Question about the nikon D700

jazzodin

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This question is for all the D700 owners out there.I'm picking up one of these beautiful cameras today and I was just wondering about iso settings.I'm shooting a wedding tomorrow in a very dark church and since I will not have alot of time to play with the camera can someone give me some advise on how high an iso I can use with this camera and still get good images?I've played with the D700 in the store before and shot as hight as 3200 and got great results. Mind you I didn't see the images on a computer screen just the camera screen ...and they were taken at the store which is has alot of light.Any advise would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.
 
You are picking it up TODAY.. and want to use it professionally TOMORROW?

As any pro will tell you... out of the question. Get to know your camera BEFORE using it as a professional on a wedding.

There is so much to that camera that 24 hours of playing with it is nowhere near enough. Heck, ByThom.com has a PDF document that is 830 pages *just* about this camera... and IMHO a competent photographer will know his camera intimately before doing a wedding.

I suggest you use whatever camera you had previously, take the D700 as a backup. Once all the "must have" shots are guaranteed, then and ONLY then feel free to play with the D700.

For me, on my D700, I know how to use it and it's idiosyncrasies and how to nail the exposure with it and go as high as ISO 6400, but some minor post work is usually needed. Not that it is that important, but I had a good thousand practice pictures before I started getting the high ISO results I wanted from the camera. You will need a lot of practice as well, and a wedding is NOT the place to do that (as a professional).

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ISO 25,600 is useable under certain circumstances too, but you have to KNOW your camera... very well.:
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You are picking it up TODAY.. and want to use it professionally TOMORROW?

As any pro will tell you... out of the question. Get to know your camera BEFORE using it as a professional on a wedding. ...

Seconded.

Use your old camera for the wedding. Maybe if you have time, take a few extra pix with the new one for comparison, but under no circumstances rely on new equipment you haven't tested and have no experience with.
 
Use it!

Otherwise your mind isn't going to be on the wedding, it'll be on "Hmmm, I wonder what this shot would have turned out like with my new camera?"

:lol:
 
Better yet, don't buy it.

Regardless of what you do your mind won't be on the wedding. This is a very bad idea and I hope it doesn't turn sour on you. Angry brides can be menacing.
 
Just shoot at ISO 1600 all day and don't worry.



Seriously. 4x6's have no noise at ISO 6400 and 8x10's look great at 1600.
 
Just shoot at ISO 1600 all day and don't worry.

Seriously. 4x6's have no noise at ISO 6400 and 8x10's look great at 1600.

I am 100% sure you did not take the camera out of the box and start shooting pictures with the exposure nailed at ISO 1600...lol

The camera is a technological marvel and way more complex than a D200-D300. I came from a D200 to the D700 and it took me a good amount of practice to nail things down and understand how it works and how to pull the best out of it.

At a wedding, you have no choice, you'd *better* be using the camera you know the best. Photographers confronted by unhappy brides are no longer asking for partial or full refunds, they are getting sued...that is the new pandemic going around lately. ;)

My personal count is now 4 photographers that I know are getting sued. 2 lost (judement of $4500 and $21,500 against them), 1 won, 1 is still pending. The brides are winning!
 
My personal count is now 4 photographers that I know are getting sued. 2 lost (judement of $4500 and $21,500 against them), 1 won, 1 is still pending. The brides are winning!

Yet one more reason (as if I needed another) not to do weddings.
 
Let me be the next one on the list to support this notion. I would NEVER no matter hoew good the camera was I eould NEVER take a camera right out of the box to shoot a wedding. What happens when things start getting hot and heavy in the ceremony and you don't know how to change a simple setting on your camera. The ceremony is not going to wait for you to take out your manual and try explaining to bridezilla why you did not get a shot of her first kiss as a married woman.
 
Aren't the basics the same no matter what camera you use, especially one that is technically 'better'? It's not like the controls are completely different, it's still a principle of shutter speed, aperture and ISO - right?

I'm a newb so I'm just asking what the big deal is, especially if the old one is brought for backup.
 
Aren't the basics the same no matter what camera you use, especially one that is technically 'better'? It's not like the controls are completely different, it's still a principle of shutter speed, aperture and ISO - right?

I'm a newb so I'm just asking what the big deal is, especially if the old one is brought for backup.

You're right, basics are the same but manu options and controls tend to change. Back up is good idea HOWEVER, when Murphy's Law is in effect as JIP said
and try explaining to bridezilla why you did not get a shot of her first kiss as a married woman.
You're back up will be in the bag somewhere in a corner of the room NOT necessarily next to you and if you're shooter who doesn't use an assistant (something I'd never advice anyone - it is batter a bit less $ but will have an assistant) then running in the middle of the ceremony to grab your back will not be pretty.
 
Aren't the basics the same no matter what camera you use, especially one that is technically 'better'? It's not like the controls are completely different, it's still a principle of shutter speed, aperture and ISO - right?

SS ISO and aperture yes are the same. But, more advanced means more settings and more things to potentially screw up.

I shot an airshow last weekend(sunday) with my D300 which I had recieved the previous monday. If I hadn't spent nearly the entire week scouring the manual, here and other online resources, and playing with the camera, my "shoot" would have been a disaster. And this is for my own enjoyment, I'm not getting paid and it's not something as crucial as a wedding. Now of course my photos are nothing to get excited about, but if I hadn't known my new body pretty well, I very likely would have come away with a bunch of REALLY junk photos.
 

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