Nikon advice

[Frosty]

Hi guys I need some advice.

I currently own a Nikon D300 and love it. I now want to move onto full frame as i have several "pro" Nikon lenses and want to really get the most out of them.

However im stuck between whether I should go with the older D700 or get the new D800. The D800 isn't really imo a like for like upgrade. It has a massive 32mp compared to the more normal 12mp of the D700 and is probably better for studio work rather than "street" photography.

There is also inevitably a price difference - in UK brand new D700 are retailing for about £1600 (compared to about £2500 for the D800). I should also say that used D700 bodies are still selling on auction sites for around £1200-£1300.

And it's the pricing that is causing me the difficulty. The price gap isn't wide (or narrow) enough to make the decision easy. If the D700, which is now several years old, was around the £1000 mark I'd get it instantly but that additional £600 seems to me to be too much of a premium to pay for a camera which is now almost 4 years old. And equally if the D800 was £3000 or more it would be beyond the budget i have and the decision to go with the D700 would be easy.


I should say that in terms of spec i could happily live with either. The pros and cons of each balance out. So its really about the pricing but would welcome advice from those that have either the D700 or the D800, or indeed both.


so what would you do?

[Legion]

Mainly bigger res (and file sizes) and much better video. If these things are worth an extra 900 quid to you, go for it. If not, (and to me they wouldn't be) I'd get the D700.

For what it's worth, I don't own either. I have a D2x, and I bought that off a pro photographer mate who got a D3x. If you are not doing it for a living (and I am not any more) then you are always chasing your tail getting the latest stuff. For most people "last years model" will do the job just fine, and depreciate a lot less % wise in the time you own it. Take the saving on the older one, unless the new features are things you can't live without. From the sound of your post I'd say you would find the D700 more than adequate.

[Lamb Root]

Another d300 owner here.
I can understand the megapixel greed but if your camera works fine why buying another. If I had 2500 I'd invest them in lenses in a heartbeat.
d700 looks pretty good though.

[Frosty]

Legion I agree with you the D700 would be ideal for my needs. It's a tad too dear at the mo whilst the d800 isn't too much, if you know what I mean. At £1000 I'd buy the D700 no question

Lambroot I agree I'm all for investing in the lenses and I have several pro lenses already. I could invest the money in more lenses but I don't think any new lenses I buy will spend much time on my camera (whichever one it is) simply because my go to lenses are a couple of primes, the 24-70mm f2.8 and the 70-200mm f2.8. I'd rather move up the sensor size to a full frame

[Legion]

Legion I agree with you the D700 would be ideal for my needs. It's a tad too dear at the mo whilst the d800 isn't too much, if you know what I mean. At £1000 I'd buy the D700 no question

Lambroot I agree I'm all for investing in the lenses and I have several pro lenses already. I could invest the money in more lenses but I don't think any new lenses I buy will spend much time on my camera (whichever one it is) simply because my go to lenses are a couple of primes, the 24-70mm f2.8 and the 70-200mm f2.8. I'd rather move up the sensor size to a full frame

I don't think you are ever going to get the D700 for 1k new. Even second hand I would say that will be a couple of years away. As you point out, the difference between the cameras is not so great as to make all the value fall out of the old one.

[BigBull]

http://snapsort.com/compare/Nikon-D800-vs-Nikon_D700

Only you can justify the difference in price, but this puts the specs in an easy to read review. I totally agree with most all who think the real money (as it appears you have as well) is spent in the lenses. Either way, your getting a great camera!

[Frosty]

Legion I think you may have just helped me make up my mind! Thank you


BigBull - yep I never quite understand folks spending a shed load of money on the body and then put on to it a rough lense.

[djh]

I am a very satisfied D700 owner and depending on your style of photography, I can well imagine that the D700 would be all the camera that you would need. After comparing the D4 and the D800 side-by-side, I decided that the D4 appealed much more to me (not that I am in the market for an upgrade) because I certainly don't need the larger files and I do not shoot video.

Like most Nikon products released in the past few years, the D800 was initially in very short supply. I guess that the Nikon resources were geared more towards outfitting the Pros with D4s in time for the Olympics and that the D800 had to wait somewhat. I'm sure that the D700 will gradually drift down in price, but it is a question of how long you are willing to wait. BTW- the step up to a full-frame sensor may cost some (apparent) reach in your lenses, but it is a huge step forward when it comes to image quality.


