Nikon D810 or Sony A7 dilemma

G

GregVelo

Member
Hi
I obviously need your help to figure out some things, but you'll need to hear the whole story. So be patient with me!!
I owned a Nikon D600 with some lenses, including the great Nikkor 14-24 2.8, and some prime lenses, a 50mm 1.8 and a 28mm 2.8 and a 135mm 2.8. I combined both my passion for landscape photography and cinematography with this set. Landscape photography speaks for itself, what I had was amazing for that type of photos. For cinematography, I was more than happy with what that photo-camera gave me, and with those lenses I had a lot of possibilities, plus the full-frame sensor was awesome.
Well, I used past verbes because unfortunately I've been robbed on a train: my camera backpack is gone. That was one of the worst things ever happened to me, because aside from the money value, it was a loss for me, it's been painful. All my savings spent day after day in lenses and the body gone, just like that. It was horrible. Period.
So now I'm without anything but obviously I want to rebuild what I had. The question starts off with the body: which body? I need something that allows me to be efficient both in video and photography (astrophotography too). My thought is: since I have to spend money that right now I don't have, I prefer waiting a little bit longer and get something better. I did my homework with this result: Nikon D810 or Sony A7?
Why? Well, the D810 because I'm confident with Nikons, and that would be an upgrade from what I had, and I'd re-buy pretty much the same lenses.
For Sony I don't know, for what I've heard it's amazing, low light, light weight, full frame etc. But for video?
What do you say and what do you reccomend? If you have other reccomendations aside from those I proposed just say it! Or if you need some more details to understand what would be best for in relation to what I have to do, just ask :)
Thanks for your patience, I really appreciate it.
 
Sounds like photography is your 1st priority.

I had a D800 and then upgraded to the D810.

It is a beast. Period.

Medium format quality in a 35mm body.

Also HAD an A7r and while it was nice, the 11 bit compression got me several times on some critical imagery and I sold it and all of the lenses.

Get the D810, it is a great camera.

11068076_793470507388103_3153936099709604996_n.jpg11133992_793481330720354_5103241613344520143_o.jpg11150151_794022233999597_8631829792039988027_n.jpg11182645_794022263999594_7856805857947768305_o.jpg
 
A7RII should be an option. Essentially, it's an improved D810 sensor. In landscape, manual lenses shouldn't be a problem (+ there are and will be more Zeiss branded lenses for the A7 line) and RII has superior video.
 
DLD said:
A7RII should be an option. Essentially, it's an improved D810 sensor. In landscape, manual lenses shouldn't be a problem (+ there are and will be more Zeiss branded lenses for the A7 line) and RII has superior video.
Click to expand...

But it still has the 11 bit Sony compression.
 
mcgeedigital said:
But it still has the 11 bit Sony compression.
Click to expand...
Sony's announced a user option on the uncompressed Raw ... to be released later via firmware.

People have been beating them up on it and rightly so. A7SII will be released with the 14-bit Raw included.
 
mcgeedigital said:
Sounds like photography is your 1st priority.

I had a D800 and then upgraded to the D810.

It is a beast. Period.

Medium format quality in a 35mm body.

Also HAD an A7r and while it was nice, the 11 bit compression got me several times on some critical imagery and I sold it and all of the lenses.

Get the D810, it is a great camera.

View attachment 105941View attachment 105942View attachment 105943View attachment 105944
Click to expand...

hey Matt! thanks for the reply. I was thinking myself too to get the D810. And the pics are amazing, great job! What do you think about videos with the D810? As you stated, and you are correct, my main priority is photography, but since I need to shoot two shorts this year I was also wondering if the D810 would be the best compromise for me. What do you think? And thanks again.
 
DLD said:
A7RII should be an option. Essentially, it's an improved D810 sensor. In landscape, manual lenses shouldn't be a problem (+ there are and will be more Zeiss branded lenses for the A7 line) and RII has superior video.
Click to expand...

