Upgrade Dilemma - D750 or D810

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I know, I know this question must have been asked a thousand times but these are my 2 options and i just cannot decide.

I currently have a D600, so looking to pair one of the above with it. I'm a family man and shoot lots of portraits of the kids, days out etc. My daughter is a dancer and i quite often shoot her shows etc and my son a footballer. I also like to shoot landscapes occasionally.

I also have a wedding to shoot in May which i was going to shoot with 2 bodies and primes/70-200

Its crazy that an upgrade is 4 year old tech, but i really cannot afford anything much over 1K. I know all the pros and cons of each body, but i'm interested to hear from anyone who has used both bodies, real world experiences really. I've fried my brain looking at youtube comparisions, reviews etc. Is the D750 really that much better at focusing in low light, thats the main thing still luring me with the D750. I know i don't need 36 mega pixels but this upgrade is going to have to last me a few years and i'm afraid i'll always be wondering 'what if' if a get a D750. My pc is more than powerful enough to handle the raw files......

Like i say, i know this has been asked loads of times so any comments/advice greatly appreciated.

Thanks.
 
I know, I know this question must have been asked a thousand times but these are my 2 options and i just cannot decide.

I currently have a D600, so looking to pair one of the above with it. I'm a family man and shoot lots of portraits of the kids, days out etc. My daughter is a dancer and i quite often shoot her shows etc and my son a footballer. I also like to shoot landscapes occasionally.

I also have a wedding to shoot in May which i was going to shoot with 2 bodies and primes/70-200

Its crazy that an upgrade is 4 year old tech, but i really cannot afford anything much over 1K. I know all the pros and cons of each body, but i'm interested to hear from anyone who has used both bodies, real world experiences really. I've fried my brain looking at youtube comparisions, reviews etc. Is the D750 really that much better at focusing in low light, thats the main thing still luring me with the D750. I know i don't need 36 mega pixels but this upgrade is going to have to last me a few years and i'm afraid i'll always be wondering 'what if' if a get a D750. My pc is more than powerful enough to handle the raw files......

Like i say, i know this has been asked loads of times so any comments/advice greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

That is probably a difficult choice tbh because of the variety of things you shoot.

At one point I had both D750's and D810's. To be honest I never liked the D810's, they offered very little over the D800's they replaced. Just seemed like the same camera and it was a disappointing upgrade for me. I would imagine it would be a decent upgrade from a D600 though. It would be a good option for landscapes. I found using them for portraits and weddings that moire was an issue.

I really liked the D750's at the time. The a.f is very good in low light and as an all round camera they are very good value for money especially for what you can buy them for these days. A new one, grey import is less than a grand and should easily pick up a barely used one for around £700. When I had both I much preferred the D750 for weddings. Even though we have switched too Sony now, I still have a couple of D750's although they haven't been out of the cupboard in a while. I sold the D810's for D850's which was a huge upgrade but I no longer have them anymore either and they would be out of your £1,000 budget.

In your position I absolutely would not be buying a camera just because you are going to photograph a one of wedding, that doesn't make any sense at all. You could also borrow or hire another body for the day. I would also be reluctant to invest any serious money into f mount equipment with the way things are going.

It may be out of your budget but you could also have a look at switching to a different system like the Sony A7III for example. The a.f performance is insane compared to what Nikon DSLR's and even there new mirrorless options offer. Which I imagine would be of huge benefit for shooting your daughters dancing and your son's football. They can be boiught grey import for under £1400 now but the overall cost of changing glass etc. might be out of your budget.

Or as another alternative you could look at the older pro Nikon bodies like the D3, D3's and even the D4 which should fit in and around your budget. That would give you a quick camera with good low light performance for your daughters dancing and your sons football and if you keep the D600 still a higher res camera for landscapes.
 
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That is probably a difficult choice tbh because of the variety of things you shoot.

At one point I had both D750's and D810's. To be honest I never liked the D810's, they offered very little over the D800's they replaced. Just seemed like the same camera and it was a disappointing upgrade for me. I would imagine it would be a decent upgrade from a D600 though. It would be a good option for landscapes. I found using them for portraits and weddings that moire was an issue.

I really liked the D750's at the time. The a.f is very good in low light and as an all round camera they are very good value for money especially for what you can buy them for these days. A new one, grey import is less than a grand and should easily pick up a barely used one for around £700. When I had both I much preferred the D750 for weddings. Even though we have switched too Sony now, I still have a couple of D750's although they haven't been out of the cupboard in a while. I sold the D810's for D850's which was a huge upgrade but I no longer have them anymore either and they would be out of your £1,000 budget.

