p.1 #1 · Why I still love my D700 (after using the D800!!!)
Just shot my first wedding with my new D800. I'm not impressed much at all with the way I currently photograph weddings.
It's fine in the morning, it's fine for details. It's only OK for photo sessions, and the only thing it's got going for low light receptions is, well better focusing and better noise handling.
Now - that said, I'm very happy with the D800. I'm amazed at what 36mp looks like, I love the detail in the resolution, but I think I'm going to join the band-wagon that this just isn't the next Nikon wedding body.
Why?
First, the speed. I upgraded to an M4 SSD drive, got myself some speedy 64GB memory cards, and felt prepared. But nope - buffer ran full with the way I shoot. The images are simply too large at the moment.
I didn't even notice the slow-down until I picked up my D700 1/2 through the wedding. "HOLY SMOKES" I thought - this camera is QUICK!
Second, the shutter sound. I know, so incredibly vain, right? I love Nikon for their cur-CHUNK. Great. But I just assumed the newer shutter would be a bit more QUIET! The sound, awesome - but it's still freakin' LOUD!
Third - and this is just nagging here - but the file sizes. Now I know - the D800 is MADE to be a large MP body. I purchased it knowing this. But why not any sRaw or mRaw options? They have DX, crop, etc options - why not FX Raw file size options?!
***
Now, this isn't to say I don't love the D800, still. I've been itching to begin some serious video work after the dainty D7000, and I'm not quite ready to use the full D4 body size. See:
And as a companion with the D700, it's fine as a wedding camera.
But will it last this summer? Maybe not. For the speed and file sizes, I might move on to the larger, full grip body Nikon D4.
p.1 #5 · Why I still love my D700 (after using the D800!!!)
Wait till the D600 with dual SD cards and 24MP arrives. Possibly more what you wanted, but I'm sure we'll find 'something' to complain about - like the focusing or the weather sealing or built quality or 'something'
I'm shooting a wedding today with the D800 as my primary and D700 as backup.
p.1 #6 · Why I still love my D700 (after using the D800!!!)
SloPhoto wrote:
I always hated the shutter in the d700, slow and sounded cheap. That was one of the key reasons I preferred the d3.
Then don't compare it to the 5D2 which sounds like a clockwork shutter next to Nikon. As soon as we can dump them (unfortunately we still use them for video) the better!
p.1 #7 · Why I still love my D700 (after using the D800!!!)
when D700 came on the market, the 12Mpix file size, CPU's processing power was same issue like now is D800. It is only 3times bigger while CPU, CF card prices, storage prices, all went down much faster.
Buffer runs out? Whoa. How you shoot?
But whatever, stick with your D700. It didnt became "unsuitable" with release of D800. It just makes no sense what you write :-)
p.1 #10 · