Thinking of swapping my Nikon D700 for a Nikon D3

I've owned both.

Both excellent cameras, couldn't really tell the difference in IQ.

D3 is 'for me' far better to have in the hand. D700 gripped was a bit too big and a bit too heavy, good for short bouts of use but long term sessions I normally ended up taking the grip off. The dual card slots is useful, as back ups always are.

D3 is "for me" also feels more blanced with a longer lens - D700 without a grip combined with a 70 -200vr for example never felt quite right to me.

I had flashguns and a SU800 before so I never really used the pop up flash to trigger anything. It's a good thing to have though but I got fed up of having to dive into the menu if I wanted to change settings.

I suffer from the need/want argument all the time. Want nearly always wins with me :).

As has been said, Test drive one. If you don't really notice any difference "want" another lens instead :)
 
SimonTALM said:
I Have to resort to focus and recompose in portrait mode as the focus point selector is placed too far away for my fingers.

Overall I wouldn't swap the D700 for a D3 (D3s is a different story the ISO performance is stunning but also a big jump in price)
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The person who lent me the D700 this weekend mentioned the same thing about the focus point selector. Luckily for me my hand his big enough to move it around.

Agree that overall I wouldn't swap to a D3 either if I already had a D700 unless I needed it. As Pablob said, the want over rules the need in most cases with me too. :D
 
ianbarber said:
I need to sell my D700 first but not sure what they go for, I know its only about 6 weeks old but would still have to sell it as used.
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I've heard that they are only going for about £200 at the moment. I'll give you £250 for a quick deal! :thumbs:
 
Ok I've got a D3 and a D700 and the handling of the D3 is superb and the viewfinder does offer a small advantage over the D700 in terms of increased coverage.

The D700? Handling is superb with the MBD10 handgrip and I think its a near essential purchase as it improves the balance when using a 24-70/70-200 lens. To get the same frame rate you'll need to purchase the EN4 battery / battery cap and charger otherwise D3 just pips it - if you dont already have a D3 then the cost of the D700 + battery + battery pack assuming you get Nikon original will be not much less than the D3.

Anyway I digress, other than the handling unless you get the battery pack then the D3 doesnt have enough over the D700 to warrant an upgrade. Weather sealing wise I think the D700 is pretty much similar to the D3 but can't confirm.

HTH

Mark
 
MrFigjam said:
I've heard that they are only going for about £200 at the moment. I'll give you £250 for a quick deal! :thumbs:
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LOL

Very interesting comments, no one has commented on the faster processor of the D3 so I am wondering if this is noticeable during shooting.

I already own the Nikon 24-70 2.8 and 70-200 2.8 lens and the Nikon Battery Grip and reading some of the last comments, I am wondering if I ought to invest in the ENL-4 Batetry and holder instead of using AA batteries.

As a matter of course I did ring a company up this morning to see what they would offer as PX for a Used D3 and because mine is 6 weeks old, they offered 1250
 
I was shooting a D3 and D700 this past weekend. D3 does feel faster but it really is a small margin. I didn't have a chance to try this in more difficult conditions (metering, lack of contrast) so don't have that experience. The comments I've read over the past couple of years by owners of both is they do notice the difference. Need is another story.

1250 is about right. Mifsuds had a D700 for sale for £1300 a few weeks ago. That went quick. Sell it yourself but I think you'll find you will not only lose some money but fork over some as well to get a D3. I'd keep your D700.
 
You'd probably get more than that in the For sale section on here, D700's go like hotcakes!

Just wish I could convince the missus to let me spend some pennies :D
 
ianbarber said:
LOL

Very interesting comments, no one has commented on the faster processor of the D3 so I am wondering if this is noticeable during shooting.
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I do not believe the D3 has a faster processor, its the same one isn't it? Are there any references to the D3 having a faster processor?

Shooting at 14-bit raw between the two I dont notice a difference.
 
