Round ii- nikon d700 vs. x-e2

funnyfarm

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My husband let me up my budget a bit. I was deluding between the 5dc and an x-e1. Both used.

I really wanted the x-e2 over the e1, so DH let me up my budget a bit. With that price I can get a d700 used. HOLY CRAP did that confuse things. I've had the price late kf shooting the d700 and that camera and I just clicked. I made skme of my favorite images w that one. I honestly think part of the reason is the fantastic bright amazing viewfinder and my funky vision. It was like peanut butter and jelly.

But. I have 6 kids and wonder if I really want to lug around a d700. it would have the 50 1.8 g on it for this year so not too heavy.

Sorry for typos, iphone.
 
D700 is an excellent camera with the 50 1.8g would be great for taking shots of the kids. IF you don't get the grip its not to bad as far as weight. Once you add the grip and more batteries it does get heavy especially all day. That was one reason I sold mine but now that I want a new camera and playing with small ones I really miss the size of the gripped D700..it just feels solid in the hands.

Keep in mind with the grip and AA batteries you can get 8fps great for actions shots of the kids as long as you are in focus. Also you can eventually build your lens collection and upgrade body later with no problems.

IF you want to go small the NEX 6 , NEX 7 from sony is a great quality camera. Alos the e md1 is another great option.
 
no thoughts on the x-e2? I can compare this to the ones you've mentioned.
my heart says "D700!!" and my head says "but a new toyyyyy! one of your favorite lifestyle photogs shoots with a x-e1 and you wanna be like her" then my heart says "but d700!!!!!" I will be buying either used. is it just me or does it seem like there is more to screw up on the tiny x-e2. pieces to break etc. I just feel like the dslr's- especially the well built ones are just sturdier etc. but the idea of carrying around a tiny little bitty thing that has the power of the d700.. kwim? (well besides the af) Im comparing both and really it seems like they are very similar iso, iq, etc. af is slower on x-e2, but...... probably not THAT much slower. i relaly did LOVE the d700 that i needed to sell before, and goodness is it so much cheaper now!

is 77,000 clicks pretty decent? gosh I feel so conflicted now. It's like an old boyfriend vs a new one, make sense? my friend photog just LOVES her x-e1 (online friend that isn't local) and I'd love to love it too! im afraid to buy used- what if i hate it!? I do hear that hte auto white balance is REALLY good on it and man i hate fiddling with white balance.
 
Thanks!!! I'm still confused as ever. Lol. While I'm definitely no pro, I really loved the d700 and have always wished that I hadn't had sell it. Now that I can actually get one again, I wonder if I'd rather have something smaller. I do also LOVE the bokeh of the ff w 85 (couldn't get the 85 til next year tho) but it's not absolutely necessary and really back then I was into posed portraits and wanted to go pro. This time around I really just want to have fun, have control over my images, and have great iq. And again, more of a lifestyle approach this time around.

Im not sure. I know no one can make this decision for me. It's so confusing, that I can finally get my "baby" back and now I'm thinking about fuji. FUJI, what!? Was never on my radar before.

Is it's wrong of me to wonder if mirrorless is just a fad? Or is this really the new dslr for enthusiasts of the future !? I'm clearly not wealthy and this is a very hard choice because I don't want to switch up next year. I'm so drawn to these little beauties now.

WishI could afford to rent one.
 
Different animals for different reasons... IMO, either one you buy is going to be a compromise of some sort. The one thing about the D700 is there won't be any (many) situation where you could say the camera was the limiting factor.

Fuji's are nice. They have a unique image quality kind of like shooting with Fuji Velvia film. I'm happy to do a lot of "static" work using one. My biggest problem with any of the mirror less cameras is AF speed. So far, I haven't seen/tried, or heard of any that can match typical DSLR phase detection AF.... even the on sensor phase detection hybrid systems like the XE-2 has (I have the X20 which is very similar in this aspect, and a V2 that also has this system). For active shooting of kids this could be a significant limitation.
 
