First Hands-On Review of the Nikon D810A

Nikon’s dedicated astrophotography camera isn’t planned to start shipping until next week, but Swedish astrophotographer Göran Strand was lucky enough to get his hands on a D810A for a review.

The review includes high ISO noise comparisons between the D800E, D810, D810A and D3s, and covers some of the camera’s new astro-oriented features.

Göran also shares sample images of daylight photos and tests how well this camera performs, despite Nikon’s recommendation not to use it for ‘general photography’.

As can be seen in the comparison images below, the D810A is not only much cleaner at high ISO than the three-year-old D800E, but it seems to have undergone additional tweaking compared to the newer D810 as well. The D3s continues provide impressive results in spite of it being released in 2009.

The review goes over some of the camera’s new features which we have reported in the past, and more interestingly shares a wide selection of daylight and sunset sample photos.

Some of the photos, mainly those of sunsets, contain a slight purple tint, but all in all the camera performed surprisingly well considering its sensor is four times more sensitive to H-alpha red tones than regular DSLR sensors.

For those short on time, below are Göran’s conclusions:

Positive

• Very good high ISO performance
• More sensitive in H-alpha
• No need for a computer when doing astrophotography
• Boosted live view
• Long exposure M* mode
• Electronic Front-Curtain Shutter
• Good battery life

Negative

• No tiltable LCD
• No backlit camera buttons
• Boosted live view can be a bit noisy
• Higher sensitivity to red light could cause some problem for general daylight photography

Make sure you head over to Göran’s blog to see the full review for in-depth information, as well as infrared, solar and deep-sky photography sample shots.

Nikon shooters can pre-order the D810A, while Canonists need to wait and see if the rumored Canon astrophotography camera will materialize.

[Göran Strand via Nikon Rumors]