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D300 or D700 for motorsport
- Thread starter merv
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merv
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The D300/70-200 combo is far easier to handhold, the 300 f/2.8 is a big lump of glass to lug about all day.
Edward Bancroft
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The D700 has some advantages when it comes to low light, where you can use 2 or 3 ISO stops more than the D300, better colour rendition range, and fast focusing.
For motorsports where you can get close, e.g. MX or car rally, the FX D700 is the obvious choice. For other motorsports or long shots you will need larger lenses, not always the best choice for a long day's shooting where you may have to move a lot to get the best position. The DX D300 with its effective 1.5 magnification scores there.
However, the real deciding factor is the quality of the lens. Fast focus, VR, and availability of wide aperture, are what make good shots more often than sheer magnification. Also, lenses do not go out of fashion nor get superceded as often as the camera body. Lenses are more important and are the better investment in my opinion.
Ed
For motorsports where you can get close, e.g. MX or car rally, the FX D700 is the obvious choice. For other motorsports or long shots you will need larger lenses, not always the best choice for a long day's shooting where you may have to move a lot to get the best position. The DX D300 with its effective 1.5 magnification scores there.
However, the real deciding factor is the quality of the lens. Fast focus, VR, and availability of wide aperture, are what make good shots more often than sheer magnification. Also, lenses do not go out of fashion nor get superceded as often as the camera body. Lenses are more important and are the better investment in my opinion.
Ed
I do a quite a bit of motor sport photography, using a D700 and 70-200 f2.8 VR lens as I'm genially on the track side so a zoom is essential, plus the low light capability of the D700 as the light starts to fall. I then use a D200 with 18-200 VR Lens for taking the podium photos.
chrispons
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The high ISO performance and picture quality of the D700 is fantastic,and the ability to crop without lodsing much,however you will need a battery pack to up the frame speed.
With that glass ,FX is the way to go,but many extremely good togs on here use the D300 and get fantastic results at m/sport ,with superb pic quality.
If you want even better ,get a D3 ,which ticks all the boxes .
Pons
With that glass ,FX is the way to go,but many extremely good togs on here use the D300 and get fantastic results at m/sport ,with superb pic quality.
If you want even better ,get a D3 ,which ticks all the boxes .
Pons
yamahatdm900
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I think depends on what motor sport and what tracks you where mainly going to.
If you where planning to do bikes, on a lot of the larger circuits e.g Silverstone, a lot of places at Brands you could do with the d300 on a d300 body for the extra reach. Where has circuits like Malloey, Cadwell and Oulton it would be less of an issue. But even there (taking bikes still) in a lot of places the extra crop factor of the d300 would be a bonus.
With cars this is much less of an issue. Not a answer to your question really.
In a direct comparision between the d700 & 300mm or d300 & 70-200 the other factor to take into acount the shallow depth of field (somebody correct me if I'm wrong here) on the d700 combo, very useful for shootig through fences.
If you where planning to do bikes, on a lot of the larger circuits e.g Silverstone, a lot of places at Brands you could do with the d300 on a d300 body for the extra reach. Where has circuits like Malloey, Cadwell and Oulton it would be less of an issue. But even there (taking bikes still) in a lot of places the extra crop factor of the d300 would be a bonus.
With cars this is much less of an issue. Not a answer to your question really.
In a direct comparision between the d700 & 300mm or d300 & 70-200 the other factor to take into acount the shallow depth of field (somebody correct me if I'm wrong here) on the d700 combo, very useful for shootig through fences.
If I had to start again I would go for the D300 + 300mm f2.8 . . . My 300mm f2.8 is my most used lens for motorsport . . Size and weight is'nt an issue when you see the results you can get from it . . . High ISO on the D700 may be nice . . but if your shooting motorsport most of this is done during daylight hours so not a problem . .
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