Home / Nikon D700

Nikon D800 vs D700

Feb
6
2012
February 6, 2012
By 45 Comments

Now that the Nikon D800 is almost officially out, I am sure many photographers will be interested in seeing feature differences between the now obsolete Nikon D700 and the new D800. In this Nikon D800 vs D700 comparison, I will write about the specifications of both cameras and talk about their differences. Please keep in mind that the information below is purely based on specifications. A detailed comparison with image samples and ISO comparisons will be provided once I get a hold of the Nikon D800 in March.

Nikon D800 vs D700

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Nikon D700 Review

Aug
20
2011
August 20, 2011
By 48 Comments
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While the photography community is impatiently waiting for a Nikon D700 replacement announcement, I decided to write a review of the Nikon D700 DSLR that I have been shooting with for the past three years. Not sure why it took me so long to write a review of my favorite camera…I guess I focused so much on reviewing new lenses and cameras, that the gear I use every day for my photography has been just sitting at the end of my long “to-do” list. Within the next few weeks I am planning to temporarily reverse the list, start from the bottom and write about other gear that I currently use and used in the past and share my subjective opinion about it.

Nikon D700

Nikon D700

As you might have already seen on “Our Gear” page, I call the Nikon D700 “the best camera in the world”. Now before rotten tomatoes start flying my way from Canon, Sony, Pentax, Fuji, Leica, Phase One, Hasselblad, Mamiya and other brand fans out there, let me state that this is my opinion that is solely based on my needs. Let me explain. Yes, there are superb Nikon cameras with many more pixels and speed, and there are $40K cameras out there that can shoot 200 Megapixel frames. But when I look at a camera, I weigh in what is important for me first, then pay close attention to the overall price to performance ratio, instead of focusing on a particular feature. The Nikon D700 does not have many megapixels, or high speed, or high dynamic range or movie recording capabilities. In fact, if you look at its bare specs and compare it to all other cameras on the market today, it would probably fall into the “average” category.

Sunrise

Click here to download the above photograph in a large wallpaper format (2560×1600).

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Current Nikon rebates ending 10/02/2010

Sep
18
2010
September 18, 2010
By 15 Comments

If you are planning to buy a pro-level DSLR camera with lenses or want to upgrade your current gear, you should take advantage of the current rebates that are still being offered by Nikon until 10/02/2010:

NOTE: All of the below rebates have expired.

Lens Combos with Nikon D700

  1. Nikon D700 with Nikon 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G VR Lens ($200 Off)
  2. Nikon D700 with Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8G Lens ($300 Off)
  3. Nikon D700 with Nikon 16-35mm f/4G VR Lens ($300 Off)
  4. Nikon D700 with Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8G VR II Lens ($400 Off)
  5. Nikon D700 with Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8G VR II & Nikon 16-35mm f/4G VR Lenses ($700 Off)
  6. Nikon D700 with Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8G & Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8G VR II Lenses ($700 Off)
  7. Nikon D700 with Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8G & Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8G & Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8G VR II Lenses ($1000 Off)

Lens Combos with Nikon D300s

  1. Nikon D300s with Nikon 70-300 f/4.5-5.6G Lens ($200 Off)
  2. Nikon D300s with Nikon 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G VR II Lens ($250 Off)
  3. Nikon D300s with Nikon 16-35mm f/4G VR Lens ($300 Off)
  4. Nikon D300s with Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8G VR II Lens ($400 Off)
  5. Nikon D300s with Nikon 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G VR II & Nikon 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G VR Lenses ($450 Off)
  6. Nikon D300s with Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8G & Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8G Lenses ($700 Off)
  7. Nikon D300s with Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8G & Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8G Lenses ($700 Off)
  8. Nikon D300s with Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8G & Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8G & Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8G VR ($1100 Off)

The above are all instant rebates, so you do not need to fill out any forms or wait – just add the items to the cart to get the full discount.

The most attractive of the above are obviously the last links to the Nikon trinity: Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8G, Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8G and Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8G – the top Nikon lenses for most photography needs.

I know that many readers are wondering if the D300s is still worth looking at, since the Nikon D7000 has a lower price tag and offers many more features that Nikon D300s does not. As you can see, I posted the links to Nikon D700 above Nikon D300s, because I think that D300s is not worth investing in at this point. However, if you need good lenses and have the money to spend, the last link with the three lens combo will save you $1,100, which is almost as much as the D7000 costs by itself. If you get D7000 with the three lenses, you will not be able to get the $1,100 combo discount. So, you could get a D300s and D7000 with 3 lenses at almost the same price as the D7000 body only + three lenses, which is an awesome deal!

What about D700? I was hoping for Nikon to release an update to D700 this year, but you can rest assured that it won’t happen. We won’t see an update to D700 this year and we might see a new generation camera like D800 with brand new features next year (probably 6-9 months after D400 is announced), so the D700 is safe to buy at this point.

I am in the process of writing reviews for the Nikon 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6G VR and Nikon 85mm f/1.4G lenses, which will take me some time to write. Let me know if you have any questions.

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Nikon D700 vs D300s

Apr
5
2010
April 5, 2010
By 98 Comments

Many of our readers request detailed information on the difference between the Nikon D700 and Nikon D300/D300s DSLR cameras. They wonder why there is such a big price difference, while the cameras look almost identical and the number of megapixels is the same. In this comparison, I will be providing not only feature differences between these cameras, but also high ISO samples to explain the difference between the different types of sensors used in D700 and D300/D300s.

Nikon D300s vs D700

Nikon D300s vs D700

If you are wondering about the differences between the Nikon D300 and Nikon D300s, I highly recommend to check out my Nikon D300 vs D300s comparison. Basically, Nikon D300s is an update to the Nikon D300 with more features and speed, while the sensor remains identical. The biggest changes are: more frames per second, ability to use both SD and CompactFlash memory cards and video-recording capability up to 720p HD.

