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Nikon D810A · Nikon USA D810A product photograph with attached lens; lens excluded from body specifications

Nikon D810A
Photo 1 of 11

Nikon D810A · Nikon USA D810A product photograph with attached lens; lens excluded from body specifications

Nikon · Nikon DSLR

D810A

Released May 2015

A 36.3-megapixel full-frame astrophotography DSLR with modified H-alpha filtering and exposures up to 900 seconds.

Type
DSLR
Sensor
Full frame
Megapixels
36.3
Lens
Nikon F mount
Video
1920 × 1080 at 60 fps
Body weight
880 g

What reviewers say

Both praise detailed nebula images, long-exposure controls and useful focusing previews, while wanting an articulated screen. Sky at Night also misses illuminated buttons and an exposure countdown. Luminous Landscape finds more red sensitivity than a stock DSLR but less than its modified Canon comparison. It considers daylight colour shifts minor; Sky at Night suggests correction, while Nikon cautions against general photography.

From skyatnightmagazine.com and luminous-landscape.com

Specifications

Report a wrong or missing spec

Image and sensor

Camera type
DSLR
Sensor format
Full frame
Sensor type
CMOS
Sensor dimensions
35.9 × 24 mm
Effective resolution
36.3 MP
Largest image
7360 × 4912
RAW recording
Yes
Standard ISO range
200–12800
Sensor detail
FX CMOS with 36.3 million effective pixels USA/global or 36.35 million Japan, 37.09 million total; no optical low-pass filter. Modified IR-cut filter transmits four times more H-alpha light than D810. Nikon warns of red casts under near-infrared-rich lighting or with reflective subjects and does not recommend general photography. Image Sensor Cleaning and Image Dust Off; FX 7360 × 4912, 1.2× crop 6144 × 4080, DX 4800 × 3200 and 5:4 crop 6144 × 4912
Image formats
12-bit or 14-bit NEF RAW, uncompressed, lossless-compressed or compressed; Small RAW fixed at 12-bit uncompressed. TIFF RGB, JPEG Fine/Normal/Basic with size-priority or optimal-quality compression, simultaneous RAW/JPEG; Flat and adjustable/custom Picture Controls
ISO detail
Standard ISO 200–12800 in one-third, half or whole stops; Lo expansion to ISO 100 equivalent and Hi expansion to ISO 51200 equivalent; automatic sensitivity control
Image processor
EXPEED 4

Lens and shooting

Lens mount
Nikon F mount
Stabilisation
Optical lens stabilisation
Maximum continuous burst
5 fps
Lens detail
F mount with body AF coupling and contacts; G/E/D, other AF and AI-P lenses with restrictions; non-CPU AI lenses usable in A/M/M* with registered lens data, DX lenses use DX crop. Non-AI, IX and F3AF lenses excluded; USA G/H notation conflicts with Japan A/M/M*
Autofocus
Advanced Multi-CAM3500FX phase detection with 51 points, 15 cross-type and 11 f/8-compatible points; -2 to +19 EV at ISO 100 equivalent, 20°C. AF-S/AF-C, fine-tuning, single-point, dynamic nine/21/51, 3D tracking, group-area and auto-area. Live view uses contrast AF-S/AF-F and face/wide/normal/tracking areas; current USA detection-range -1 EV entry conflicts with its own -2 EV sensitivity entry and Japan, while AF-A listings conflict with Japan modes
Shutter
Electronically controlled vertical-travel focal-plane shutter, 1/8000 to 30 seconds, Bulb and Time; electronic front curtain in mirror-up mode. M* adds 4/5/8/10/15/20/30/60/120/180/240/300/600/900-second presets. X-sync 1/250 second, up to 1/320 with reduced flash range
Burst detail
Approximately 5 fps full FX or 5:4 and 6 fps DX or 1.2× crop on EN-EL15. DX reaches 7 fps with MB-D12 using batteries other than EN-EL15, or qualifying AC power; 1.2× remains 6 fps. Quiet continuous approximately 3 fps. M* continuous shooting at exposures of 4 seconds or longer removes the 100-shot limit, subject to battery/card capacity
Stabilisation detail
VR depends on attached lens; no sensor-shift stabilisation
Flash
Built-in i-TTL pop-up flash, guide number approximately 12 m at ISO 100, 20°C; commander mode, hot shoe, PC sync terminal and compatible Auto FP Speedlights
Exposure controls
P/S/A/M and long-exposure M*; 91000-pixel RGB matrix, centre-weighted, spot and highlight-weighted metering; ±5 EV compensation and exposure/flash/white-balance bracketing; HDR, interval timer and virtual horizon. Japan centre-weighted default 12 mm and spot range 2–20 EV differ from USA 8 mm and 0–20 EV