Ian £1250 for a 6 week old D700 is very poor in my opinion, i reckon if you put it up here you would get £1400, one added benefit that hasn't been mentioned (i don't think) is having the best of both worlds in regard to being able to take the grip off, when it becomes a bit on the heavy side if shooting all day, i know i've done this before now myself and it can help, Radiohead posted some wedding photos from the D700 recently, and i really can't see any difference in his D700 shots and his D3s shots, both stunning quality, having said that he is a very accomplished wedding tog, but that aside it just shows what results you can achieve with both cameras :)
 
If its camera gear I would sell on here all day, at the end of the day Calumet and the like are a business so they buy low and sell high. On here anything from 1400 to 1500 for a virtually brand new D700.
 
razor777 said:
The D700? Handling is superb with the MBD10 handgrip and I think its a near essential purchase as it improves the balance when using a 24-70/70-200 lens.

Mark
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we'll disagree on the need for a grip with those lenses, handling is superb without, and not using a grip, helps keep the more compact body, compact. That to me is one of the big advantages the d700 has over the d3
 
boyfalldown said:
we'll disagree on the need for a grip with those lenses, handling is superb without, and not using a grip, helps keep the more compact body, compact. That to me is one of the big advantages the d700 has over the d3
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Depends on what you are used to I guess, I've always used a handgrip (Canon 450D, Nikon D300S, D700) or full format such as Canon MK iiN and the D3. With the D700 and no handgrip the D700 just feels slightly unbalanced when using heavier lenses.
 
I shoot with a D3s and D700 as backup. However when I use my 85mm 1.4 wide open, you need to move focus points around quickly, I always use the gripped D700. The D700 has two selector dials, with the gripped one being more accessible than the one dial on the D3 or D3s, (I've stuck my thumb in my eye on more than one occasion!)

Having said that, if I had the spare cash I'd sell my D700 get a D3 as backup, mainly for compatibility issues and dual slots.

I agree that the D700 gripped will let water in sooner than the one piece D3.

I'd have thought by the time you chopped your D700 in, and paid the extra cash for the D3, you're looking for an extra £700 +.

Save your money and get the D3s, trust me it's worth it :nuts:
 
I agree with Mark - the D3s is the upgrade to go for. The D3 isn't. ISO etc are all identical so you'll be changing for the better build, larger body, view finder, faster shooting rate etc etc. In fact I notice you mention shooting rate a lot - I take it you'll be needing this?

The D3s is a very worthwhile upgrade for the ISO alone imo. But then you'll need more money to change.
 
i've got both and unless you need the 100% viewfinder and inbuilt grip, extra frame rate and weatherproofing built in then i'd not bother

the lack of sensor cleaning is a pita and i generally find the d700 a better beast to use apart from not being able to 100% zoom at press of a button
 
alexkidd said:
i've got both and unless you need the 100% viewfinder and inbuilt grip, extra frame rate and weatherproofing built in then i'd not bother

the lack of sensor cleaning is a pita and i generally find the d700 a better beast to use apart from not being able to 100% zoom at press of a button
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I've assigned 100% zoom to the centre-click on the d-pad on my D700.
 
Thanks for all the feedback, having read them all and done further research, I think I am going to keep the D700 until the D3s has settled down abit and drops in price.

One thing I am going to do though is replace the AA batteries in the Grip with an EN-EL4 so now I am on the lookout for the EN-EL4, Charger and End Cap for the Grip
 
ianbarber said:
I think I will try and see what I can get for my 6 week old D700 and New Battery Grip which is still in the box never opened and determine what cash I need to get a D3
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I've just ordered a D3 from Clifton Cameras for £2569 which is £1000 less than they were last year, the Grip offer is over now so doesn't factor in the price.

D3 is 9FPS, has better AF, better weather sealing, and feels better :D

If you bought a D700, grip, ENEL4a, battery door and charger to get the D700 up to 8fps you'd be approaching the current price of a D3.

