D700 vs D800(e?)

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ecniv

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Missus has hinted at a possible xmas pressie as an upgrade to the d300.

I'm leaning more to the d800e (although considering going to america as its around 800ukp cheaper). Anyways, If you could have one of : d700, d800, d800e and money is a problem, would you go for the d700? Or are there enough things on the d800/e to set it apart (and double the price) ?

I'd like to see some comments from those people who upgraded from d300/d700 to the d800 and anything from those who have played on both (either dabbled with the 800 but went with a 700 or have a 700 but were lucky enough to borrow the 800 for a weekend (for example)).

I look forward to your comments! :)
 
Of course the biggest differences are pixel count and video capability (D700 vs D800). If these are important to you then it's a reason to choose between them. The D300 is a fine DX body of course, will FX benefit or hinder you? Depending on what you shoot and what lenses you have?? Do you have just DX lenses now?
 
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The D800 is doubtless a step up from the D700, but is it worth nearly double? and the d700 is doubtless a fine camera. The other 'issue' with the d800 is it asks very demanding questions of your glass. I'd probably go d700 in your situation
 
May be worth waiting for the rumored D600 which may be a better bet. Should be announced at the end of summer so you may just get one by the end of the year.
 
ah5168 said:
May be worth waiting for the rumored D600 which may be a better bet. Should be announced at the end of summer so you may just get one by the end of the year.
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but conversely if you wait for the next rumoured model you'll be waiting forever
 
the 35 DX works really well on fx bodys :)
 
ecniv said:
Um..? Really - thought the camera changed to dx 5mp mode - or can you 'force' it to stay ff, but get vignetting/black circles?
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Just turn off the option in the menu ... no force required Luke :D
 
I'd get a D700 and spend the change on some nice glass. 24-70 f2.8 maybe or a 16-35 if you want something wide again like to Tokina?
 
I`m holding off a D800,either one, until i see some real world shots. I`m just not convinced about the lenses being able to cope with the megapixels.

I may be wrong, but i`m just not convinced just yet.
 
ecniv said:
Um..? Really - thought the camera changed to dx 5mp mode - or can you 'force' it to stay ff, but get vignetting/black circles?


D600.. hmmm Will go a hunting for info :D
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I'd have assumed the same as you but having read up a bit this morning, I'm really quite surprised. Some vignetting wide open but to be honest of the examples I've seen, probably less than my (fx) 70-200 wide open. Starting to wish I hadn't been so hasty to sell my 35mm when I switched to full frame.
 
fracster said:
I`m holding off a D800,either one, until i see some real world shots. I`m just not convinced about the lenses being able to cope with the megapixels.

I may be wrong, but i`m just not convinced just yet.
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Where have you been looking for your "real world" shots. I just typed D800 into flickr and got 72000 results, any forums dealing with nikon has plenty of D800 shots. What do you class as "real world"


Putting the D800 into DX mode still gives you more pixels than a D300 too.

Since you say money is an issue id get a D700.
 
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When i went full,full frame a little while ago,kept my D700 body,and sold all my dx gear D300,thought about the D800 but in the end when for an s/h D3.

One i dont need video,and the other i dont think i need 36mp,for what i shoot.

:)
 
simonblue said:
When i went full,full frame a little while ago,kept my D700 body,and sold all my dx gear D300,thought about the D800 but in the end when for an s/h D3.

One i dont need video,and the other i dont think i need 36mp,for what i shoot.

:)
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Yes similarly I've got a D3 and just got a D7000 for video (and other advantages over my D200)
Do I need a D800 with all those pixels... hardly ever really :shrug:
 
ecniv said:
Um..? Really - thought the camera changed to dx 5mp mode - or can you 'force' it to stay ff, but get vignetting/black circles?


D600.. hmmm Will go a hunting for info :D
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I've got a mate who has a D700 and he borrowed my 35 and the shots didn't look any worse the shots i have taken on my DX D200
 
You could have a D700 and 24-70 f2.8 for about the same price as a D800. That's a nice combination. :)

I recently upgraded to this from a D90 (same sensor as D300?) and am really pleased with the results.

