Another new camera - D700
Quote from Just take the shot on July 16, 2022, 5:55 amSo. The Pentax K-r I had purchased and was waiting on. Gone. Disappeared. Sooooooo I picked up today a D700
The massive bonus. It came with a Nikkor 50mm and....the battery grip. No mention in the advert so when I turned up to get it I was surprised to find these two bonuses in the bag with the D700 body. Batteries are charging and I can't wait to take some shots.
Awesome!! Surprise bonuses when buying used are one of the great joys in life! haha
Holy moly that's a good surprise. I'm looking for a grip, 70-200mm and 24-70 I think. Probably grip first to unlock that frame rate.
Can't wait to hear your thoughts. I've made the function button switch auto iso on/off, and will probably have a couple more minor changes but otherwise it's a damn fine piece of kit.
Quote from ThePrettyDamned on July 16, 2022, 5:04 pmHoly moly that's a good surprise. I'm looking for a grip, 70-200mm and 24-70 I think. Probably grip first to unlock that frame rate.
Can't wait to hear your thoughts. I've made the function button switch auto iso on/off, and will probably have a couple more minor changes but otherwise it's a damn fine piece of kit.
Oh my gosh. What a beast. I never thought I'd go for such a heavy camera. I'm actually finding I'm gravitating to the DSLR's of old. First the 5D MKII now the D700. I'm loving the 50mm Nikkor. The Bokeh isn't the nicest I've seen but man it's a gorgeous lens. I'll try the 18-135mm soon to give that a test as well. It's a cracking camera with a few learning curves but I really love using it. I have it placed on one of the shelves above my desk ready to just grab and take out shooting. My wife says it's a shrine to my new favourite obsession hahaha.
This rose is a NEF converted to JPEG with zero editing. The shot is a test so not the greatest rose shot I've ever taken. But that 50mm glory.
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The 50mm is great - same design as all the older nifty 50s, I never seen any difference between them personally - they're all great.
It's a beast of a camera all right! Absolute monster, but utterly quality. I wish the battery door felt better, it's a bit flimsy... But everything else is perfect.
Quote from Just take the shot on July 17, 2022, 6:10 amQuote from ThePrettyDamned on July 16, 2022, 5:04 pmHoly moly that's a good surprise. I'm looking for a grip, 70-200mm and 24-70 I think. Probably grip first to unlock that frame rate.
Can't wait to hear your thoughts. I've made the function button switch auto iso on/off, and will probably have a couple more minor changes but otherwise it's a damn fine piece of kit.
Oh my gosh. What a beast. I never thought I'd go for such a heavy camera. I'm actually finding I'm gravitating to the DSLR's of old. First the 5D MKII now the D700. I'm loving the 50mm Nikkor. The Bokeh isn't the nicest I've seen but man it's a gorgeous lens. I'll try the 18-135mm soon to give that a test as well. It's a cracking camera with a few learning curves but I really love using it. I have it placed on one of the shelves above my desk ready to just grab and take out shooting. My wife says it's a shrine to my new favourite obsession hahaha.
This rose is a NEF converted to JPEG with zero editing. The shot is a test so not the greatest rose shot I've ever taken. But that 50mm glory.
A shrine🤣 I need to make one for my camera gear, it's kind of scattered unceremoniously at the moment.
The old DSLRs have a special allure, don't they? Hard to pinpoint what it is exactly - maybe build quality, or that they feel less like a computer than the new cameras. Probably the appeal is a bit different for each of us. For me the main thing is it's what I have (lol...) and I do quite like the optical viewfinder, although the EVFs have so many advantages especially now.
The D700 is such a nice looking camera, and these images are so great... I don't know if I'll ever get a mirrorless for myself (my wife has one, but I don't use it), or if I'll just keep buying old DLSRs. 😁
That 50mm rendering is nice. I quite like the bokeh, too. The background is so smooth!
So before I got into my current role (I work in Government as a consultant) I was an Art Teacher (don't ask...I still regret the change). I taught among other things photography. Film photography. There was none of this digital business. When digital became a thing I was instantly hooked. The first digital I bought was a Kodak something. I can't remember the model. If I could remember I'd love to buy one for nostalgia.
