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

Jeff.B said:
Need to take photo's of dogs running toward me/away from me/across field of view. Have set camera:

Custom Setting Menu a1 (AF-C Priority selection): "Release + Focus."

Custom Setting Menu a3 (Dynamic AF Area) to 51 Points (3D Tracking)

Camera in continuos focus mode - aperture priority.

Using 70-200 lens - 1000 iso gives me 400sec at f5.6

Any more I can do to improve image sharpness.

Thanks

jeff
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1/400th sec aint gonna freeze the action and will have loads of motion blur, either shoot at f/4 or f/2.8 or up the ISO
 
Gary Coyle said:
1/400th sec aint gonna freeze the action and will have loads of motion blur, either shoot at f/4 or f/2.8 or up the ISO
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For anything with movement like that, use Shutter Priority and let Auto Iso take the strain. You want to be at about 1/1000th sec as your starting point to freeze the action. Oh, and "Ch" shooting, obviously!

I normally shoot RAW and AV, but for Action shots I have these settings filed-away on bank D, and work very well. Only problem I had was with shooting my black&white dog against muddy snow, the auto-WB came up with some funny results sometimes that weren't too easy to fix in post, but for machine-gunning pictures jpg saves a lot of time!

JPEG, Picture Control VIVID-03 (Sharpening 7, Sat +2, Hue -2), Auto ISO 6400 (min 1/250)

With no pretentions as to the artistic or techinical virtue of my pics : Doggy ones here (handheld - but I think I overdid the sharpening though), and some better cycling pictures here (monopod). All with 70-200 VR II. And in case you are still worried about letting the ISO up itself automagically, this helicopter was taken handheld, in dreadful light, wind & rain, with a x2 extender, at max length...



p.s.
all of which reminds me - it bugs the hell out of me that we have to change both Shooting Bank and Custom Setting Bank, plus about 5 levers, to flip from (say) Portrait to Sport...why don't they just have 4 buttons to recall entire setups with one touch....
 
flossie said:
For anything with movement like that, use Shutter Priority and let Auto Iso take the strain. You want to be at about 1/1000th sec as your starting point to freeze the action. Oh, and "Ch" shooting, obviously!

I normally shoot RAW and AV, but for Action shots I have these settings filed-away on bank D, and work very well. Only problem I had was with shooting my black&white dog against muddy snow, the auto-WB came up with some funny results sometimes that weren't too easy to fix in post, but for machine-gunning pictures jpg saves a lot of time!

JPEG, Picture Control VIVID-03 (Sharpening 7, Sat +2, Hue -2), Auto ISO 6400 (min 1/250)

With no pretentions as to the artistic or techinical virtue of my pics : Doggy ones here (handheld - but I think I overdid the sharpening though), and some better cycling pictures here (monopod). All with 70-200 VR II. And in case you are still worried about letting the ISO up itself automagically, this helicopter was taken handheld, in dreadful light, wind & rain, with a x2 extender, at max length...

p.s.
all of which reminds me - it bugs the hell out of me that we have to change both Shooting Bank and Custom Setting Bank, plus about 5 levers, to flip from (say) Portrait to Sport...why don't they just have 4 buttons to recall entire setups with one touch....
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Could also use manual with auto iso set that way you set the shutter speed and you can select the apature and the camera the iso.
 
What body were you using before Rob? I went from the a D300 and D5000 and just found the low performance incredible. I too spent my first evening papping the cat! Great purchase, enjoy!
 
gad-westy said:
What body were you using before Rob? I went from the a D300 and D5000 and just found the low performance incredible. I too spent my first evening papping the cat! Great purchase, enjoy!
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I first started with a D60 and then a D90. I've kept my D90 though as a back up, and to use my wide lens with, as I cant afford a FF wide angle yet :(
 
Mank said:
I first started with a D60 and then a D90. I've kept my D90 though as a back up, and to use my wide lens with, as I cant afford a FF wide angle yet :(
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Full frame ultra wide angles can be pretty pricey. I've had a Nikon 14mm prime, a Nikon 18-35, a Sigma 17-35 and a Sigma 12-24. Yes, I am very indecisive. I'd have another 18-35 out of that lot as although it's not perfect, it's sharp at f11 and you can use filters. Above all it doesn't cost the earth. Ultimately I'd like a 16-35 or a 14-24 but both of those are big money whichever way you cut it.
 
