Dpreview is full of threads like this, and they serve little purpose other than in reflecting the prejudices of those who start them. I don't think this was intended to be a serious debate about the respective merits of MF versus the new D800, but a thinly veiled attack on those who fit the profile of the first "poll" question, i.e. those who "...don't care about paying 10x as much for 10% more quality", - or to put it another way, rich stupid people.
My view: close the thread. start another one on with none of the prejudices that infect this thread.
Which is my last contribution to this sorry tale.
Quentin, why would I want start a "thinly veiled attack" on those who fit the first poll question? Why would I want to do this? I myself fit the first question so I would have to have a split personality? Again and again I have to reiterate that I don't intend to attack anyone and again and again you feel "attacked", exclaim for censorship and closure of the thread? If you feel so uneasy, why do you bother in the first place?
Please excuse me saying this: But could it be that it is more the case that you think that I see you as a "rich enthusiast" and don't like to be seen like that? ... I don't get it and believe me that whilst posting this thread in no split-second I thought of anyone specifically and I never intended a personal attack. And please, so that that point is also out of the way: I don't hold a grudge against rich people or photo enthusiasts with hardcore gear; I myself am not too bad off and can pretty much buy myself and system I want and do it for fun.
I also in no way said that rich people are stupid. With many things in life the last 10% in quality cost way more than the first 90%. For that last drop of quality you always pay a lot, not only in high-end photography. There are people who will always want that last 10% and the first poll answer was directed towards that demographic. I believe that there are quite a few users who are quality oriented to the extent that they only want the best and that's perfectly fine, that's one specific customer segment the mfd companies cater to. You made that connection, not me. I would be more than interested in seeing your honest opinion about the new Nikon and how it will pan out for MFD if the quality is great.
To make it clear: I'm just interested in the business aspect of the high-end mfd market. I'm asking myself if there will be a point where Phase/Hassy will loose market share because of incredibly powerful consumer cameras that deliver professional quality or at least quality hitherto reserved for far more expensive outfits.
I believe that in the last years we could witness an incredible democratization of the tools and now it is possible to call oneself an "architectural photographer" with a 5D MKII and a TSE 17mm ... that's like less than 4k to start a new business. For most uses the imagery produced by the 5D will suffice, I mean 6 years ago architectural photgraphers where also shooting with P25s and never complained. (Shashin, I already hear you see it's all about the image etc. and that I confuse things here. All I'm asking is if there's a point at which the CaNikons are so good that they capture market shate from PhamiyaBlad)
So in my view a 36 MPX camera that shoots 4fps and has live view can possibly be a subsitute to a H4D-40 or IQ140 and it interests me how many people start thinking about their investments in the eye of such high-resolution cameras coming out at mere 3k.
If you look at the Nikon samples you can also see that the architectural photos are made by a Hasselblad Master ... that usually shoots with a tech cam ...
So what can I gather so far from this thread? Apparently the vast majority's opinion seems to be that the D800 cannot be compared to a medium format camera even if a compareable amount of megapixels now exists on the lower end. And apparently almost no one seems to reevaluate their mfd systems.
But the question that really is interesting now is when the first real-world comparisons will come. When we see the results compared in print. I'm looking forward to the first articles and I'm not sure if the difference will be so great as perceived now by the owners of mfd gear...
So again, there's no harm intendend and I hope that the critics of this thread could contribute constructively and not destructively.