D700

[abaddonxi]

Tenth anniversary coming up and I'm thinking Rilka really needs one of these.

Also thinking of getting it from US, my brother in law lives there.

Any suggestions on a betterer choice in a full-frame sensor slr, or other reasons why not to?

Simon

[dmdigital]

First off I thought you meant Tenth anniversary of DSLR - Nikon D1 was released on 15 June 1999. Then I realised you may have meant something else;)

As for the USA, check the price carefully. You're buying grey market into Australia that means and the Nikon USA cameras aren't really any cheaper at present. The grey market USA ones however are definitely cheaper.

I've been procrastinating getting a D700 for so long now I think I will wait for the next release - D300s/D400/D750 or whatever - Nikon puts forward. Definitely the pick of the FF DSLR without going to the D3.

I can't stand Canon ergonomics so I would be hard pressed to recommend an EOS 5D MkII. But that's about the only other option unless you go D3.

[Taz]

Does NIKON honour warrantee for items not purchased in Australia ?

[abaddonxi]

No, warranty seems to be linked to country of purchase.

[dmdigital]

Correct warranty is country of origin for all brands. The USA drives this and years ago even had different model names to the rest of the world. Check B&H Photo and Video in NY as they list USA and grey market sourced units.

[Chucaro]

The D700 is an awesome camera, good choice.
I agree with the comment about B&H it is among the best reputable camera shops world wide.

Nikon does not cover grey imports and items brought from overseas however if you get a grey import in Australia from a stablished dealer you are protected by australian laws.

I have my D200 and lens from grey importer and do not have any problems in dealing with them. I saved about $ 900 on the camera body back then ;)

Cheers

[Armadillo]

Don't forget the Sony A900. DPreview gave it an excellent review. It may not have all the "fruit" of the other brands, but it's got the image quality. Also, Sony are offering some enticing discounts at the moment. All the same, the D700 is an awesome beast.

[abaddonxi]

Oooh, just arrived.

Wow.


http://www.aulro.com/app/uploads/10906/Indigo2_d700.jpg

http://www.aulro.com/app/uploads/10906/Indigo_d700.jpg

Quite a change from the FE2. Controls are remarkably intuitive, except for the Liveview switch, which isn't necessarily a problem.

Guess I should read the manual.

[matbor]

Love that camera, the ISO is amazing on it, what lenses do u have?

[abaddonxi]

Not much, picked up a 50mm with the body, and madly looking on ebay.

I thought it wouldn't be too difficult since I'm coming from manual focus. Picked up a 35 2.8 and an 85 2, advertised as mint, full of fungus, so going back in very short order. Also waiting on a 28-80 that I'm hoping will be in better condition.

Lenses were all up in the air until I had a play with it. I'm a bit of a luddite, suspicious of all this newfangled zoom and autofocus stuff.

I'm coming round quite quickly.

[dmdigital]

The best general purpose lens you could get would be the 24-70 f/2.8 Nikkor ED.

Other than that I am very jealous! Think I'll hold off until the new D300 or D700 replacement comes out.

[abaddonxi]

The best general purpose lens you could get would be the 24-70 f/2.8 Nikkor ED.

Other than that I am very jealous! Think I'll hold off until the new D300 or D700 replacement comes out.

I think I'm going to have to get a supermod to delete this post, Derek.

I've had it up in a tab for days, every time I look at it I think, ooh, that looks nice.

Then I look at the price, and remember how much I dislike zoom lenses, then I read the reviews and think again.

Then I close it all down and run away screaming.

Until the next time this tab comes up and I go through the whole cycle again.
:D

[dmdigital]

:p:p:p:twisted::twisted::twisted: :angel: :angel: :angel:

I'm still envious!!

But I do have the 14-24, 24-70 and 70-200 f/2.8's, just need a better body;)

[abaddonxi]

:p:p:p:twisted::twisted::twisted: :angel: :angel: :angel:

I'm still envious!!

But I do have the 14-24, 24-70 and 70-200 f/2.8's, just need a better body;)

You can take the body Monday, Tuesday ,Wednesday. I'll take the lenses Thursday, Friday, Saturday. or vice versa, and swap off Sundays.

Couldn't spring for a 24-70, but came across this little fella at a rather reasonable price.:angel:


http://kenrockwell.com/nikon/35-70-d/images/35-70-d-KEN_7880.jpg (http://kenrockwell.com/nikon/3570.htm)

It might just convince me that zooms are not evil.