In your position I absolutely would not be buying a camera just because you are going to photograph a one of wedding, that doesn't make any sense at all. You could also borrow or hire another body for the day. I would also be reluctant to invest any serious money into f mount equipment with the way things are going.

It may be out of your budget but you could also have a look at switching to a different system like the Sony A7III for example. The a.f performance is insane compared to what Nikon DSLR's and even there new mirrorless options offer. Which I imagine would be of huge benefit for shooting your daughters dancing and your son's football. They can be boiught grey import for under £1400 now but the overall cost of changing glass etc. might be out of your budget.

Or as another alternative you could look at the older pro Nikon bodies like the D3, D3's and even the D4 which should fit in and around your budget. That would give you a quick camera with good low light performance for your daughters dancing and your sons football and if you keep the D600 still a higher res camera for landscapes.


Don't give me any more options, lol.... Seriously though i have looked at Sony, as they A7 iii is not a bad price but its the hassle involved in selling everything and switching to a new system, the learning curve. I know i could get an adapter and use my Nikon glass, but have read mixed reviews about them. I am reluctant to invest too much as i'm thinking i can't Thanks for taking the time to reply, you've given some good advice and more food for thought.
 
Don't give me any more options, lol.... Seriously though i have looked at Sony, as they A7 iii is not a bad price but its the hassle involved in selling everything and switching to a new system, the learning curve. I know i could get an adapter and use my Nikon glass, but have read mixed reviews about them. I am reluctant to invest too much as i'm thinking i can't Thanks for taking the time to reply, you've given some good advice and more food for thought.

Adaptors for Nikon glass on Sony are very poor, only works well with Canon glass.

Maybe a better option for you would be to stick with what you have for now and hire a a second body for the wedding you have.
 
I had the choice of both cameras a couple of years back and prevaricated for weeks. I had persuaded myself that the D750 was what I wanted right up to the point that I picked it up in the shop and more or less changed my mind on the spot. Compare to the D700 I was replacing, it get like a toy, whereas the D810 felt more familiar.

While I’ve no regrets about getting the D810, I sometimes feel it is more camera than I need, and I’m still not convinced the AF is as good as the D700 (or maybe I’ve not set it up right?). Both are great cameras though.
 
I had the choice of both cameras a couple of years back and prevaricated for weeks. I had persuaded myself that the D750 was what I wanted right up to the point that I picked it up in the shop and more or less changed my mind on the spot. Compare to the D700 I was replacing, it get like a toy, whereas the D810 felt more familiar.
Coming from a D600 the D750 would probably feel more familiar. I used a D700 alongside a D750 and the difference in controls was minor, but occasionally annoying.
 
I had this dilema a couple of years back. Watched all of youtube, read every review. Convinced myself that the D750 was a better all rounder and was cheaper and then went and bought a D810. It was actually the remote port being on the front and the built in VF cover that swayed me. Little things that made my life a little easier for how I shoot. But, much as I enjoyed the D810, I still do think the D750 is a more versatile tool and it is a bit better in low light and does have better auto focus so, offering rational advice, I would say D750 would suit you better. And in the grand scheme of things, the image quality from those 24mp sensors is immense, it's not a poor option here! That said, I know it's stupid but putting myself in your shoes, the only thing that would put me off a D750 is that the sensor is very similar to the D600 so although it is a better camera overall, you aren't going to suddenly be bowled over with your new images. Not an awful lot wrong with D600's/610's either to be honest...
 
IMHO its as much of a camera as most people will ever need and more than enough for most

Its not long ago a 24mp would have been called a super-high-res camera and one no-one really needs unless their image is going on the side of a lorry 30ft wide

35mm did everyone well enough for decades and was superceded in resolution by 6-8mp, yet was still printed several feet wide and we all loved it

Most of those buying such as the D810/D850 are kidding themselves that they need that resolution as few ever print even at its native 300ppi (which is well over A3 in size of course), and super-high res brings its own problems with lenses not being good enough and especially camera shake where the inverse of focal length shutter speed idea of really doesn't work

You've already got 2 ART lenses so if they hook up with the D750 I'm sure you'll be delighted - and its within budget too :)

Enjoy

Dave
 
IMHO its as much of a camera as most people will ever need and more than enough for most

Its not long ago a 24mp would have been called a super-high-res camera and one no-one really needs unless their image is going on the side of a lorry 30ft wide

35mm did everyone well enough for decades and was superceded in resolution by 6-8mp, yet was still printed several feet wide and we all loved it

Most of those buying such as the D810/D850 are kidding themselves that they need that resolution as few ever print even at its native 300ppi (which is well over A3 in size of course), and super-high res brings its own problems with lenses not being good enough and especially camera shake where the inverse of focal length shutter speed idea of really doesn't work

You've already got 2 ART lenses so if they hook up with the D750 I'm sure you'll be delighted - and its within budget too :)

Enjoy

Dave

Thanks Dave, really appreciate an experienced opinion from someone that has used them. I will use the extra cash on other gear.
 
