The title says it all. What do you think of buying a brand new D700 right now for professional use ?
Even though I really really like the resolution, double card slots, video and new focus of the D800 the 1000€ difference would be better spent of lens and lighting in my opinion. I think a D700 and a light or 24-70 would be handier than a D800 and the lens I have now ( 18-70 would have to be used on DX and 50 and 85 primes ). Or do you think it's wiser to wait and see what's coming ?

With the D800 and D4 just out, I don't think there will be any new surprises from Nikon in an FX body for a couple of years.

The D700 is still very viable. If it satisfies what you need it to do, why not?

I just bought a used one. I love it. Even compared to a D4. The D700 is still completely relevant. They seem to be selling used in great shape for 1800-1900. The price drop on the new one might be worth the warranty.

Assuming I can afford new technology, I rarely buy old.

And, I'm not a tech junkie.

A D700 just might be the BEST IDEA. :-)

I'll be buying a 2nd D700, and maybe even a third, before I ever buy a D800 / D4.

For what I do, (weddings) 12 megapixels is PERFECT.

If the D800 had sRAW, it'd be a different story since the sensor itself is an improvement. But I can't afford to just triple my workflow of ~250,000 images per year...


=Matt=

I lusted after the D800, shot with it, etc...then went back to my old D700 and fell in love all over again. I love this camera and it still produces amazing photos. I don't think I'll ever outgrow it to be honest, but I'm sure that will change in a few years :)

Thanks everyone for your input.
Ziggy, it actually looks like there will be another FX body this year, D600. The question is, is it a D3x-ish sensor on a D5100 body or in a D7000 body...

Although the D700 would be leaps and bounds ahead of what I'm using, two things make my decision harder: allegedly inferior image quality compared to a D7000 and a single card slot.

Matthew, have you considered shooting 36mp and using LR4's raw resizing ?

Originally Posted by Davidoff Although the D700 would be leaps and bounds ahead of what I'm using, two things make my decision harder: allegedly inferior image quality compared to a D7000 and a single card slot.

Key word here: Allegedly. Having shot both, would I even think about using a D7000 instead of my D700?? Hell no. There is no comparison IMO. I don't own a D7000, but used one for over 1000 frames. It's a good camera, and I'll give it the advantage in IQ over my D300, but my D700??? No way. I'm anxiously awaiting the D300 replacement.

Originally Posted by Davidoff "allegedly inferior image quality compared to a D7000

Where did you hear this?

Originally Posted by Davidoff Thanks everyone for your input. Ziggy, it actually looks like there will be another FX body this year, D600. The question is, is it a D3x-ish sensor on a D5100 body or in a D7000 body... Although the D700 would be leaps and bounds ahead of what I'm using, two things make my decision harder: allegedly inferior image quality compared to a D7000 and a single card slot. Matthew, have you considered shooting 36mp and using LR4's raw resizing ?

LR4's RAW resizing? As far as I know, down-sized DNG files are only possible using Adobe's stand-alone converter, which yes is indeed an option.

However it still doesn't solve the problem of additional memory card consumption, additional (initial) hard drive storage, ...and a slowed framerate compared to a D700, especially a gripped D700.

Bottom line, as always- My D700 is getting the job done just fine, so no matter how much better the D800 may be; I don't "NEED" it...

If I buy anything "new", it'd be a used D3s within the next year or so. Otherwise, I'll just be buying a second D700.

I might convince the studio to pony up for D800, for HDR portraiture, (http://linandjirsablog.com) ...but I certainly don't plan on owning or using a D800 for wedding work...

=Matt=

Originally Posted by Zerodog I just bought a used one. I love it. Even compared to a D4. The D700 is still completely relevant. They seem to be selling used in great shape for 1800-1900. The price drop on the new one might be worth the warranty.

I have been looking for a used D700 but since I live in smaller city it is hard to find one. I have noticed in larger cities on Craigslist that they are indeed selling for $1800 to $1900 with less than 10,000 advertised actuations.

The D600 according to nikonrumors.com is scheduled to come out in late Summer may be a good choice, but as usual not enough is known until it is actually released.

I hesitate to buy used other than in person. What do others think about buying used via KEH or other sites?

Phil

Originally Posted by lifeinfocus I have been looking for a used D700 but since I live in smaller city it is hard to find one. I have noticed in larger cities on Craigslist that they are indeed selling for $1800 to $1900 with less than 10,000 advertised actuations. The D600 according to nikonrumors.com is scheduled to come out in late Summer end may be a good choice, but as usual not enough is out until it is actually released. I hesitate to buy used other than in person. What do others think about buying used via KEH or other sites? Phil

Perfectly safe, if you know how to properly test gear. I've bought a handful of both bodies and lenses from KEH and other sites. DGrin and Fred Miranda are also good.

