I want to give you my personal feelings and observations on the D700

No facts just opinions

There’s plenty of sites with specific details on this new camera so i’ll not repeat this but give you a little of my opinion and leave the stats and facts to them.

My Camera background:

I’ve owned the following cameras

D70
D70s
D200
D300

I use lenses that are low light 2.8 or lower.

D300

That being said earlier this year I bought the D300 primarily because I wanted to be able to operate at higher ISO

While I’m happy I have the D300 i must say that I haven’t been operating at higher ISOs with it.
I think I’m getting pickier and pickier and the way they “get rid” of the grain wasn’t to my liking.

So once again I got a new camera hoping that it would work well in those high ISOs.

Problem Solved

And my first opinion is… it most certainly does seem to solve my ISO problems.

To someone taking pictures in darker situations (receptions or indoors anywhere) that’s a big deal and could be worth the $3k

Right now I’m looking at some pictures I took at a reception. It was dark outside they were cutting the cake and I wanted to be at a faster speed to avoid movement blur when they smeared the cake in eachothers face.

125th of a second speed and 1000ISO and the picture was completely useable… and that’s what it’s all about.

I haven’t been afraid to go up much higher than 1000ISO but I haven’t tested exactly the level that I am comfortable with. My guess is I’d probably go all the way to 3200 without too much concern. And if it’s alright to have a moody grainy picture I might even go up to 12k.

UPDATE: I’ve been looking at a lot of the pictures taken at 1600 and I’ll absolutely use them without any hesitation. They look great! They’re somewhat soft and maybe not crisp as most pictures but had I taken them with another camera the grain would have been prohibitive or at a slower shutter speed the pictures might have been very blury (and that’s worse)

Not only was the grain not a factor but the colors were beautiful!

A Pleasant Surprise

I wasn’t expecting that!
It will take some more shoots to really get a handle on it but my first impression is that the color of the pictures might be way better on this camera… which certainly saves me a lot of time in editing.

Enjoyed it more than I thought.

I always considered myself more of a telephoto kind of guy.
So when I picked up the full frame camera and lost that 50% increase in telephoto I thought it would just be alright. But I must say I really enjoyed it. My 28mm lens acted just like my 18mm lens of old.

Now this just means I’ve got to get a 14-24 2.8 nikon lens for $1600 later in the month.

This is my perspective and it comes from my opinions of my D300 and how it compares… If you have any questions ask away.