Curiously enough I had a very similar thread, though with slightly different comments, just a couple of weeks back: https://www.talkphotography.co.uk/threads/is-it-worth-an-upgrade.690983/

Dave/DGs comments about resolution are interesting comparing 35mm & MF: I really did move to MF in the 80s because 35mm quality wasn't good enough once I started printing my own pictures and doing part-time professional work. I already own a D610, and image quality with that is probably ahead of the Bronica system I was using, 24MP being pretty decent resolution with a good lens.

I really like the idea of a D810 for resolution & build quality, but the disadvantage of larger image files and lack of flippy rear screen makes the D750 a winner. I also notice that E-infinity are doing new grey ones for about £980, so if you get the used grey D750 in the classifieds I might well go down that route.
 
I have used the D800, D810 and D750. It sounds like, from what you say above, the D750 would be worth considering for what you are intending to use it for. The things I liked about the D750 vs the D8xx are the grip, the screen and the focus felt better (i can't compare to the D810 as I only use a manual lens on that butt he D750 focus felt much better than the D800).

The things I preferred in the Dxx bodies are the size, the shutter over the eyepiece which is not present in the D750 (probably really only an issue for long exposures) and the resolution. I mostly enjoy landscapes so the higher resolution was the main benefit of the D8xx bodies over the 750.

Also I have printed large images from a D200 so don't think that the 24mp resolution would be a handicap for most usage.

Whatever you choose they are great cameras and doubt you will be disappointed with either.
 
I have had a D600, D750 and D810.

The D600 is a bit lacking but you know that. It’s such a hard choice between the D750 and the D810 as they both offer a different feature set.

I went with the D810 and am disappointed I didn’t get the D750 but only in the same way that I would be disappointed I didn’t get the D810 if I’d chosen the D750.

There’s no right answer and either will please you.
The D810’s AF is more than good enough and whilst the D750’s is better it’s like the difference between 24 and 36 megapixels in that 24 is ‘good enough’.

My advice is to forget all the differences between them as they really don’t matter and make the decision on something silly like position of switches or type of box they come in ;)
 
I have had a D600, D750 and D810.

The D600 is a bit lacking but you know that. It’s such a hard choice between the D750 and the D810 as they both offer a different feature set.

I went with the D810 and am disappointed I didn’t get the D750 but only in the same way that I would be disappointed I didn’t get the D810 if I’d chosen the D750.

There’s no right answer and either will please you.
The D810’s AF is more than good enough and whilst the D750’s is better it’s like the difference between 24 and 36 megapixels in that 24 is ‘good enough’.

My advice is to forget all the differences between them as they really don’t matter and make the decision on something silly like position of switches or type of box they come in ;)

My feeling is that the D850 is the answer (apart from the weight, at >1Kg, and price) - flippy rear screen, hi res, great dynamic range, eyepiece shutter, build quality, focussing system. :p
 
My feeling is that the D850 is the answer (apart from the weight, at >1Kg, and price) - flippy rear screen, hi res, great dynamic range, eyepiece shutter, build quality, focussing system. :p
Yup.... completely agree it’s the lovechild of the 750 and 810!

Price though!!
 
I’ve not owned the D810 but have used it, and have owned the D750 (now have the D850). If you are still going to be using the D600 as well I would get the D750, the controls are much more similar and you’re much less likely to get things wrong swapping from one body to another.
 
The D850 will show up any weaknesses in the computer you use for processing, if it’s not up to scratch you’ll see slow editing times.
 
I have the D810 (2 of them) and love them. I don't do weddings but landscape and the extra res is worth while but agree with @DG Phototraining that you need to put the very best lens on them. Sigma Primes, latest 2.8 Zomms only and it's mint. (and I pixel peep and it still blows me away).

For people/weddings/portraits a 750 is fine but the layout of the 810 is a dream
 
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