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Nikon D800 live view questions and crop marks

FredBGG

Not Available
What is the live view performance like on the Nikon D800.

In particular how good is the AF ond face detection, especially in the corners for those times when you want the eyes out side of the focus area of the main viewfinder.

Also I have read that the magnified live view for manual focusing is a bit on the slow side as far as refresh rate goes.

Also is it possible to shoot with crop marks... say 4x5 (magazine aspect ratio), but have the frame offset from the center in the bottom of a vertical so as to keep the models face in the viewfinder focusing area as well as nearer to the sweet spot of the lens. Basically crop marks cropping off the top off a vertical frame.
 

Guy Mancuso

Administrator, Instructor
Okay Fred just looked at it right now . You can set your aspect ratio on 1.2 crop, 1.5 crop and 5:4 ratio on with live view that is all that shows on back LCD. You get a focusing red bracket that you can move around and zoom into and focus manually and it works pretty darn nice too. Refresh rate focus is also good. I would not do break neck speed but normal focusing does work.
 

Jack

Sr. Administrator
Staff member
Live View is very goodamnd the UI is well implemented -- it simply works like you think it should. Face detection is very good. In general, the AF on this camera rocks, but you definitely need to understand the modes so you choose the most appropriate to your subject matter.
 

FredBGG

Not Available
Okay Fred just looked at it right now . You can set your aspect ratio on 1.2 crop, 1.5 crop and 5:4 ratio on with live view that is all that shows on back LCD. You get a focusing red bracket that you can move around and zoom into and focus manually and it works pretty darn nice too. Refresh rate focus is also good. I would not do break neck speed but normal focusing does work.
Can you also have 5x4 crop marks in the main viewfinder. I think the 1D X can do that.
It would also be great if you could move that crop down so as to shoot full length fashion and keep the face within the focus area for regular viewfinder auto focusing
This is what I mean:





It would actually be very cool if you could make custom guides for ad layouts
and load them in the viewfinder.
I would often make acetate masks for 4x5, 8x10 or even my Fuji GX680 and just put them on the screen.
 

Guy Mancuso

Administrator, Instructor
Fred you do get the frame lens for each 1.2, 1.5 crops and you do get the aspect ratio crops of the 5:4 it just cuts off on both sides you can't move the crop. You should be able to hit face on a vertical or darn close to it woth a AF point
 

Guy Mancuso

Administrator, Instructor
Your AF points looks pretty good on the top one . Like this morning when I shot my son with the 85 I had his eyebrow as a AF point. So it gets out there

Look at that image in the other thread for a idea how far it goes
 

FredBGG

Not Available
The problem is when shooting with wide open. I really need to lock the focus right on the eyes. While cloths often look a bit better a little soft the face needs to be right in focus.

For example if the model is leaning forward in a crop like the first one the face would not be in focus.
 

Guy Mancuso

Administrator, Instructor
Back to the old days or Phase way focus recompose. Lock in and shoot. No cam I know of gets a focus point that far away from center and how accurate is it out there to boot. You maybe asking the camera to do too much.
 

FredBGG

Not Available
Recompose and shoot isn't too bad especially using the outer focus spots, but then again it's nice to not have to recompose... just ins't the same for the subject looking into a wiggling camera recomposing.

I think that it would be possible in firmware to make the 5x4 frame position-able, even if the actual raw file is not cropped. All I would be asking from the camera is to move the in viewfinder indicator frame.
 

stngoldberg

Well-known member
As you guys are probably aware, Hasselblad's True Focus allows the photographer to focus on a models eyes, recompose and shoot immediately. It is amazing and makes composition so convenient.

Stanley
 

FredBGG

Not Available
As you guys are probably aware, Hasselblad's True Focus allows the photographer to focus on a models eyes, recompose and shoot immediately. It is amazing and makes composition so convenient.

Stanley
True Focus is over rated.

First of all your going to get better quality shooting on a tripod and focus /recompose is really annoying on a tripod.

When recomposing with a heavy camera/lens combination it is very easy to move forward or backwards by accident.

If find that when doing portraits the focus and recompose movement is distracting and sort of ruins the flow.

Live view with live view focusing on the D800 or Canon 5D mark III is far better than Hasselblad's true focus.
 

vjbelle

Well-known member
I watched that video and just came to the conclusion that this guy is really nit-pickin:eek:. Come on..... for all of those IQ180 users (I'm one of them) this would be heaven on earth for us compared to our live view. This is just really nuts:facesmack:
 
Sure, he's picking nits, but it's a bit frustrating that Nikon has gone backwards from what they achieved on a camera that cost half as much.

I wonder if there's some limitation based on total pixel count that would explain the 800's live view being worse than the 7000's, and the IQ180's being worse still.

And if not, I wonder if there's a chance of this being improved in firmware.
 

ustein

Contributing Editor
>he's picking nits

I know really good and experienced Canon shooters that got confused by the D800 Live View. This is real but no big deal if used to it.
 

stngoldberg

Well-known member
True Focus is over rated.

First of all your going to get better quality shooting on a tripod and focus /recompose is really annoying on a tripod.

When recomposing with a heavy camera/lens combination it is very easy to move forward or backwards by accident.

If find that when doing portraits the focus and recompose movement is distracting and sort of ruins the flow.

Live view with live view focusing on the D800 or Canon 5D mark III is far better than Hasselblad's true focus.
no need to use tripod when using studio lighting for portraits
i have never moved forward or backward while recomposing just a matter of good technique
i do not find recomposing ruins the flow, but watching live view eliminates good flow
i do not find true focus over rated-doesn't seem like you have had enough experience with it
 
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