A Nikon Question

Wayne Els

Wayne Els

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I've been intending to upgrade my 500D to a 5D2 (or 3) later this year however as I don't yet have a pile of cash invested in Canon glass I think I should give the opposition a quick chance. Now whilst being fairly clued up on Canon products I don't really know anything about Nikons. I guess the D700 is probably the offering that equates to the 5D2. So anyone care to give me the brief pro's of it, or others, newer models, etc?

I'm really interested in landscape more than anything else. Thanks for your help.
 
D700 is a 12mp full frame body, with really good high ISO performance.

However this is now several years old, and there are strong rumours of a replacement (D800) being announced next Monday, which I have seen figures quoted of 36mp ... how accurate remains to be seen, but something is afoot for next week, as several reliable Nikon sources are dropping hints.

Whether the D800 would be more suited to you is an unknown, but if it is a D700 replacement you may see a slight drop in the price of a D700 as vendors look to clear stock, or you may not :D

Beyond the D700 you move to the larger pro bodies with integrated grips D3, D3S, D4 and D3X (24mp) but you will find a big price difference to the D700.

The D700 and D3 share the same sensor so if you prefer the smaller body you would certainly save yourself some money.
 
It's how it uses those pixels that matters

ISO6400 (those are rain drops on it's tail) and no NR applied in PP either on this one

230_031.jpg


Sensible ISO

Croome_012.jpg


Holiday snap

Italy_165a.jpg
 
Wayne Els said:
Martyn, thanks. Some very sharp images, which lenses have you used here? Obviously I'm pretty clueless about Nikkor/Nikon lenses too! I take it the have an "L" equivalent just not grey or with a red ring?
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Not really, the better ones tend to be the faster ones, but Nikon do not give them any different notation as with the 'L' range.

However in descending order the images above were:

500mm f4 AF-S II + 1.4TC

Zeiss ZF2 35/2 - one of the gems

Zeiss ZF2 25/2.8 - the wider 21/2.8 is an outstanding lens, but almost twice the price (and too wide for my taste).

The Zeiss lenses are manual focus, which is a piece of cake on the D700
 
Wayne Els said:
Ahhh. Interesting to see that they are all shot with primes, no wonder they are so sharp.
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The 14-24 Nikon zoom is reported to be as sharp as primes.

There are also loads of older Nikkors that will still work on the current bodies, manual and auto focus, I have an old 28-105 f3.5 / f4.5 that only cost me £100, yet it produces far better images than you would expect from a lens that costs so little.
 
Hmm I think if your in to video the 5d is the bullseye in that class with some tv shows using them. I also thinks its alot to do with the feel of the camera,

what you could do is pop down to calumets and rent a Nikon and a lens for the day get some hands on that way!
 
Martyn
From someone who is waiting around to see what the d800 has to offer before switching from pentax you have posted some useful info.
I see the rumour includes a choice of with AA filter or filter removed. That could be interesting.
 
Nikon don't have any range name like canon L range.

The gold ring nikon lens tend to be pro glass, so just like the red ring on canon.

Basically if the lens is not DX (crop sensor lens) then they can use on Nikon FF without a problem.

DX lens can still use on FF body but the camera will go on crop mode which only let you shoot in 5 mega pixel.
 
This is the thing I like most about Nikon - the ability to use "legacy" glass which is often of far better build quality than some of the stuff they churn out now.

This lens cost me £46

large.jpg
 
boliston said:
This is the thing I like most about Nikon - the ability to use "legacy" glass which is often of far better build quality than some of the stuff they churn out now.
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Totally agree, i bought a old Nikon 135 f2.8 AI Prime and my dad gave me his 28mm f2.8 AI prime. I use both of thse on my D300 and D7000 and the result is superb. Also it let me to practice manual focusing as well.

Love the old nikon lenses.
 
Advantage of nikon for the OP's purposes (ie landscape photography) is the nikon wide angles such as the 14-24mm, although I believe the canon 17-40 is no slouch. On the other hand, great high iso performance is somewhat academic for landscapes.

I'm speaking as a D700 user of 3 years btw, and I don't really do landscapes, at least not the conventional rural / coastal type! 12mp has been more than adequate for my purposes, A3 prints look great, and I've got an A2 (or is it A1?) canvas done which also looks great. Really though it was the high iso performance which clinched it for me, I regularly use between 3200 and 12800.
 
I was in that square (the third picture) during my holiday last year (Sorrento, Italy) and got a few nice shots of the statues face lit up at night.

Sorry, I know this is off topic.
 
SThornton said:
I was in that square (the third picture) during my holiday last year (Sorrento, Italy) and got a few nice shots of the statues face lit up at night.

Sorry, I know this is off topic.
Click to expand...

We were staying out of town, albeit overlooking the town from a great height, which made life tricky for me to escape with the camera.

We have booked again for this summer, but staying in the town itself, so I should have a bit more time to get some shots, rather than combining my photography with shopping trips with the wife :D

I got this one through a bus window on the Amalfi drive.

35mm ZF2 @ f8

Italy_175.jpg


.
 
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