D700 Purchase Checklist Help....

I'm not trying to defend some kid on a playground, here. Jerry can defend himself, and I have really no place to stand up for him since he never asked for it anyway. I am not standing up to defend a person, however... I'm standing up to defend a concept.

Our behavior on this forum continues to chase people away, and it's generally the personal attacks, the overly-biased positions that we take to defend our fragile egos from someone with more skills or more money, the "everyone jump on the band wagon to say the same not-so-easy-to-hear criticism because it's fun to kick a man when he's down" behaviors, etc. that are doing it.

Certainly, everyone has a bad day here and there, but as a culture on this forum we are getting steadily worse.

Give peace a chance. :p
 
You might not take advantage of all the goodies from the D700 right away but that doesn't mean you won't benefit from it. Some would not buy a camera unless they know they can take complete advantage of it while others just get the best gear they can get regardless.
 
You might not take advantage of all the goodies from the D700 right away but that doesn't mean you won't benefit from it.

That is likely very true. There is such a leap in quality between a D700 and a D40, that it would be very difficult to not see some kind of improvement. It would be very far from the potential of that camera, thats all I am saying. Back to the Ferrari in first gear thing... lol
 
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I'm not trying to defend some kid on a playground, here. Jerry can defend himself

Ironically it's Jerry that gives out all the underhanded abuse, then cant take it when someone has something to say back. Seems like only Parkerman and I can see it. And for what it's worth, I have a D700 and think it's far easier to use than my D50. Certainly doesnt make me work hard to get good photos;).
 
All Jerry really has to offer is equipment C&C... Which I could care less about.. I hardly EVER see C&C anything in the actual galleries, but.. You never know.. Maybe I miss all that stuff.

I don't see what this has to do with the price of tea in China, but if you mean that I do not participate in the CC sections by asking or offering CC? No, you are correct. I don't (not on this forum). You see, I avoid the biggest CC section like the plague (the beginner's section), becuase after 6-7 months of re-reading the same stuff over and over, I decided to either not participate here at all and just leave or avoid that section... it was very frustrating for me.

I also never offer CC and I also never ask for CC (except for once 2 years ago around Christmas). This is just a choice. I don't like to give CC and I don't ask for CC. My logic is that if I cannot look at a picture and find my own faults, I cannot be very good. And trust me... NO ONE is as critical of my photos more than me and I make sure of that. At least the ones that mean something to me, that is. I have basically 3 personal levels... the crap, that gets deleted... the ok... that gets put on flickr... and what I consider my good stuff, that stays on my PC here or is printed out. The premise is that I take 100% responsibility for my own education, thats the bottom line. I shoot for me, and the only opinion that has any importance to me concerning my photography is my own. Arrogant? Maybe a little, but as I said, I do this for me, not for a client or a boss. If I was shooting for someone else, they would have full say.

That doesn't validate or invalidate any of my postings, though nor does it mean that I do not spend a lot of time in the other sections seeing how other people look at photos and what "advice" they offer. ;)

All I wanted to get across is that the D700 isn't hard to use.

And I agree with you. It is not hard to use a D700... but it is challenging to learn how to use it correctly. More so than a D40 and even more so on top of that if your understanding of photography is weak to start off with. That is all I am saying. If you come from a D40, have limited experience and your grasp of the basics is weak, how rewarding will the experience be? Likely not very, and toss in a lot of frustration, because the D700 doesn't hand hold like the D40.

Will that stop anyone? It shouldn't and I also said that a couple times here... but let's set the expectations realistically, ok? That was the whole point.

As for Harry, well... we both kinda stepped on each other's nerves and once an adult runs out of logic... the little boy comes in and name calling is the last resort of the frustrated. Meh... I am a big boy and can take an insult, sticks and stones and all... lol I don't hold grudges, not for that anyway.

One of the things that I often say is to not depend on these kinds of places (forums) for advice on *if* you should or should not. If you cannot make the decision yourself, its not time to buy and I do not care *what* the size of the roll in your wallet is.

Oh, Parkerman, here's another thing you can pin on me... do a search, and look for how many times I asked for advice (any kind) about a purchase. You won't find one... not just here, but on any forum that I post.

I firmly advocate doing your own homework, answering your own questions, and doing your own research. Asking questions about a purchase is fine (ie:"what are some real life reasons I would consider product A over product B?"), but never ask "should I?" or never would I leave the final choice to someone on the internet that is on the other side of the world, is very possibly clueless as to what your needs or budget are and who's own knowledge is likely questionable.

Because of this, I never experience buyer's remorse, I never made a bad decision, and I have only my own self to blame if I do something wrong. By that same token, the only person I can pat on the shoulder when things go well... is me.
 
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OP, you sound like the perfect candidate for a D300...but that's just my opinion. it saves you the hassle of all of the expensive lens upgrades, but still gives you a lot of the functionality and quality you would see on the higher end D700.

Call it a middle ground...
 
I agree with Jerry on some points he makes.

My question was never about "Should I?". It was "Which lenses don't crop on the D700?". I was pretty much set on getting the D700 but will consider the D300 as well. As I said before, for me at least, the whole it's above your head argument doesn't hold water with me just because I'm not looking to get my pics in next month's National Geographic. I just want something that will allow me to get better pictures. Whether or not the pictures are better is subjective. Not to say that I don't welcome constructive criticism because that's always a good way to learn but whether or not I get the D700 will ultimately be up to me.

I know everyone here is trying to be helpful in the forums but if you're going to offer someone help don't offer it as "Well, I checked out your flickr page and in my opinion you'd be better off getting the cheaper camera". Translates to: "You're not good enough for this camera".

I wouldn't be surprised if a couple of people have been scared away from this forum only because of some very poorly worded responses as good as the intentions might have been.
 
The best advice I can give the OP is to slow down, in fact slow way the hell down and get an FM and a 50 1.8/2.0 and shoot some b&w film, get a handle on exposure and composition, then move ahead. I generally tend to advise anyone who asks to get back to the basics, then when you're thoroughly grounded, decide where to go from there.

Oddly enough, for about 1/3 of what a D700 cost, you could set yourself up with an awfully nice RB67 outfit that would make images that any DSLR would be envious of. It's not about the equipment, but the image.

I'm sure I'll catch all kinds of grief for even suggesting film, but in reality, eliminating the whole photoshop/post processing and working with the image you saw in your head makes life easier when you're trying to get a handle on several variables at once.
 

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