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07/13/2008 09:36:00 PM · #1 |
Nikon reps where in the area at National Camera Exchange, and my friend said they brought D700s, so of COURSE I was there! Anyways, here's a couple things I noted that confused me after reading previews, that I had corrected for me while talking to the reps:
- DPReview and other sources said there was no greyed out box for DX lenses, like the D3 does, instead it just puts guide lines around where the image will be. This is untrue. There's a menu option that allows you to disable the red flashing AF point in order to turn on the grey-out of the rest of the viewfinder when using DX lenses.
- There is not a way to change shooting menu banks with the Fn or Preview buttons, as I was under the impression. There is, however, a way to change shooting banks without entering menus. By hitting the Info button to bring up the shooting information on the back screen, there are 2 bars at the bottom with popular shooting options. Pressing Info again gives you access to these options and the ability to change them, so it's still a bit faster than moving into menus to change shooting banks, but nowhere near as cool as it would be to be able to hold down the Fn or Preview button and use the dials to flips between shooting banks.
That's all the miscommunications I can think of at the moment. But other than those things, WOW!!! It's a ****ing amazing camera!!!! First thing I did (and I've played with a D3 before, fyi) was crank the ISO to 6400 and take a test shot. God DAMN!! It's amazing! There's quite literally NO visible noise in lighter portions of the image, and there's very slight shadow noise. It's still amazingly sharp (I did this with a 50mm f/1.8) and clear.
My other observations were equally positive. It took me a second to get used to the new Info screen, but it's actually quite slick being able to access important settings on the back screen ala point and shoots. The viewfinder was HUGE and very bright, and the body itself was really no bigger than the D300 except for the pentaprism box, which rose a bit higher. Apperently there's a weight difference between the D300 and the D700 as well, but hell if I noticed it. The top LCD is smaller than the D300s, but who cares? It still has everything it needs.
So aside from being able to toy around with this BEAUTIFUL new camera, I got to try out some of Nikon's BEAUTIFUL new lenses as well! I tried the 14-24 f/2.8 on the D700, and wow. I was blown away. I'd read Rockwell's review of it, saying it was a masterpiece of a lens, sharp all over at all apertures, and he was absolutely correct. The very tips of the corners were just as sharp as the center at f/2.8, and the whole image overall was incredibly sharp as well. The other thing I noticed about this lens is it didn't display the same sort of softness at maximum aperture as say a 50mm f/1.8 does. Whereas a wide open 50 f/1.8 is still very sharp, it's easily noticeable that the image is soft, and has a cool (in the right application) "glow" to it. Not so on the 14-24 f/2.8.
I also had my first experience with a T/S lens. I used the 24mm f/3.5 PC lens on the D700 as well. Those things are slick! I didn't totally grasp the entire application of it, but they're really engineering marvels. Aside from shifting left/right and being able to tilt up and down, the rep showed me that the entire LENS can twist around, so you shift up and down and tilt left and right! You can even cock the lens at what looked to be 70, 45, and 30 degree angle in either direction. Very cool and very fun to mess around with!
Unfortunately, Nikon didn't have an SB-900s or either of the two new T/S lenses with them, but it was a great time! The D700 is spectacular, the two exotic lenses perform marvelously and are a blast to use, and I had a great time talking to the Nikon rep of the area and one of the tech support guys. Great cameras and great people. It was fun!
If anyone has any questions, feel free to ask. I may or may not be able to answer them, but I'll try nonetheless! |
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07/13/2008 09:48:26 PM · #2 |
| I've played with the D3 with the 14-24mm on it and all I can say is I need to have one. It is one of the finest pieces of glass I've ever seen. |
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07/13/2008 10:01:49 PM · #3 |
Originally posted by cryan:
I've played with the D3 with the 14-24mm on it and all I can say is I need to have one. It is one of the finest pieces of glass I've ever seen. |
True... I'm still loking for excuse to buy them. |
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07/13/2008 10:30:15 PM · #4 |
Originally posted by cryan:
I've played with the D3 with the 14-24mm on it and all I can say is I need to have one. It is one of the finest pieces of glass I've ever seen. |
Me too, and I agree completely. Stunning. |
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07/13/2008 10:44:06 PM · #5 |
So...
Is there a price for the D700 or the 14-24mm lens yet?
