult to remove it electronically.

Say you shoot a person and clothing end up having some moire. Have you ever had an occasion that actually became a problem that can't be easily removed? I use View NX2 for image editting most of the time. I see Nikon is moving more toward not having AA filter at all - that further confuses me. They must be confident that it isn't a problem.... or is it?

L Gebhardt · Oct 19, 2013

Here are three more raw files. One of them is a test shot of my wife where the focus was off a bit and her shirt shows moire. It's easy to fix in Lightroom, and there are recipes for it in Photoshop too, but I haven't tried ViewNX. I haven't found a shot with moire that isn't fixable. But I have found very few that have it. Also, from what I have seen the D800 still shows it, but it's just not as bad. To me I'll take the extra edge of the D800E and fix the 6 shots with moire a year.

This shot is in the 4x5 ratio, which is funny because I didn't think I used the variable aspect ratio much - I guess it is useful. https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/2175281/20130810-190143.NEF

These two shots are full sized. The one of Half Dome is a long exposure that's under exposed. It's amazing how your can bring up the exposure and then still have low enough noise in the shadows to boost them.
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/2175281/20130818-231848.NEF

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/2175281/20130308-134227.NEF

tkamiya · Oct 23, 2013

Larry, Thank you.

I downloaded these the day after you posted them and tried. They all worked well without much difficulty in my old workstation. (yay) Mo'ire wasn't that much of an issue with NX2 although it had problem eliminating false colors.

As I do portraits often and my images often include people, subjects are all clothed, I chose D800. In fact, it should be arriving here on Friday.

Thank you very much for your help.

L Gebhardt · Oct 23, 2013

You're welcome. Glad they worked and helped you choose the right camera for you. The files are big, but only compared to other digital cameras. Many of us here have been working with much bigger scans from large format film when the older workstations were state of the art. So I'm not really surprised your system handled them fine.

Enjoy your camera when it arrives. Make sure you test out the focus with both live view and with the normal viewfinder. Mine was dead on with all lenses so far, but many others seem to need lens adjustments.

tkamiya · Oct 26, 2013

I decided to with a regular D800 and I have it in my hands now. This thing is amazing!

I haven't had a chance to really play with it yet and I can't wait to put it though its paces. I can do so much inside my house with make shift artificial lighting and fake subjects. One thing that immediately struck me was its ability to record detail in deep shadows. Wow....

Focus seems alright but I haven't done scientific tests. Just put up some object and shoot. It comes with a year warranty, so I'm not going to worry about it. As to moi're, I've already seen one. On one of my test shots, I had a computer LCD screen in the frame. Heavy mo'ire and false colors. Not even possible to eliminate it with NX2. I guess this is one of extreme situations.

Thank you very much for your help.

Looking for RAW files from Nikon D800 or D800E to test a workstation

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