Having Second Thoughts.... D600

When I was young I firmly believed in love at first sight, now that I am a touch older I am not so sure.

There are some cameras I bonded with immediately and absolutely love using; the K1000 is an example. I use it every now and then for the joy of it but it is typically not the first camera I grab when I go out the door.

There are others I have slowly become more fond of as time passed, and now would find difficult to part with; the 645Nii, Contax II, and M9. These are the cameras that are used the most and one of them is almost always with me.

Finally, there are some I have never really bonded with but are useful enough to keep around; the Yashica-Mat, and the Canon 1Ds are examples. Once in a while I find that I need a unique capability that these cameras provide so when that situation arises I use them. Otherwise they sit on the shelf and wait.

Over the years I have been fortunate to purchase a number of very nice cameras. My wife is wonderfully understanding and I rarely sell them (or my lenses) and have very rarely returned any of them unless they were completely defective. Your D600 is likely a very useful tool and in time you will find the niche it occupies. If you can afford to do so I would hold onto it and give you and your new camera time to get to know each other. It can always be sold later on but it is somewhat depressing to end up purchasing a camera or lens a second time because you later regretted your hasty decision.
 
I started off my photography on D40 few years ago also. After many "upgrades" and "side grades" I ended up with D700 and lens combination I am satisfied with. After that, all newer and "better" cameras seem pointless to me... then I got into film rangefinders, which is another story. Before the film bug got me, D700 was the only camera I needed and ever wanted - This is what matters to photographers.

I've been shooting film exclusively lately and my D700 sat in my drawer for past few months. However, last weekend I was asked to shoot 1 year birthday celebration of my church's congregation member (Big deal for Asian community). Since I didn't want to risk missing something, I decided to use my D700. The result? Gorgeous, sharp files with large latitude for editing. I was thinking about selling it, but I think this camera will be with me forever.

My main point is... you have to bond and feel connected to the camera in order to make good images. If D600 does not click with you, follow your gut and return it. Also, I recommend trying fast primes on full frame nikon. My favorite lenses are (I use): sigma super wide 24mm 2.8, Sigma 50mm 1.4 (BEST 50mm for nikon), Samyang 85mm 1.4 and although this one is a zoom, Older AF-S 80-200mm 2.8.
 
Digital cameras are superb tools for picture taking, so are film cameras in the right hands.

Digital cameras just don't appear to be heirlooms, like some film cameras appear to be.
 
Digital cameras are superb tools for picture taking, so are film cameras in the right hands.

Digital cameras just don't appear to be heirlooms, like some film cameras appear to be.

For me, it's not so much about heirlooms, as I don't have kids, and don't plan to (famous last words). It's much more for me that many film cameras are beautiful artifacts and combine that with incredible functionality. Even the nicer digital cameras like Leica M9 are still just copies of what came before, they are not beautiful in their own right (to me). Even if they were, they still have that disposable quality that is difficult to love.

I don't know what it is, maybe it's the lack of truly understanding how they work, but digital cameras, and indeed other digital items like computers, tablets, just seem devoid of anything lovable to me.

I find it hard to articulate exactly what it is, maybe it's just pining after a bygone age that I was never a part of.
 
I read the thread but I wondered what they do with the used cameras that are returned after being taken out and used for weeks.

Time for Adorama to chime in here...

Good question. I've long suspected that some lenses sold by dealers as used but mint have been tested but rejected by someone. Seems to happen a bit in the rangefinder world.
 
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