[Pavel]

I generally love the new camera (D800). However there are issues. I mentioned previously the battery door damage and I think I mentioned that the protective plastic cover on the rear LCD fell off broken. I swear that the camera has not undergone any stress or strain. I am more gentle and careful with it than with D300 and NOTHING went wrong with it for all the years I owned it (or with the D70 before that).

My newer peeve is with the liveview. I looked forward to using it more. D300 liveview was useless outdoor and I hoped that I will get something as usable as the liveview of my wife's G11. Nope. While the D800 screen has better resolution, it looks washed out on a bright day (although clearly improved over D300) and yes Matthew, I did discover the brightness setting for the LCD and I did set it to maximum (5). Since G11 is older camera and a cheaper camera, I wonder why Nikon did not opt for a brighter LCD. I do consider the size of LCD and its resolution important, but neither aspect is going to help me if I can barely see anything.

On the positive side, the viewfinder is large and bright and it does allow me to see what is and is not in focus way better than the viewfinder on D300. This is clearly where a full frame has an advantage. I am learning to appreciate how important that is when you wish to bring something precisely in focus (which is often when you photograph flowers in the early spring).

I find that going from D300 to D800 is fairly intuitive in terms of layout of controls, although there are differences in approach to photography and there are many more features to be explored.