help /advice needed please...d3oos /d7000

Steve-B

Steve-B

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Hello all, At the moment I use a D90 which I am very pleased with but the time has come to get another body so as i dont have to keep changing lenses when I am out and about..

My type of photography includes a quite a bit of action stuff, birds in flight and motor racing stuff...product photography where I have a table setup and good studio lights and I have just started having a go at portrait stuff, again for inside I have got a good studio light setup and good speedlite setup should I need it..lens wise I use a sigma 50-500 OS for distance stuff and have a 70-200 2.8....50mm 1.4....35mm 1.8 for my other needs.. Oh and I shoot in raw and manual mode pretty well all the time And never use video,so the quality of that doesn't bother me..

My dilema is should I get a D300s or should I go for a D7000....there seems to be so much info on the web saying the d7000 is newer so it must be better, but then I also read it has focus problems with some lenses, and the buffer fills up pretty quick in raw mode ( which could be a problem for action stuff )and it's not built quite as well as the D300s..

Then some people say the D300s is now dated and cant cope with low light ( I dont really have many problems with low light and my D90, as if I am out and about and the light does not make something look nice I tend not want to take pictures of it anyway )So how does the D300s compare to the D90 for low light..

If any one has some usefull advice for me i would be greatful to hear it.. many thanks steve.....

(I have held a d300s and liked the feel of it , as I have big hands...and the 50-500 felt quite well balanced on it with a battery grip..)
 
well the d7000 is basically the same as your d90 just slightly better built with weather sealing but its not as well built as a d300, af wise the d300 beats the d7000 as it also does for fps and the d300 also has better weather sealing, but the d7000 does have better high iso and dynamic range, so if your happy with the image quality of your d90 then you will be happy with the d300 if you ant better buil better af and fps then again the d300 is for you,, if you need higher iso go with the d7000, the 50-500mm os feels spot on with the d300 and d700 gripped.
 
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depend what you want to shoot but after reading the stuff you shoot etc i think D300s suit your needs better.

I also suggest looking into a low shutter count used D300s instead.

Build quality and robust i believe the D300s is better but D7000 still a very solid camera and better build than the D90.

Many go for D7000 is the low light/ISO performance of the camera. Useable ISO up to 6400 and that is impressive and higher mega pixel if that any use to you etc.

If you talking about burst rate, buffer, robust, faster AF then the D300s is your friend.

I'm on the same boat as you last year but went for D7000 because i wanted better low light performance.
 
I chose the a used D300 over the D7000. I did save some money in choosing the D300 though that was by no means the primary motivator.

My reasons for going for the D300 over the D7000 were predominantly ergonomics. Not just the weight and shape of the body but also the control layout and particularly the additional external controls. The D300 is actually quite different to the D7000 in this regard.

The D7000 sensor is at least a stop better than the D300 at high iso. I'd have likes that but I can live without it. There are other advantages that nearly drew me to the D7000 but in the end, holding the two together, I went for the 300.

By the way, as you don't want video, if you're happy to buy used I wouldn't pay extra for a D300S. The D300 is damn near identical but only has single card slot.
 
Try both in hand, I didn't want video and was struck on how solid the D300 felt, also I liked the layout better. Image wise the D300 is plenty good enough as long as you use good glass. I really like the D300 but it can be hard work getting the best from it, the menu's can be tiresome at first, as can remembering which AF setting would suit your subject.

The only thing I really don't like is.....if you set your custom menus then change something it stays changed, ie: it won't return to a 'default' setting.....:cuckoo:, oh, and the shutter sound is a little agricultural :( (bit picky that)

Lovely camera, (once accustomed to it's quirks), nice to use and built like a tank :thumbs:
 
I have the D300, I really like this camera.
Well build,lovely to use,great low light performent.

Not into video,so video does not bother me at all :)
 
DuncanR said:
Try both in hand, I didn't want video and was struck on how solid the D300 felt, also I liked the layout better. Image wise the D300 is plenty good enough as long as you use good glass. I really like the D300 but it can be hard work getting the best from it, the menu's can be tiresome at first, as can remembering which AF setting would suit your subject.