Yep I know :(

A lot of people thought I was mad paying £500 for my 10-24 (no tog friends) so pretty £900-1000 is insane to most! :LOL:

I do like to go wide as I can, so not sure something like a 18-35 would be wide enough for me. I would love a 14-24 but the hassle with filters is a real pain in the arse!

I'm trying to sell a few of my car bits atm to buy a 24-70 & 70-200 :D
 
Mank said:
Yep I know :(

A lot of people thought I was mad paying £500 for my 10-24 (no tog friends) so pretty £900-1000 is insane to most! :LOL:

I do like to go wide as I can, so not sure something like a 18-35 would be wide enough for me. I would love a 14-24 but the hassle with filters is a real pain in the arse!

I'm trying to sell a few of my car bits atm to buy a 24-70 & 70-200 :D
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The Sigma 12-24 is worth a look then. I just sold mine recently as it wasn't my cup of tea but it sounds like it might be right up your street. Pretty sharp, no complex distortion and insanely wide. Can't use filters though :(
 
Mank said:
Yep I know :(

A lot of people thought I was mad paying £500 for my 10-24 (no tog friends) so pretty £900-1000 is insane to most! :LOL:

I do like to go wide as I can, so not sure something like a 18-35 would be wide enough for me. I would love a 14-24 but the hassle with filters is a real pain in the arse!

I'm trying to sell a few of my car bits atm to buy a 24-70 & 70-200 :D
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trouble with lenses is you start off saying xxx is an outrageous amount to spend, then you finally work up to getting one, get so used to it that you consider xxx a reasonable amount but xxxx is outrageous... then you finally give in and spend xxxx, but xxxxx is outrageous... repeat ad infinitum :LOL:

Enjoy the D700, its a fantastic camera had mine a year now and still nowhere near finding any limits with it! (y) (doesn't stop me lusting over a D4 though hahaha)
 
gad-westy said:
The Sigma 12-24 is worth a look then. I just sold mine recently as it wasn't my cup of tea but it sounds like it might be right up your street. Pretty sharp, no complex distortion and insanely wide. Can't use filters though :(
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For some unknown reason, I'm a bit of a fanboy and would like to keep all my lenses Nikon ones, madness I know! :LOL: But would be willing to give the sigma a go as its so wide!

flossie said:
trouble with lenses is you start off saying xxx is an outrageous amount to spend, then you finally work up to getting one, get so used to it that you consider xxx a reasonable amount but xxxx is outrageous... then you finally give in and spend xxxx, but xxxxx is outrageous... repeat ad infinitum :LOL:

Enjoy the D700, its a fantastic camera had mine a year now and still nowhere near finding any limits with it! (y) (doesn't stop me lusting over a D4 though hahaha)
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Yea, very true. Tbh I have no problem spending £900-1000 on a good lens. I hired a 24-70 & 70-200 last week for a wedding and I didn't want to send them back. A dream to work with and such nice results! And that was just on a D90 too!! :love:
 
Thanks Brian. Have you applied any sharpening to them?

What do they go for 2nd hand?

I'm looking for something to replace me Nikon 10-24 that i had on my D90.
 
They would all have some sharpening and other PP applied before going on Flickr. I can pull out some straight from camera samples if you like. I probably haven't used it sufficiently, or spent enough time examing what's coming out of it, to tell you if it's a sharp sample or not.

I went for it because I wanted a wide angle lens and the 14-24 was pricier plus it has the filter issue. I had a Sigma 10-24 on my D90, a very sharp copy, and I loved it.

I really struggled to find one second-hand - had a wanted ad on TP for some time, and on another site. Got a mint six-month old one off ebay for £715 delivered in the end.
 
Mank said:
Has anyone used a 16-35 on their D700 on here?? :)
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I had the 14-24 but like most, I sold it due to the filters being way to expensive although this is a fantastic lens, probably one of the best out there.

Went straight out and got the 16-35 and never looked back. Highly recommend this lens. Look at the reviews, you won't be disappointed if you take the jump, perfect combination with your D700 (y)
 
On a wedding over the weekend one of my d700's lost the rubber viewfinder eyepiece so need a replacement. Anybody got any recommendations?
 