Mirrorless are so ggood now but if the weight doesn't bother you dslrs with their bigger size and optical viewfinder and hands on control are still better. Though I have not used the olly em1. Portraits with an 85mm on fullframe are great.
 
I have the x-e2 which I started using about 3 months ago. I traded in a 5dmkII and lenses for the x-e2 and lenses. I made the swap because I couldn't make myself use the 5d given it's size and weight. In comparison the x-e2 is puny and for me a breath of fresh air. I've been using it happily since I got it.

In good light with the ISO low, the x-e2 holds it's own against the 5d in terms of IQ. In some ways it's maybe a tad better, but that's more a function of Fuji's lenses. I bought the 14mm f/2.8 and it's simply stunning -- the reduced sensor to flange distance matters and Fuji knows how to make it count! Fuji's X-Trans technology does make a difference -- it matters to unload that bleepin' AA filter. That said get a Nikon D800e and learn to love moire! In real low light however the full-frame sensors trounce the smaller sensors. You're not going to change the physics of that and if you want to chase a couple kids around indoors illuminated by a couple 75w blubs the Fuji is going to fall out of the race. You're comparing a full-frame to an APS sensor and there will be differences one of which is low light performance.

The AF speed problems that the earlier Fuji's suffered from have been corrected in the x-e2. Fuji in fact now claims the x-e2 has faster AF than any of the competing DSLRs. That's an advertising lie of course but the x-e2's AF is now comparable to the best camera's available. AF is virtually instantaneous.

The build quality of the x-e2 is excellent and the camera is designed to be used by a photographer. Essential controls are immediately accessible -- equal or better than my 5d. There is a program shift wheel directly under my right thumb. ISO access is a function button right next to the shutter release. The lenses have aperture rings (whoopee!) for someone my age adjusting the f/stop by turning a ring on the lens is right!! -- holding a button and turning a jog wheel is wrong!!! So even though the x-e2 is every bit a modern electronic marvel, it feels like a camera and for someone like me it's comforting. Dear Lord!! the 14mm has a DOF scale inscribed on the barrel!!! Hardly necessary but it just feels so right. THANK YOU FUJI!!

However the x-e2 is an EVF camera and no matter how good someone tells you modern EVF's have gotten they do not compete with and OVF viewfinder. In terms of seeing what you're photographing EVFs are fundamentally inferior nearly across the board. You can get used to them. I'm adapting well, but if there's one thing I miss in my old 5d that's it. I traded away size and weight -- big plus but I also traded away a great OVF -- big minus. Interestingly there is one way in which EVFs have an advantage. When the light gets dim an OVF gets dim. The EVF in dim light can stay bright.

If you intend to use the camera's JPEG processing engine the general consensus is that Fuji's EXR processor is 2nd to none and you can expect it to therefore be as good or better than Nikon's EXPEED processor. Fuji's raw files are a little troublesome because of the X-Trans sensor. They are not as well supported in the industry as standard Bayer array raw files. At this point Adobe, Capture One, PhotoNinja and Irridient provide good support.

Joe
 
The AF speed problems that the earlier Fuji's suffered from have been corrected in the x-e2. Fuji in fact now claims the x-e2 has faster AF than any of the competing DSLRs. That's an advertising lie of course but the x-e2's AF is now comparable to the best camera's available. AF is virtually instantaneous.
Have you used it for anything particularly demanding? I.e. sports/action w/ AF-c and tracking?
IME the phase detection is a HUGE improvement over contrast detection in speed, but nowhere near as capable as a mid-upper tier DSLR w/ an AF-S/USM lens.
 