Video

Highest video resolution
1920 × 1080 at 60 fps
Video detail
FX- or DX-based 1920 × 1080 at 60p/50p/30p/25p/24p and 1280 × 720 at 60p/50p; MOV H.264/MPEG-4 AVC with linear PCM. Full HD 60p/50p limit 10 minutes high quality or 20 normal; other modes 20 minutes high or 29 min 59 s normal. Time-lapse movies; current USA general 20-minute limit omits mode/quality differences
Audio
Built-in stereo microphone; external 3.5 mm stereo input and headphone output, adjustable microphone sensitivity

Screen and viewfinder

Viewfinder
Optical
Screen size
3.2″
Screen dots
1,229,000
Touchscreen
No
Tilting screen
No
Display detail
Fixed 3.2-inch TFT, approximately 1229000 dots, 170° viewing angle and approximately 100% coverage; brightness adjustment and top status LCD. Exposure preview simulates 30 seconds for longer exposures, with up to 23× live-view enlargement; viewfinder virtual horizon illuminated red
Viewfinder detail
Pentaprism; approximately 100% FX coverage, 97% DX/1.2× and 100% vertical/97% horizontal 5:4. Approximately 0.7× magnification with 50mm f/1.4 at infinity, 17 mm eyepoint, grid and depth-of-field preview

Connections and design

Battery life (maker's claim)
1200 photographs
Body weight
880 g
Release detail
May 2015 release month; Nikon Japan records actual sale on 28 May, with global announcement dated 10 February. The regional day does not establish earliest worldwide sale
Recording media
One Type I CompactFlash slot with UDMA and one SD/SDHC/SDXC slot with UHS-I; overflow, backup, RAW/JPEG split and copying between cards
Ports
USB 3.0 Micro-B, mini HDMI Type C, 3.5 mm microphone and headphone sockets, PC sync and 10-pin remote/GPS terminal; wired LAN requires optional UT-1
Wireless connections
No built-in Wi-Fi or GPS; optional WT-5 with UT-1, GP-1/GP-1A GPS, WR-R10 with WR-A10 or WR-1. Japan marks WR-1 unsupported in M* mode
Battery life detail
EN-EL15, approximately 1200 CIPA shots. Original global announcement separately claims up to 3860 without built-in flash or immediate playback, and up to 10660 using body EN-EL15 plus grip EN-EL18a under those conditions; these are distinct from CIPA. Optional MB-D12 takes EN-EL15, EN-EL18/EN-EL18a with BL-5 or eight AA cells
Charging
External MH-25a charger; optional EH-5b AC adapter with EP-5B connector
Dimensions
Approximately 146 × 123 × 81.5 mm
Weight detail
Approximately 880 g body only; 980 g with battery and SD card, excluding body cap
Materials
Dust- and water-resistant sealing; magnesium-alloy body documented on Nikon USA refurbished product overview
Colours
Black
In the box
EN-EL15, MH-25a, UC-E22 USB cable, AN-DC16 strap, BF-1B body cap, DK-17 eyepiece, USB/HDMI cable clips and BM-12 monitor cover (Japan package)

Pros and cons

Pros

  • Modified optical filter transmits four times more H-alpha light than D810
  • Long-exposure M* mode and built-in interval timer
  • Full-frame sensor, dual card slots and 1200-shot CIPA battery rating

Cons

  • Nikon does not recommend it for general photography because colours can shift
  • Fixed screen without touch controls
  • No built-in Wi-Fi or GPS

Closest rivals

Model
TypeSensorMegapixelsLensVideoBody weightReleased
CanonEOS 5D Mark IV
DSLRFull frame30.4Canon EF4096 × 2160 at 29.97 fps800 gSept 2016
NikonD4S
DSLRFull frame16.2Nikon F mount1920 × 1080 at 60 fps1180 gMar 2014
NikonD5
DSLRFull frame20.8Nikon F mount3840 × 2160 at 30 fps1235 gMar 2016

Sources

  1. nij.nikon.com/products/lineup/slr/d810a/spec.html
  2. nij.nikon.com/products/lineup/slr/d810a
  3. nikonusa.com/p/d810a/1553/overview
  4. nikon.com/company/news/2015/0210_dslr_01
  5. nikonusa.com/p/d810a-refurbished/1553B/overview

Photo: Nikon USA D810A product photograph with attached lens; lens excluded from body specifications

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