Nikon D610 or D4

[Linwood Ferguson]

This is very interesting measurement Linwood. However there is one issue that he needs to verify before making any conclusion from the scope waveforms.

Most cameras are not designed to work with two or more voltages. When you attach the higher voltage battery, the camera's PCC (Power Conditioning Circuit) will down-convert the higher voltage to camera's nominal voltage. The main factor in driving a ring-type ultra sonic motor is voltage. If the camera does not pass the higher voltage to the servo it wouldn't matter if he used a high voltage battery.

I don't know about Nikon, but for Canon they can only work at one voltage.

The Nikons in the mid range, like the D800, often make use of the larger (I'll be vague as I don't know if it's higher voltage or not) batteries to drive faster frame rates. The D800 for example maxes out at 4fps with the regular battery, but with the larger grip and AA's or (I think) D4 style battery, it gets either 5.5 or 6fps (depending on which document you read). There's certainly the impression this is because of greater power availability (again being vague as to whether voltage, or ability to sustain that voltage at higher amperage).

Whether they pass this to the lens I have no idea. His results did in at least one place seem to imply a difference, if slight. That's why I put in the pointer rather than a conclusion. :)

I didn't run out and buy a grip for faster focus though.

[arash_hazeghi]

So if you put a D4 battery in a D800 with the grip the servo drive speed will be the same as D4?

with Canon you cannot put a large capacity battery in a 5D3 grip and with two standard batteries, the camera uses only one battery at a time, thus it has no effect on performance.

[Morkel Erasmus]

Congrats on the new camera Shane...!
I would also say I have found AF to be better on my D3s than my D800...but not saying AF on the D800 is poor...I prefer my D3s for all wildlife action and most BIF shots at the moment. The D800 is pretty much married to my 70-200 when I'm shooting.

[Linwood Ferguson]

So if you put a D4 battery in a D800 with the grip the servo drive speed will be the same as D4?

with Canon you cannot put a large capacity battery in a 5D3 grip and with two standard batteries, the camera uses only one battery at a time, thus it has no effect on performance.

Hardly, it goes from 4 to 5.5 or 6fps (and even then you have to drop to a crop size). The D4 is 10-11fps.

My point is that the body is able to consume the larger battery power and yield faster fps. Whether that affects focus I cannot say.

Of course, from a cynical view, it could just be that Nikon uses this as a way to sell more grips, and it has nothing to do with technical constraints.

[shane shacaluga]

Congrats on the new camera Shane...!
I would also say I have found AF to be better on my D3s than my D800...but not saying AF on the D800 is poor...I prefer my D3s for all wildlife action and most BIF shots at the moment. The D800 is pretty much married to my 70-200 when I'm shooting.

Thanks Morkel,

I am really enjoying the detail and most of all being able to view RAW at 100% crop ISO 1600 and still see very little noise

The FPS is not an issue for me at the moment, but the increased power to the AF motor with the D4 battery is said to have a noticeable effect on AF speed when using large lenses, where the internals are heavier.

I guess I will have to try it out when I eventually get my 500 prime

[arash_hazeghi]

Hardly, it goes from 4 to 5.5 or 6fps (and even then you have to drop to a crop size). The D4 is 10-11fps.

My point is that the body is able to consume the larger battery power and yield faster fps. Whether that affects focus I cannot say.

Of course, from a cynical view, it could just be that Nikon uses this as a way to sell more grips, and it has nothing to do with technical constraints.

Thanks, BTW, servo drive speed refers to how fast the camera can drive the servo motor (SWM) in the lens. I think in that respect the D4 is still faster.

[Miguel Palaviccini]

So if you put a D4 battery in a D800 with the grip the servo drive speed will be the same as D4?

with Canon you cannot put a large capacity battery in a 5D3 grip and with two standard batteries, the camera uses only one battery at a time, thus it has no effect on performance.

Nope, the D800 is 4 fps in FF mode. You can put a grip on it with the D4 battery and it's still 4 fps.

If you go to DX mode (1.5x) it's 6 fps with the grip and D4 battery. That's the only way to bump it up to 6 fps, but it doesn't get any faster than that.

[arash_hazeghi]

Nope, the D800 is 4 fps in FF mode. You can put a grip on it with the D4 battery and it's still 4 fps.

If you go to DX mode (1.5x) it's 6 fps with the grip and D4 battery. That's the only way to bump it up to 6 fps, but it doesn't get any faster than that.

Thanks Miguel, I was asking about servo drive speed. Servo drive means how fast the camera can drive the servo motor in the lens. One of the reasons Canon's 1D series cameras focus faster with super telephoto lenses is the high voltage battery. With Nikon it seems like using the high voltage battery in D800 with grip does increase servo drive speed a bit (from the link Linwood provided) but maybe not as much as the D4.

If anyone else has compared the two i.e D4 vs. D800 with grip and D4 battery with a VR super-telephoto lens I'd be interested to know

[John Chardine]

"One of the reasons Canon's 1D series cameras focus faster with super telephoto lenses is the high voltage battery"

I have heard this many times but am interested in the evidence for this. Does it come from Canon, Chuck Westfall or where? Please provide a reference.

[arash_hazeghi]

"One of the reasons Canon's 1D series cameras focus faster with super telephoto lenses is the high voltage battery"

I have heard this many times but am interested in the evidence for this. Does it come from Canon, Chuck Westfall or where? Please provide a reference.

http://www.arihazeghiphotography.com/AH_CW_interview/

[Norm Dulak]

Ashley,
using terms like "reach" is so misleading.
I don't know how many times this is used but is just wrong.
You are NO closer to the subject with a cropped sensor.
You get more overall pixels to work with, with a FF sensor.
I own both a cropped sensor (D7000) and a FF (D800), there is no comparison.
You can crop after the fact with a nice FF camera and get a better result than with a cropped sensor.
Full frame images have better NR capabilities also in my opinion.

Thanks, Dan, for explaining the so-called "reach" issue with DX cameras. You have explained it very well!