The only thing I really don't like is.....if you set your custom menus then change something it stays changed, ie: it won't return to a 'default' setting.....:cuckoo:, oh, and the shutter sound is a little agricultural :( (bit picky that)

Lovely camera, (once accustomed to it's quirks), nice to use and built like a tank :thumbs:
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You're right about all the menus. A bit bewildering at first how many setting there are but if you spend some time setting up the the custom setting banks and the custom buttons then you should rarely have to use the menu at all. That is my experience anyway. In fact because I use, back button focussing (so always on AFC), always on single point then the only time I even have to change custom setting is to switch auto iso on and off. I think the D7000 has proper U1 and U2 options on the dial which is definetly a neater way of handling custom functions. I'll be amazed if the D400 (or whatever it's called doesn't switch to this way).

And I love the shutter sound, it sort of fits with the chunky build. I think the D300S might have a quiet shutter option which may be useful for some but I love the loud clunk of the D300. Feels like a proper man camera! Actually on that slightly sexist note, my biggest problem with the D300 is that it doesn't have any fully auto modes. It's no issue for me personally but it means that my wife can't pick the camera up and just use it without me first fiddling with the settings for her.
 
thanks for all of the replies, I think i will take my 70-200 2.8 and a memory card into my local camera shop and take a few images on both then bring them home and have a look at them on my pc.. and hopefully be able to make my mind up.. then of course there is the D700, but I cant quite stretch to that one at the moment.
 
I had the same dilemma when upgrading from my D90. I preferred the feel of the D300s and whilst it is older than the D7000 and due an update I felt it was a better spec than the D7000. Im very pleased with the D300s and pleased I went that way.
 
Steve-B said:
thanks for all of the replies, I think i will take my 70-200 2.8 and a memory card into my local camera shop and take a few images on both then bring them home and have a look at them on my pc.. and hopefully be able to make my mind up.. then of course there is the D700, but I cant quite stretch to that one at the moment.
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just dont try the d700 and you will be fine else you will walk out with a d700 its just in a diferent league.
 
scottthehat said:
i bet, it really is in a class of its own.
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the missus just told me to test the d700 as well, it will mean hanging on and saving up a bit more but if it,s that good, which I expect it is..it would be worth the wait..

will my siggy 50-500 and 70-200 2.8 be ok on full frame.
 
steve they will both be spot on on the d700 i love my 50-500mm os on my d700
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Steve-B said:
the missus just told me to test the d700 as well, it will mean hanging on and saving up a bit more but if it,s that good, which I expect it is..it would be worth the wait..

will my siggy 50-500 and 70-200 2.8 be ok on full frame.
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Steve, If and it is a big IF, you can afford the 300 and the 700, they are a superb combination to have.

Search for secondhand stuff, the combo work superbly with each other.
 
I went in to my camera shop this morning armed with my sigma 70-200OS 2.8 and a memory card.....and tried the d300s.....the d7000......and the d700, I tried them all in the shop and down the street and just used them in aperture mode at varying apertures and ISO settings, I found them all to be nice cameras in their own way.. I liked the feel and size of the d300s but wasnt sure if enough of an upgrade from my d90..... I liked the fact that the d7000 was fairly new technology and would feel ok in my hands with a grip on, but when I got home I found that not all of the pictures were as sharp as they should have been ( mind you the ones that were sharp were really sharp ) I also found that the skies in the images taken with the d7000 were blown and white as compared to the images with the D300s & D700 which were a nice blue ( but that might have just been me )......Now on to the D700.....I WANT ONE.....it felt nice in the hand and produced nice images coupled with the 70-200 2.8 inside the shop...superb images out in the street ( even in the shaded parts ) all round a nice bit of kit that I feel would last me a while....

The only downside to the D700 that i could find was nearly £800 more than I had to spend today :( But on the other hand I can live without it for a while longer, As IMHO it will be worth the wait untill I have saved a bit more..

steve. :thumbs:
 
I wish you hadn't done that...I am also in the upgrade D90 to 300/s or 7000 dilemma and was enjoying the thread, now I cannot ignore the 700 which I had managed to do so far (due to cost) :bonk:
 
DoctorJ said:
I wish you hadn't done that...I am also in the upgrade D90 to 300/s or 7000 dilemma and was enjoying the thread, now I cannot ignore the 700 which I had managed to do so far (due to cost) :bonk:
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I have the same problem. I've caught full frame disease and want one badly.

