jrw - thanks. Real world we squish down and expand up all the time. Knowing what the performance of the sensor actually is, would give one a better understanding of the workability of exposures.

I also visited the DPreviews website and looked at the performance curves for several cameras - there didn't seem to be a whole lot of differences until you compared "native" performance (default amplification) with all the other settings that effect the dynamic range curve - then things moves around a couple of full stops - changing the slope of the curve - which if that is supposed to be good - why isn't it the default? I lined up the D800, 5d3, Nex7, and my humble yet tenacious T3i for a look at the DR curves. I wasn't sure what I was looking at most the time - but the curves for most of the setting didn't seem to stray from one another much.

With HDR processing coming into reasonable existence, reasonably static shots can be HDR'd and we reach/surpass the DR of film & our eyes?

I friend of mine is awaiting his d800 and I might just rent a 5d3 and go photoing with him and then compare images - before I change systems or plunk down $$ for the FF + FF normal zoom of some sort.