Good luck either way- there is no wrong choice here.

[Frosty]

Thanks DJH - I ordered a brand new D700 as used bodies are averaging only £200-£300 less and for that relative small difference I have the pleasure of opening up a box fresh unit and it comes with a one year warranty. Should arrive by early next week.

I could've waited and carried on with my D300 but I figured any premium I was paying was counterbalanced by the fun I'd have for the period until it went down in price further. I'll keep the D300 as it has a lot of sentimental value for me.

I chose the D700 over the D800 for a number of reasons not least the fact that the D300 batteries and battery pack are compatible with the D700.
i have several pro lenses and am really looking forward to testing them out on the D700 body. So not sure I need more lenses at this stage though I do have one eye on the 85mm f1.8 G. (not convinced that the f1.4 will give me substantially better images for the additional £1000 I'd have to pay for it)

[djh]

Thanks DJH - I ordered a brand new D700 as used bodies are averaging only £200-£300 less and for that relative small difference I have the pleasure of opening up a box fresh unit and it comes with a one year warranty. Should arrive by early next week.

I could've waited and carried on with my D300 but I figured any premium I was paying was counterbalanced by the fun I'd have for the period until it went down in price further. I'll keep the D300 as it has a lot of sentimental value for me.

I chose the D700 over the D800 for a number of reasons not least the fact that the D300 batteries and battery pack are compatible with the D700.
i have several pro lenses and am really looking forward to testing them out on the D700 body. So not sure I need more lenses at this stage though I do have one eye on the 85mm f1.8 G. (not convinced that the f1.4 will give me substantially better images for the additional £1000 I'd have to pay for it)

Good thinking! I have had the Nikon bug for over 20 years and still really enjoy the cameras and lenses. As far as the 85mm focal length is concerned, the older model F/1.4D was perhaps the pick of the autofocus lenses and the older manual focus equivalent was great as well. I really don't shoot events, so I normally make do with a prime lens or two- they will shine on your new camera.

Don't forget to come back and share some samples!

[Frosty]

DJH - yes I've been a "Nikonista" ever since I took up photography seriously about 6 years ago and am thoroughly happy with their equipment. I have the 35mm and 50mm f1.4s primes which are a delight on the D300 so am expecting good things on the D700. The 50mm on the D300 effectively acted as a portrait lens because of the 1.5 crop factor, hence why I think I should get the 85mm now that there is no crop.

I tend to use the 24-70mm f2.8 for about 70% of the time as its such a great multipurpose lens.

[djh]

DJH - yes I've been a "Nikonista" ever since I took up photography seriously about 6 years ago and am thoroughly happy with their equipment. I have the 35mm and 50mm f1.4s primes which are a delight on the D300 so am expecting good things on the D700. The 50mm on the D300 effectively acted as a portrait lens because of the 1.5 crop factor, hence why I think I should get the 85mm now that there is no crop.

I tend to use the 24-70mm f2.8 for about 70% of the time as its such a great multipurpose lens.

I have an older version of that mid-range zoom which serves me well for when I need that sort of flexibility. If you actually take portraits, I would suggest that you look into something around the 105mm mark (or perhaps even longer). There are some bargain manual focus lenses out there which provide stunning images if you have the time to focus them properly and they will meter on your D700.

[Frosty]

Thanks Djh - was thinking about 105mm and even the 135mm. They're on the list now!

[john187]

I went through the exact same decision process and chose to keep my d300 ;). The 300 and the 700 have essentially the same imaging system. The sensor difference is far less important than most people claim. In fact all digital cameras are diffraction limited at about 10Megapixel...sad but true look it up! The only downside of the 300 is the crop. But I can't justify the cost for a trivial upgrade, or an upgrade to megapixels that make the workflow slow and data intensive for questionable improvement. As always your biggest photograpy upgrade should be your brain, or maybe a good photo op.

[Frosty]

Thanks John. It was difficult to decide whether I should move p from D300 to D700, but it was something I was yearning to do for some time. Anyway today the D700 arrived. II'll post some pics in due course

[Absolute Mustard]

Congrats on the 700, it is a beauty