Do you think a Nikon 800E is worth $400? As a purchase, I mean.

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Benjamin Marks

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The number of pixels you can buy for a dollar these days is simply astounding. I recently purchased a Nikon Z8, which definitely generates more pixels per image than I will ever, ever need. I bought it because of its capabilities as a universal platform. But I have been saying to anyone who will listen that in terms of resolution we have been "there" for over a decade. And I would posit that gains in pixel density are not making us better photographers. At least as far as I can tell the world's ratio of keepers to aww-Jeez hasn't really budged since the Nikon D100.

But I was cruising the 'bay that shall not be named and there were 800E's selling in the $300-400 range. I almost bought one on impulse. I mean, why not? I could have it as a backup to the Z8. So whaddaya think? Should we all be snapping up the evident surplus of adequate cameras that are out there?
 
Putting the ‘how much resolution is enough’ question, a D800E for that price is a bargain if:

- the shutter count is low enough that you can be confident in it

- you like/prefer slr’s to mirrorless

- you have af lenses for it already - I don’t think dslr’s generally have focus screens that are up to reliable manual focus.

I was tempted by a Pentax K1d recently but quickly concluded I didn’t need or want a DSLR. Ymmv.
 
LOL, well I will make photographs with just about any tool I can get my hands on. I love my rangefinders, but I use SLRs when I need 'em. And I love my 4x5s, but will use 5x7 or 8x10 depending on the project. So I wasn't really asking should I or shouldn't _I_? I was asking whether at these prices, you all were tempted? I am tempted. The thing would be a backup, and at the rate I take my happy snaps most of my cameras are likely to outlast me.
 
Benjamin Marks said:
LOL, well I will make photographs with just about any tool I can get my hands on. I love my rangefinders, but I use SLRs when I need 'em. And I love my 4x5s, but will use 5x7 or 8x10 depending on the project. So I wasn't really asking should I or shouldn't _I_? I was asking whether at these prices, you all were tempted? I am tempted. The thing would be a backup, and at the rate I take my happy snaps most of my cameras are likely to outlast me.
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I’d be tempted if I had any Nikon af glass! There you go.

The comment about exposures was because I saw a Panasonic S1r advertised the other day with ‘only’ 385,000 shots. The price was within £100 of one with 5,000 shots.
 
D800 or 800E are both a good deal at that price especially if it has under 100,000 actuations. The shutters are retested up to 250,000 without failures and most likely will go well past that.

I used a D800 for many years for my work and sold it to my brother when I retired. The only difference in the two bodies I’d the 800E lacks the AA filter so it gives a hair more sharpness at the slight risk of moire patterns in some textures.

They’re excellent cameras and I wouldn’t hesitate to buy one.
 
In Australia some sellers are asking up to AUD $1,250 for a D800E.

Even with our Kangaroo Kopek/South Pacific Peso firmly stuck at a whopping .65 US cents to our dollar, that much dosh for a decade old Nikon is, in a word, ridiculous. (CORRECTION Now worth .66 US cents, woo hoo!)

A classic case of profiteering over common sense. But as some of our critics have put it, there is a great consumer market of cashed up but basically dumb Aussies who will pay any asking price for what they buy. Especially houses and properties which are obscenely overpriced here. And as cameras go it would seem, not only Leicas...

This said, I'm an entirely satisfied owner of two D800s (not the E models) bought some years ago, the last one just before the Covid crisis/lockdown. I paid <$1,000 for each. One had 6,000 actuations and the other had 900. Seemingly this would put me firmly in the dumb Aussie category but with such low mileage I decided they would serve me well for the few more years I plan to use them.

All the better for me as I have 12 Nikon D lenses, all excellent primes.

As x-ray so aptly put it, yes, if you can find one with few actuations and in good order, then they are excellent cameras. At <US$500 they are a reasonable bargain even though here in Oz that works out to about AUD $800. At AUD $1,250 to me they are not a good deal.

(No offense intended in this post to those many Australians who are intelligent and sensible buyers/users of good photo gear.)
 
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A UK reputable dealer lists a D850 as "well used" with a shutter count of 677,225 and still wants £800+ for it. BTW the next down descriptor is "Heavily Used".