I only bought my D300 a few months ago and it's brilliant but, well you know how it is.
 
Try the D7k again and make sure not to overexpose. The images from my D7k (for the admittedly short period of two weeks I had it) were really very good indeed. Sharp well exposed and oodles of room for post processing if shooting RAW. The lack of sharpness might also be attributed to the fact that the D7K with its cropped higher res sensor is more sensitive to technique/hand shake (one of the main reasons I got a K-5 in the end) so I wouldn't discount it so quickly...

Also keep in mind that if you do use your lenses to their longest tele range you will lose a bit of reach. On the D7K/D300 the FOV is 75-750 for your Sigma and 105-300 for your Nikon but on the D700 that will be the actual range written on the lens.
 
damn you Scott, i'm gasing for a D700 now ...... always wanted another body to work with, can't decide to spend big money on a D700 and use my d7000 as backup or buy a d300(s) and use both depend on what i want to shoot.
 
badboy1984 said:
damn you Scott, i'm gasing for a D700 now ...... always wanted another body to work with, can't decide to spend big money on a D700 and use my d7000 as backup or buy a d300(s) and use both depend on what i want to shoot.
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it does if you dont need the crop factor buy a d700 if you want wow picture quality and high iso buy a d700 if you want the best af well buy a d700:lol:
 
scottthehat said:
it does if you dont need the crop factor buy a d700 if you want wow picture quality and high iso buy a d700 if you want the best af well buy a d700:lol:
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Thats why i wanted the D700. Wow and high quality iso performance. My D7000 can be use for other purpose.

All my glass is FX except the 35mm f1.8 AF-S but thats no bigger since i can still use that on the D7000.

Is one of those get a new D700 or a used D3 :)
 
yeah thats why i'm considering Full Frame at this stage, if this was last year i would say no. I spend most of my $$$ on replacing lens that can drive me to full frame. Sometimes is good to replace the lens first and camera body later so i don't have to sell everything inorder to buy the camera and 1 lens. Now i'm in a good position to upgrade without losing anything :)
 
scottthehat said:
if you want the best af well buy a d700:lol:
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As far as I'm aware the AF in the D300/S is the same as the D700, but has the benefit of being spread over more of the scene.

While not as cheap as scottthehat posted, keep an eye on Camerapricebuster for the latest prices. ;)

There is supposed to be an announcement from Nikon tomorrow (I think) which 'could' be a D800, and so 'may' affect D700 prices. ;) :lol:
 
redhed17 said:
As far as I'm aware the AF in the D300/S is the same as the D700, but has the benefit of being spread over more of the scene.

While not as cheap as scottthehat posted, keep an eye on Camerapricebuster for the latest prices. ;)

There is supposed to be an announcement from Nikon tomorrow (I think) which 'could' be a D800, and so 'may' affect D700 prices. ;) :lol:
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the d700 price wont drop and the d700 has the same af system as the d700 but its quicker and just better, its like the d3s is better than the d700 but its still the same af system just tweeked more.
 
badboy1984 said:
yeah thats why i'm considering Full Frame at this stage, if this was last year i would say no. I spend most of my $$$ on replacing lens that can drive me to full frame. Sometimes is good to replace the lens first and camera body later so i don't have to sell everything inorder to buy the camera and 1 lens. Now i'm in a good position to upgrade without losing anything :)
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good choice, i couldnt live with out a crop camera just bring out the d400 with d700 high iso and i will be a happy bunny.
 
Yeah, thats definite. I prefer 1 full frame and 1 crop for my setup. Sometimes a crop body is good on some situation.

I guess i better start looking for a D700 then :)
 
I got both of them,if i had to stick to one of them,it would be the D700.

The other thing is the D800 when it come out,seem to be going to be taking on the Canon 5Dmkll,which mine mean a lot of people hang on to their D700,keeping the prices up.
 
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