The First Real World Nikon D600 ISO Test

The First Real World Nikon D600 ISO Test

I was planing on eventually buying a D600 but when I saw yesterday that they were “in stock” and ready to ship from Amazon, I bought one. I’m a Prime member so I get free 2 day shipping but for just $3.99 more they gave me over-night shipping. Patrick was over at my place packing for a wedding this weekend when the camera came in and we decided to quickly compare the cameras ISO performance to the D800.

nikon d600 iso test The First Real World Nikon D600 ISO Test

Let me first start off by saying that the D600 is significantly bigger than the D7000 (in a good way). It fits in my hand much better, but I am still looking forward to putting a battery grip on it. We put a Nikon 70-200mm 2.8 on a tripod and focused the camera in live view at F2.8. We then stopped the camera down to F5 and shot 4 shots with each camera from ISO 3200 up to “hi 2.0″ which is ISO 25,600. In our test both cameras performed almost identically, producing fantastic looking shots at ISO 12,800. Once we went up to “hi 2″ the noise became pretty severe but in many cases (especially black and white images) these files are still totally usable.

Full Res Nikon D600 Images:

Full Res Nikon D800 Images:

My biggest beef with the D600 so far is that you cannot change the Fstop while in live view. I shoot a bunch of video and that is going to be a big pain. The button layout and the rotating nob up top is also really cumbersome but I’ve learned to live with that since I’ve shot with D7000s for so long. I was hoping that the D600 would perform better at high ISOs since it has less megapixels but that doesn’t seem to be the case. What do you guys think about this cameras performance? Is it worth saving $900 and buying a D600 or should you pay a little more and get the D800?

