Nikon D700 official owners/users thread, anything related to the D700

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I've not noticed a D700 owners/users thread on the "Talk Equipment" forum, as i have D90/D300, so i would like to officially start one, of course if i've missed one perhaps the mods could intervene, but if not let's get started now, so anything you feel is relevant, likes or dislikes, things you may have discovered not covered by the manual, etc, etc, etc, hopefully this is part 1 of many :D
 
Milky nickers .... Fnaarr !!!

Just got the D700 but not used it is anger yet, maybe next weekend once the 14-24mm arrives mid-week.
 
....and I got mine at the weekend too!
 
Hopefully mine will come back from Nikon today. Just before Christmas it bounced off the concrete when I slipped on the ice while out on a job. It went to Nikon who "repaired" it, but has subsequently had to go back to them as the focusing was way off :(

Fingers crossed this time.

Simon

Gutted for you
Maybe Nikon should forget about video mode and install an impact airbag in the next incarnation !!

david700
 
And I got two last week :)

I'll be the first to pitch in with some info on settings.

The D700 is extremely customisable as you know, so where do you start?

I found this really helpful (with thanks to Cowasaki)

http://go.talkphotography.co.uk/?id=722X1339&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmedia.kelbymediagroup.com%2Fswitch%2Fvideo%2Fd-town-tv-episode-11.mp4

Setting up the my menu feature is one of the first things I've done and on "my menu" so far are the commander menu for flash, switching on and off the AF beam and auto ISO. I've also enabled the rear button for zooming on playback and today I'm changing the command dial to scroll through images on playback.

I've only had them for three days so as and when I discover new things I'll make sure I come back and tell you all.

I'll also be reading this thread to see what I'm missing! ;)
 
Gutted for you
Maybe Nikon should forget about video mode and install an impact airbag in the next incarnation !!

david700

i have been waiting for camera armour for mine takes forever to bring out
 
I've also enabled the rear button for zooming on playback

The D3 that I'd rented for this weekend's job was doing that when I got it and I must admit that I hated it! I couldn't change it quickly enough. Due to the equestrian events I cover, I much prefer to have the centre button reset the focus point back to the middle. Besides, I don't have time to chimp the shots, so auto-zooming is wasted on me.

Simon
 
That's what's so great about them though Simon, for your application it does not work but for mine it's perfect! :)
 
The D3 that I'd rented for this weekend's job was doing that when I got it and I must admit that I hated it! I couldn't change it quickly enough. Due to the equestrian events I cover, I much prefer to have the centre button reset the focus point back to the middle. Besides, I don't have time to chimp the shots, so auto-zooming is wasted on me.

Simon

It can do both, the centre button functions as zoom in Playback mode, and while shooting mine reverts to the centre point
 
It can do both, the centre button functions as zoom in Playback mode, and while shooting mine reverts to the centre point

Indeed! But part of my frustration was that the rental camera as also defaulting to putting itself into playback mode after each photo. I guess my real frustration was that I'd not got the manual with me on location and I couldn't remember what options I needed to set.

To make matters worse, the competitors were coming thick and fast all day, with out a break to get it all sorted :(

Still, that'll teach me not to drop my cameras in future. I reckon I need a supply of helium balloons tied to the body. I just hope they don't spook the horses!!

Simon
 
Bought my first d700 in November 2008. Bought the second 12 months ago. Used them both to shoot 10 weddings in 2009 along with quite a lot of outdoor model portraits and a little studio work. I can certainly say I was delighted with the performance and quality of the images produced. I've got a D3s now - mainly for the improved ISO performance, but I'll be using a D700 as my second body and will NEVER be reluctant to go to it. I suspect the two bodies with see equal use this year with the D3s being the "go to" body when very high ISO's (6400+) are necessary.

I look forward to seeing more in this thread and perhaps a few pictures for good measure.

3471930362_67975136f2.jpg


Cheers
 
No no no Simon, Custom functions there's Internal Helium Chamber which you can customise depending on sea level. :)
 
really like that one Ryan :)

Not had a chance to point it at any humans yet!

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Do you mind if I join in :)

Bought mine off Andy (aka puddleduck) back in 2008. Been using it as my prime camera ever since; and loving every bit of it.

I used to treat it kindly, that's until I came back to Saudi when I had subjected it to a horrid sandstorm. It's been serviced since, twice :(. I feel so awful for having to put it through that
 
Hi,

I have had my D700 since April 09 and have been foolishly toying with replacing it with the D3s, but think I will be keeping it until the D4 comes out at least.... (for now...) Upgraditis is a disease people!

Hand held at 1/250th f/8.0, ISO 200. Nikkor 105mm VR with TC2 II (210mm)

Lightened and sharpened (possibly a tad too much) in Lightroom.

4341125660_8a810e4d4f_o.jpg
 
Do you mind if I join in :)

Bought mine off Andy (aka puddleduck) back in 2008. Been using it as my prime camera ever since; and loving every bit of it.