Hi! Thanks for your reply. Do you think the A7 would be the best compromise for me? Does it really have superior video compared to the D810? Thanks again for your help.
 
Sorry to hear about your loss, I experienced the same thing except with a $50K Quad Cab F450 along with $10K worth of tools inside the truck. They stole my truck stripped it down and sprayed everything with oil inside and out so you couldn't get any finger prints :-( After they found and repaired the truck "$30K" alone in repairs. I sold the truck at a loss because I didn't want the truck anymore.....

Man I loved this truck here is a picture of it towing my friends boat.

PC030498.JPG

Anways back to your question.

I have a Nikon D600, Nikon D750 along with 2=GH2's and a GH4. The Nikon D750 is a big improvement over the D600 for video. There are also little things like the spot white balance, tilting screen, histogram, and also being able to change the aperture in live view is a huge plus so I would consider the D750 as well. In terms of photography I actually prefer the sensor from the D600 "little cleaner" over the D750 but when it comes to low light focusing and focusing in general the D750 will win hands down. Not sure on the D810 but on the D750 you can also name your white balance so for the studio you could set a custom white balance and name it studio tungsten, studio strobes, saves time in the long run.

I know you mentioned D810 or Sony A7 but since I have the D750 I figured I would give my perspective on that since it should be pretty similar operational wise. In regards to D810 vs Sony A7R II that is a tough call. Once you get used to shooting video with a mirrorless camera its kinda hard going back to say something like a Nikon D750 or D810. It is so nice sometimes to have an electronic viewfinder and not have to carry around a complete rig with a cage, monitor or loop. Slap on a hotshot microphone for scratch audio, hook up wireless lavs to external recorder and done.

Personally, for photography I don't care for small cameras like the GH2 or A7 or any other small mirrorless cameras that are hard to hold in your hand ergonomically. I purchased the GH4 & GH2's strictly for video so this doesn't really matter to me. Matter of fact I have grips for both my D750 and D600 and that feels a lot more comfortable to me I actually have small hands buy the way. Those are personal preferences but never the less everybody has different preferences so I wanted to point that out.

The biggest thing for me would be lens choice selection for both short term and long term along with the overall size of the camera. The reason I bring this up is because what if down the road you say oh I want to buy a Black Magic camera or a Panasonic GH5 etc etc. Well Nikon lenses IMO have the best versatility in that regard not to mention that they have excellent old school AIS and D series lenses as well as there newer more contrasty G series lenses. The other thing to think about is resale value both in terms of selling the lens and overall demographic for purchasing said lens. I think if you were to put a Nikon 24-70 2.8 up for sale vs the Sony 24-70 F4 up for sale on say craigslist the Sony lens would probably take longer to sale. On Ebay you can sell anything quickly but you have to pay fees so I always sell local first on craigslist.

Here is a link for a review of the Sony A7R II VS Nikon D810 VS Canon 5DS R

https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=800&v=NK5J571CKvE

Good luck on your decision. I honestly think you will get great images and videos from either camera but for me I would personally choose the Nikon.
 
GregVelo said:
hey Matt! thanks for the reply. I was thinking myself too to get the D810. And the pics are amazing, great job! What do you think about videos with the D810? As you stated, and you are correct, my main priority is photography, but since I need to shoot two shorts this year I was also wondering if the D810 would be the best compromise for me. What do you think? And thanks again.
Click to expand...

The D810 shoots sweet and 1080p video.
 