800Es are around the £500 mark with counts in "that's sounds OK" range.

Personally I would look at a D3 for around £350 enough pixels for those who frame rather than crop and built like a tank, when you are used to single digit Nikons lesser incarnations, however high the pixel count, always feel like picking up a toy.
 
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DownUnder said:
In Australia some sellers are asking up to AUD $1,250 for a D800E.

Even with our Kangaroo Kopek/South Pacific Peso firmly stuck at a whopping .65 US cents to our dollar, that much dosh for a decade old Nikon is, in a word, ridiculous.

A classic case of profiteering over common sense. But as some of our critics have put it, there is a great consumer market of cashed up but basically dumb Aussies who will pay any asking price for what they buy. Especially houses and properties which are obscenely overpriced here. And as cameras go it would seem, not only Leicas...

This said, I'm an entirely satisfied owner of two D800s (not the E models) bought some years ago, the last one just before the Covid crisis/lockdown. I paid <$1,000 for each. One had 6,000 actuations and the other had 900. Seemingly this would put me firmly in the dumb Aussie category but with such low mileage I decided they would serve me well for the few more years I plan to use them.

All the better for me as I have 12 Nikon D lenses, all excellent primes.

As x-ray so aptly put it, yes, if you can find one with few actuations and in good order, then they are excellent cameras. At <US$500 they are a reasonable bargain even here where they would cost about AUD $850. At AUD $1,250 to me they are not such a good deal.

(No offense intended in this post to the many Australians who are intelligent and sensible buyers/users of good photo gear.)
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As I am in Oz just looked at Ebay, loads of d800e's at Au$7-800, one at 2500clicks with a 24mm t/s Samyang for $750.
I reckon that's fair. I have a D810 that's paid for itself 50 times over, with 100k clicks worth about Au$1000, wouldn't sell it for that, still use it for surfing and wildlife with my 200-500 and reckon it focusses better than my Z6 which I am about to sell, I hate it that much...
 
trix4ever said:
As I am in Oz just looked at Ebay, loads of d800e's at Au$7-800, one at 2500clicks with a 24mm t/s Samyang for $750.
I reckon that's fair. I have a D810 that's paid for itself 50 times over, with 100k clicks worth about Au$1000, wouldn't sell it for that, still use it for surfing and wildlife with my 200-500 and reckon it focusses better than my Z6 which I am about to sell, I hate it that much...
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Your points noted. One thing I didn't mention, and I should have, is that the would-be sellers of those expensive D800s and D800Es have had them listed for quite some time, and they don't seem to be moving. So maybe we-all ain't so dumb as all that...

Like you, I wouldn't sell my D800s for what I paid for them, they are too valuable to me. This in essence is the entire point of our camera buying. Value against worth. What we value them at (= asking/selling price) as against what they are worth to us as instruments of our creativity, are global poles apart in intent and meaning.

I also noted your comment re the D800 vs your Z6. In several previous posts I've commented on my 'quest' for a new Z Nikon, ranging from the Zf (which I can't afford) to the Zfc which I tested and liked, but as I own so many older D lenses the notion of having to pay extra $$ for an adapter but then not being able to use autofocus, doesn't appeal to me. I also happen to not especially like electronic viewfinders as my aging eyesight doesn't deal well with them. So I will stay with DSLRs and keep my D800s until they drop or I drop. This said, I wish us all a long, long life with many many actuations...

Many thanks for your post, trix4ever.
 
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I paid about that in USD for a D810 from KEH last year for a D810. I considered that an upgrade to the 800E. Your mileage will, of course, vary.

If I were buying a used camera today, I'd be getting a Z5 instead.
 
Allow me to be boring, if you don't mind.

Unless you have literally only the Z8 and no other cameras, I don't see a point. Having a backup is absolutely fine. If you have some other camera, what does it offer you that the Z8 does not? Is that worth the space it's going to take up? I feel like unfortunately with these digital cameras there just isn't a lot of justification to keeping a bunch of old ones around. I can bust an old film camera out whenever and enjoy it and by and large tri-x and portra from one will always deliver the goods. But even with that, I need to find some young people to give my spare bodies too, as they just collect dust these days (I have... more than the 3 film bodies I tend to actually use).

