Beginner Help me understand differences between D5100 and D700

Major

Major

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Tom
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Hi folks.

I know this might sound stupid, but I try to figure out which body is actually better and why. I saw few cheap D700's in good nick (cheap enough to squeeze in spendings before RIAT) and thought it could be great upgrade from my current body before jumping onto D810 - except for Pentax Spotmatic SP1000 I never used full frame before. Then I googled basic comparison and got kind of confused.

Fair enough - D700 is FX, weather sealed, has built-in focus motor and all that fancy stuff, but D5100 would give me a bit more reach with cropped sensor, has bigger native resolution (with pixels about three times smaller than D700 though) and slightly better dynamic range. Does this mean that D5100 would take better pictures or give me a chance to print bigger? Would you swap D5100 for D700, or would you consider it an upgrade?

Think I was reading a bit too much recently and got it all mixed up. I'll be grateful if someone could put it straight for me :).

Cheers
Tom






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Hi Tom,

Not an expert hopefully some with better knowledge will stop by and help, but them main differences is that the d700 will give better quality pictures in low light as it is a fx body, for what you want might be worth looking for a D7200, or even better just save up and get the D810 that you want.
 
@snerkler

Please can you help with your expertise.

Thank you
 
Major said:
Kev

thank you for chipping in and tagging others, appreciate it!
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No problems Tom, D700 is a good camera but is a bit old now. I have a d90 and upgraded to a d750 and love it, but I don't shot wildlife and planes so works well for me.

I was going to upgrade to a D700 as a mate has one and still uses it as a backup for wedding etc but he does also have better Nikon glass, and does get good images.

In the end I saved up for a while and just got the D750, so best bet would be to save and get the D810 as per your original post.

With the D850 out I am sure the price of used D810 might come down a bit.
 
sep9001 said:
@snerkler

Please can you help with your expertise.

Thank you
Click to expand...
Thanks for thinking it but I’m far from an expert and there’s far more knowledgeable people on here than me lol. But I’ll put in my two penneth ;)

For me this one’s a tough call as to which will give the better final picture. The D700 has always provided excellent results but actually has lower dynamic range than the D5100, which will most likely be due to the D5100 having newer tech. In terms of MP yes the D5100 has more but it’s only 4 more and I don’t think for one second this will make up the difference in IQ between full frame and crop body. I would think for uncropped images the D700 will yield better results, however if it’s a case of shooting the D5100 without cropping and the D700 cropped to the same frame then I wouldn’t like to say. Viewing on a normal screen I would guess the images are going to look pretty similar, but if printing very big then I would guess the D5100 would look better as you’d be printing a 16mp D5100 image vs a 5.5mp D700 image.

This is purely guesswork on my behalf though, I’d have to test both side by side to be sure.

If I was the OP and my long term goal was to get the D810 I would just save my cash and wait til I can afford the camera I really want. That being said, if you can buy and sell a D700 without losing money it’s still an option. I can’t see the D700 offering any discernible difference in IQ though for an air show, and maybe possibly worse if cropping a lot. There are of course other features where the D700 will be better, such as AF.

Dunno if this really helps lol.
 
D810 second hand can be bought for around 1300-1400 now, but I'd aim for new one - always makes me feel a bit better to have brand new gear and warranty :).

Snerkler, it actually does a bit :). For some reason I expected members to come down at me like a ton o bricks saying 'it's FX, of course it will be better". Given the age of D700, your replies and the fact that it was to be only upgrade for time being, I think I can give it a miss and focus on getting good glass for the airshow :).

Thank you for your input.
 
Major said:
D810 second hand can be bought for around 1300-1400 now, but I'd aim for new one - always makes me feel a bit better to have brand new gear and warranty :).

Snerkler, it actually does a bit :). For some reason I expected members to come down at me like a ton o bricks saying 'it's FX, of course it will be better". Given the age of D700, your replies and the fact that it was to be only upgrade for time being, I think I can give it a miss and focus on getting good glass for the airshow :).

Thank you for your input.
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No worries, as I said though it’s oretty much guesswork on my behalf ;)

I don’t know if you’d be happy to buy grey but you can pick up the D810 brand new with 3 years warranty from places like Panamoz for £1600 (probably a bit cheaper if you email and ask ;)). The D750 is £1150, quite a bargain imo.
 
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