Nikon D700

TylerV85 · Mar 8, 2011

So I have been thinking lately that I would like to switch my equipment set from Canon to Nikon. I have a 5d Mark II, a 24-70 f/2.8L, a 100mm f/2.8L IS, 580 EX II, 430 EX II and would like to obtain a D700 and some Nikon lenses (not sure which yet).....Is this a good idea? I am thinking more fps and a better focus system would be better. But then again, the resolution is just above half of the 5d Mark II. If it is a good idea, I would really like to find someone to trade with. Is there anywhere online to do this? I hate having to sell everything outright. Curious to know what your thoughts are...

kundalini · Mar 8, 2011

I have a 5d Mark II, a 24-70 f/2.8L, a 100mm f/2.8L IS, 580 EX II, 430 EX II

Is that all? Not too heavily invested then. I don't know the Canon line-up so well, but that seems to be a decent start. Why not stick with Canon?

RockstarPhotography · Mar 8, 2011

both cannon and nikon are great camera's. It basically comes down to whatever camera your comfortable with. I personally shoot nikon. My grandfather shot nikon, my dad shoots nikon, my first camera was a nikon...I'm used to nikon and the menu system. I can't find my way around a cannon. If your thinking of switching I would say rent one for a weekend and see if you like it or not before selling all the gear you have now.

Cannon users are going to say stay with cannon, nikon users are going to say switch to nikon....its a chevy/ford debate. your not going to really get any good information, its what YOUR comfortable with.

mwcfarms · Mar 8, 2011

I think I have read here on a couple threads that the focusing system in the Mark was just copied from an earlier model slapped into a new body. Im pretty sure Derrel can elaborate or shed light on this.

Found it.

http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/...s-news-reviews/235346-5d-mark-ii-vs-d700.html

tirediron · Mar 8, 2011

My question is, "Why"? $5K worth of Canon, more or less... that's some pretty nice gear. What isn't it giving you?

TylerV85 · Mar 9, 2011

These are some very nice answers. Thank you for your responses. The main reason I am thinking about making this transition is not so much because of the camera and more about the availability of great prime lenses at slightly lower prices. I think the main example is the 85mm lens. I shoot A LOT of portraits. Canon sells a 85mm f/1.2L II lens for over $2,000.00. It is a great lens, but is slower focusing than any other Canon L lens. I used a friend of mine's Nikon 85mm f/1.4 ($999.00 on BHPhotoVideo) and it was amazing to me how much faster it was to focus and how accurate it was. Canon has a great competitor for the 85mm f/1.8D lens but nothing compares to this one and it is in my opinion one of the most important if you shoot weddings, portraits and indoor sports (like I do). It seems to me also that the newer 50mm f/1.4G from Nikon blows away Canon's f/1.2 in just about every category and it is about $1000.00 cheaper.

Check out this ISO Chart - The 50mm f/1.2 (stopped down to 1.4 has trouble in the corners compared to the Nikon 1.4G) This is unacceptable if you're talking about paying $1000.00 more for a lens.

Nikon 50mm f/1.4G AF-S Nikkor Lens - Canon EF 50mm f/1.2 L USM Lens Comparison - ISO 12233 Resolution Chart Results

One of my other options was to just buy a D7000, which reviews say its image quality is comparable with the D700. Then, I can take advantage of the best from both worlds. I think it would be nice to have a Nikon crop sensor. It seems like to me Nikon's dx lenses are some of the best. The dx 35mm 1.8 prime through Nikon is miles better than the 35mm f/2 from Canon's. I think it's actually comparable to Canon's $1400 35mm and it is only $200.00. Are you kidding me? That's must be why BHPhotoVideo are sold out all the time. See this ISO chart for an example about this.