Yeh thats the one I had. Just wondering whether any of the other aftermarket ones are worth considering?
 
Thanks for the info guys!

I think its time to save and then sell the Nikon 10-24 when the time comes!

I'd love a 14-24 but unfortunately its a little out of price range and not being able to use filters is a big downer for me :(
 
psybear said:
Just for you Rob, a better example of the 16-35 on a D700. Here's a shot I took on Thursday evening, tripod mounted. The image has had a little sharpening and contrast boost.
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That seems much better than the 17-35mm in the corners. It was only recently that I used it on the D700 after years of using it on a crop and was somewhat disappointed with its edge performance. The 16-35 seems like quite a bargain in comparison.
 
psybear said:
Just for you Rob, a better example of the 16-35 on a D700. Here's a shot I took on Thursday evening, tripod mounted. The image has had a little sharpening and contrast boost.

Titanic Signature Building, Belfast by akaPaddy, on Flickr
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Nice picture. I like the 16-35 on my D700 a lot too - sadly I'm about 6 months behind in uploading anything to Flickr or I'd share some too!

Out of interest did you do any lens correction (no EXIF so can't see if at 16mm, where you have to do a lot of barrel correction etc, but fortunetly LR/PS automates this). ...Time for a sensor clean though, looking at the sky on the right middle! :(:D
 
No lens correction on the shot posted here. I will sometimes use the lens profiles in Camera Raw for this but not this time.

On my iPhone now and can't see much detail but other pics I took that night (some of which are also on Flickr) definitely had sensor muck showing. My D700 wasn't set up to sensor clean automatically, but it is now!
 
I picked up a new D700 on Saturday along with an MB-D10 grip and just wanna say how much I love it.

Love the controls, the focus system, solid feel body - it just oozes quality and I haven't even taken it out yet (due to weather) or tested iso levels.

I now look at my poor old D90 with pity as it feels like a toy in comparison but it still takes great pics and on occasion I'll need 2 bodies.

One thing I do know is I'm gonna have fun with the D700 - the w/end can't come soon enough:)
 
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Congratulations Stuart on the arrival of your new baby :clap: ;)

If your home bound, give the iso a good old test indoors, think you will be amazed (I hope) :LOL:

Welcome to the club (y)
 
Well thought I'd say 'Hi' in here as well. I got a D700 just over a week ago but the lens I got with it was faulty, no problem got refunded so now thinking of new lens, well second hand one.

16-35 is interesting but think it is to much at the moment

20-35mm f2.8 is very interesting the only think I have aganst it is weight.

18-35mm f3.3-f4.5 is the one I think I plump for.

35mm f2 I love this lens I have a similar one of 2 other film cameras and this was the one I orginally got but had to return it.

Any thoughts on any of the above lens?
 
Knikki said:
Well thought I'd say 'Hi' in here as well. I got a D700 just over a week ago but the lens I got with it was faulty, no problem got refunded so now thinking of new lens, well second hand one.

16-35 is interesting but think it is to much at the moment

20-35mm f2.8 is very interesting the only think I have aganst it is weight.

18-35mm f3.3-f4.5 is the one I think I plump for.

35mm f2 I love this lens I have a similar one of 2 other film cameras and this was the one I orginally got but had to return it.

Any thoughts on any of the above lens?
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I can only comment on the 16-35 as out of your list, that's the only I've got. I love that lens and to be honest never looked back after selling my 14-24.

But at the same time, it all depends on what you want to shoot. Many a time I use the full 16mm for sea & landscapes but also knowing I can move down to 35 when ever I want. So if you shoot wide, then the 16-35 is for you!

The other lenses I will leave for others to comment on
 
Knikki said:
Well thought I'd say 'Hi' in here as well. I got a D700 just over a week ago but the lens I got with it was faulty, no problem got refunded so now thinking of new lens, well second hand one.

16-35 is interesting but think it is to much at the moment

20-35mm f2.8 is very interesting the only think I have aganst it is weight.

18-35mm f3.3-f4.5 is the one I think I plump for.

35mm f2 I love this lens I have a similar one of 2 other film cameras and this was the one I orginally got but had to return it.

Any thoughts on any of the above lens?
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You could check out www.pixel-peeper.com for the required lens on a particular body - its linked to peoples images on flickr (as I am so to believe)
 
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