[Chucaro]

The 35-70 1:2.8 is a very good lens.
I have the cheap version that come with the Nikon 601AF in 1990 and produce details like this crop of a full image.


https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2009/08/1979.jpg

[dmdigital]

Simon, I could have given you one of those. I've got 2 of them in the cupboard at home. Doesn't perform that well on D200, very soft, but may be OK on D700. Was a good lens in its day.

Have you ordered the new 70-200 yet?

[Chucaro]

Simon, I could have given you one of those. I've got 2 of them in the cupboard at home. Doesn't perform that well on D200, very soft, but may be OK on D700. Was a good lens in its day.

Have you ordered the new 70-200 yet?

Is that lens soft in the D200 :eek:
I use the 35-70 1:3.3 - 4.5 on my D200 on the flora shots and is very good. I do not think that the above example of the grevillea details are soft :eek:

If one day you get rid of yours let me know.
Cheers

[abaddonxi]

Simon, I could have given you one of those. I've got 2 of them in the cupboard at home. Doesn't perform that well on D200, very soft, but may be OK on D700. Was a good lens in its day.

Have you ordered the new 70-200 yet?

Please, I'm still mesmerised by the 50mm.

:D

[abaddonxi]

And not loving ebay for lenses. I've bought five lenses and and four have had fungus.

And that's from lenses advertised as being in excellent, no-fungus, etc.

One of them along with the fungus came up with exposure meter errors, and a horrible grinding sound on focus - the 2.8 35-70, of course.:(

Many lenses sent back.

[matbor]

And not loving ebay for lenses. I've bought five lenses and and four have had fungus.

And that's from lenses advertised as being in excellent, no-fungus, etc.

One of them along with the fungus came up with exposure meter errors, and a horrible grinding sound on focus - the 2.8 35-70, of course.:(

Many lenses sent back.

Give Camera Exchange a call in Melbourne, The Camera Exchange (http://www.cameraexchange.com.au/) might have something you need.

Matt.

[abaddonxi]

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2009/08/1478.jpg

Dark and stormy spiderworld.

[Chucaro]

Very nice abstract, I like the composition.

[dullbird]

Simon you should come visit me and put my 70-200 on your camera see how that performs:)

[Chucaro]

Simon you should come visit me and put my 70-200 on your camera see how that performs:)

Of course you will need a couple of weeks to evaluate it properly :angel:

[dullbird]

what the D700 of course and I promise I will be careful :)

[dmdigital]

Guess what I got permission from BM to buy today:D:D:D:D:D:D

I will hold off until the end of the year and see what eventuates in the D700 world though.

What I do want to get now though is a multi-row panorama rail setup. The single pano-rail is just not enough anymore. So I guess I'll be off to buy more RRS bits... at least the US$ is favourable at present.

Simon you should get some RRS mounts for the D700 I think:twisted:

[abaddonxi]

Guess what I got permission from BM to buy today:D:D:D:D:D:D

I will hold off until the end of the year and see what eventuates in the D700 world though.

What I do want to get now though is a multi-row panorama rail setup. The single pano-rail is just not enough anymore. So I guess I'll be off to buy more RRS bits... at least the US$ is favourable at present.

Simon you should get some RRS mounts for the D700 I think:twisted:

You can't scare me with your expensive camera mounts. I used to be a grip and the camera mounts cost around the price of a house.


https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2009/08/1139.jpg

BTW think I've found the cheapest place on earth for your rails and other bargain accessories - DealExtreme: Cool Gadgets at the Right Price - Site-Wide Free Shipping (Page 1) (http://www.dealextreme.com/)


https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2009/08/1140.jpg
(http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.9430)


https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2009/08/1141.jpg (http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.19614)

Lens alignment, what lens alignment? But cheap! Not quite as schmick as RRS.

[Chucaro]

Guess what I got permission from BM to buy today:D:D:D:D:D:D

I will hold off until the end of the year and see what eventuates in the D700 world though.

What I do want to get now though is a multi-row panorama rail setup. The single pano-rail is just not enough anymore. So I guess I'll be off to buy more RRS bits... at least the US$ is favourable at present.

Simon you should get some RRS mounts for the D700 I think:twisted:

Congrats mate, now you have to aim for the 500mm f/4 lens for the birds :D

[Captain_Rightfoot]

I'll be very interested to hear about your setup. :)

[dmdigital]

All I can say Simon is "you pay for quality":( Get a RRS ball head and you be amazed.

[abaddonxi]

All I can say Simon is "you pay for quality":( Get a RRS ball head and you be amazed.

Oh yeah, I'm reasonably sure their gear is not quality, but at their prices it's also near on disposable and worth the price just to have a play with.

