Preamble

Most professional photographers are typically equipment junkies… and yes, I believe I fall into that category.  I usually don’t post much about equipment unless I find something truly special out there.

Thanks to my friends at Nikon Canada – I’ve had my hands on a brand spanking new Nikon D700 DSLR for a few days now which was officially released worldwide on July 25, 2008.  I could ramble on and on about the specifications but you would be better off to read sites like DPReview for that.

Some History

A bit of history… Nikon last summer announced two new (fantastic) cameras – the (lower cost) DX crop Nikon D300 and the (quite expensive) full frame (FX) Nikon D3.  The D3 was long expected (and overdue as Canon had full frame cameras out for years) but the D300 was a big surprise as it exceeded the previous flagship D2xs in performance and image quality but at a third of its initial price. It was also built to professional standards.  Nikon had raised the bar with both the D300 and the D3.

Where’s The D3 Review?

I wrote a mini review on the D300 when they first arrived in Canada.  It is a great little camera and I thought I would not buy a D3 as the D300 (and my Fuji S5) were allowing me to create great images.

After “borrowing” a friend’s D3 this year, I got hooked on it.  It sucks in light, no matter how little there is.  And it is like driving a Ferrari after driving  a Camry (oddly enough, I believe that Ferrari did design the D2 and D3 series bodies for Nikon).  You could literally shoot in a dark cave at 11 frames per second and get fabulous, in focus shots once you know how to operate it.  The D3, overall, exceeds all previous standards set for cameras.

So, why did I not write a D3 review?  There was nothing I could add that wasn’t said already about the camera.  IMHO, until another “high end” camera comes out, I personally believe it is the best camera on the planet.  You can read what Phil Askey and Thom Hogan (two well respected camera reviewers) have to say about the D3.

For those of you who have handled a D3, it is quite a beast.  It is a heavy camera and quite expensive (about $5,100.00 as I write this).  Canon has the (3 year old) 5D which also uses a full frame sensor – it has excellent image quality and is in a low cost, lightweight body.  I always thought that if Nikon put the D3′s FX sensor into the D300 body, they would have an instant hit.

Nikon Must Have Read My Mind

Well guess what?  At the beginning of July 2008, Nikon announced the D700 which is basically a D300 style body with the D3 FX sensor.  I had to pinch myself.

So, now that I have my grubby hands on the D700, what do I think of it?  I could go on for hours (heaven forbid) about it, however, I will give you my initial impressions.

Impressions

What I like:

• Most of the controls are similar to the D300, so I was instantly familiar with it.
• The D700 might have a similar body to the D300 but has most of its DNA borrowed from the D3… when I shoot with it, I have to remind myself it is not a D300 but rather, a smaller D3.
• It (to me) has a better build quality than the D300, but that is purely subjective on my part.  It just seems “beefier” (is that a word?) to me.  BTW, the D300 build quality is excellent.
• Ergonomics are beautiful – I have small hands and it fits them like a glove.
• You can have D3 image quality for $1,800.00 less.
• Auto Focus (AF) is identical to the D3. This surprised me as the D300 (which also uses the same CAM3500 AF module as the D3 and D700) has a bit of a “lag” compared to the D3 in acquiring the subject (once it acquires the subject though, it is extremely accurate).  Nikon mentioned that the D3 and D700 share the same (fast) processor, hence why AF is identical.  The D300 uses a slower processor.
• When shooting 14 bit NEFs, the camera does not slow down.
• Same beautiful 3 inch (900,000 pixel) rear LCD as the D3/D300.
• Battery life is quite good… about 1,000 shots (NEF/RAW) per fully charged EN-EL3e battery – and that is with a lot of chimping and menu use.
• The “dust off” feature might be useful as the FX sensor seems to be a big dust magnet.
• It uses the MB-D10 grip… so if you have one for your D300, you can use the same grip for both cameras.

In summary, the D700 really is a mini D3 in many ways – with a price tag (in Canada) of $1,800.00 less than its bigger brother.

What I am not crazy about:

• Only one Compact Flash card slot (I am paranoid about backups).
• The viewfinder only has 95% coverage compared to 100% on the D3.
• The new door for the Compact Flash card seems “cheap” (and easily breakable) for a $3,300.00 camera.
• Menus and controls that are getting more complex.  Actually, this is becoming an issue for all of Nikon’s latest pro cameras.  There are so many features in these cameras, organizing them is becoming a tricky matter.  There are more than 20 buttons on these cameras – each of them customizable plus dozens of menus to understand.  I believe that Nikon in future generations of cameras will need to think out how to better organize menu items, etc.
• The proprietary NEF format.  Not a criticism of the D700, but of Nikon’s NEF format itself.  I know Nikon makes money selling its own conversion software, Capture NX2.  But hello… there are many other RAW converters out there and I would love to see Nikon publish the specs for their NEF format so we can ALL get the best image quality out of our Nikon cameras.  IMHO, the user interface/performance on NX and NX2 is awful compared to Lightroom, Aperture, etc.

The Verdict?

Nikon has succeeded in making “mini-D3″ and a viable competitor to Canon’s future 5D successor (unless Canon does something really radical – who knows, they might).  It ain’t cheap though… at $3,300.00 (in Canada), it is about a $1,500.00 premium over the very capable D300.  Then again, that is the price you will have to pay if you want to get into Nikon’s FX format.

Do I regret buying my D3?  In a word, “NO”.  I love my D3.  As capable as the D700 is, it isn’t a D3 and I am glad I spent the extra money to have it in my bag for its extra features.

What’s In My Bag Now?

So, as a wedding photographer, I now have the best of the best – a D3 and a D700 in my bag – arguably, two of the world’s best cameras at my disposal.  I know equipment does not make the photographer – having said that, my clients will get images created by the best cameras (and lenses) money can buy.  The only thing limiting me now is my imagination and creativity.

