What Nikon DSLR would you considered as a backup/remote/second body

rob-nikon

rob-nikon

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I'm off to Skomer soon and I've been thinking about a backup/remote/second body to compliment my Nikon D800. I'm been thinking about this for a while and I've not yet been able to decide what would be best to go with. I did try a GoPro as a remote camera but the trouble was battery life wasn't long enough. If I do get one I'm thinking it would be good to have it before Skomer as it could be a backup in case the worst happened to the d800. 48 hours on Skomer with no working camera does sound like photography hell!

I don't want to spend too much as it would be a second body. I was previously thinking of a D600 as it was the full frame younger brother of the D800. Full frame and high ISO are good points but poor AF coverage and AF system probably mean for wildlife it would be more of a manual focus remote camera rather than a backup or second body. Next I thought of the D7100/7000. The D7000 is probably in the price range I was thinking of, although the the AF on the one I had a few years ago was a bit hit and miss and I never properly trusted it. The d7100 seems to be better as the AF system is better and in my previous experience excellent, high ISO 1600 to 3200 was not bad too. The problem is it's probably a bit more than I was thinking as you can nearly get a D700 for the same price. The D700 gives great AF, full frame and high ISO performance but only 12Mp. There is then of course the D300/D300S, again good AF, fast FPS (which I'm missing with the D800) but not so good IQ or lower ISO performance.

The thing I can't decide on is whether I should try to get a DSLR that can do things my D800 can't. One thing my d800 doesn't do well is FPS and the AF system isn't the best. This has lead me to think maybe the D700 or D300/D300S would be the better choices with the limited budget I'm thinking of (ideally less than £500 but less is better!). The D300/D300S would be a good inflight crop DSLR with 7fps and good buffer and that effective field of view increase (my 200-400 f4 would be a nice 300-600 f4 EFoV). The D700 would be more usefull in low light ang high ISO.

The big question for me is 12MP enough for me, having a D800 does mean you get too used to the large files. Is the IQ of the D300/D300S good enough compared to modern crop DSLRs?​
 
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Hdew will do you a D7100 for £519 body only- not too far from ideal
 
2nd body should be DX imho as that extra reach might just be a saviour while there too
 
rob-nikon said:
That's one of the areas I think the D800 is let down in. I did notice the difference in FPS when I went from a d7100 to the d800.
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D800 is a superb camera specially for the money but your going to Skomer so you don't need the reach with the extra crop of the D800 so the 12mp D700 will do, just frame the shots well and don't crop them and you won't notice any difference unless you enlarge them or print large. The 8fps will help also get that 'different' shot.
 
Joeturner11 said:
D800 is a superb camera specially for the money but your going to Skomer so you don't need the reach with the extra crop of the D800 so the 12mp D700 will do, just frame the shots well and don't crop them and you won't notice any difference unless you enlarge them or print large. The 8fps will help also get that 'different' shot.
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I thinking the extra reach would be useful for in flight shots as puffins are small, fast and quite erratic. I think you are right about framing them well, the 36 mp d800 does make you a little lax as composition can be sorted out in post.
 
I keep going around in circles, on one hand full frame I think would be great but a crop body of similar size to d800 and fast FPS would be a useful addition. I think it either the d300/d300S or the d700. Having different batteries would be a pain but an issue I could live with. The dual CF/SD cards in the d300S would be exactly the same as the d800.
 
Joeturner11 said:
Haha :D I got to sort something out in 2 weeks asap as I head abroad for a good 3 weeks then Farne's straight after, I'll be stuffed I think with a 500mm f/4 on a 7D II only.
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The easiest way to sort that issue is with a 70-200. I use the 70-200 f4 and so far I've been impressed, the lower weight is a benefit. The canon 70-200 f4 is probably similar to the nikon one.
 
rob-nikon said:
The easiest way to sort that issue is with a 70-200. I use the 70-200 f4 and so far I've been impressed, the lower weight is a benefit. The canon 70-200 f4 is probably similar to the nikon one.
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Yep mate, use to have the Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8VR II, superb lens. But as I have jumped the gun to Canon I'm looking now for a lens for that range, majorly considering the 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM, great L series lens with superb IQ and nice and lightweight for the planes baggage allowance...
 
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Joeturner11 said:
Yep mate, use to have the Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8VR II, superb lens. But as I have jumped the gun to Canon I'm looking now for a lens for that range, majorly considering the 702-300mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM, great L series lens with superb IQ and nice and lightweight for the planes baggage allowance...
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Anything more lightweight if carrying a 500 f4 would always be helpful.
 
rob-nikon said:
My previous camera was a D7100 and it was quite good apart from the small buffer. The batteries being the same would be an advantage.
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My current camera is a D7100 an I agree re the buffer, D7200 has a better buffer but £200 further away from ideal than another D7100 and it's a back up. I also thought of the same batteries .
 
Maybe a plan if you can afford the outlay, I was going to mention on your wanted thread for the 24-120mm f4 lens. You could buy the D750 and lens, which in turn works out about £338 when bought as a package compared to individual prices form Panamoz. You could then sell on the D750 after your trip, with probably not losing any or little money. You have the lens you want for about £110 cheaper than what they sell for on here so will give some flexability on camera price or you could keep camera.
 
Swanseajack said:
Maybe a plan if you can afford the outlay, I was going to mention on your wanted thread for the 24-120mm f4 lens. You could buy the D750 and lens, which in turn works out about £338 when bought as a package compared to individual prices form Panamoz. You could then sell on the D750 after your trip, with probably not losing any or little money. You have the lens you want for about £110 cheaper than what they sell for on here so will give some flexability on camera price or you could keep camera.
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That is an interesting idea but knowing me I wouldn't be able to part with the D750 later on as it sounds an awesome camera that has advantages the d800 doesn't (great AF and faster FPS). I couldn't justify having a d800/d750. The problem is after skomer I'm planning another trip to the lakes for red squirrels at the end of August and again in November, a remote camera would be ideal for some image ideas. The problem is the squirrels may not go exactly where i want them so using my only camera as a remote limits photo opportunities.
 
After a bit more thinking Im getting around to the idea that a d300s paired with my d800 would be my best pairing for my current set up. Different batteries maybe but otherwise similar accessories and card types would make it a little easier to run the two side by side. maybe the ultimate wildlife combo would be a d750 as the primary paired with a d7000 as the remote camera. both use the battery, accessories and sd cards so it would be very easy to run side by side. The d750/d7000 would play to both cameras strong points as primary and remote cameras.
 
I dunno what's wrong with me

I used to be interested but its like listening to our lass talk to her mate about.........skin products and handbag
accessories

just take a compact and stop obsessing..:)
 
Not mine Rob but if you want a nice body for virtually no outlay just get the D300s FS here on TP. I cannot understand why this has not been snapped-up already. I would get it in a hearbeat if I did not have the threat of divorce hanging over me if I did ! Have acquired 3 bodies this week already before I noticed the D300s up fo sale. Very annoying !
 
gary43 said:
Not mine Rob but if you want a nice body for virtually no outlay just get the D300s FS here on TP. I cannot understand why this has not been snapped-up already. I would get it in a hearbeat if I did not have the threat of divorce hanging over me if I did ! Have acquired 3 bodies this week already before I noticed the D300s up fo sale. Very annoying !
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I did not notice that one, that's probably near perfect as a backup/remote camera. It also looks like the d300s can be used for timelapse too, that's one thing I would like to try but never want to use the d800 to do it with.
 
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