I used to treat it kindly, that's until I came back to Saudi when I had subjected it to a horrid sandstorm. It's been serviced since, twice :(. I feel so awful for having to put it through that

Ouch, that's a horrible scenario! Is there no way you can put it inside some kind of enclosure like they do with underwater gear. Someone somewhere does bags that are like ziplock bags for cameras??????
 
Bought mine at the start of January. Needed a 2nd camera for weddings so took the opportunity to upgrade to a D700 and relegate the D300 to 2nd camera slot. Am loving it so far, the high ISO abilities are what sold it for me and it was worth every penny.
 
Ouch, that's a horrible scenario! Is there no way you can put it inside some kind of enclosure like they do with underwater gear. Someone somewhere does bags that are like ziplock bags for cameras??????

Oooh, don't rub that in please!

I've carried my cameras through many tough environments, always have towels with me; small, medium and large garbage bags; duct tape; even washing clips; even rain guards :p

For some silly reason on that day my IQ must have dropped to UK temperature level! I walked out in the desert, climbing a 400m high sand dune with D700 & 24-70 AF-s plus a D60 & 70-300 AF-S VR all bare naked and exposed :eek::eek:

You don't get more silly than that, except may be the odd moron taking his kit underwater just as bare naked as I've done.

Why on Earth did I do that? Why didn't I wrap them in one of the plastic garbage bags, or at least used the rain guard? I think it was just an IQ issue.

Thank God, they're all been nicely serviced since; and you wouldn't believe the total cost of having to clean and calibrate all that gear (all four of them came to just about £60). I would have rather not have to spend that kind of money doing that kind of service, but alas it's all working great now.
 
I have had mine for over a year now and the original plan was that it would get equal use with a Nikon DX crop. However, the D700 FX got used for almost everything, with the customisable settings being particularly appreciated, not to mention the high ISO's, fast frame rate, sensor self-cleaning, 51 point focusing mode, rugged metal body....

The DX camera and the DX lenses have now gone and I have invested in a grip for the D700 and bought the new Nikon 70-200 VRII. Can't wait for the motorsports season to start.

Ed
 
One thing I'm really glad I get the D700 for is weight. These Nikon lenses weigh a ton! I think with the exception of the 50mm ALL my new Nikon lenses are MUCH heavier than the Canon ones I have been used to.

Hence I'm really glad I went for the D700 because that lot on a D3 would be like a breezeblock!

Having said that I do plan to get a grip for the D700 but that would only be fitted when I need it and not left on permanently.
 
One thing I'm really glad I get the D700 for is weight. These Nikon lenses weigh a ton! I think with the exception of the 50mm ALL my new Nikon lenses are MUCH heavier than the Canon ones I have been used to.

Hence I'm really glad I went for the D700 because that lot on a D3 would be like a breezeblock!

Having said that I do plan to get a grip for the D700 but that would only be fitted when I need it and not left on permanently.

You,ll love your D700 - just feel the quality !!
The only time I take my grip off is to recharge the battery - I find with the grip on it improves the way you hold the camera.

Enjoy - you wont regret it (y)
 
Ok, enough of all this self congratulatory praise and general back slapping at our wonderful D700's :)

Time for a question:
I like to have image preview on, I also like to use spot focus and change the focus point frequently. So I take a pic but I decide not to chimp and go to take another pic but also need to move the focus point, but of course it doesn't, it just moves to the next image in the display. (because I pressed the multi selector within the 4 sec minimum display time) Consequently to avoid this, I have to remember to depress shutter button lightly to clear rear display then use multi selector to change focus point. 
My question is, is there a way around this?
I know I can set a custom setting to use the command dial to scroll through images but that then just sets the multi selector to do something else. (I think its display pic info or something) I suppose I want a custom setting so the multi selector is able to only change focus point and nothing else.

Any suggestions?:shrug:
 
I'm finding all this D700 talk very useful as most of the custom functions are common to D3 and D3x as well...
I'm SO pleased to discover the centre-point-zoom button - I kept hitting it intending to re-centre the focus point only to find loads of bloody thumbnails appearing on the LCD screen - finally: a custom function I can use!!!
 
Any suggestions?:shrug:

I don't hold much hope on solving that one!

The scroll wheel and centre point have different function depending on whether you are in shooting or play back mode. Your chosen method of shooting involves constant switching between the two (if I have understood you right?) Shoot/playback/shoot?

Not sure if you could just disable it in playback mode? :shrug:
 
I appear to be in the minority here since I use the middle button to reset the focisu points in shooting mode and overlay and histogram on the image in playback mode.

I do like the sound of the zoom function though too! Choices, choices, choices....
 
Ok, enough of all this self congratulatory praise and general back slapping at our wonderful D700's :)

Time for a question:
I like to have image preview on, I also like to use spot focus and change the focus point frequently. So I take a pic but I decide not to chimp and go to take another pic but also need to move the focus point, but of course it doesn't, it just moves to the next image in the display. (because I pressed the multi selector within the 4 sec minimum display time) Consequently to avoid this, I have to remember to depress shutter button lightly to clear rear display then use multi selector to change focus point. 
My question is, is there a way around this?
I know I can set a custom setting to use the command dial to scroll through images but that then just sets the multi selector to do something else. (I think its display pic info or something) I suppose I want a custom setting so the multi selector is able to only change focus point and nothing else.

