So the Nikon D700 is now five years old ... and still kicking ar$e!

[Highway 61]

I would find it very hard to go back to a DSLR with a crop sensor no matter how good it's IQ. And as pointed out the D700 has a very good viewfinder, which makes it suitable for manual focusing in less tha ideal conditions.

I use my D700 with my old Ai and Ai-S Nikkors only (I don't own any AF lens). Originally the body viewfinder was very good indeed, but I installed the cheap DK-17M magnifier which makes manual focusing a breeze !

And there is no lens in my stable which doesn't do it pretty well on this camera. No CA, no vignetting, no soft corners. Stunning.

Few years ago I owned a D200 which I sold out after just one year of erratic and quite frustrating, unsatisfying use.

But the D700 will stay forever ! 🙂

 

[maitani]

In relation to the alternate controls....unless the D3s has something I am not familiar with I find that I get what I need from a relatively cheap after market battery grip on my D700 without adding much extra in the way of additional weight. It certainly does make portrait shots easier and it also helps slightly with camera balance (even though as ai say the weight addition is small) especially when using lenses like the Nikkor AF 24-70 f2.8 which is physically quite a big and long zoom.

The built in grip in the D3 series of cameras, is very small compared to the extra battery grip of the D700, which adds a little too much bulk fo rmy taste.

pluses for the D3-line of camera are

+better shutter (and shutter sound)
+100% viewfinder
+dual CF cardslot
+build quality
+additional display on the back
+superior AF speed and accuracy
+more fps (for who needs it..)
+better balance with big lenses


pluses for the 700
+less bulk
+built in flash
+!!price!!

other than that the D700 is identical imo, especially the most important part, which is IQ.

the D700 is incredible bang-for-buck nowdays.

 

[JSU]

Ditto for the DK-17m VF magnifier, I have them on both my D700 bodies, a definite edge for manual focussing!

I use my D700 with my old Ai and Ai-S Nikkors only (I don't own any AF lens). Originally the body viewfinder was very good indeed, but I installed the cheap DK-17M magnifier which makes manual focusing a breeze !

I just learned in the last couple of days of a firmware update that came out probably last May for the D700. The benefits listed from Nikon are a compatibility with the new 800/5.6 AF-S lens.

What they don't tell you is a substantial increase in battery life, on the order of 50 - 66 % increase in the # of shots per battery. Supposedly the camera cycles faster, also, with the MB-D10 battery pack and EN-EL4(A) battery.

I updated both my bodies and have seen nothing adverse, only benefits.

Serious props to Nikon for continuing to support and update the D700, despite its age. Is it even still in the catalog?

 

[Photog9000]

Amazing to think that five years have passed since the release of this incredible DSLR. Mine has done nothing but impress me in the few years I've owned it and even after Nikon released the D800 I saw little reason to upgrade. The camera has been used for everything from gliding through gloomy galleries photographing the beautiful people, on a tripod in the pouring rain photographing a bilboard at night, and standing in the middle of a motocross track getting blasted with dust and dirt. If there is a more versatile tool please show it to me!

I don't love it but I seriously have to give it the mantle of the most competent photographic tool I own or have ever owned and I see no reason not to still be using it in two or three years from now. The performance at 6400 ISO is still up there with the best IMO which makes you realise that the 'old girl' was a little ahead of her time!

If there is such a thing as a digital classic (heresy I realise) ... this is it! 🙂

I just recently sold all my DSLR gear because I just did not have a need for it any longer. Purchasing my first D2H in 2003, it did everything I needed as a newspaper photographer. Fast AF, fantastic AF tracking, 8fps, etc. I loved those cameras but they were getting little use as I entered retirement. I hated selling those bodies (bought a second one in 2005 to replace my D100 backup) but am hoping they are seeing a second life with their new owners. Between the two cameras, I had close to a quarter million shutter clicks without a shutter failure.
So I can relate to your desire to keep the D700. My D2H fit my hand like a glove and I knew without thinking how they woud react to a particular situation. If you want to keep it, do so! And enjoy it for what it does better that anything else you have!!!😀

 

[lynnb]

The D700 is certainly a modern classic - and today Mike Johnston on TOP asks Nikon if they'd consider releasing a D700II!

Seems to me some cameras are such "hits"—they get everything so right—that they deserve to become classics and live on. Yeah, even in the digital-electronic era. I dunno, what do you think?
- Mike Johnston

 

[JSU]

@ Lynn--

Perhaps a D700S? I'm not holding my breath but it is a cool concept.

I haven't gone to your provided link, but there is one thing that would get me to trade my pair of D700's in the blink of an eye, that would be a D700 (II or S) with the sensor of the D3S.

I had a D3S for several months this year but ultimately couldn't justify having a dedicated sports camera. I otherwise do everything else with my D700's. But the high ISO files (8000 and 12,800) are so good it is scary.

The practical side of me understood what I can do with my D700 pair so the D3S went away. If I could have the best of both, the D3S sensor in a D700 body, that would get my attention, and my money.

The D700 is certainly a modern classic - and today Mike Johnston on TOP asks Nikon if they'd consider releasing a D700II!

 

[Contarama]

Is this due to legacy lenses? I have no great difficulty with a aps-c sensor size with dedicated lens. But interchanging film and crop digital would frustrate me. I do have legacy primes in PK mount but don't shoot film in that mount so it doesn't bother me. Apart from lens investments, any other reason to prefer FF digital?

For me aps-c is fine and I can get some decent snaps. I use exclusively Ai Nikkors 28/50/85/135 sort of classic old Nikon film kit. All DX Nikon cameras have tiny crappy viewfinders IMO even the best ones. To get the big viewfinder you have to get a FX camera. I came from a DE-1 finder on a F2...once you have looked in one of those there are not many other viewfinders made that will work for you. The viewfinder is the main deal for me. The D700 is my choice for many many other reasons as well. I really like the "purist" thing about the D700. I like to think of the D700 as a digital F.

 

[JSU]

. . . . I really like the "purist" thing about the D700. I like to think of the D700 as a digital F.

The D700 is likely the last Nikon without video capability. That by itself is a major appeal for me. 😎

 

[willie_901]

Not to mention the numerous reports about D600s spitting oil from the shutter mechanism all over the sensor from time to time. Just another reason to stay with the D700.

 

[Contarama]

Not to mention the numerous reports about D600s spitting oil from the shutter mechanism all over the sensor from time to time. Just another reason to stay with the D700.

IMO the D700 stands alone from the other FX Nikon models solely upon it's own qualities...it's own performance envelope if you will...THAT is what makes it a show stopper. It is a wholly different camera than the D600 or D800 or whatever model of Nikon. In a word it is "special"...like I said before the digital F. The D600 is something else altogether. 🙂

Compare the price of a good used D700 versus a good used D600...The D700 is five years old...talk about how digital can't hold it's value haha

 

[Keith]

Good to see all this admiration for the D700.

JSU .. the D700 with the D3S sensor ... yes please! 🙂

 

[Keith]

Incidentaly I just checked the weights of the D700 and D3S ... 250 grams difference!

Not a huge amount considering the advantages of the D3S regarding it's sensor superiority and pro controls. Nasty price difference though! 😀

 

[Santtu Määttänen]

250grams ain't much difference in numbers, but the weight and bulk difference is real in usage, at least for me. D700 is amazing thing. I've returned to full DSLR with it (from E-P2). And it simply stuns me every time. So much better then my last DSLR experiences (Kodak DSC-14n, Nikon D80 and D300).

D700 weights enough by itself to balance out all lenses I usually use, and it's actually bit too much weight with wide angles (like 24mm Vivitar which I love).