I can (without regrets) say that I will be taking more one-shot still-
life photos in the field and be sacrificing very little, especially since
my focus stacking technique has been moving more and more
toward have a limited area in focus and letting the rest go to bokeh
or whatever.
Not sure I would do one-shots in the studio when I have the
opportunity to stack, but I am starting to believe I just might. There
is something nice about have no artifacts in a photo. In fact, this
camera brings new life for me in taking single-shot nature photos,
which for me is saying something. I will no doubt be doing more
walking around.
One-Shot Nature Photography
As mentioned, I have done considerable field testing of the Nikon
D800E for single-shot autofocus live-action shots. I am very
pleased with the camera, but like everything else there is no free
lunch. Well, perhaps with the D800E there is a little free lunch.
I have not been able to use manual focus APO lenses like the CV-
125 or the Coastal Optics 60mm APO in the field for single-shot
photos due to difficulty with manually focusing on fast-moving
critters. Single-shot manual focus, in general, is very difficult with
this camera. I have been resigned to using what autofocus macro
lenses I have, like the Micro-Nikkors 105mm f/2.8 VR and the
Micro-Nikkor 200mm f/4, and find so far that the 105mm VR is the
most flexible. It is a solid lens. The 200mm, while sharp, adds too
much darkness to the viewfinder for my comfort. I have yet to try
some of the wider autofocus Micro-Nikkors, but they are on my list.
So what have I learned from the single-shot work?
Single-Shot: ISO
The D800E is less tolerant than I hoped when it comes to ISO. I
find that the ISO needs to be as low as I can get it, largely due to
the need to crop tightly, thus making noise more visible. In fact,
because of cropping, noise is a large factor. Even ISO 400 is too
high for comfort, and ISO 200 also produces noise when you crop it
small enough, obviously. I am trying to hold to ISO 200, unless
forced upward, but that is asking a lot.