But if you want a new D700 a lot of places seem to be running out of stock...
 
I've got a D3 (so basically the same as a D700) and D800. Either will be an incredible step up from the D300 - I was a naysayer for a long time, but my pictures changed overnight when I got my D3

They're both great cameras, but also quite different.

D700/D3 can go quite fast (especially with battery grip+D3 battery), perform well at high isos in low light, and 12MP is enough for many uses.

D800 is phenomenal tbh. It is however, a lot of money, relatively slow (4fps or something like that) and man these files are huge.

It depends what you shoot I guess really - if sports is your bag, you WON'T want a D800 as you'll be spending another grand just for the memory cards you'll churn through in a game! On the other hand, the pictures from my D800 are awesome - and being able to zoom in...and in... and in... is cool...

if you're after a good second hand D700, aperture UK have usually got some in for around £1250, drop Richard an email.
 
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Another alternative being a s/h D3s which would have been my choice if I was in the position I was when I got the D3, now.
It is def worth remembering lenses as said previously, quality FX lenses are of course expensive.
 
fracster said:
I`m holding off a D800,either one, until i see some real world shots. I`m just not convinced about the lenses being able to cope with the megapixels.

I may be wrong, but i`m just not convinced just yet.
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Have a look at hairyduck's photos on here he was using an 800e on our Skomer trip.
 
essexash said:
Where have you been looking for your "real world" shots. I just typed D800 into flickr and got 72000 results, any forums dealing with nikon has plenty of D800 shots. What do you class as "real world"


Putting the D800 into DX mode still gives you more pixels than a D300 too.

Since you say money is an issue id get a D700.
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Not on a pc monitor or a resized version on flickr. Or 1024 minature on here.

Anyway,some kind soul is dropboxing me some RAW files.

I guess that will suffice.
 
Thanks Iain, but Hugh is sending me some RAW files so I can have a good look at full size shots.

The one thing that puts me off more than anything else, as a mainly wildlife and hunting photographer is the lack of FPS. I know that sometimes, indeed most times, I don`t need 8 fps, but it is there if i need it on the 700 and 300.

The 800 looks a fantastic piece of kit no matter what though.
 
Had to convert to DNG, I only have CS5. But they are very impressive,thanks Hugh.
 
ecniv said:
@itsdavedotnet
Richard? Is it on the Aperture webiste?
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ah, they tend to go quite quickly - drop them an email saying that you're in the market for one, and they'll try and let you know when they get one in. Or try MPB or the classifieds here.
 
Have you read the rest of this thread?
 
I bought and then sold my d800. Not for me at all. I grabbed an immaculate one year old d700 recently for £1000 as a backup body. I think that all things considered the d700 is the best Nikon DSLR ever made and its unfortunate they chose not to create a direct replacement for it...

Only reason I can see to go D800 is MP count or video. Otherwise, a secondhand d700 for around £1k is a no brainer.
 
decigallen said:
I bought and then sold my d800. Not for me at all. I grabbed an immaculate one year old d700 recently for £1000 as a backup body. I think that all things considered the d700 is the best Nikon DSLR ever made and its unfortunate they chose not to create a direct replacement for it...

Only reason I can see to go D800 is MP count or video. Otherwise, a secondhand d700 for around £1k is a no brainer.
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Why was it not for you, deci ? What did you expect to get that never happened ?
 
maninsuitcase said:
I did but I'd already posted that as I didn't realise the thread continued on.
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Fair comment Chris, apologies for my rather short reply to your links.

I have looked at the RAW file and am very impressed. I guess i now need to convince myself the 4 fps is enough for me.
 
I upgraded from a D300 to a D800e three weeks ago myself. I was having similar concerns as those raised in this thread, particularly did I really want to go to full frame given my primary focus is wildlife. Would I really find the new camera a step up from the old D300?

I can now reveal the answer is a firm yes. It is a truly stunning bit of kit, and has completely revolutionised my photography. The ability to crop a full frame image down to even a third of the size, and still have fantastic quality image is a game changer for me, and just can't be underestimated.

