Backup body / gear question

[tevo]

I recently purchased a D4 greenpbl and am looking to consolidate the rest of my gear. I'm going to sell my D7000, 11-16, 1.7x TC (I'm 90% sure I'd rather just save up for the 400 and have native length rather than extended), and PROBABLY my D700; I expect to get around $2200 for the lot. I have reached a bit of a quandary: Do I sell my D700 as well as the items listed above and buy a D600/610 as a backup, or an older but faster body like a D3? I primarily shoot sports, but recently have been doing more portrait and studio type work. The D4 is beautiful for portraits so far, but the 24MP of a 610 would be nice to work with. My only hesitation buying a D610 is that it is a bit slow for sports, and although it is a backup my 70-200 will live on it and I need it for anything within the reach of my 300. Can anyone help me decide?

 

[danielklaer]

I use a d700 and like the idea of a crop body second camera to get the different range from my lenses (I do wildlife).

If you are doing this professionally though you probably already have the big glass and so it isn't such a big issue. So this would then be between keeping the d700 or buying a 610. Are you finding the d700 lacking for what you want to do? I find I sometimes want some extra cropping options but other than that I find the d700 to be everything I want and more. I couldn't take the drop in build quality going to a 610 (regardless of improvements in the sensor).

 

[D-B-J]

What lenses are you keeping?


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[coastalconn]

I think the controls on the d600/10 would be annoying if you are used to a pro body. Just throwing this out there.. a D800 in 1.2x crop mode gives you 5 FPS, as many MP as you need, and still great high iso performance... You know I'm a birder, but I was pleasantly surprised with the AF syatem in the D600 when I shot it for 2 weeks..

 

[astroNikon]

If I got a longer chance to get used to the borrowed d700's button placement my d7000 and d600 would annoy the wazoo out of me.
Luckily that is a distant memory, until threads like this ... I prefer the WB ISO buttons on the top left versus next to your nose while shooting.

Stick with the similar layout to your d4


but then .. if the d610 is going to live on a tripod, it might be the better choice for studio .. but a pro studio person would be better to answer that.

 

[tevo]

I use a d700 and like the idea of a crop body second camera to get the different range from my lenses (I do wildlife).

If you are doing this professionally though you probably already have the big glass and so it isn't such a big issue. So this would then be between keeping the d700 or buying a 610. Are you finding the d700 lacking for what you want to do? I find I sometimes want some extra cropping options but other than that I find the d700 to be everything I want and more. I couldn't take the drop in build quality going to a 610 (regardless of improvements in the sensor).

The d700 does basically everything I want, I am just flirting with the idea of a 24mp sensor for my non sports work. You bring up a good point about the build quality though...

As it stands the 700 is my backup anyway so the only situation I would use it is as a second body/lens while shooting sports.

 

[tevo]

What lenses are you keeping?

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300 2.8, 70-200 vrii, 24-70, 60 micro.

I'm deciding between primes to buy, leaning towards an 85 1.4 for portrait work. If i can find a cheap enough D model I'll look for a 50 or 35 1.4 as well.

 

[tevo]

I think the controls on the d600/10 would be annoying if you are used to a pro body. Just throwing this out there.. a D800 in 1.2x crop mode gives you 5 FPS, as many MP as you need, and still great high iso performance... You know I'm a birder, but I was pleasantly surprised with the AF syatem in the D600 when I shot it for 2 weeks..

I'm considering a D800, but I'd like to swap my old gear for some new glass I will get a lot of use out of. I'm less inclined to sell my D700 now because I do enjoy the controls and feel of it.

 

[tevo]

If I got a longer chance to get used to the borrowed d700's button placement my d7000 and d600 would annoy the wazoo out of me.
Luckily that is a distant memory, until threads like this ... I prefer the WB ISO buttons on the top left versus next to your nose while shooting.

Stick with the similar layout to your d4

but then .. if the d610 is going to live on a tripod, it might be the better choice for studio .. but a pro studio person would be better to answer that.

I don't have a permanent studio setup, but the D610 (currently D700) would come with me wherever I wasn't in demand of the D4. That is the primary reason I'd like a more recent Nikon body- the D700 is nice but the D610/D4 sensor is just beautiful, and has an edge in lowlight performance.