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07/14/2008 12:09:55 AM · #6 |
| There's been a price on both for a while... D700 is $3K USD. The 14-24 f/2.8 is about half of that. |
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07/15/2008 03:28:01 AM · #7 |
The D700 is certainly a surprise to me, specially after the release of the D300, it seems nearly pointless to buy a D300 now if the consumer wants to pay the full price of the D700.
Thus far, the price for FF cameras are still very high, but if it goes down significantly, this is the end of the small sensor cameras. A year ago, I would certainly not have foresee such a move from Nikon, but with the introduction of the D3, and then the D700, it seems to me that we are shifting slowly toward the use of FF cameras, although it is still a very expensive business at the moment
The competitors would have to produce excellent cameras to compete with Nikon. |
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07/15/2008 04:27:33 AM · #8 |
Originally posted by msieglerfr:
it seems nearly pointless to buy a D300 now if the consumer wants to pay the full price of the D700.
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I don't know about that. Much better quality sensor, and better AF, with all the other goodies of a D2X, with less weight, and a third the price of the D2X, and almost half the price of a D700. I think there's a place for the D300. Especially for those shooting wildlife with long lenses.
Originally posted by msieglerfr:
Thus far, the price for FF cameras are still very high, but if it goes down significantly, this is the end of the small sensor cameras. |
I wonder about this as people start finding out what lenses work with the large sensors and find they need to replace half of their lens kit. The new lens I see that are FF all seem to be Nano coated, blah, blah, blah, in other words extremely expensive. I think it would be no less than 10 years before any great reduction of small sensor DSLRs. One thing I still would like to see, even on an APX size sensor is a proper replacement of the rangefinder cameras. Full frame would really be gravy. If only Leica had gotten it right. Oh well. |
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07/15/2008 07:11:36 AM · #9 |
To msieglerfr,
The D700 and D3 are certainly very awesome cameras and I hope to add either of them to my body list at some point, however I would never ever trade in my D300 for that purpose. I love what a cropped sensor does to my lenses as usually the things I like to shoot most are the exact things I cannot get close to. IMO the D300 and D3 were really aimed at two equally large markets, wildlife/sports, and landscapes/weddings. Not that either cannot do all of the above, each just has real strengths for either. The D700 delightfully bridges a gap between those who want a great landscape camera but cannot afford to pay for a D3 or prefer a lighter camera.
* of course it is possible to make the D700 and D3 great wildlife/sports cameras, you will just pay extra for high mm glass or have to be much closer to the action. :) |
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07/15/2008 08:20:45 AM · #10 |
HOLY CRAP!!!!
Broad ISO sensitivity up to 6400 and incredibly low noise: Super low-noise performance from 200-6400 ISO, with the added versatility of Lo-1 (100 ISO) Hi-1 (12,800 ISO) and Hi-2 (25,600 ISO).
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07/15/2008 04:35:26 PM · #11 |
| Biting my tongue about Canon's current lineup. =D |
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07/15/2008 05:03:18 PM · #12 |
Originally posted by togtog:
The D700 and D3 are certainly very awesome cameras and I hope to add either of them to my body list at some point, however I would never ever trade in my D300 for that purpose. I love what a cropped sensor does to my lenses as usually the things I like to shoot most are the exact things I cannot get close to. IMO the D300 and D3 were really aimed at two equally large markets, wildlife/sports, and landscapes/weddings. Not that either cannot do all of the above, each just has real strengths for either. The D700 delightfully bridges a gap between those who want a great landscape camera but cannot afford to pay for a D3 or prefer a lighter camera.
* of course it is possible to make the D700 and D3 great wildlife/sports cameras, you will just pay extra for high mm glass or have to be much closer to the action. :) |
I fully agree with all the above! The D300 to me is a PERFECT all around product. I plan to add a D700 in a year or so to compliment the D300. A D300+D700 outfit gives you so much versatility, being brother/sister bodies there is very little differences in button/menu configurations so the learning curve is minimal (from what info I have gathered so far). Being the beasts they are I don't see how much more anyone would need. Now I am sure the first D1/D100 owners said the same a few short years ago. But I see these bodies being very popular and useful for many years to come. After all a body is just a body, it̢۪s the glass and the eye looking through it that makes all the difference. I could never get rid of my D300 for a D3/D700.
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