Nikon D2X to D700.....

specialman

specialman

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Pat MacInnes
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Although I love me two D2X bodies dearly, the want to upgrade and a sense of curiosity are getting the better of me and directing me towards a D700.

A good mate who shoots equine events made the change from a D300 and a D2Xs and he raves about them - just wondering if anyone's made that move and what things they've noticed from it, good and bad?

The most obvious advantages of the D700 over my current body is the improved AF and the brilliant high ISO performance.

The most obvious changes would be A) no grip (although In know the D700 grip is supposed to be good) and the loss of crop factor to get more from my (currently limited) long lens set-up (an 80-200mm).... I'm struggling to think of anything else at this moment.

My shooting is for fishing mags if you're not aware, so quality is another obvious plus (although the process transferring to print does make IQ suffer).
 
I had a D2Xs and loved every bit of it; but it was way too big for me to handle comfortably. Loved the low ISO capabilities.

The D700 is just ideal, but it's not as well sealed as the D2Xs. The added flash means something can leak in through there. I'm often contemplating of taping it shut. It's the only gripe I have with the smaller bodied Nikon. If only they made a D700nf (no flash) :D :thumbs:
 
Knowing what work you do and the proximity to water, you'd be better-served by two 2nd hand D3 bodies if you can find them. Failing that, pony-up for a brace of D3s bodies.
The lack of a grip once you're used to using them is a serious disadvantage IMO - and if you're going to 'grip' a D700 as a matter of course, then you might as well buy a D3s.
The pop-up flash on the '700 is of little benefit in your line of work and the lower-spec sealing might be an issue (remember that according to insiders I've spoken to at Calumet and Nikon, the D3-series and D700s aren't quite as well sealed as the older D2X and D2H were).
 
Arkady, the D3 is just what i need to have a seemless swapover, but at the moment it's cost that's prohibiting me. When you can pick up a D700 on the used circuit for £1200-£1300 and they provide much of what made the D3 such an amazing release, it's too tempting...

Agreed on the flash though; a few people on here rave about it as a key feature when CLS is being used but TBH, an SU-800 or SB-800 as commander makes more sense because it's an easier process to arrange power levels etc (unless there's some custom button on the D700 that brings up the commander screen in a jiffy?)....

Scott, that's £2200 I haven't got :D Funds are low at the moment, so I'm waiting on a tax relief payment AND my employer to give me a photo allowance before I upgrade.

Of course, the matter of what to do with the two D2X bodies is something to consider when it happens - keep one as a third back-up, flog the other? Flog both and get a 24-70mm?
 
specialman said:
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(unless there's some custom button on the D700 that brings up the commander screen in a jiffy?)....

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Yes, there is.

Put the Commander option into My Menu, and then reprogram one of the buttons to "Last on My Menu" ... I think it's something like that. Makes it a one-button action.
 
I sometimes wonder why they bothered with a pop up flash on the d700, I don't think I can think of a single instance when I have ever used it. Canon's equivalent 5dII body doesn't bother with one.
 
specialman said:
Arkady, the D3 is just what i need to have a seemless swapover, but at the moment it's cost that's prohibiting me. When you can pick up a D700 on the used circuit for £1200-£1300 and they provide much of what made the D3 such an amazing release, it's too tempting...
...Of course, the matter of what to do with the two D2X bodies is something to consider when it happens - keep one as a third back-up, flog the other? Flog both and get a 24-70mm?
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Yes, it's a lot to pony-up in one go, but it's your job...suck it up - the D3-series will be future-proof for at least twice as long as previous models. If I wasn't such a kit-whore I wouldn't even be looking at upgrading to a D3s body until 2014 at the earliest. As it is, I confidently predict that at least one of my D3 bodies (or my almost completely unused D3x) will be upgraded within the next 12 months.

Flog both - once you use a D3 you'll never go backwards.
I kept one of my D1x bodies as it was perfectly acceptable when I bought it (state-of-the-art, actually), but it felt like using a pinhole camera once I'd upgraded first to D2x and then to D3 and D3x. And the colours were awful...

That's the first thing you'll notice - never mind the iso capability - your images will just look nicer...
 
grays and jessops offer interest free credit you could buy one that way maybe?
 
Arkady2 said:
Yes, it's a lot to pony-up in one go, but it's your job...suck it up - the D3-series will be future-proof for at least twice as long as previous models. If I wasn't such a kit-whore I wouldn't even be looking at upgrading to a D3s body until 2014 at the earliest. As it is, I confidently predict that at least one of my D3 bodies (or my almost completely unused D3x) will be upgraded within the next 12 months.

