Am I mad for considering a D3?

Am I mad for considering a D3 in this day and age?

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andy1868

andy1868

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So, I thought I would make a thread to put some recent thoughts down to hopefully get some feedback from you guys and clarify my thinking. I'll start with some background and see if what I'm contemplating makes sense :lol:

I currently shoot a small number of weddings a year, 3-4 the past few years, I have 6 booked for next year at the moment. I'm also looking at perhaps shooting some motorsport for fun. I use a pair of D700s, one with 35mm and one with 85mm on, I also have 24-70 and 70-200mm lenses as backups. I love the D700, and this combination of lenses.

The thing that is bothering me is shooting weddings on a camera with a single card, I know it maybe shouldn't but it does. The thought of losing valuable images of somebody's wedding really plays on my mind. I know plenty of people did in the past, but with so many cameras available with dual slots does that excuse still fly? I'm not so sure. I must say if my D700s had dual slots there wouldn't even be a consideration, I've always been happy with their performance and the IQ.

My thoughts are to swap the D700s out for D3s, same sensor that I love the images from, dual cards as backups, trusted AF and a faster burst for motorsport. I know they're bigger and heavier but that's something that doesn't bother me too much. The price to upgrade wouldn't be insurmountable either.

With only shooting a small-ish number of weddings I didn't really want to drop a load of money on say a couple of D750s, alternatives are D600 and D610, which are other serious contenders. The thing putting me off the D600 is the oil spot issue, and D610s would be more expensive than D3s. Autofocus was also a consideration with these bodies. I also
considered DX bodies like the D7100/7200 but then I lose the effective focal lengths that I love. D800 also came to mind, but 36mp may be overkill for my needs, and also more expensive (and for some reason there don't seem to be that many s/h) and perhaps not as great for motorsport.

The only thing delaying me is the fact that they're potentially a 9 year old camera, am I mad to be even considering it? Is there something glaringly obvious that I'm missing?
 
D3 is still a great camera, an upgrade in 'pro' terms to your D700's, cost to get two decent ones will dictate whether it's the best option. :)
 
Nothing wrong with the D3 but to be honest I'd just stick with the D700, when was the last term a memory card, left alone a CF card failed?

FWIW, my D700 died due to condensation and I replaced it with a D610 and that was the beginning of the end for me with Nikon. Yes the sensor is amazing and the specs are fine on paper but it just never felt right.
 
I'm not sure it's a good plan to invest heavily in 9 year old technology.
 
Your post title says D3 yet you have also mentioned a D3S. Which is it? The D3S still sells at decent money for very little extra you could get a D750.

Maybe best option if your on a tight budget would be to just ditch one D700 for a D750 or something else a little more update for now.

Tbh I think you are right to worry about memory card failure. I have had cards fail high end expensive cards they where too both Sandisk and Lexar so it can happen.

Just realised you meant D3's plural rather than D3S.
 
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I think you should be asking if you can find the D3 in good condition. Most will probably have high mileage on them but if you do then great.
 
The D3 is still a great camera and will still produce great images.
 
Thanks guys for the thoughts, i think this thread has pretty much covered all my thinking up til now. It's like looking through an internal monologue right on screen :lol:

FWIW MPB have some D3's available at the moment for around the £700 mark, in "good" condition with 50-100k on. If i could perhaps get £450-500 for each of my D700's then the upgrade price would be the £4-500 mark to cover both cameras. The other thing I'll have to cover is swapping batteries, but that's going to be the case whatever I do. Sticking with CF will help with the price of swapping/adding additional cards.

In comparison, the D610 was another camera I was looking at, I've seen them go for around £850-900 s/h in good condition.

Sorry for the confusion, it was my typing that caused that! I did mean the original D3.
 
Maybe £450-500 is ambitious for each of the D700's but I suppose it's of little consequence and it's still a level playing field for any camera upgrade :thinking:
 
The used price for a D700 makes it one of the best 2nd hand bargains around, they really are (still) fantastic cameras and there isn't really a modern equivalent from my point of view. The D700 is better at skin tones than the modern sensors too, which is good for weddings.

Seriously, I would just stay with what you have.
 
andy1868 said:
Thanks guys for the thoughts, i think this thread has pretty much covered all my thinking up til now. It's like looking through an internal monologue right on screen :LOL:

FWIW MPB have some D3's available at the moment for around the £700 mark, in "good" condition with 50-100k on. If i could perhaps get £450-500 for each of my D700's then the upgrade price would be the £4-500 mark to cover both cameras. The other thing I'll have to cover is swapping batteries, but that's going to be the case whatever I do. Sticking with CF will help with the price of swapping/adding additional cards.

In comparison, the D610 was another camera I was looking at, I've seen them go for around £850-900 s/h in good condition.

Sorry for the confusion, it was my typing that caused that! I did mean the original D3.
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Going rate on even mint D700 is below £400 now anything over 50k shutter count your prob looking at around £325-£350
 
f/2.8 said:
Going rate on even mint D700 is below £400 now anything over 50k shutter count your prob looking at around £325-£350
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Have you checked eBay listings recently?
 
gramps said:
Have you checked eBay listings recently?
Click to expand...