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http://www.facebook.com/john.koo.50 John Koo
Thanks for the review and test. How does the D600 compare to the D700?
http://www.facebook.com/josephacote Joseph Côté
I bought the D800 when it was first released and I’m glad I didn’t wait for the D600. The D600 had real potential to be a Canon killer, and although it’s not a bad camera at all, it’s not quite what Nikon needs to truly be on the top of the photo and video world. If only this same camera were more in the $1,600 price range…
http://www.rlmorris.com Lee Morris
The D800 is slightly better than the D700 so I would say the D600 is also slightly better. Plus you get double the resolution which is huge.
http://www.facebook.com/lane.shurtleff Lane Shurtleff
Lee, by any chance did you see if the shutter speed and aperature dials can be locked in manual mode so they can’t be accidentally moved while studio shooting. i haven’t found any info on the net about this yet. this is my only last criteria for getting the D600.
Asem Bala
Aaaah. This site is the reason I want to switch to Nikon. and you guys just won’t stop teasing me.
http://photokaz.com/ Mike
Can you post a couple of NEF files? Were these shot in RAW or JPG?
http://www.facebook.com/RayQuezada Ray Quezada
the D600 ISO 12,800 is the wrong link. It’s linked to the D800 image
http://www.rlmorris.com Lee Morris
Yes, it does lock similar to the Canon 60D. This is a huge improvement because I was always bumping the D7000 out of the correct mode.
http://www.rlmorris.com Lee Morris
Sorry, for the sake of speed we only shot jpg
http://www.rlmorris.com Lee Morris
Thanks, just fixed it
http://twitter.com/ChrisRylee Chris Rylee
D600 .NEF support probably won’t show up for a little while!
http://twitter.com/ChrisRylee Chris Rylee
Lee, Patrick, thanks guys! You got these up quick!
http://twitter.com/GregAbramowitz Greg Abramowitz
The D600 shots look seriously impressive to me.
http://twitter.com/mjj74 Mark Jones
What about the 1-click to zoom to 100% when previewing images? That’s one of my favorite features and I’m worried it won’t be included since that feature is also missing from the D7000.
http://www.facebook.com/nklrdvc Nikola Radovic
you said you shoot a lot video. does D600 have manual controls in video mode? i can’t find that information in specifications
http://www.rlmorris.com Lee Morris
I think the issue is that if it were that cheap then people wouldn’t buy the D800. Nikon made the D800 so good and so relatively cheap that people (including me) sold their D4s and bought 2 D800s. If the D600 was $1600 I would probably buy 5 of them and would return my D800s.
http://twitter.com/_kishore Kishore
The d600 looks awesome for the target group, but serious shooter should consider the d800 for its megapixels and ISO performance.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=635923357 Praneendra Kuver
Technically, you get double the pixel count. If you want to double the resolution, you have to quadruple the pixel count (it has to double both horizontally and vertically).
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=635923357 Praneendra Kuver
So at this price point, how do you see the D600 affecting D800 and D4 sales? Also, do you think a D300s replacement might be on the horizon? I mean, realistically there’s not much reason to get that instead of the D7000, so there’s effectively a big gap between the D7000 and the D600.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=635923357 Praneendra Kuver
I’d love to see how good the weather sealing is. Do you think Patrick could arrange a boat and y’all could toss it over the side to see what happens? I’d be happy to come along if you need another observer. :)
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=56903898 Nicole Dyk
Are the file sizes smaller on the D600 vs. the D800?
http://www.facebook.com/Viktor.Arakchiev Viktor Arakchiev
Well, it pretty much is! Look here, for example http://shop.heinigerag.ch/de/products/201936-vba340ae-nikon-d600-body-cmos-sensor-359-x-240-mm
http://www.facebook.com/nathan.hamler Nathan Hamler
SERIOUSLY!!! i want to know if it does this as well….if you can assign the center button to zoom during playback…so handy on the d300, and i do miss it when i shoot with my d7000…actually, i shoot my D7000 more, and when i pick up the d300, i’m reminded of how i wish it was the same on the 7k….LEE, can you confirm this???
http://www.facebook.com/Jeff.C.Bartlett Jeff Bartlett
I sold my DX equipment in the weeks leading up to the D600 release. I had really planned for it to be my next camera but a few features – namely the autofocus remaining the same as the D7000 and the 1/200 and 1/4000 shutter limitations – were underwhelming.
My solution was to buy the D800. Luckily, they are in stock now so I had no wait time. For $800 more, I consider it money well spent. I also do alot of high ISO work, so the results of your quick test just tip the scales even more in favor of my decision.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Georgi-Anastasov/881375462 Georgi Anastasov
Thanks for the test! It looks like I’ll stick to my D3s/D800E combo!!!
Neither D4 or D600 worth to ”upgrade” from D3s if you need a low-light performer!!!
http://www.facebook.com/matt.koby Matt Koby
can we see a video iso test? i know that the web compression will influence the final product, but it will atleast give us some idea relative to the other cameras on the market.
http://www.facebook.com/cameron.whitman1 Cameron Whitman
Why was the picture of the camera on the header doctored? You have what is clearly the D800 pictured, but someone changed the 8 to a 6. The reason this matters is because the D600 doesn’t have sync ports on the front, or at all for that matter. No big controversy, just weird and needlessly misleading.