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Nikon DX vs FX

Mar
23
2010
March 23, 2010
By 189 Comments

Some of the most frequently asked questions from our readers are around DX and FX format sensors. What is DX and FX? What are their differences? Which one is better and why? If you have similar questions and want to get a clear understanding about these formats and their differences, along with seeing actual image samples from both, this article is for you.

Before diving into sensor formats, it is first important to understand what a sensor is and what it does in a Digital SLR camera. It is easier to understand how sensors work by comparing them with the human eye. The lens in front of the camera essentially functions as the cornea of your eyes, gathering ambient light and passing it to the iris. The iris then expands or shrinks, controlling the amount of light that enters the retina, which functions almost exactly like a camera sensor. The retina is light-sensitive, meaning it can adjust its sensitivity based on the available light. If there is too much light, it decreases its sensitivity, while automatically increasing the sensitivity in a dim environment, so that you could see in both extremely bright and extremely dark conditions. Remember what happens when you come out of a dark place to a very bright, sunny environment and vice-versa? Either your eyes will hurt and everything will seem too bright, or you will have a hard time seeing at all – due to sensitivity of the eyes that have not yet adjusted for the new environment. The sensitivity of your eyes is just like the sensitivity of the sensor, also known as “ISO” in photography. But sensitivity comes at a price – high sensitivity levels ultimately decrease image quality, similar to when you have a hard time seeing in a very dark environment. This degradation of image quality is first visible as “grain” or “noise” in the pictures, followed by loss of detail, sharpness and color in extreme levels of sensitivity. When I say “extreme”, I mean extreme to the digital camera, not human eye. Even with all of the latest advancements in sensor technology, cameras are not even close to seeing the range of light the human eye can see in various environments.

Captured with Nikon D700 FX Camera

Captured with Nikon D700 FX Camera

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Nikon D700/D3 vs D3s High ISO Noise Comparison

Mar
19
2010
March 19, 2010
By 52 Comments

In this Nikon D700/D3 vs D3s High ISO Noise Comparison, I will be focusing on providing information and image samples from the first-generation Nikon full frame cameras (Nikon D700 and Nikon D3) as well as from the current high ISO king – Nikon D3s. High ISOs are needed in low-light environments, where the amount of ambient light is insufficient for hand-held photography at standard ISO sensitivity values. While doubling the ISO number doubles the shutter speed to freeze motion or prevent camera shake, it also introduces noise into the picture.

All tests below were performed on a sturdy tripod, with timed exposure to prevent camera vibrations. Both Nikon D700 and Nikon D3s were set exactly the same way, shot in manual mode with Nikkor 50mm f/1.4G at f/8.0. Exposures were exactly the same on both cameras, depending on ISO value. I shot in RAW (Active D-Lighting: Off, High ISO NR: Normal), then imported into Lightroom, cropped and exported with “Camera Standard” camera profile. The rest of the data is available via EXIF in the files to those who are interested in technical details.

Here is the full area that I shot for these tests:

Sample

The first test is at ISO 800. The image on the left is Nikon D700 and the image on the right is Nikon D3s (click to enlarge). Both are extremely good at ISO 800, but Nikon D3s is a little cleaner in the background areas.

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Nikon DSLR and Lens Rebates

Feb
28
2010
February 28, 2010
By 30 Comments

As I have noted before, Nikon is currently offering rebates for customers who are buying a DSLR together with a lens. Although not all Nikon lenses are available with this offer, some of the best Nikon lenses such as Nikon 70-200mm VR, Nikon 70-300mm VR and Nikon 24-70mm are available for an instant rebate.

NOTE: All camera and lens rebates have expired.

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Nikon 70-300mm VR Review

Feb
22
2010
February 22, 2010
By 121 Comments
«»

This is an in-depth review of the Nikon AF-S 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G VR lens that was released back in August 2006 together with the Nikon D80. The lens was kindly provided by B&H – the largest photo reseller in the world that I use more than any other to buy my photography gear.

The Nikon 70-300mm VR lens is targeted towards sports, nature and wildlife photographers that need a lightweight, versatile telephoto lens with great optics and vibration reduction technology, at an affordable price. The lens works on both Nikon FX (full-frame) and DX (cropped) sensors and has an equivalent field of view of approximately 105-450mm on DX sensors, which makes the lens particularly good for reaching distant subjects. The Nikon 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G ID-ED VR lens features two “ED” (extra low dispersion) glass elements that are used in all Nikon professional lenses, providing higher contrast, lower chromatic aberration and higher resolution, due to less air bubbles and glass deformities within the glass elements. In addition, the lens sports the latest vibration reduction “VR II” technology, giving up to 4 full stops of advantage over non-VR lenses at low shutter speeds. Vibration Reduction, especially the latest VR II generation, makes this lens particularly useful for hand-held shooting while hiking and traveling. Autofocus is practically silent, thanks to the Silent Wave Motor (AF-S) within the lens.

Nikon 70 300mm f4.5-5.6G VR

Nikon 70 300mm f/4.5-5.6G VR

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Nikon announces D700, SB-900 and two lenses

Jul
1
2008
July 1, 2008
By 4 Comments

Confirming the rumors, the new Nikon D700 is official as of today. Along with the FX body, Nikon announced SB-900 flash and two new perspective control lenses. Looks like we won’t be getting the updated versions of the old lenses (especially primes such as 50mm f/1.4) anytime soon, which is kind of sad. The D700 is released in response to the upcoming Canon 5D Mark II.

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