One of the new things with the D4 is that it uses a brand new battery. That’s right, a brand spanking new battery which means that the older batteries used in the D3 and the battery grip of the D700 won’t work in the D4. The new battery is also less powerful than the older battery and there are many websites out there that will give you all the numbers info if you want. For me it all comes down if the battery will last through the shoot or not.
BATTERY INFO & LIFE
Now, I always start with a fresh battery when I leave for a shoot and I always pack an extra battery for each camera. For my previous setup when I was shooting with the D3 and D700 (with the optional battery grip) , that meant packing two EN-EL4 batteries. Now I need to pack one EN-El4 for the D700 (with the optional battery grip) and one EN-EL18 for the D4, not a big deal except that the batteries are really similar to each other with only one small (and important) change between them; the new EN-EL18 has the power connectors on the opposite side of the battery from the EN-EL4. That means that the new D4 battery (EN-EL18) does not work in the older charger and will not work in the older cameras.
All this means is that if running out of power at a shoot, just make sure that you grab the proper battery. Now for the downside, since the older batteries don’t work and the older chargers won’t work, you have to take two chargers with you when on the road, and at $170 per battery, a couple of extras can set you back quite a bit of cash. I have a shelf in my office that has the battery charges plugged in and when I get back from a shoot, the old battery comes out of the camera and goes into the charger and a fresh battery goes in. I then double-check the battery when I pack my camera bag for the next shoot.
Now for the real tests… how did the new (supposedly underpowered) battery actually hold up in real world situations. The short answer is GREAT.
I have shot three very different events with the D4 and not once did I need to change batteries. The first shoot was the Kelly Clarkson (Matt Nathanson opening) show at the Valley View Casino Center, the second show was shoot Steel Pulse all night at the Belly Up Tavern and the third was the Rise Against show with A Day To Remember opening at the Viejas Arena. When I started shooting these shows it was with a fully charged battery but instead of my normal shooting style, I cut loose a little and shot some very extended sequences for the explicit purposes of testing the battery and the camera buffer.
For the Kelly Clarkson show, I shot a total of 1013 frames which included shots of the venue, Matt Nathanson and Kelly Clarkson. The D4 took 858 of those frames and the battery was still at 3/4 power. For the Steel Pulse show, I used just the D4 and shot 1555 frames and the battery showed 3/4 full. Now when it came to the Rise Against show I started with the same battery as I used for Steel Pulse and right now the battery information is as follows….
- Charge 53%
- No. of shots 2515
Hi to all,
Just thought I would share my opinion on the D4 and D800. It might help some of you guys out.
I owned a D3s and D300 and now use the D4 and D800 for weddings, model shoots and urban photography.
First I would like to state that the D4 is just the best camera I ever owned. It is really superb. I also shot with Canon (5D mkII) but the Nikon models just feel better when holding them. When it comes to overall image quality I would just as easily use a Canon camera. Just to point out I am not one of those guys who loves to bash the other brand 🙂 Nikon or Canon are both great camera manufactures but I just prefer Nikon.
On all camera’s I use a 14-24 2.8, 24-70 2.8 and 70-200 2.8. So there was no difference regarding lenses.
The picture quality of the D800 and D4 are in my opinion pretty much the same. The higher resolution of the D800 makes reducing noise somewhat easier and brings out a little more detail.
The D4 however is much better build. I find the D800 more plastic and it feels somewhat cheap.
But when it comes to model shoots the higher resolution is just great to have.
During a wedding I use the D4 for the make-up shots, ceremony, diner and party. But for the bridal shoot I use the D800 for 90% off the time. When I need higher ISO’s I drop the D800 and go back to my D4.
The D4 is fast while focussing and has a better ISO performance than the D3s. Most say that the ISO performance of the D3s and D4 are the same but that is not true. I can go up to ISO 10000 on my D4 and get the same quality as when I shot at ISO 6400 on my D3s. For my D800 and Canon 5D MKII I won’t go higher than ISO 3200. And on my D300 I really didn’t go any higher than ISO 1200. Just to point out that I am really picky when it comes to noise.
The battery life of the D4 is also better than some say. I shoot around 1700 images during a wedding (starting at 8:00 AM till 1:00 AM) and still have 3 bars left.
I don’t do video so I can’t say if Canon does a better job on this part.
In my opinion the D4 is the best camera to have.
If you can afford it, go for it. I sold my D3s and paid a lot extra for the D4 and find the better focus (in the dark), higher resolution (for cropping) and better ISO performance are worth the money. For all types of photography in which you need a fast focussing monster camera this would be the one.
When doing solely model shoots or urban photography the D800 would be the best choice because of the higher resolution.
For nature photography go for the D800E.
If you don’t need the higher resolution and don’t have the cash for a D4, then buy a second hand D3s. You can buy one for around 3000 euro’s which is the same price as a D800. But the D3s is much better build. And the ISO performance of a D3s is so much better than on a D800.
Hope this will help some of you decide.
You can find my work on pixed.nl