D700 Purchase Checklist Help....

[[email protected]]

I've been thinking about upgrading from my D40x I think I have finally settled on the D700. It's not beyond my reach financially and it has all the options I have been looking for in a camera. I found a website that sells the camera body curiously cheap. futures They're being sold for abot 1500 but everywhere else I've looked they've averaged 2,400. Has anyone had experience with them? They seem to be a solid merchant but I'm trying to cover all my bases.

Besides that I am weighing my options on glass. I'm pretty sure that the lenses I have at the moment for my DX will crop images on the Full size sensor of the D700. How do I know which lenses take advantage of the full sensor and will not crop my images?

These are the lenses I am looking to have for my D700:

1. 30mm 1.4
2. 18-135 mm ( I am very partial to the one I have now)
3. Macro lens--Not sure which one yet--Any recommendations?
4. Lens Baby
5. Wide Angle/Fisheye Lens

 

[JerryPH]

Thats a 2500 camera... for 1500? That just SCREAMS scam.

When something looks too good to be true... it is.

Use a reputable vendor like Sigma4less, Adorama or B&H Photo.


Your lens choices:

1. 30mm 1.4

You need to sit down and LEARN what a FX camera is vs a DX camera. You are purchasing a 30mm F/1.4 (Sigma is the only one that I know of, and I could be wrong, but doubt it). DX lens to use on a FX sensor camera.

1. 18-135 mm ( I am very partial to the one I have now)

Again... a DX lens on a D700 turns your 12MP dream machine into a 5MP point and shoot.

1. Macro lens--Not sure which one yet--Any recommendations?

Sigma 105mm macro, Nikkor 105mm macro.

1. Lens Baby

Waste of time and money. I can do in post process better what the lens baby does on camera and costs you money.

1. Wide Angle/Fisheye Lens

Sigma 15mm F/2.8.

My final comment? If you are purchasing a camera like a D700, you should be aware that putting low quality glass on something like a D700 is like putting bicycle tires on a Ferrari. If the thought of spending $2000 for a single lens freaks you out... the D700 is NOT the camera for you.

 

[[email protected]]

I'm definitely not ordering from the website I found. Did some research and they have very bad reviews.

I should have explained a little better on my lens choices. I use the 18-135 lens as my go to when I'm just out and about shooting. It's not a big lens and I can carry it in my small camera bag no problem. I knew I would have to buy some new glass if I purchased the D700 camera because of it's sensor size so I was looking for something similar to the ones I have for my D40x now.

As for the Sigma 30mm lens, I already own it. I was just curious if by some stroke of luck I would be able to use it on the D700 as well. I figured I would be spending $2000-$3,000 in lenses after the camera purchase itself. Nice fisheye pic btw.

 

[Lyncca]

Also, I assume you know how to use your current camera in the manual modes (M, A, S, P)? Cause that D700 isn't gonna have the cheat scene settings

Just wanted to make sure, cause I know a couple of people that were shocked moving up to the D200 & D300. All of a sudden they didn't know how to take a picture

Otherwise, congrats on the new equipment. I'm certainly jealous!

 

[JerryPH]

People need to do a LOT of research before looking to make any purchase. If they did, they would know that basically any and all DX lenses are useless on a D700. With a D700, if you slap on a DX lens on it, you will have an ugly huge black circle around all your pictures or if you go into crop mode, your pictures drop from 12 megapixel to 5 megapixel, cutting the quality of the shots to less than 50%. This is an example of what I meant by doing research and what not. *ALL* your lenses are DX... all your lenses will do this with the D700. Let me show you what a DX lens looks like with a D700 in FX mode:

See that black area? This is what will happen with each and every picture you take using any of your lenses. DX lenses are made for smaller DX sensors. Put them on a FX camera, and you get this massive vignetting that DOESN'T come off. Now, you can put the camera into crop mode and that ugly black area goes away, but the picture drops from 12MP to 5MP. If you were to do that, the camera now has the picture size SMALLER than your D40x... by about 40% smaller!

On top of that this camera *is* a pro level camera and very unforgiving of lacking or weak understanding of photography and a slew of other factors.

I will never be the one to say "this camera is too much for a new dSLR user", but I will say that this camera DEMANDS many things of the photographer both financially and in the skill-knowledge department. It is a very unforgiving camera otherwise, and if you are not willing to be realistic about your abilities, you will know in great detail what the word frustration means. In that case, you just may be better off sticking to the D40 if you are not willing to accept these facts.

This camera *makes* you work hard to get a decent picture out of it... but once you have mastered it and the basics of photography, the results are nothing less than impressive.

BTW, a tightly controlled lensbaby effect done in post process:

 

[Katier]

I figured I would be spending $2000-$3,000 in lenses after the camera purchase itself.

I think you'd be more likely to be spending around that PER LENS.

 

[JerryPH]

I think you'd be more likely to be spending around that PER LENS.

Not quite that much... $1500-$2200 per lens would be the range for any one of the "holy trinity". There are the 3 main Nikkor ones:
14-24, 24-70 and 70-200. Then you have your specialty lenses like the fisheye, macro and zoom lenses above 200mm. That is where things get REALLY expensive... like 5-digit (not including the pennies) expensive on some of the longer focal point ones.

 

[Katier]

Not quite that much... $1500-$2200 per lens would be the range for any one of the "holy trinity". There are the 3 main Nikkor ones:
14-24, 24-70 and 70-200. Then you have your specialty lenses like the fisheye, macro and zoom lenses above 200mm. That is where things get REALLY expensive... like 5-digit (not including the pennies) expensive on some of the longer focal point ones.

Exactly. I think the OP would be looking for a MINIMUM of 10K to get anything close to what he is looking for.