Nikon 35mm f/1.8G AF-S DX Nikkor Lens - Canon EF 35mm f/2.0 Lens Comparison - ISO 12233 Resolution Chart Results

The other main reason I was wanting to think about switching even the full frame camera was just because of focus. I like shooting indoor sports. The only AF point that even comes close to working in lower light is the center point on a 5d Mark II. The other's are not even usable. I am forced to use the "focus and recompose" method most of the time and it just does not work for tracking a moving object. Nikon has 51 points and it seems to me that it would be better for focusing moving targets.

benhasajeep · Mar 9, 2011

You are pretty well invested into the Canon system to be jumping ships. The thing about technology is the fact its constantaly changing. Several years ago Canon had the lead in DSLR's. Now it appears Nikon has taken a lead in at least a couple levels of the DSLR market (won't say all). But the fact is one manufacturer will come out with something. Then a little later the other will respond.

Several years ago I picked up a Canon 20D and several lenses. At the time it was the best DSLR I thougth at its market level. But instead of dumping my Nikon gear, I shot both. Not too soon after that Nikon started to catch up and in some cases surpased what Canon offered in the price range of cameras I am interested in. Last year I sold my Canon gear while it still had some value left in it. I don't normally sell my camera gear, normally keep it even if I don't use it anymore. But with Canon being my odd gear I decided to let it go.

Also you have to watch reviews and reports. You may be comparing a just released revamped model vs the other manufacturers older design. Again, once one company bests the other. The other will start their redesign.

I would say stick with Canon. At least for now. Especially if your considering the D700. As it is due for a new model revision fairly shortly.

TylerV85 · Mar 9, 2011

benhasajeep said:
You are pretty well invested into the Canon system to be jumping ships. The thing about technology is the fact its constantaly changing. Several years ago Canon had the lead in DSLR's. Now it appears Nikon has taken a lead in at least a couple levels of the DSLR market (won't say all). But the fact is one manufacturer will come out with something. Then a little later the other will respond.

Several years ago I picked up a Canon 20D and several lenses. At the time it was the best DSLR I thougth at its market level. But instead of dumping my Nikon gear, I shot both. Not too soon after that Nikon started to catch up and in some cases surpased what Canon offered in the price range of cameras I am interested in. Last year I sold my Canon gear while it still had some value left in it. I don't normally sell my camera gear, normally keep it even if I don't use it anymore. But with Canon being my odd gear I decided to let it go.

Also you have to watch reviews and reports. You may be comparing a just released revamped model vs the other manufacturers older design. Again, once one company bests the other. The other will start their redesign.

I would say stick with Canon. At least for now. Especially if your considering the D700. As it is due for a new model revision fairly shortly.

This may be the best response. Thank you for this. I am seriously considering just waiting for a while now. I forgot that both are just about to be updated. Again, thank you for your input. I'm really hoping the 5d Mark III is going to have a focus system like the 7d. Then, I will be very happy with Canon. Heck, I might even buy both Nikon and Canon I dunno lol.

KmH · Mar 9, 2011

The D700 has color aware metering, the 5D MKII doesn't, one of the issues benhasajeep alluded to. However, Canon did come up with a color-aware metering system that it is adding to new camera models above the entry-level Rebels as the higher end cameras are launched

Nikon recently launched the D7000, which has some features that will no doubt wind up in the D700 replacement (D800?), so we get somewhat of a preview.

Nikon has improved their color-aware metering sensor from having only 420 pixels (RGB) to 2016 pixels (RGB) for more accurate metering and has the new EXPEED 2 software. On the video front, the D700 has the best to offer so far, but to do video effectively with a DSLR requires several attachments.

The D800(?) will likely also have a new full frame image sensor and high quality low-pass filter.

As far as being invested in a brand, there is always an active used camera gear market so good, well cared for camera gear is a fairly liquid asset.

djacobox372 · Mar 10, 2011

Not worth switching IMO, canon's offerings are as good and a bit cheaper then nikon (and I'm a nikon guy and D700 owner).

BTW: the resolution of the D700 isn't "half" that of the 5d. The 5d has 3744 lines and the D700 has 2832, that's only about a 25% difference.