Nikon is tackling this problem with the new D810A (MSRP $3,799.95), a version of its excellent D810 that includes a special infrared filter that's four times more sensitive to a specific kind of light called Hydrogen-alpha. The result is that nebulae that emit this kind of light burst to life in a new way, with more visible structure and detail than ever before.
That may not sound like much justification for an entirely new model, but if you're into astrophotography, the D810A is the most exciting camera in years.
Design & Usability
Something here feels familiar...
If you're already familiar with the D810, then you can pretty much stop here and skip to the next section. There are no differences between the D810A and the D810 physically. The controls, menu, features, and performance should all match up exactly with what we saw in our Nikon D810 review.
But if you're not familiar with what the D810 offers, there's quite a bit of ground to cover. Most importantly, the D810A is big. While it's not quite as hefty as the Nikon D4S, if you've been using a Canon 60Da for your infrared photography, the D810 will be significantly larger and heavier.
The D810A is large, as the body is practically identical to the D810 save for the modified IR filter.
That extra real estate is put to good use with a panoply of physical controls, a secondary LCD for viewing shooting settings, and a large 3.2-inch LCD. Like other Nikon cameras, most of the major shooting controls—white balance, metering, drive mode, etc.—are on the left side of the camera, requiring a second hand to operate. But once you learn your way around, it provides a very smooth shooting experience.
Like the D810, the D810A feels very robust. It's fully weather-sealed—perfect for late-night shooting sessions in all kinds of climates—but if you're doing lots of hand-held shooting, then you may find that the bulk grows tiresome after a while.
Given that Nikon is specifically tailoring this camera for shooting on a tripod while pointed at the sky, however, we don't think users will run into too many problems there.
The D810A has a large, accommodating grip, but it's mostly going to be used on a tripod.
Features
An articulating screen would've been nice, but better long exposure features are just as useful.
The most obvious feature of the D810A is, of course, its unique IR filter. Unlike your eyes, all cameras are naturally sensitive to infrared light. But in order to capture the world as we see it, cameras employ a filter that blocks IR light. The D810A still has an IR filter, but it's designed to allow 656.28nm light—also known as Hydrogen-alpha—to hit the sensor. It's this specific wavelength of light that nebulae give off, letting the D810A capture them like no other consumer camera can.
In this Nikon-produced sample, the D810A's improved sensitivity to certain types of red light really shines.
Due to its unique IR filter, however, the Nikon D810A isn't well-suited to terrestrial shooting. For starters, its base ISO has risen to ISO 200 from ISO 64, while the color balance of the camera has been adjusted to account for the greater sensitivity to red. As a result, it's far better suited to sitting on a tripod, pointed up at the heavens.
To help capture the perfect sky shots, Nikon has also added a number of features for helping you get the best long exposures possible. This includes a new long-exposure manual mode, M*. This will allow you to select shutter speeds ranging from four seconds to 15 minutes, as well as a bulb option. The new modes are accompanied by a specialized live preview function, which better displays what the final shot will look like when shooting long exposures. The regular D810 can do this, but for exposures longer than 30 seconds, the preview is usually too dark to be useful.
Nikon has also updated its Capture NX-D software to improve noise reduction in long exposure photography. This is especially important for the D810A because its purpose is to record stars, which are easily mistaken for noise by overaggressive software algorithms.
As on the D810, the D810A does not have the backlit keys Nikon placed on the D4 and D4S.
The additions are all well and good, but there are definitely a few things we wish Nikon had thought of. Chief among them is the articulating LCD from the D750. While articulating screens are prone to breaking, the D810A will likely spend almost its entire life on a tripod pointed upwards—an angle that makes conventional framing quite difficult.
We also would've liked to have seen Nikon add in things like the backlit keys from the D4, or WiFi. While WiFi's not the first thing you think a full-frame pro-level camera needs, it would've made the live preview during bulb mode far more useful. It's a feature we loved on the Olympus E-M1, letting you keep tabs on your late-night long exposures from the warmth of your car or tent.
Otherwise, it's hard to argue with what the D810A is offering. While it's the same as the vanilla D810, the 36-megapixel sensor will provide extensive dynamic range, minimal noise through ISO 6400, and loads of detail.
Conclusion
A niche product for niche users
The differences between the D810A and the D810 may be minimal, but to a specific niche of photographer, they could mean the world. This is an area of photography that is extremely underserved, with only a few off-the-shelf models that are truly suitable.
The only somewhat current mainstream DSLR that can do what the D810A can do is Canon's 60Da, from 2012. The 60D was a heck of a camera in its day, but the D810A will have vastly better image quality, higher resolution, significantly better dynamic range, and a full suite of video features at its disposal.
At the risk of making the obvious space joke, the D810A may seem like a small step forward for DSLRs as a whole, but it's one massive leap forward for astrophotographers everywhere. Given how well the D810 did in our labs when we reviewed it, the difference between this and the Canon 60Da should be—sorry, we can't resist—night and day.
Meet the tester
TJ is the former Director of Content Development at Reviewed. He is a Massachusetts native and has covered electronics, cameras, TVs, smartphones, parenting, and more for Reviewed. He is from the self-styled "Cranberry Capitol of the World," which is, in fact, a real thing.
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