Personally I'd forget the idea and stick to Crop Sensor or go Medium Format ( OK that means film - unless he waits for the Pentax 645 Digital or gets a digital back) but it's a cheaper option and is better quality images ).

 

[Lyncca]

Not quite that much... $1500-$2200 per lens would be the range for any one of the "holy trinity". There are the 3 main Nikkor ones:
14-24, 24-70 and 70-200. Then you have your specialty lenses like the fisheye, macro and zoom lenses above 200mm. That is where things get REALLY expensive... like 5-digit (not including the pennies) expensive on some of the longer focal point ones.

Let me repeat, I love my D300 :heart:

I'm working toward those lenses, but I will stay with my current camera until I have built up my lenses to full sensor. So, we can assume that means quite a while from now!

 

[kundalini]

Joe, I just looked at the first couple of pages of your Flickr photos and I have to say that, if this is your better work, then the D700 may not be the best choice for you at this time. My thoughts were that your skill set must be improved before such a jump. Don't mean to be cruel. I would definitely buy some proper glass first. Then get off the D40 with something like the D90, especially if you're in hobby mode. That way you can use any of the Nikkor lenses and utilize the AF and metering (other than the MF lenses, of course).

It seems you shoot a lot of low light scenes (bands), so think fast primes (f/1.4- f/2.0). That 18-135mm is much to slow to handle those situations.

That being said, there's nothing to say that you can't learn on the D700. It's just that you have to consider that a $2400 body is not going to automatically propel you into the stratosphere of great shots. The D700 is an awesome camera, but understanding the basics of photography will serve you better. Good luck.

 

[DWS]

from a D40 to a D700 is a quantum leap, to say the least......I suggest that you research DX vs FX and the associated equipment to use them to their fullest capability before starting your purchases.....

have fun with the research and take your time!

 

[Katier]

Joe, I just looked at the first couple of pages of your Flickr photos and I have to say that, if this is your better work, then the D700 may not be the best choice for you at this time. My thoughts were that your skill set must be improved before such a jump. Don't mean to be cruel. I would definitely buy some proper glass first. Then get off the D40 with something like the D90, especially if you're in hobby mode. That way you can use any of the Nikkor lenses and utilize the AF and metering (other than the MF lenses, of course).

It seems you shoot a lot of low light scenes (bands), so think fast primes (f/1.4- f/2.0). That 18-135mm is much to slow to handle those situations.

That being said, there's nothing to say that you can't learn on the D700. It's just that you have to consider that a $2400 body is not going to automatically propel you into the stratosphere of great shots. The D700 is an awesome camera, but understanding the basics of photography will serve you better. Good luck.

:thumbup:

Very very well said. I hadn't looked at his flickr, but having done so now, I have to agree 100% with you.

 

[Parkerman]

People need to do a LOT of research before looking to make any purchase. If they did, they would know that basically any and all DX lenses are useless on a D700. With a D700, if you slap on a DX lens on it, you will have an ugly huge black circle around all your pictures or if you go into crop mode, your pictures drop from 12 megapixel to 5 megapixel, cutting the quality of the shots to less than 50%. This is an example of what I meant by doing research and what not. *ALL* your lenses are DX... all your lenses will do this with the D700. Let me show you what a DX lens looks like with a D700 in FX mode:



See that black area? This is what will happen with each and every picture you take using any of your lenses. DX lenses are made for smaller DX sensors. Put them on a FX camera, and you get this massive vignetting that DOESN'T come off. Now, you can put the camera into crop mode and that ugly black area goes away, but the picture drops from 12MP to 5MP. If you were to do that, the camera now has the picture size SMALLER than your D40x... by about 40% smaller!

On top of that this camera *is* a pro level camera and very unforgiving of lacking or weak understanding of photography and a slew of other factors.

I will never be the one to say "this camera is too much for a new dSLR user", but I will say that this camera DEMANDS many things of the photographer both financially and in the skill-knowledge department. It is a very unforgiving camera otherwise, and if you are not willing to be realistic about your abilities, you will know in great detail what the word frustration means. In that case, you just may be better off sticking to the D40 if you are not willing to accept these facts.

This camera *makes* you work hard to get a decent picture out of it... but once you have mastered it and the basics of photography, the results are nothing less than impressive.

BTW, a tightly controlled lensbaby effect done in post process:

No... The camera does not make you work hard to get a decent picture. If you could get a good picture with another camera, you will get a good picture with a D700.

Explain to me how this is "hard"

Check your light meter... set your shutter and aperture... shutter is to slow.. choose anywhere from 200-6400iso... Take a picture. Honestly, what is so hard about that?

I would actually say it is much harder to get a good picture from a D40, where... noise starts to be bad at iso 800... you have no internal AF motor or top screen... No Depth of field preview... no easy shutter/aperture wheel... a light meter that is a tad off and a much less capable sensor/processing.

If you know how to use a camera and know photography... You can shoot with a D700 and get a good picture. There are alot of Menu's, and a lot of things that you can customize to your liking.. does that mean you have to in order to take a good picture? No.. it doesnt.

You make it out like you have to take a class on it just to understand it... Or that it takes a rocket scientist just to figure it out.

 

[LuckySo-n-So]

D40...no easy shutter/aperture wheel

I dunno, I find it relatively easy to adjust shutter and aperture on my D40. ISO is a different story, but I can't believe it's that much easier to change aperture and shutter on other models.

 

[Parkerman]

I dunno, I find it relatively easy to adjust shutter and aperture on my D40. ISO is a different story, but I can't believe it's that much easier to change aperture and shutter on other models.

Have you ever used another model?

Wheel in the front is Aperture, Wheel in the back is Shutter. It doesn't change... You don't have to think about holding a button down and remembering which one that adjust.. and which is default set to the wheel.

About as easy as it can get.. heh.