Just back from the Isle of Tiree with the results from my new Nikon D800 camera. All the 'objective' evidence suggests that not only is the additional quality not visible on the web but the huge files produced cause more trouble than they are worth. I love it!
The 36MP output is a delight allowing cropping of course but to my eye also producing images that are somehow 'smoother'. Maybe that's the result of an unconscious need to justify, who knows. It is a superbly made camera, good in the hand, efficient and enabling for the photographer. It is the first camera for 30 years that I have bought brand new, I've been a second-hand aficionado of habit but this particular camera was so plagued with manufacturing defects when launched that I wanted an item that I could process under warranty if need be.
As it happens there is no sign of the infamous left focusing issues and the supposedly green cast to the LCD is not present or not visible to my eye.
Running a Core i7 processor and 8 Mb of RAM I see a significant hit on speed and have already had to change my way of working to reduce the number of images open in Photoshop and to reboot on a more frequent basis.
Many have identified hard disk space as an issue and I suppose if one is firing off bursts at 6 frames per second over a sports event I can see how the storage requirements would become unsustainable. However my way of working is such that I may only take a dozen pictures in a day, so far storage has not been an issue.
Much has been written about the demands of this sensor on technique and lenses. Again my conservative use of lenses and almost unbroken use of a tripod seem to ensure that images are of high quality. I'm not asking any of the equipment to preform outside its optimum conditions. I suspect that a less steady tripod, more reliance on hand holding or use of lenses at less than optimum apertures may reveal more flaws.
So far the camera is a joy to use and the results beyond my ability or judgement to find flaw.