=Matt=

Originally Posted by lifeinfocus I hesitate to buy used other than in person. What do others think about buying used via KEH or other sites? Phil

I heartily second the endorsement of KEH. Fine people to work with. Very reliable rating system.

Originally Posted by Icebear I heartily second the endorsement of KEH. Fine people to work with. Very reliable rating system.

Thank you and Matthew for the info. Matthew, I wonder if you could expand a little on how you would go about testing?

I noted one person on Craigslist is selling a D700 she bought recently that had a bad flash connection and it would have cost her $125 to have it repaired. The camera reportedly had around 55,000 clicks on it when she bought it. So, she was trying to sell it, along with the info. in her advertisement. Unfortunately she paid too much and was selling it for too much.

I have often bought used cars and my number one rule was to buy with very low mileage and maintenance records from private owners. This worked well. I would think methodology could work well for buying used cameras and lens except there are no maintenance records.

Phil

Originally Posted by lifeinfocus Thank you and Matthew for the info. Matthew, I wonder if you could expand a little on how you would go about testing? I noted one person on Craigslist is selling a D700 she bought recently that had a bad flash connection and it would have cost her $125 to have it repaired. The camera reportedly had around 55,000 clicks on it when she bought it. So, she was trying to sell it, along with the info. in her advertisement. Unfortunately she paid too much and was selling it for too much. I have often bought used cars and my number one rule was to buy with very low mileage and maintenance records from private owners. This worked well. I would think methodology could work well for buying used cameras and lens except there are no maintenance records. Phil

I wish I had the time to go into greater detail but suffice it to say that testing autofocus involves a tripod and a cable release, and no I don't need one of those over-priced calibration target gizmos. Just a little creativity with composition and foreground / background.

You can test metering by taking a picture of a grey wall at f/11. ;-)

Put it this way...I really want a D800 but it's hard to justify it for anything other than video with my 700. My only current limitation is cropping but 12MP while nowhere near 36 is still a good amount of resolution. I remember working back with my D50 and making 16x20 prints no problem.

So simply if you need video or very high resolution get the 800, otherwise the 700 will work great.

Originally Posted by Icebear Key word here: Allegedly. Having shot both, would I even think about using a D7000 instead of my D700?? Hell no. There is no comparison IMO. I don't own a D7000, but used one for over 1000 frames. It's a good camera, and I'll give it the advantage in IQ over my D300, but my D700??? No way. I'm anxiously awaiting the D300 replacement.

Absolutely Icebear. What I meant is that the image is "technically" better, at least regarding resolution and dynamic range but I'm not saying it is preferable to the D700.

I hope this clears up what I meant rookieshooter. It's the general consensus around the review sites.

Matthew, I haven't tried resizing dngs so I won't comment but I did read that it was possible with the release of LR4. Great work on that blog by the way ! When you say hdr portraiture are you actually bracketing and merging exposures or adjusting exposure with the raw file and combining it later ?

Actually my main interest in the D800 wouldn't be really high resolution or video ( although those would be used ) it's the unmatched image quality and dual card slots. However, if prices continue to drop on the D700 and assuming it doesn't stop being sold I'm heavily leaning towards it.

Originally Posted by Davidoff Although the D700 would be leaps and bounds ahead of what I'm using, two things make my decision harder: allegedly inferior image quality compared to a D7000 and a single card slot.

I have both a D7000 and a D700. Both are nice cameras. For much of what I shoot they are mostly interchangeable. But the D700 is much easier to shoot and gives me a higher percentage of usable images. I used the D7000 for about 10k shots before I got my D700 last fall. The D7000 was comfortable to me and I was a bit reluctant to shoot with the D700 instead. But the ease of shooting with the D700, its consistently accurate focusing, and its superior low-light capability caused me to use it more and more. Now, the D7000 mostly sits as a backup and the D700 is my everyday, do-everything camera.

We shoot portraits along with horse shows and other events. The D700 gives the best image quality for action work in much less than ideal lighting. And it gives high-quality portrait images that can be blown up larger than what any of our customers want. So, rather than spend money on another camera body when the D4 and D800 were announced, I chose to buy more lighting equipment. That gave me more bang for the buck and really broadened our capabilities.

Dave
www.davebennettphotography.com

Originally Posted by Davidoff ...Matthew, I haven't tried resizing dngs so I won't comment but I did read that it was possible with the release of LR4. Great work on that blog by the way ! When you say hdr portraiture are you actually bracketing and merging exposures or adjusting exposure with the raw file and combining it later ...

A little bit of both, actually. Just depends on the scene.

I'll check LR4 for DNG resizing options. But for the millionth time, I'll just say that I wish Nikon would make an sRAW mode. Who knows, maybe adding that circuitry or technology would diminish the image quality for more than just the image in sRAW, in which case I guess they should just stick with what they've got now. The Canon 5-series has always had terrible issues (plaid noise) with shadow recovery; I wonder if that is due in part to their sRAW capabilities...

=Matt=