The AF speed problems that the earlier Fuji's suffered from have been corrected in the x-e2. Fuji in fact now claims the x-e2 has faster AF than any of the competing DSLRs. That's an advertising lie of course but the x-e2's AF is now comparable to the best camera's available. AF is virtually instantaneous.
Have you used it for anything particularly demanding? I.e. sports/action w/ AF-c and tracking?
IME the phase detection is a HUGE improvement over contrast detection in speed, but nowhere near as capable as a mid-upper tier DSLR w/ an AF-S/USM lens.

I'm not a sports photographer and so I'm not really the person to make that determination. Fuji claims a .08 second focusing time for the x-e2 using the 14mm lens. Like I said; it's from the marketing department. My experience is that the auto focus in use is fast enough that I often doubt that it worked and I get suspicious, but it worked. The x-e2 is capable of 7 fps in burst mode and I have tested that on moving traffic in which case the AF tracking had no problem keeping up. Chasing kids around the house shouldn't be a problem.

Joe
 
Thanks for all the advice.

Id if like to throw one more camera into the mix.

All for for about the same price I can get
canon 5d classic, 85 1.8, 35 or 40. Maybe even some macro filters.
D700 and 50 1.8g
fuji x-e1 Helios 44m and 35 1.4
x-e2 and 35


keeling in mind that whatever I buy into I want to stick with forever. And I won't be able to upgrade or add on to my gear until next year.
one of the main things I'm excited about is the great white balance the x-e1/2 are supposed to have. I've read that it's great a few times now. I HAAAAATE messing with skintones and white balance. I do shoot raw though.
 
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Thanks for all the advice.

Id if like to throw one more camera into the mix.

All for for about the same price I can get
canon 5d classic, 85 1.8, 35 or 40. Maybe even some macro filters.
D700 and 50 1.8g
fuji x-e1 Helios 44m and 35 1.4
x-e2 and 35


keeling in mind that whatever I buy into I want to stick with forever. And I won't be able to upgrade or add on to my gear until next year.
one of the main things I'm excited about is the great white balance the x-e1/2 are supposed to have. I've read that it's great a few times now. I HAAAAATE messing with skintones and white balance. I do shoot raw though.

Anything you've heard about the white balance of the Fuji cameras has nothing to do with their raw RAF files. There is no white balance in a raw file. People who are raving about Fuji's WB or Fuji's colors or the Fuji "look" are all referring to the output from the camera's EXR image processor. They're talking about the camera's JPEG output and most of them are just this side of blind.

If you shoot raw you should know that no WB data is recorded in the raw sensor capture. Setting the WB is one of the necessary steps in the raw conversion process and it's no different for Fuji RAF files than for any other camera's raw files. You may be operating under some misconceptions. You haven't been reading the Internet, have you?

Joe
 
I went to a walmart the other day to pick up something I ordered site to store. while I was waiting for them to find the package out back I started looking around the customer service area. They had a table of cameras that was discounted because they were last years items, overstock, whatever. Lot of junk on the table but a couple gems in the heap.They had a pretty nice sony on that table for 250 bucks I could of sworn I seen the same camera on amazon for six hundred. It was still pretty updated too twenty mp maybe and 1080 video. Brand new in box. Not what I was looking for but someone who isn't particular might be better off looking for pricing deals as much as camera wants. 600 to 250 or a similar deal might help make up ones mind for them.
 
Ah. Makes sense. So even if I used an expodisc To set custom white balance in camera, it wouldn't apply anyway? I've always used a digital gray card in Lightroom , and have not use custom. I read hat the viewfinder on d700 (hitch I found to be fantastic) is .72x an the vf on the x-e2 is like 1.24x!! I dont know exactly what that means but it sounds like a big bright viewfinder for my tired eyes. That's also important to me. I think this means we can go ahead and rule out a 5dc. I know that camera will just frustrate me like it did in 2012. I think his means nikon or fuji

gah!!! That's one step closer. Again. Lol. Well back to square one at least.

I dodnso so love the d70" and I've mkssed it BUT. Maybe the fuji could be my new baby. I guess if I hate fuji I can sell, take a small loss and buy nikon.
 

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