I had a D700, sold it to get a D3, within an hour I knew i'd made the right decision, yes some of it is lust but for the day I had it (long story) it performed brilliantly, so much so that I ordered a new one from Clifton Cameras on Monday
 
ooh mud how do i do that? (granted i've been a bit lazy and not looked into doing it on my d700) and i'm being even lazier asking you and not reading the manual but i offer a warm feeling of helpfulness in exchange for assistance :P
 
ianbarber said:
One thing I am going to do though is replace the AA batteries in the Grip with an EN-EL4 so now I am on the lookout for the EN-EL4, Charger and End Cap for the Grip
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Genuine BL-3 HERE for £32, you can pick up 3rd party EN-EL4a batteries all over ebay for about £20ish i have 2 and they work fine, there's no way i would spend £90 for an original, if you want a 3rd party charger, i have one still in the packaging you can have for £15 delivered it has a 2 pin plug but comes with a 3 pin adaptor, i used it once to try out and it works fine, only reason i don't use it i have two, one was purchased for me as a pressie :)
 
alexkidd said:
ooh mud how do i do that? (granted i've been a bit lazy and not looked into doing it on my d700) and i'm being even lazier asking you and not reading the manual but i offer a warm feeling of helpfulness in exchange for assistance :P
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menu f2->playback mode->zoom on/off->medium magnification.

I've been assured that's 100%.
 
alexkidd said:
ooh mud how do i do that? (granted i've been a bit lazy and not looked into doing it on my d700) and i'm being even lazier asking you and not reading the manual but i offer a warm feeling of helpfulness in exchange for assistance :P
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lol too slow! (I had to look it up!)

It's custom function f2 Alex.

The default is to reset the AF point back to the centre but you can also choose to have a zoomed image on playback. You can even choose how much to zoom :)
 
Rob 80386 said:
well this is it, I've also been tempted by the D700, but in all honesty, if I were to upgrade to Full Frame, I would go down the D3 route

:)
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the D700 seems to me like the poor man's full frame camera, a bit like the way I see the Canon 5D. Don't read into that too much, it's just the way I've always thought of it. A bit like some Volkswagens look very much like some Audis. They're great... but not quite the real thing :shrug:
 
trencheel303 said:
the D700 seems to me like the poor man's full frame camera, a bit like the way I see the Canon 5D. Don't read into that too much, it's just the way I've always thought of it. A bit like some Volkswagens look very much like some Audis. They're great... but not quite the real thing :shrug:
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Pure prejudice, try to work past it :eek:
 
Just a suggestion for those that says that in portrait mode, the focus point is very difficult to select.
For me, I assigned the function button to focus point select and when in portrait mode, just press the function button and use the dials to select the focus point. It does needs some time to get used to it though.
 
When I bought my D3s I soon realised that the added shutter button for portrait shooting was no longer an option due to the impossible (for me) reach to the d-pad (sega fans!!).

So I adopted a more old fashioned grip which is now so natural that even when shooting with the D700 I still use my new adapted grip.

I still don't know why my assistant took this picture - she only sent it to me the other day. But it serves to show my point :) And I think it's cooler :cool: :D

4879931077_ff2a0f3042_z.jpg
 
ianbarber said:
I havent made up my mind, whats interesting is the amount of D700 users saying how good this camera is and not one person has said they are dissapointed with how it handles or performs.
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Hi Ian ,
Well here's one D700 owner that is sellling one,my big hands find it very fiddly,I hate the small joystick on the back when changing focus points,find it slow and awkward .
I dont like the colours much,dont seem very natural,and need to much processing.
I miss the faster shutter speed and build of pro series cameras,and the size and quality,much prefer my D2HS ,and the pics are still great out of that old camera,as are the colours.

My mate has a D3 and it is a different beast,oozes quality from every pore ,lovely to use and handles,and yes it feels way better with longer glass.

Pons
Ps,am being differant to most and going back to Canon pro series and L glass ,and proper colours.
 
chrispons said:
Pons
Ps,am being differant to most and going back to Canon pro series and L glass ,and proper colours.
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Horses for courses and just goes to prove that we can all have different tastes. I love the colours from the Nikons, I came from Canon pro series and L glass and I seem to have found my spiritual home! I do a lot less PP than I ever did with the Canons.

Each to their own, good luck with the move. :)
 
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