Old Nikon FF/FX camera

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As a Canon user I shouldn't be asking, but if I was to be tempted by the dark side, given I have no need for the latest model, is a Nikon D700 still a decent camera, mainly for landscapes? And if so are there any decent cheap lenses to go with it?
 
Yes to both questions.
 
The older 18-35 af-d isn't much cop, to be avoided. The one I mentioned is the af-s version. I had a Tamron 19-35 at one stage which was fine at landscape apertures, and only cost about £80 on eBay.
 
The 28-105 is a very decent standard zoom for FX.
 
Stu Meech said:
Define cheap on the lens front? The Nikon 18-35 is good and pretty reasonable price wise.
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As long as it's the G version and not the D version, D version isn't great.
 
Archie747 said:
As a Canon user I shouldn't be asking, but if I was to be tempted by the dark side, given I have no need for the latest model, is a Nikon D700 still a decent camera, mainly for landscapes? And if so are there any decent cheap lenses to go with it?
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D700 is a cracking camera. OK tech specs have surpassed it, but some still prefer the output of the D700 vs some of the newer ones. There are a number of cheap lenses. The Nikon 50mm f1.8G is pretty cheap, especially 2nd hand and is razor sharp when stopped down. The old 28-105mm is another decent lens. Not razor sharp but still very good, and for around £80-90 used it's a bargain. The 18-35mm f3.5-4.5G lens is a really sharp wide angle zoom, but not cheap at £450 used. That being said, the fact it's sharper than the considerably more expensive 16-35mm f4 you can consider it a bit of a bargain.
 
It's still a very capable camera and you will be split for choice when it comes to glass for it.
 
Stu Meech said:
The older 18-35 af-d isn't much cop, to be avoided. The one I mentioned is the af-s version. I had a Tamron 19-35 at one stage which was fine at landscape apertures, and only cost about £80 on eBay.
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snerkler said:
As long as it's the G version and not the D version, D version isn't great.
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I found the D version pretty decent on my D700 EXCEPT for some pretty funky difficult to correct distortion at 18mm so it's not ideal for seascapes or flat horizons.

Archie747 said:
Not cheap as chips but similar to say the Canon 50mm 1.8. Your suggestion looks fine second hand for a zoom.
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I thought the Canon 50mm was about as cheap as it gets? The Nikon AFD50mm 1.8 is good and pretty cheap (£70ish second hand) and much better than the cheap Canon version in that it has accurate AF and doesn't fall apart.
 
To add, the D700 is a fantastic camera and the beauty of it is that due to the large sensor and relatively small number of pixels (so they are big pixels) it makes pretty much all lenses look good.

My favourite lens when I had a D700 was the Nikon 70-300VR which is supposedly "pretty good, especially for the money" but on the D700 it was pixel sharp. I tried some crappy old plastic zooms (kit lenses from the end of the film era) and they were fine too.
 
Archie747 said:
Not cheap as chips but similar to say the Canon 50mm 1.8. Your suggestion looks fine second hand for a zoom.
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Can't comment on the zoom but can on the Nikkor 50mm/1.8. I've been talked out of upgrading mine (a relatively ancient early AF one - screw driven with aperture ring) to a newer f/1.4 version since both salesmen rated my version better in terms of sharpness than the f/1.4 unless I wanted the shallower DoF that the wider aperture allows. Since I don't, I've kept my lens! Doesn't see a lot of use (TBH, I mainly use my Fuji CSC system instead of the Nikons these days) because I prefer the versatility of zooms, the 24-120 f/4 being my walkaround lens of choice. The older, variable aperture 24-120 is a lot cheaper but I would still pay the extra for the fixed f/4 version if I was buying again. Ned's suggestion of the VR version of the 70-300 is a good one too. Not expensive 2nd hand.
 
I had a D700 early last year and loved it for landscapes.

I used a Nikkor 35-70mm F2.8 lens with it and it was bloody good. A much overlooked lens.
 
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