Gary Irwin Offline Upload & Sell: On
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Hi Bill;
Perhaps I shouldn't respond to your post as I don't really satisfy your criteria, but I always have an opinion! I've been shooting Nikon for about 7 years -- have a lot of experience with D300+500VR. While I was waiting for Nikon to release it's new cameras last year I got bored and decided to pick up a 1D4 and 800L to try out -- used it continuously for about 5 months. I was interested to see how I liked a fast crop camera (1D4) and then state-of-the-art long glass (800L). The 800L was excellent; sharp, fast AF and reasonably light, even for hand holding, but I was surprised how difficult the 1D4 was to use -- it was always blowing highlights or losing detail in the mush of the shadows. Definitely not what I was used to with my old D300.
So after the dust settled on the focus debacle I finally bought a D800 last fall to use with my 500VR. Short answer is that sold my Canon stuff pretty quickly afterwards. As good as Canon lenses are, and especially the newer MKII teles, the slightly superior performance in Canon lenses (my opinion) and weight advantage is still easily trumped by Nikon's sensor performance. The 1Dx would be the exception, but it doesn't have enough resolution for my needs. So right now I'm staying with my D800 and will look at a D400 or D4x when released. I'm also staying with my trusty 500VR -- which yields a solid 700mm w/TC14EII that I can shoot wide open at closer ranges and not have to worry about the IQ, and is still quite hand holdable.
IMO the newer class of high-density sensors are taking the luster off the longest lenses which are increasingly looking like dinosaurs to me. What I would like more than anything right now is a light weight 7 lb fluorite based 500VRIII + dedicated TC. Here's hoping...
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