For stills:
the IQ will be pretty much the same for both cameras....the Sony has a slight advantage in resolution and a much newer sensor, better high iso....I have compared files and unless you seriously underexpose you won't have an issue with the 11+4 bit Sony files....but the FW will provide 14 bit anyway.....so at best they are awesome and head to head.....the finder on the Sony is incredible and will convince even the most diehard true DSLR shooter.....biggest issue I have with the Sony is a considerable lag when looking at what the last shot....it is not instant....not sure if this will be fixed in FW....HUGE advantage for Sony is obviously the mount....use any lens you like.....peaking and manual focus in incredible as well, so your old Nikon glass will work a lot better on the Sony then on the ...Nikon? The grip is a must IMO....makes the camera the perfect size and the extra battery is needed as well....also: the silent shutter is amazing.....
for motion:
no comparison....the Sony is just years ahead of Nikon.....4K, log, high fps, crop or FF, it's just not fair....silly to even talk about it.....if you are even thinking about motion, the Sony is a no brainer......

the only reason to go with Nikon is tethered shooting ( studio setting and such) because for whatever idiotic reason Sony seems to have thought usb 2 would be a good idea for 42mpix files.....it's not.....shooting tethered is slow with the Sony and that is where the Nikon really shows an advantage......
everything else including image quality, handling, stills, motion, af, mf, size, options, iso,....Sony is an easy choice....
 
My initial thought would be to get the D750 as an all around great performer.
But if you had time to wait, you might consider what Nikon might produce
using Sony's BSI sensor technology. I've heard they don't get the Sony sensors
until 6 months after the Sony release, so it may not be that far off.
 
A7RII just won the Digital Photography Review Product of the Year award.

It's got to count for something, right?
 
Da Media Man said:
Sorry to hear about your loss, I experienced the same thing except with a $50K Quad Cab F450 along with $10K worth of tools inside the truck. They stole my truck stripped it down and sprayed everything with oil inside and out so you couldn't get any finger prints :-( After they found and repaired the truck "$30K" alone in repairs. I sold the truck at a loss because I didn't want the truck anymore.....

Man I loved this truck here is a picture of it towing my friends boat.

View attachment 105956

Anways back to your question.

I have a Nikon D600, Nikon D750 along with 2=GH2's and a GH4. The Nikon D750 is a big improvement over the D600 for video. There are also little things like the spot white balance, tilting screen, histogram, and also being able to change the aperture in live view is a huge plus so I would consider the D750 as well. In terms of photography I actually prefer the sensor from the D600 "little cleaner" over the D750 but when it comes to low light focusing and focusing in general the D750 will win hands down. Not sure on the D810 but on the D750 you can also name your white balance so for the studio you could set a custom white balance and name it studio tungsten, studio strobes, saves time in the long run.

I know you mentioned D810 or Sony A7 but since I have the D750 I figured I would give my perspective on that since it should be pretty similar operational wise. In regards to D810 vs Sony A7R II that is a tough call. Once you get used to shooting video with a mirrorless camera its kinda hard going back to say something like a Nikon D750 or D810. It is so nice sometimes to have an electronic viewfinder and not have to carry around a complete rig with a cage, monitor or loop. Slap on a hotshot microphone for scratch audio, hook up wireless lavs to external recorder and done.

Personally, for photography I don't care for small cameras like the GH2 or A7 or any other small mirrorless cameras that are hard to hold in your hand ergonomically. I purchased the GH4 & GH2's strictly for video so this doesn't really matter to me. Matter of fact I have grips for both my D750 and D600 and that feels a lot more comfortable to me I actually have small hands buy the way. Those are personal preferences but never the less everybody has different preferences so I wanted to point that out.

The biggest thing for me would be lens choice selection for both short term and long term along with the overall size of the camera. The reason I bring this up is because what if down the road you say oh I want to buy a Black Magic camera or a Panasonic GH5 etc etc. Well Nikon lenses IMO have the best versatility in that regard not to mention that they have excellent old school AIS and D series lenses as well as there newer more contrasty G series lenses. The other thing to think about is resale value both in terms of selling the lens and overall demographic for purchasing said lens. I think if you were to put a Nikon 24-70 2.8 up for sale vs the Sony 24-70 F4 up for sale on say craigslist the Sony lens would probably take longer to sale. On Ebay you can sell anything quickly but you have to pay fees so I always sell local first on craigslist.

