by GoldenHammer

I have been Nikon and Canon DSLR cameras users for the past 7 years from the my first DSLR body Nikon D1x to Canon 5D/ 40D/ 400D. I can’t and I won’t own all digital cameras, but, as most of you, I refresh my brain for the most wanted digital camera, prepare and get ready for that …

I rarely pop-up and do things like pre-order a newly released camera, I would make my own assessment before acquire the next camera – something versatile, reliable that produces great image – good resolution, colors, dynamic range, excellent ISO performance, features and controls like AF capabilities, metering, white-balance to ensure productivity. I also spent some time wondering the higher pixels inspiration, Nikon D700 and Canon 5D Mark II are in my final list.

I would want 21 MP 5D Mark II for additional image crop capability and possible larger prints, the video feature also looks interesting and fun, it is definitely a creative implementation for someone find it useful. Concerning higher ISO performance, I would expect both D700 and 5D Mark II will be pretty close to each other. As a trade-off, I prefer the 12 MP D700 with no video, but better AF, metering, white-balance and control features.

More thought on the video feature on DSLR – I am not surprised to see Nikon would have something similar, but that would a better approach to integrate the video feature on smaller/ consumer grade bodies like the Nikon D90 and keep the high-end DSLRs with the excellent professional configuration.

Yes, I need a versatile work horse this time and that is the Nikon D700 FX.

I got the Nikon D700 on October 6, 2008, my second Nikon DSLR body since the Nikon D1x. That is a package at reasonable price (comes with a handy Nikon brand camera bag, good for D700 plus a long lens or few tiny primes). I skipped the 24-120 kit lens and intended to use the new 50mm f/1.4 G for the D700 in additional to my existing Nikkor prime collections.

First Touch

What a robust electronic machine! The D700 comes excellent LCD display and viewfinder. It got a much taller body than others in the same class, the handing touch and feel is fine (however, I prefer the handing experience from my D1x – soft and gentle, though it built like a tank).

I don’t like some shortcuts design which makes the D700 look less secured – no lock for memory card slot cover. And the rubber covers for terminals at the right side, that is simply not in a fashionable design (the classic covers on my D1x may easy to miss, but that makes the Nikon appears more smart and professional). The green dots on the QUAL and beside the “+/-” buttons look a bit odd in my eyes … the AF assist light helps when focus in low light, it could be annoying however set to on as default, I turned it off and would make it on again when I need that.

I found the D700 image quality and size is not set default to the highest quality possible. For my style, I quickly changed the D700 setup to shoot RAW+JPEG fine, Large size, FX format, Optimal quality for JPEG compression, Lossless compressed NEF in 14-bit depth and turned on Active D-lighting. With these configuration, D700 reports 429 available shots after loaded with a 16GB CF memory card. If you care about that, make sure you check all these before go for any serious work.

I attached my beloved Nikkor 28/1.4D and 45/2.8P on D700 and managed to make some test drive shots. With some initial tests, the D700 produces very nice result at iso3200, the iso6400 image is still usable after some further noise reduction processing. At iso12800 and iso25600, details and colors are washed out substantially and may only for emergency cases, for my eyes, D700 is about one stop better in higher ISO performance over my Canon 5D.

More update and assessment to come.

This is a very first JPEG sample direct output from D700, 28mm f/5.6 1/50s at iso3200.

No related posts.