Still using the old D700...

Still Looking at the D700...

Still Looking at the D700...

IMHO upgrading is not justified until I have a good productive understanding of my current digital gear [I must be a slow learner because I am still using a D200, purchased new]. I equate this approach to digital cameras to be the same approach I use with film. I will shoot a certain film for many months, in some cases years, until I have a solid workable understanding of a film's characteristics before moving on.
All of that said, my next (new to me) digital camera will the D700. This will possibly be the last upgrade I will attempt, dew to the time I will require (remember, slow learner here).
 
Keith said:
And very, very good with manual focus lenses ... I mainly use Zeiss ZFs on mine, 35mm f2 and 50mm f1.4. Probably just a hair behind my F6 for ease of focusing.

As you say Peter .... nothing it doesn't need, especially by today's standards where almost every DSLR or mirrorless is crammed with features that the majority of buyers will never use, ever! And absolutely zero point in selling at current value ... which is fine by me because I expect mine to soldier on for many years to come. :)
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A good point about the MF Keith. It does this so effortlessly that I had forgotten just how well the D700 works in MF mode. The interesting thing is that the little LED which lights up to indicate correct focus in the viewfinder ALWAYS seems spot on. I always rely upon it and have never been let down. It is far more proficient that focus peaking in my Sony which I always feel obliged to check by enlarging the image and then checking by eye as focus peaking never seems able to provide an absolutely precise indication of correct focus - it is approximate only, especially when shooting wide open where razor thin focus planes are the norm. The D700 viewfinder LED though - if the light comes on the lens is in focus in my experience. Not maybe, not approximately - but in focus, period. After all it part of the same mechanism used to focus AF lenses and they exhibit excellent accurate too (and I have never had to use the menu option to set the focusing point for any AF lens forward or backward of what the camera thinks it to be). Mind you except with fast moving subjects, I almost always use the single centre focusing point so I know what is going to be in focus.
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This is not helping at all with me trying to snag a D700 on eBay :p

No seriously...there is something about the look of the images produced from it, especially in portraiture. Clearly something to do with the sensor because afaik it was not Sony. I am considering the D300 as well but the FX sensor married to the Voigt 58/1.4 keeps calling.
 
While not technically competitive to today's FF cameras, there's something really pleasing about images of the first few generations of FF sensor cameras. I'm thinking D3/700, 5D, M9 here.
 
If I were to upgrade from a D700, the only choice would be a D3X, and that's only for the megapixel count. Otherwise, the D700 is a perfect camera.
 
My "old" D700 is a lot less old than my 1934 Leica II. I guess Einstein was right: time really is relative, not absolute.
 
And in 1967 I was earning eleven dollars per week as a first year apprentice motor mechanic ... interesting to think what eleven dollars buys now. :p

These sorts of equations can make one's head hurt! lol :D
 
Simon, it's working for you, so why change. I'm still in the learning phase of DSLRs, and have a couple of D80s to get started. I'm quickly learning their limitations, especially the fact they tend to die sooner than most cameras (one already has).

I had decided to get a D300s to replace them so I can keep using the small stable of DX lenses, but now you've got me thinking I could add a D700 so I can keep using all my D series lenses too. And it would still be less expensive than the D500 deal my local camera store is trying to push on me (not that I haven't had a bit of lust for that camera since it was introduced).

Keep on keeping on!

PF
 
I recently purchased a D750 and reluctantly posted my D700 for sale in the classifieds. I've really been having second thoughts because I think the D700 is much easier to use with my large stable of AI lenses (and no one actually seems interested in buying a D700).

The D700 has less than 25,000 actuations but the top deck LCD fades in and out, bad contacts I assume. Does anybody know a US repair source that will fix that one problem cheaply. Everyone I've contacted quotes one price for a complete overhaul.
 
Well Mark, the reason they quote it like that is if your camera is exhibiting certain symptoms, there is sometimes more than one cause. And other things could be bad or going so, so it's best to do a complete overhaul while they have the camera opened up.

You wouldn't want a doctor to fix your gall bladder, while ignoring the hole in the stomach, would you?

After you get the camera fixed, it might be best to just hold on to it because you may not get the cost of repairs back out of it. And it will be working so good, it will be like a new camera, then you'd really find it hard to part with.

PF
 
As I said in the original post - my D700 isn't going anywhere. It's the most delightful DSLR I've had yet. I should highlight that I'm only looking to the D3s (or possibly D750) for those situations that push the performance envelope of the camera... The D700 is my go-to camera for anything in colour.

Also, it's ergonomically excellent. Not as interesting as shooting the Monochrom, for sure, but a lot easier to hold onto when you're shooting for four hours non-stop!
 
I'm a massive fan of the D700 with 105/2.5 (Gaussian). I think it's a great way to leverage the D700's strengths.

Otherwise, I think a nice kit is the 28 2.8 ai-s, or even the 28/3.5 H along with the 50/2 H or the 50/1.8 long nose.
 
farlymac said:
Well Mark, the reason they quote it like that is if your camera is exhibiting certain symptoms, there is sometimes more than one cause. And other things could be bad or going so, so it's best to do a complete overhaul while they have the camera opened up.

You wouldn't want a doctor to fix your gall bladder, while ignoring the hole in the stomach, would you?

After you get the camera fixed, it might be best to just hold on to it because you may not get the cost of repairs back out of it. And it will be working so good, it will be like a new camera, then you'd really find it hard to part with.

PF
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Not sure about your analogy. I'm getting my knee replaced next week, nothing else is wrong so I hope the doctor doesn't operate on my stomach or take out my gall bladder just to increase the bill.

I'll just keep using the camera as-is. Works fine, very low shutter count and the information in the top LCD is just redundant to read-outs elsewhere.
 
"Not sure about your analogy. I'm getting my knee replaced next week, nothing else is wrong so I hope the doctor doesn't operate on my stomach or take out my gall bladder just to increase the bill."

Sounds like some auto mechanics I know.

My Mom, whenever she had something replaced (both hips, and both shoulders worked on), she always wrote "It's the other one" on the opposite part before she went into surgery. Good luck, and hope you have a speedy rehab. We'll have to get together with GB Hill when you're better.

PF
 
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