Here is a link for a review of the Sony A7R II VS Nikon D810 VS Canon 5DS R

https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=800&v=NK5J571CKvE

Good luck on your decision. I honestly think you will get great images and videos from either camera but for me I would personally choose the Nikon.
Click to expand...

Sorry to hear that. I can imagine what that means.

Thanks for your detailed reply, it gives me a lot of insides to help me take my decision. I'm oriented to the D810 or D750 for now, but I keep hearing contrasty opinions so it makes it harder for me :) as you said, I'll get awesome results both ways, that's for sure.
 
Paul schefz said:
For stills:
the IQ will be pretty much the same for both cameras....the Sony has a slight advantage in resolution and a much newer sensor, better high iso....I have compared files and unless you seriously underexpose you won't have an issue with the 11+4 bit Sony files....but the FW will provide 14 bit anyway.....so at best they are awesome and head to head.....the finder on the Sony is incredible and will convince even the most diehard true DSLR shooter.....biggest issue I have with the Sony is a considerable lag when looking at what the last shot....it is not instant....not sure if this will be fixed in FW....HUGE advantage for Sony is obviously the mount....use any lens you like.....peaking and manual focus in incredible as well, so your old Nikon glass will work a lot better on the Sony then on the ...Nikon? The grip is a must IMO....makes the camera the perfect size and the extra battery is needed as well....also: the silent shutter is amazing.....
for motion:
no comparison....the Sony is just years ahead of Nikon.....4K, log, high fps, crop or FF, it's just not fair....silly to even talk about it.....if you are even thinking about motion, the Sony is a no brainer......

the only reason to go with Nikon is tethered shooting ( studio setting and such) because for whatever idiotic reason Sony seems to have thought usb 2 would be a good idea for 42mpix files.....it's not.....shooting tethered is slow with the Sony and that is where the Nikon really shows an advantage......
everything else including image quality, handling, stills, motion, af, mf, size, options, iso,....Sony is an easy choice....
Click to expand...

Thanks Paul. Until your reply I was 90% Nikon and 10% Sony, but now... I think I'm fifty-fifty :) so I thought my decision was almost made but now I'm at the starting point again!! It's a really hard choice. Are you talking about the Sony a7r II or the a7s? I'm pretty confused about which Sony we're talking here and what should be the best compromise between photo and video. Thank you again. :)
 
sbrenner said:
My initial thought would be to get the D750 as an all around great performer.
But if you had time to wait, you might consider what Nikon might produce
using Sony's BSI sensor technology. I've heard they don't get the Sony sensors
until 6 months after the Sony release, so it may not be that far off.
Click to expand...

Thanks! I didn't know any of that. I'll look further into it, maybe it's just a question of a few months. Thank you! :)
 
In a few months, D5 should be announced but it's likely to be in the higher price bracket.

Then again, if it's something close to A7RII but with better codec, it just might be worth it.
 
Sony Announces Addition of Uncompressed 14-Bit RAW Still Image Capture for New α Cameras

Sony Electronics, a worldwide leader in digital imaging and the world’s largest image sensor manufacturer, has today announced user selectable Compressed and Uncompressed 14-Bit RAW image capture will be featured in the new α7S II once it arrives in stores this October.


Additionally, they have announced plans to add user selectable compressed or uncompressed 14-Bit RAW still image capture via firmware update to additional cameras beginning with the recently introduced α7R II full-frame mirrorless model.

“The voice of our α community remains the most important guiding force of our product development plans,” said Neal Manowitz, Deputy Vice President for Digital Imaging at Sony Electronics. “The addition of Uncompressed 14-Bit RAW processing is a direct result of customer feedback. Widely requested by photo and video enthusiasts, we believe the choice of RAW processing types will further elevate the performance of these extraordinary cameras.”
 
In my opinion, Nikon cameras deliver the most accurate color straight out of camera. I know Sony's improved their color and you can always fix it in post, but I still think Nikon has the edge when it comes to color. Color might not be a big deal for you, but it's something to consider.
 
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