D300S upgrade

[Bigvin]

Been thinking of upgrading my D300S for a while now and was just wondering what peoples recommendations are?
Budget will be £1000 to £1500 which will cover the D7100, D700, D3 or second hand D800'ish, but is the D3S worth the extra to buy one second hand at around £2300?
I've been trying to find a comparison table which sets out all of the different specs with no joy.
I have an 18-70, Tamron 90mm, Sigma 10-20, 120-300 plus 1.4 and 2x TC's. If I go full frame I'll have to get rid of the first three lenses, is that right?
The Sigma 120-300 is almost permanently on my D300 so that's not much of an issue, but if I'm going to get rid of everything but the 120-300, is there anything better on offer from other manufacturers?

Any advice is welcome

Cheers Lee

 

[boliston]

Been thinking of upgrading my D300S for a while now and was just wondering what peoples recommendations are?
Budget will be £1000 to £1500 which will cover the D7100, D700, D3 or second hand D800'ish, but is the D3S worth the extra to buy one second hand at around £2300?...

D610?

 

[Joeturner11]

From my own experience, for around your budget I personally find the D3 best for wildlife for me, does a great job with its high FPS, FX Build, and body. Just love the feel of it. I also have the D800 which is great for cropping images of birds a really benefit but has a slower buffer, Comes down to personal preference at the end of the day. I personally prefer then D3 as a all rounder for Wildlife and love the feel of the bigger cameras from that series.

 

[sk66]

I have an 18-70, Tamron 90mm, Sigma 10-20, 120-300 plus 1.4 and 2x TC's. If I go full frame I'll have to get rid of the first three lenses, is that right?

I think the 90 is FF compatible.
Many say the D7000/7100 AF's slower than your D300s. But the MP's would be of some help in cropping/noise. I was not fond of my D7000 after having owned a D3s. D3 vs D3s... if you're going to be cropping the extra stop on ISO noise will be of help. D800... IMO it's essentially a D7000 when you're using the high resolution in order to crop in. Plus, the high pixel density of the D800 (7000/7100/ and probably 600/610) *require* a higher SS which usually results in higher ISO. Of course, if using TC's on a lower MP camera to avoid cropping then you loose light and have to use higher ISO's.

The D800 has the slowest frame rate of the bunch...6fps in Dx mode with grip and AA's/D4 battery. I own a D800, it's not my go to for wildlife/action.

My experience is with D200/300/300s/3/3s/7000/4/800... in that order. I currently use the D800/D4.
There's no easy single answer, but if I were to choose one on a budget it would probably be a D3/D3s. I would pay a few $100 more for the S. The 600/610 might be a descent in-the-middle compromise, but I haven't used one.

 

[Bigvin]

Thanks for the advice. Looks like I've got a choice between the D3 and the D3S, which is how I was leaning anyway. Its looking like a used D3 at £1000 is going to win out over a used D3S at £2300.