Any suggestions?:shrug:

I'll have a go at this one.

If you don't chimp or want to review what youv'e just shot then simply turn off the picture review function in the playback menu (top of page 265 of the owners manual). If you do occasionally use the review function then set it as one of the functions to turn on an off in My Menu.

Can't try it myself as I'm at work.

Please don;t beat me if this is a load of gash cos I've only got the manual to learn from at the moment.
 
I'll have a go at this one.

If you don't chimp or want to review what youv'e just shot then simply turn off the picture review function in the playback menu (top of page 265 of the owners manual). If you do occasionally use the review function then set it as one of the functions to turn on an off in My Menu.

Can't try it myself as I'm at work.

Please don;t beat me if this is a load of gash cos I've only got the manual to learn from at the moment.

No. that's a great point, and that's exactly where I'm at now with this and seems like the best compromise, thanks for your thoughts Simon (y)
 
I use the middle button to reset the focisu points in shooting mode and overlay and histogram on the image in playback mode.
I used to use the middle button for histogram. I also had loads of info on my playback screen (Hignlights, RGB histogram & Data). Hving all that junk available after I'd taken a shot meant I wanted to use the middle button for histogram. I've now changed my display mode to only show RGB histogram (which will also show me highlights) and I use the centre button for 100% zoom (medium). I find this really sueful as it automatically zooms to where you had focus, so I can see if the image is sharp or not. To centre the focus point I've got in the habit on pressing the AF-ON button (my focus button) to remove the image preview before pressing the centre button.[/QUOTE]

Im thinking about getting a D700 or D3 for weddings, still in two minds which one to get, any views on either one welcome.
I think the smaller size of the D700 makes it the better choice.
 
The vast flexibility of the programming options was a bit daunting to me at first, but now that I'm getting more and more familiar with everything that the camera can do, I really appreciate having those options :). I do tend to use the Shooting Menu banks to store favourite settings as well, although I struggle to remember which settings will actually be stored to a particular menu and which ones are carried over as you switch between banks :thinking:.

It's a God-send to have the 'My Menu' option too, where you can program in your most used (or hardest to find ;)) functions. Personally, I love to use the artificial horizon overlay, when composing landscape shots, although I struggled at first to find it in the full menu. Now, it's right at the top of my list of favourites :)! It even appears as on overlay in Live View, if you press the right buttons.

Aside from all that, the picture quality is pretty fantastic. I honestly didn't realise what all the fuss about the high ISO performance was, until I got a D90 last week and compared 12MP of DX sensor at ISO 1600 with 12MP of FX at the same setting :|. There's a completely different (and rather ugly) look to the pixelation that occurs when you over-crop shots, too. The D700 retains a certain 'dignity', whereas the 100% crops from my D90 seem to break up and show erratic contrast levels, when pushed to the same extremes :shrug:. Of course, if both cameras are used 'properly', then this issue should never arise, it's just that sometimes I really need to crop wildlife shots (on account of not having 4,000GBP for the appropriate lens :naughty:) and things can get messy!

I recently bought a grip for it too and just love the idea that I can switch between using it with or without, depending on what I'm shooting. I will be shooting some 'portraits' at a party in a few weeks time, which means holding the camera on it's side, with a 70-200 f/2.8 lens and an SB900 hanging of it, for about 3 hours :( - the grip will really help there! On other days though, I just plonk the D700 on a tripod and make long exposures of sunsets, or city skylines - no need to carry the additional weight of the MB-D10 for that kind of stuff.

Finally, I'm really glad that I got the D700 as my first serious DSLR (instead of the D300, or the D80), because now my lens collection is nearly all full-frame compatible. As long as we're not all shooting Panasonic GF1s in the years ahead, that should prove to be the right decision :p.
 
Another thing some may not have discovered yet, if you tap the info button twice you can get to pretty much any setting from the back screen easily rather then having to dive into the menus.
 
Another thing some may not have discovered yet, if you tap the info button twice you can get to pretty much any setting from the back screen easily rather then having to dive into the menus.

Never seen that one, and indeed a handy feature, nice to see this thread progressing, keep em coming :D
 
turn of the review you dont check every picture? it speed things up as well,

then just press the revue when you need it.

i have centre button as 1x magnify you can scrool at the same magnifiction as well

i also allways move my focus point never have to wait the way i have it,more important to get the shot than see if youve got the shot or you will miss it.

set fn button to live view,means i can quickly hold the camera above the crowds,quicker than the dial especialy in the dark.
 
good idea i wonder how many of us there are?

Do wannabe's count??:D

If I can sell off the bulk of my Canon gear I can afford to get one...
 
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