I wouldn't be too concerned about the lenses used, providing of course that they are proper FX. Remember that the D800(e) has a DX pixel density of 15Mp, lower than the D7000 - but people don't seem to be so concerned about using only the very best lenses on the D7000.

The only significant problem with the D800(e) is the amount of memory storage you now need to carry. My old 16Gb compact flash would comfortably see me through a days shooting on the D300. On the D800(e) however, it seems to run out embarresingly quickly, resulting in an upgrade to 32Gb cards as the minimum size.
 
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Bluelion said:
I upgraded from a D300 to a D800e three weeks ago myself. I was having similar concerns as those raised in this thread, particularly did I really want to go to full frame given my primary focus is wildlife. Would I really find the new camera a step up from the old D300?

I can now reveal the answer is a firm yes. It is a truly stunning bit of kit, and has completely revolutionised my photography. The ability to crop a full frame image down to even a third of the size, and still have fantastic quality image is a game changer for me, and just can't be underestimated.

I wouldn't be too concerned about the lenses used, providing of course that they are proper FX. Remember that the D800(e) has a DX pixel density of 15Mp, lower than the D7000 - but people don't seem to be so concerned about using only the very best lenses on the D7000.

The only significant problem with the D800(e) is the amount of memory storage you now need to carry. My old 16Gb compact flash would comfortably see me through a days shooting on the D300. On the D800(e) however, it seems to run out embarresingly quickly, resulting in an upgrade to 32Gb cards as the minimum size.
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That's about what I expected to hear from someone who has gone for the D800 (y) and is why I am keen to hear what made decigallen decide the D800 was not for him.
 
fracster said:
Fair comment Chris, apologies for my rather short reply to your links.

I have looked at the RAW file and am very impressed. I guess i now need to convince myself the 4 fps is enough for me.
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Thanks, I should have read further before posting though however.

I am incredibly impressed but what I don't quite get is why is the D7000 not getting such rave reviews of detail? Is it the sensor or the processing after?
 
arclight said:
Why was it not for you, deci ? What did you expect to get that never happened ?
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Ergonomically I found it not as usable as the D700 - this mostly centres around the changes to focus mode selection. I prefer physical switches. I found the new layout to be less intuitive - something that a lot of use would no doubt improve but still it would never be as natural.

Speed wise, for what I do it was a tad on the slow side compared to a D700 (with and without battery pack).

File size was the main issue - I expected it to be and it was. I don't need or want to crop much in post so all those extra megapixels are wasted on me. File size is crippling - even with lossless compressed RAW. It also slowed down my pp enough for me to notice a difference. While I'd prefer having more MP than a D700 has, I would rather 12mp than 36mp.

Its not a replacement for the d700, and while I accept that this was never a plan, there's no Nikon body at present to fill that gap. The specs of the 5d3 are what I wanted. I wish the d800 was a 16 or 24mp camera akin to the 5d3 with a more expensive d800e being exclusively 36mp.

So why did I buy it despite my fears of unsutability? Because I got it for 2099 on pre-order and knew I could spend some time with it, sell and get my money back.

I shoot weddings and bands mainly. If I was a landscape or studio photographer I'd love it, but i'm not, ergo it's not for me - especially when you could get a d700 and a great bit of glass for the same money.
 
Thanks for the feedback, deci. I can see how your subject material would be a strain with the large file sizes. I am mostly landscape and a little wildlife and have a pc with a lot of processing power so am not too bothered about file sizes and do not rattle off a lot of frames at a time.
Like you I wish Nikon had gone for less megapixels (24MP would have been about spot on). D800 is still my aim (once the focussing problem is sorted out).

Cheers,
Dougie
 
Something else to consider is the monitor used to view images on. I just upgraded from a standard 22 inch monitor to a Dell U2711 and the difference is huge. Also consider software for handling files...CS6 and a workststion graphics card with a display port connection will be made use of by the new mercury graphics engine and it handles heavy manipulation of files with ease. I have a D700 btw, just got it in fact from HDEW. Came from a 7D. Very happy with it. Got the Nikon 24-70 f2.8 to go with it, stunning lens on this body.
 
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