When the big bulky DSLR's started showing up I really (really) wanted one. I just couldn't afford them. They were...really expensive hahaha. Over the years I've looked at them from time to time and thought "You can afford one now, buy one!". I kept buying mirrorless and film cameras. I was on YouTube some time ago and there was a guy carrying on about the 5D MKII. I thought dang I want that camera with that 50mm lens. So I hunted and hunted and finally I found one.
I agree JBP, people are hooked on having the latest and greatest computer hanging around their necks but what these newer models lack is that look, that something that these older cameras and lenses have in spades.
The attached Lavender shot is cropped and edited slightly.
Mind you if someone gave me a Nikon Z9 I wouldn't say no 🙂
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I've been pondering and I think the reason older dslr cameras have appeal is focus.
I used to have a nikon D7200 and it was a brilliant camera. Loads of pixels, brilliant sensor (probably a Sony one, given being 24mp aps-c of the era) and excellent ergonomics in a smaller camera with weather sealing and a good frame rate.
But it also had a video mode. That meant buttons and dials and layouts were focused on stills, but with some level of compromise to make video usable. Older dslr cameras don't have those compromises - not that they're perfect, but at the very least, everything pertains to stills.
I sold my fuji X100T because the video buttons kept being pressed by mistake
It was a fine stills camera with terrible video functionality crammed in that, frankly, annoyed me. I think newer DSLR and mirrorless cameras just lack that singular focus. There are so many computational settings - yes, Sony cameras have world-leading tracking autofocus algorithms but you really do need to understand the settings. The nikon dslrs have 3D tracking that's easy to use and perhaps 80 percent as effective. That's good enough (edit - for a lot of people, like me!) - which makes it a pleasure to use, because any button you press will be relevant to the one task you are performing.
Hi!
I know this is an older post, but I also own a D700, and I was excited to read about your experience. The Nikon D700 is a really fantastic camera, especially if you combine it with a quality lens, isn't it? I agree with you on its solidity and excellent ergonomics; it truly is a reliable beast!
Your thought on the autofocus improvement compared to the D7200 is interesting. I've also found the autofocus on the D700 to be remarkably quick and decisive. You're right about the 12MP sensor being less demanding on the lens.
If you're still around, I'd love to hear more about your experiences with the D700 and that Sigma lens! Do you still find the image quality acceptable despite the damaged front element? Have you noticed any increase in flare or loss of contrast in certain lighting conditions?
The D7200 is still my Workhorse camera. It has the best Dynamic Range of anything in my collection including the much more modern Nikon Z50 I own. So I hardly consider a D7200 an "Old" camera in the very slightest. It's still a very modern DSLR as far as I am concerned.
Now, something like a Nikon D70s on the otherhand...
Quote from ThePrettyDamned on August 1, 2022, 7:50 pmI've been pondering and I think the reason older dslr cameras have appeal is focus.
I used to have a nikon D7200 and it was a brilliant camera. Loads of pixels, brilliant sensor (probably a Sony one, given being 24mp aps-c of the era) and excellent ergonomics in a smaller camera with weather sealing and a good frame rate.
But it also had a video mode. That meant buttons and dials and layouts were focused on stills, but with some level of compromise to make video usable. Older dslr cameras don't have those compromises - not that they're perfect, but at the very least, everything pertains to stills.
I sold my fuji X100T because the video buttons kept being pressed by mistake
It was a fine stills camera with terrible video functionality crammed in that, frankly, annoyed me. I think newer DSLR and mirrorless cameras just lack that singular focus. There are so many computational settings - yes, Sony cameras have world-leading tracking autofocus algorithms but you really do need to understand the settings. The nikon dslrs have 3D tracking that's easy to use and perhaps 80 percent as effective. That's good enough (edit - for a lot of people, like me!) - which makes it a pleasure to use, because any button you press will be relevant to the one task you are performing.
Yeah, the one weakness to the D7200 is the Video and Liveview features. Something like a Canon 80D blows it out of the water for anything shot through live-view or video.
Being as someone who's 100% a stills photographer and has zero interest in Video these days the D7200 is the perfect camera for me. What the D7500 added to make up for the shortcomings the D7200 also gutted a lot of the best features of the D7200 like Weather sealing and Dual Card slots. So in the end; I'd much rather stick with the D7200 as my F mount go-to camera.