And what becomes of the D300 in my bag?  Needless to say, I will be finding it a good home.  It is a fantastic camera (especially for the price) and for this photographer, the Nikon FX format best suits my needs.  If I were doing more wildlife work (where the Field Of View Crop and pixel density are extremely useful), I would probably have two D300′s!

Should You Get A D700?

If you are considering the D700 (or D3), ask yourself exactly what it will give you over current Nikon (or Canon) DX offerings and is it worth the price premium for you?  Only you can answer that.

Well Done, Nikon!

You’ve hit another home run (IMHO) with the D700.  They are expensive and you will probably sell a lot of them.  Thank you for the opportunity to have some “quiet time” with this great camera.

Happy shooting!

As I mentioned in a previous post, I got my hot little hands on a Nikon D300… it has been out in Canada for the past week and there is a lot of talk about what this camera can/cannot do.

Some people might be disappointed that I will not give a full review of this camera – there are people such as Phil Askey (of DP Review) who do an excellent (and very thorough) job of reviewing cameras. Instead, I will give you my initial impressions.

Before I start, I would like to state that it takes a long time to master a piece of photographic equipment – especially something as sophisticated as the Nikon D300. I cannot begin to imagine the years of R&D that must go into something like this. And I suspect it will take most photographers (including yours truly) years to master this camera. We are at a point now in photography where we are constrained only by our imagination, not our equipment.

Some people call the D300 an upgrade to the Nikon D200 (another excellent camera). Some people even call the D300 the “little brother” to the excellent Nikon D3. Call it what you want, the D300 is no slouch and Nikon means business with this camera – from both a feature and price perspective.

You can read the D300’s feature list here.

What I Like

• Nice big viewfinder – 100% coverage
• 6 FPS is plenty fast, 8 FPS if you use the external grip
• Auto Focus (AF) is lightning fast – the CAM3500 module is nothing but superb and accurate. I am still figuring out all of the AF modes (and will be for some time). It is as accurate, or even more so than the CAM2000 AF on my D2 bodies. I honestly believe I could AF on anything in a dark cave with this camera.
• 3D AF tracking is simply amazing.
• Colour acuity is excellent
• 12 Megapixels is a lot of data and the CMOS sensor does a great job capturing images
• High ISO is not an issue anymore. I can comfortably shoot at ISO 1600 and get an excellent image. ISO 3200 is perfectly useable. This is about 1 stop better than the D200 and about 2 stops better than the D2X. I must admit that I was surprised how well high ISO images turned out from the D300 and how much detail was retained.
• Nikon’s iTTL and CLS are superb, as always.
• The 3 inch rear LCD is gorgeous. Clear, crisp and really easy to read.
• Nikon got rid of those pesky little caps for the 10 pin remote and PC sync connector. I was always losing them on previous Nikon bodies.
• Well built – like a tank.
• The JPEG engine using the XSPEED processor appears to do a really good job.
• Auto White Balance (AWB) is better than on previous Nikon cameras.
• Battery life is greatly improved over the D200 – about twice the battery life.
• The menu system is child’s play. It is so easy to use and understand.
• Using UDMA Compact Flash cards, write times are wickedly fast. I have yet to fill the buffer while shooting. It may never happen with this camera.
• Love, love, love the ability to “fine tune” the AF with up to 12 lenses. You can adjust for back/front focus really easily now.

What I Don’t Like

• AWB tends to be “yellowish” in artificial (specifically, tungsten) light. You can adjust this easily.
• I still think Capture NX sucks. At least Nikon isn’t charging for this.
• Noise Reduction (NR) can get aggressive in JPEG, but you can turn this down (or even off).
• Nikon changed the button layout on the back of the camera from the D2X and D200. I liked the old layout better – why did they mess with perfection?
• Matrix metering sometimes runs a little hot at times. My guess is that Nikon did this to keep noise down in the shadows. But then again, it is matrix metering. I also suspect the high ISO values in the camera are underrated, but I have no evidence (yet) to back this up.

Final Thoughts

I’ve probably missed a few things, but overall, Nikon has done an excellent with this camera and will sell a ton of them. Many people have asked me whether the D300 will replace my Fuji S5’s (also an excellent camera) in my wedding work.

In a word, NO.

The Fuji S5 is still the undisputed Dynamic Range (DR) king and I love the colour it produces. That DR gap is getting smaller, however, with both Nikon and Canon racing to introduce new cameras into the marketplace. The D300 is no doubt a better camera from a feature perspective, but in the end, it boils down to Image Quality (IQ) for me. Both camera’s IQ is superb, but for different reasons.

The S5’s IQ best suits wedding photography as the skin tone, colour and DR are excellent. I could, however, easily photograph a whole wedding with a D300 and still have beautiful images for my clients. For now, I will use my D300 for landscapes, large groups, low light situations and images where I need maximum resolution. For portraiture and wedding work in good light (as the S5′s AF hunts a lot in low light), I will use my S5’s.

I may post more about the D300 as I gain more experience with it. I now own cameras that will challenge my creativity for years to come.

Many of you know that my wife and I have the cutest little dog on the planet (OK, so we are biased!). Anyway, poor little Zeus has been modeling for me non-stop since I got my Nikon D300 in the first batch that entered Canada. Hey, Zeus is really concerned that when I photograph him and his canine friends, that the fur tones will be perfect.

A number of you have asked me for a review of the D300… well, it won’t be a full review – I’ll leave that to sites like DP Review. In the next week or so, I will post my thoughts on this great new camera from Nikon. Zeus and I will be hard at work testing our new toy camera.

Oh yeah, Zeus says, “WOOF!”