Flog both - once you use a D3 you'll never go backwards.
I kept one of my D1x bodies as it was perfectly acceptable when I bought it (state-of-the-art, actually), but it felt like using a pinhole camera once I'd upgraded first to D2x and then to D3 and D3x. And the colours were awful...

That's the first thing you'll notice - never mind the iso capability - your images will just look nicer...
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I could have put money on you telling me to get a D3, Rob :D Hopefully I'll get my personal budget that's been requested, which at least will cover the price (or thereabouts) of a used D3.

Straycat - did that when i got my D200 and although it allowed me to 'afford' a new camera, it never got paid off that quickly. But it's an option..... just wish my employer felt a great empathy for a photographer wanting kit that can help him push himself (and his work) forward. Pah, it's a new year, i'm not going to get bitter....;)
 
One vote for Nikon D700. The fullframe sensor is much better than the crop one of D2X.
I've had chance to take some shots with my friend's D700. So much different compared with my Fuji S5 pro. But the reason I still keep my Fuji because of its CCD sensor (I prefer the color of CCD more than CMOS).
High ISO is also the advantage of D700.
 
ngthanhcong said:
One vote for Nikon D700. The fullframe sensor is much better than the crop one of D2X.
I've had chance to take some shots with my friend's D700. So much different compared with my Fuji S5 pro. But the reason I still keep my Fuji because of its CCD sensor (I prefer the color of CCD more than CMOS).
High ISO is also the advantage of D700.
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High ISO is definitely the key for me more than anything now I've thought about it. Now it's just a case of working out whether to go D3 or D700.... not many used D3 bodies around though.....
 
specialman said:
High ISO is definitely the key for me more than anything now I've thought about it. Now it's just a case of working out whether to go D3 or D700.... not many used D3 bodies around though.....
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Ffordes have a d3 with 32000 clicks in ex++ for £2199?.
 
gwgw said:
Ffordes have a d3 with 32000 clicks in ex++ for £2199?.
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That's the only one I could find in my bookmarked used dealers. That's dealer price too - I'm thinking £1950 is more of a fair price..... now to find two grand!!!! :D
 
Flash In The Pan said:
The levels of pocket money must have gone up a fair bit since I was a lad :lol:
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:D

I have D3 on the brain now. Here's my plan;

Get work to buy me a D700 with the equipment allowance I'm supposed to be getting for 2011. Then sell both D2x for £500 or so each, put together with £800 I get from doing a wedding in Feb and get a used D3. Then sell my 10.5mm, 80-200 and Tamron 17-50 and get something like a 20/24mm prime plus a used 70-200 VR.

In my head it's totally do-able. In reality.... time will tell.......
 
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Just out of interest, is the D700 just a D3 in a D300-type body or are there many subtle differences and performance differences between the two?
 
Whilst allegedly the chips are identical (the hardware itself may be, but there are other factors to consider), a mate who owns a D700 and I did a job together recently and my images look a lot better straight out of the box (JPEG-Fine), much to his annoyance.

As well as an unexplained 1/3 stop difference in EV (we both shot at the same settings, using the same lenses - Nikkor 24-70's - and the same studio lights), mine being slightly darker: mine also look much richer in terms of colour and saturation, though again that could be due to a number of factors - I'm still waiting to hear back from him as to whether he shoots in Adobe RGB or sRGB for example.

I've heard rumours that the processing algorithms are slightly more sophisticated in the D3 allowing additional tweaking' for those into such things.
The twin card slots are also a 'must-have' IMO - even using 8Gb cards (and 16Gb in my D3X), I like that additional redundancy that using two cards allows.

Thing is, there'll be a number of features on the D3/D3s that you'll never use, but I'd prefer to have something available to me and never need it than suddenly find myself short-changed whilst on a job.
As you know, by the time you realise you need something, it's invariably too late to do anything about it if you haven't got it.
 
Ultimately I think the onboard flash would be the downfall of a D700 for you, Pat. It didn't take much in the way of rain water getting into my D80 via the flash, despite it being in an Optech rain cover, for it to kill the camera...
 
Flash In The Pan said:
Ultimately I think the onboard flash would be the downfall of a D700 for you, Pat. It didn't take much in the way of rain water getting into my D80 via the flash, despite it being in an Optech rain cover, for it to kill the camera...
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Black 'leccy tape is your friend...:thumbs:
 
UPDATE

So I went into my local Jessops to have a play with a D700, just to reaquint myself with that size body but surprise surprise, they didn't have one in stock..... Useless.

Been looking at used D3 prices on the bay and aside from the 'freaks' that go for £1500, the general price seems to be £1700-£1800.
 
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