http://twitter.com/Tim_Weaver Tim Weaver
Interesting. I’ve never accidentally switched modes on my D200. :)
http://www.facebook.com/people/Marius-Mariakinas/100000351634405 Marius Mariakinas
Lee can you give any feedback on how is AF in stills compared to D700 and D7000 ?
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=529826356 Lou Roppoli
I found my friends 60D cumbersome when having to switch modes.
http://www.rlmorris.com Lee Morris
I’d check for you but we are driving out of the state and it’s all packed up in the trunk. I’ll try to write up a full review next week.
http://www.rlmorris.com Lee Morris
Hah whoops. I just grabbed an image off google images. I’ll fix it when I get back to a computer.
http://www.rlmorris.com Lee Morris
I’ll know more on this after I shoot the wedding on Saturday. A full review is on the way.
DannyUphoto
Is this true that you can only shoot at 1/4000th of a sec with the D600?
http://www.facebook.com/eduardofmagalhaess Eduardo Magalhães
The photo of the top of the website, isn’t a D600 camera. Why? Look in B&H, is very diferent. Now, i’m confused. What’s correct?
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1254895019 Chris McCrackin
Can you change the Fstop in Live View on the D800? I am trying to make the decision between this and the D800 to use mostly for video. If the D800 allows Live View Fstop changes, that probably makes up my mind…
Philip Chan
Based on specs alone I have no idea how anyone could recommend a 6D over the D600.
These cameras are intended to be aimed at people who aren’t upgrading from their previous generation full frame cameras, without any lenses. They’re meant to be your “first” FX camera. The D600 completely destroys the 6D in most meaningful specs. Flash w/ commander mode, more AF points, higher resolution, etc.
I don’t know what Canon is thinking. Plus they still have that shadow noise issue.
http://www.rlmorris.com Lee Morris
Yes you can with the d800
http://www.rlmorris.com Lee Morris
My image is wrong and will be fixed soon
Predrag Vranić
don’t wanna be a party-pooper here but actually the first D600 ISO test were published here:
http://fotospekter.si/primerjava-med-nikonom-d700-in-d600-pri-razlicnih-iso-vrednostih/
and here:
http://fotospekter.si/nikon-d700-in-d600-drugi-del-primerjave/
http://www.rlmorris.com Lee Morris
bans predrag from commenting on Fstoppers :)
http://www.rlmorris.com Lee Morris
I have one buddy trying to sell his d800 already but I will keep mine. I think it’s priced righ to not seriously effect d800 sales.
Björn Lubetzki
I had pre-ordered the D600 but after seeing the specs I revoked my pre-order. it just wasn’t a cam for me. I was hoping for around 1500-1800€ and than I could have lived with things like the smaller body, the 1/400sec shutter speed and the x-sync of 1/200sec. But in Germany it costs around 2100€ which is way to much considering that the D800 costs around 2600€. I thought about buying the D800 for a while (round about 2 hours) but the D800 is a monster which eats a “cheap” lens for breakfast. To smack a Tamron (28-75 2.8) or the Sigma (70-200 2.8) on an D800 is like buying an Porsche and only using the first 2 gears.
So I bought a D700. Found a “new” (not used) one after a few hours of searching. It’s a pretty cool camera and it really feels solid. Looking forward till Friday (my day at th Photokina and the day I can compare the D600 to the D700 in terms of size, build quality, weight and haptic, for myself).
http://www.facebook.com/rubenaantunez Ruben A Antúnez
Tengo una D700 y conservo la D200… Necesito algo más o es puro consumismo?
dknisely
No one seems to understand the architectural limitation that seems to preclude changing Aperture in LiveView on the D7000 family. Have seen any good explanation, or is it just careless design and lack of caring about user feedback???
http://tambnguyen.com/ Tam Nguyen Photography
Well technically resolution is pixel count, since they both have the unit of pixels.
Also, if you let
- a be the width, measured in pixels
- b be the height, measured in pixels
We have a x b = S, with S being the surface area. In this case, S is also resolution.
If we wanted to double S, we’d just have to either double a or b:
2(a x b) = 2S
So technically, you’d only need to double either horizontally or vertically.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=720765223 Ole Martin Wold
I would love it if you guys also threw in a D4 in there! Same setup, framing and settings! It would be a nice comparison… Especially as both the D600 and 800 have been given better scores than the D4 in high ISO over at DxOmark..
http://twitter.com/kenkyee Ken Yee
Lee, could you elaborate on why this is needed?
“cannot change the Fstop while in live view. I shoot a bunch of video and that is going to be a big pain”
I don’t see why you’d change the F stop while doing video? ISO yes to keep shutter speed and aperture constant, but not fiddling w/ aperture during video.
And I’ll second the request to do a video comparison of the D800/D600 :-)
billf79
There are two live view modes on the 600 – photo and video. In photo mode you can change the aperture, in video mode you cannot. You can flip the switch to photo mode, change aperture, then switch back. The change carries over to video mode. Also in photo mode exposure settings don’t change the brightness of the display.
I’m upgrading from a D7000. I don’t shoot much video, but there were times I tried to use live view as a viewfinder for still shots – say if the camera was low to the ground and you would be standing on your head to use the viewfinder. So the photo live view is a win for me.
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=635923357 Praneendra Kuver
What you say makes sense. I’m just repeating what my local Nikon rep told me once.

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