My thinking is that extra contration of pixels and the 1.5x reach is the cat's meow for birds. My plan is to simply wait for the replacement to the D300. It will likely have at least 24mp, will have very fast AF, much faster frames per second than D800, and cost half as much. With an updated D300 you'll have a camera that is much better suited to wildlife and might just be the best camera ever made for bird photography. Good chance you could end up gnashing your teeth if you bought a D800 instead, which is better suited to wedding/portrait photography. A D300 update will cost half what a D800 does, and that money would be much better placed on a first class lens than a camera with slow frame rate.
Why spend $3,200 on a FX camera just to run it in crop mode, when the odds are high that Nikon will soon release a DX camera with even higher pixel density and significantly faster frame rate? As a bonus it will cost half as much, meaning you could put more money on the important thing--a first class lens. Isn't a D800 in crop mode basically a D7000, a camera costing one third as much?
Hello Kevin.
you might remember me from Pentax forums.
I was a Nikon shooter before I bought in to Pentax system for weight reasons. I had a D3 and AFS 500 F4 lens. But, my shoulder problems led me to sell them and move to a lighter system. Pentax K5 is a great camera and I still own it along with FA 400 F5.6 and FA200F2.8. After shooting with most long lens in Pentax system I came to the conclusion that AF quality especially for tracking, is no comparison to Nikon system. I liked the color better from Pentax but, since I bought D4 I do not think it matters anymore.
Now to your point. A D800 and a 300F4 should be a great starting point as you will not loose a whole lot of value as you would with pentax, should you decide to sell your gear and upgrade or for what ever reason. That is another point to consider, in my opinion.
Good luck.
Steve Perry wrote:
For static bird shots, the D800 is great - and you're 100% right on the crop flexibility.
For birds in flight, the D800 is good - but not great - the slower frame rate doesn't give you the options like a faster FPS camera does. Sometimes 8-10 FPS is just what's needed to get the perfect wingbeat. The D800 is sometimes just too slow.
The other D800 problem is the buffer. Let's say you have a bird flying parallel to you across a pond or something. With a larger buffer you can really just let it rip for the whole sequence, with the D800 buffer, not so much. Buffer size also comes into play when you've shoot a quick sequence of one bird then quickly turn to shoot a sequence of another.
All that said, in Nikon's current line-up and your budget, a D800 is probably still the best bet. I think the rumored D400 would be a perfect fit, but who knows when / if on that one?
Me, I'd probably buy the D800 and if the D400 comes out you can always sell. I have a feeling D800 bodies will hold their value for awhile. ...Show more →
I think I agree with your last line - I have waited too long for Pentax to release their FF camera so I'm not going to compound that by waiting for the mythical D400
Gary Irwin wrote:
I don't have a D800 and have never used one (though several of my buddies do and like it a lot), so take this with a grain of salt. If your primary interest is birding and funds are a little tight I'd suggest picking up a used D7000 and putting the extra cash towards a 500VR -- you won't be happy cropping the D800 heavy on less than premium glass. Maybe next year you can decide whether to upgrade to the D400 (which should be out by then) or a used D800 -- they will be available.
Appreciate your thoughts Gary. However I would not consider the D7000 over the K5 and I'd lose in camera VR, there's no gain. And the Nikon 500MM is just too expensive no matter how I try to balance it (that and a D7000 comes to over US$9,000, whereas a D800 and a used Sigma 500mm I can snaffle up for US$3k comes to just US$6,000.
VinnieJ wrote:
In the view finder you just get a box to show your frame. With the live view (I'm assuming for manual focusing but not birding) it is framed more accurately but you can also zoom in if you want to when in FX mode and crop to frame.
You can try it and see if it's helpful, for me I don't see any advantage.
Thanks Vinnie. I hadn't realised that but now you mention it I have taken a closer look at how it works. Not quite what I wanted but at least it should be easier to find the subject and for BIF see the bird entering the frame.
Two23 wrote:
My thinking is that extra contration of pixels and the 1.5x reach is the cat's meow for birds. My plan is to simply wait for the replacement to the D300. It will likely have at least 24mp, will have very fast AF, much faster frames per second than D800, and cost half as much. With an updated D300 you'll have a camera that is much better suited to wildlife and might just be the best camera ever made for bird photography. Good chance you could end up gnashing your teeth if you bought a D800 instead, which is better suited to wedding/portrait photography. A D300 update will cost half what a D800 does, and that money would be much better placed on a first class lens than a camera with slow frame rate.
Sounds like a plan Kent ! However not for me, I am far to impatient for that (though if it is that good then I could always sell the D800 and buy the D300X) - unless it appears in the next month or so
hegdent wrote:
Hello Kevin.
you might remember me from Pentax forums.
I was a Nikon shooter before I bought in to Pentax system for weight reasons. I had a D3 and AFS 500 F4 lens. But, my shoulder problems led me to sell them and move to a lighter system. Pentax K5 is a great camera and I still own it along with FA 400 F5.6 and FA200F2.8. After shooting with most long lens in Pentax system I came to the conclusion that AF quality especially for tracking, is no comparison to Nikon system. I liked the color better from Pentax but, since I bought D4 I do not think it matters anymore.
Now to your point. A D800 and a 300F4 should be a great starting point as you will not loose a whole lot of value as you would with pentax, should you decide to sell your gear and upgrade or for what ever reason. That is another point to consider, in my opinion.
Good luck.
Of course I remember you Harish - I just love your work.
Thank you for your thoughts. I am going to buy the Sigma 500/4.5 for the D800. I had toyed with the idea of the 5DIII and the incredibly sharp wide-open 400/5.6 plus one of Canon's superb TCs, or with the Sigma 500mm, but the D800 has almost convinced me, though I don't know anything about the quality of Nikon's TCs and their compatibility with the Sigma ?
The AF for birding is a major reason for the switch.
I will be keeping one of my K5s as, with those gorgeous little primes, it's great for when I just want a smaller and lighter kit.