No I never buy anything on eBay buts that's what they go for on Facebook etc. There was one just sold on here with a Nikon grip for £375.
 
I'm surprised a little at the prices on eBay, if I could get those for mine I would be happy. I don't know for sure but would guesstimate somewhere around 40-50k on each of mine. One is in pretty good-excellent condition, the other less so with some wearing on grips etc.

I'm half tempted to swap one of them for a D3 at the moment and see how I get on, see if I really could deal with carrying 2 around all day. I always find myself using one camera more than the other at weddings so could perhaps use the D3 for the heavier use, with a D700 for the bits in between. Cover mission critical images, ceremonies and formals etc on the D3 for piece of mind :/ I'm keen to keep sensors of the same ilk to help with post processing too, so tones etc are the same.

Once again, I'm really grateful for all the comments, it's something that's been going round in my head for a couple of days and it's done good to clarify it all :)
 
Andy, where about's are you based? I only ask as you'd be welcome to try my D3 out if you're anywhere near the North East.

I've shot a couple of weddings and must admit I do take a little reassurance from the double card slot vs. the D700. I've only ever had one card fail on me in about 5 years but I'd hate to think that could happen at an important moment, however unlikely. I suppose on the upside, cards can fail in different ways and often the data is recoverable but if there were a write issue you may not know much about it at the time. I suppose you could manage risk a little by using multiple cards on the day and have a system where you have empty cards in one pocket and move used cards to another pocket as you go. Fiddly and you'd have to pick your moments but I guess it could be done and cheaper to buy a few cards than replacing the camera.

I did have a D610 as well. Really nice results from that (a small but noticeable step up from D700 and D3) but the AF system is a little limiting. If you always use the centre point, it's great but the spread doesn't go very far and the AF sensors away from centre would be poor in low light. I guess a D750 might be the perfect blend but a little more money of course.
 
I use D3 and D700. I'm not a pro but I do 3-4 sports shoot a year. The D3 is my main and the D700 is my backup. The D3 rarely fail due to the pro body quality. Image quality wise both is exactly the same, button layout and control is pretty much the same with the obvious different on the D3. D700 with grip is a lot heavier and bulky then the D3 btw. I use the D700 without grip for holiday because is easier to carry and look less like a pro on the street.

If my D3 and D700 need replacing. I think I will go for D810 and D500. The d500 is good for sports and the D810 will pleasure myself on other work like portrait and landscape.
 
That's a very kind offer Graham, I am over in Lancashire so perhaps a little far to travel to see one, but I am very grateful for the kind offer :)

Realistically what I want is a dual slot D700 to cover me for weddings, and the D3 fits that bill for me I'm thinking. Yes it's an older camera but so are my D700's, and I'm happy with those. Whether that's right or wrong I don't know.

9fps sounds appealing too for any motorsport I'm hoping to do, I haven't done any for a couple of years so I'm definitely looking forward to getting back into it.
 
The price of the D3 had gone down a lot. If the price is right, I don't see why not. Some people still shooting with D200, D2X, D90 and D60!
 
andy1868 said:
That's a very kind offer Graham, I am over in Lancashire so perhaps a little far to travel to see one, but I am very grateful for the kind offer :)

Realistically what I want is a dual slot D700 to cover me for weddings, and the D3 fits that bill for me I'm thinking. Yes it's an older camera but so are my D700's, and I'm happy with those. Whether that's right or wrong I don't know.

9fps sounds appealing too for any motorsport I'm hoping to do, I haven't done any for a couple of years so I'm definitely looking forward to getting back into it.
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No problem. D3's are getting on a bit. I believe it's nearly 9 years since they were released. Amazing really that we're still talking about them but they do still deliver the goods! I guess you know all that as a D700 user. The D3 does seem to be built to survive anything though. Even more so than the D700. Mine has over 400k actuations and is still fine though the rubbers could do with replacing now.
 
Well I've sourced a low miler, 63k in good condition from MPB and I've bitten the bullet and ordered it. It arrives tomorrow. I'll go from there and see if I try and source another, MPB have given me a favourable quote in purchasing my D700's too which has sealed the deal for me.

I can't help but feel that just because it's an older design that it doesn't necessarily make it an inferior camera. I still use an 85mm 1.4D as i really like the images it creates, and find it hard to justify the move up to the G variant. I was also using a 35-70 up til earlier this year for the same reason, I ended up swapping for the 24-70 because I just found myself needing something wider. There was absolutely nothing wrong with the images I took using it. The majority of the things I shoot end up being looked at digitally, uploaded in small formats online and printing small-ish in albums etc so 12mp is perfectly fine for my use.

If anybody is interested in the images I'm shooting with these older cameras you're welcome to check some of my work out over at www.andrewrobertsweddings.co.uk
 
12mp still does the job for me. D3/D700 with the 85mm f1.4D (I got one too) is absolutely stunning. No need for the G version for me too.
 
I must admit you had me going for a second there! :LOL:
 
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