I couldn't resist the spare body and lens back caps for under $3 a pair delivered.

[slt]

All I can say Simon is "you pay for quality":( Get a RRS ball head and you be amazed.

+1 to that. I had been using a (not at all cheap) Manfrotto head, but even so had to be really careful when shooting HDR and panoramas. Now I've got a RRS BH-55 head with panorama clamps and slides ... and there's no way I'll use anything else if I can help it. Not cheap, but I figure it's a once-off investment.

slt (http://www.solittletime.com.au/thumbs.php?category=Panoramas)

[dmdigital]

Now I've got a RRS BH-55 head with panorama clamps and slides ... and there's no way I'll use anything else if I can help it.
... and being made from aluminium they are also incredibly light aren't they;)

Which Pano setup have you got? I'm looking at getting another PCL and rail to do multi-pass pano's and build on the PCL and rail setup I presently use.

[flagg]

another vote for the 70-200 2.8VR. Especially on FF its a wonderful unit, poetic infact. Solid glass but not too heavy so can still hold it all day.

I buy second hand, but only from reputable dealers. I've found ECS in Sydney to be fantastic. When they say something is mint, it is. I got my 70-200 from there 2nd hand, it came in box as new with manuals. To be honest, they could have sold it as new and no one would ever have known.

I'll get a D700 one day, most likely when the next one comes out and they drop in value by $1000 over night :)

The things which will really improve your shots are:

Great tripod. Get the best first - save a heap of money.
CP filter. A quality one, not a super thin ulta $$$ one.
A good flash. SB800's are cheap as now, use it for daylight portraits to lighten the shadows and bring out the colour.

When you've got good / controllable light, you can make it so you get the best out of your lenses. I've got a totally horrid, ancient Tamron 70-300 zoom that I've got really sharp tonal images from when i've used it in a studio with top quality lighting.. I knew the sweet spot in the lens and worked with it.

The above accessories will do the same for your 50* and any other lens you get.. and you can say "look, I've just saved myself $15k in lenses!" :cool:

*just don't open it up past f4 unless you want 'a soft moody tone'.....

[slt]

... and being made from aluminium they are also incredibly light aren't they;)

Which Pano setup have you got? I'm looking at getting another PCL and rail to do multi-pass pano's and build on the PCL and rail setup I presently use.

I have the BH-55 with the PCL clamp and the MPR-192 rail/clamp package. I also have an L-plate for my D700, which is great for mounting the camera in portrait-mode, and I shoot most of my panos in portrait mode these days, giving me extra pixels along the vertical. Haven't got round to doing multi-row stuff yet, though the exchange rate right now makes it tempting to get another PCL and rail ;). But having just sprung for the 130 puma and camper, it will probably have to wait a little :(

[abaddonxi]

Finally got it right on ebay - after three returns of lenses advertised as fungus free and without damage.

Mint condition - 2 rolls - 50mm 1.4D and a 7-210 4-5.6, on an F80 in a Pelican-ish case. $250. We won't add the cost of driving down to pick it up, or the return postage costs for the lenses that had to be returned; that'd take all the fun out of it.:p

I'm a little bit stoked.

[abaddonxi]

70-210 is very nice but tooooo slow.

Don'tcha hate that?

Swore I didn't need a tripod so I don't know why I bought this -

http://www.kingsleyphoto.co.uk/images/large/G1275M.jpg

Red mist, ebay, Gitzo, bargain.

And Manfrotto legs.

[300+]

slt (http://www.solittletime.com.au/thumbs.php?category=Panoramas)

Wow.

[slt]

Wow.

Which one? :)

D700, 24-70mm and a decent tripod/head (except the last one, which was handheld) and good software...

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2009/09/1230.jpg
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2009/09/1231.jpg
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2009/09/1232.jpg

[300+]

I'm having a tough time deciding. But I guess the bottom two are my favourites.

I'm impressed with how the boats were not messed up. I would imagine that if you are not careful the boat movement would cause problems.

Cheers, Steve

[slt]

I would imagine that if you are not careful the boat movement would cause problems.

The software I use (Autopano Pro and PTGui, depending on application) seems quite forgiving in that respect when it comes to daytime shots, though I do plan my overlaps to minimise potential problems.

Nighttime is a different story because of the longer exposures. The first of the photos is actually a HDR made up of 33 separate shots, with up to 20 seconds each. I shot about five sequences until I got one with minimal boat movements. Took about 2 hours all up (including a few other combinations), with intermittent showers ... being patient definitely helps.

slt