I know some folks like the output of older sensors and that's fine but IME you get a new digital camera and once you learn how to process the files, the newer ones almost always tend to look better than the old ones. Just my experience with these things.
 
Check the mileage. If it's reasonable, it's a good deal. Also make sure everything works as it should. Many older Nikons have been beaten to death by pro shooters. I believe Thom Hogan pointed out the D800 and D800E had a weakness in the internal frame that could break if dropped. But it's a Nikon it's probably tougher than anything else being dropped on the same surface.

I have a D800 and a D810 and I agree it's more pixels than I can really use. And they're kinda heavy by today's wimpy polycarbonate standards. But they're nice cameras and I got them (used) at good prices. And I love using my D3 Nikons so I can put up with the heavier weight.
 
Dogman said:
Check the mileage. If it's reasonable, it's a good deal. Also make sure everything works as it should. Many older Nikons have been beaten to death by pro shooters. I believe Thom Hogan pointed out the D800 and D800E had a weakness in the internal frame that could break if dropped. But it's a Nikon it's probably tougher than anything else being dropped on the same surface.

I have a D800 and a D810 and I agree it's more pixels than I can really use. And they're kinda heavy by today's wimpy polycarbonate standards. But they're nice cameras and I got them (used) at good prices. And I love using my D3 Nikons so I can put up with the heavier weight.
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Agree entirely.

While the D800s make exquisite images at 36.whatever MP images, I keep mine set at 24 MP, it's as much as I need, and it keeps the image sizes down to something my aging (like their owner) computers can easily handle without thinking too much about them while I sit twiddling my thumbs and resisting the urge to beat up the keyboard.

A bit of a waste, yes, I know. But my logic is, those humongous 36 MP images are easily made if I need or want them. So.
 
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I've been semi-tempted for a while. I have no requirement for one, but so many pixels for so little money is worth having in reserve, just in case....

UЅЕD Nіkоn D800 Dіgіtаl ЅLR Саmеrа Воdу
Іn Ѕtосk
Сurrеntlу аvаіlаblе аt Nоrwісh
Тhіѕ uѕеd рrоduсt іѕ іn ѕtосk аnd іѕ аvаіlаblе fоr dіѕраtсh іn оur nоrmаl dеlіvеrу tіmеѕсаlеѕ.
Оrdеr іn thе nехt 4hrѕ 38mіnѕ fоr dеlіvеrу оn Ѕаturdау, 13 Арrіl, whеn уоu ѕеlесt Ѕаturdау dеlіvеrу іn thе сhесkоut (сhаrgеѕ аррlу).
Frее ѕtаndаrd dеlіvеrу (wіthіn 2-3 wоrkіng dауѕ) аlѕо аvаіlаblе - mоrе іnfо


Frее dеlіvеrу аlѕо аvаіlаblе - mоrе іnfо

Іtеm Соndіtіоn : 9
Тhіѕ саmеrа ѕhоwѕ vеrу lіght uѕе, thе саmеrа ехhіbіtѕ vеrу fеw mаrkѕ іnсludіng lіght wеаr tо thе lеnѕ mоunt, wеаr tо tеh grір, ѕhіnіng аnd lіght ѕсrаtсhеѕ tо thе bоdу, lіght wеаr tо thе LСD ѕсrееn, lіght ѕсrаtсhеѕ tо thе LСD ѕсrееn рrоtесtоr, lіght duѕt tо thе ѕеаmѕ оf thе bоdу. Fіrmwаrе Vеrѕіоn: 1.01. Тhе Ѕеnѕоr іѕ сlеаn аnd frее оf duѕt, mаrkѕ аnd ѕсrаtсhеѕ.

Ѕhuttеr Соunt (аррrохіmаtеlу): 8000

Ѕuррlіеd wіth: Whіtе bох, Nіkоn ЕN-ЕL15 Ваttеrу, Nіkоn МН-25а Ваttеrу Сhаrgеr, Nіkоn DК-19 Еуесuр, Nіkоn ВЅ-1 Ноtѕhое Соvеr, Nіkоn ВМ-12 Моnіtоr Соvеr, Nіkоn Ѕtrар, Nіkоn ВF-1В Воdу Сар. Моrе

wаѕ: £536.00
£499.00
 
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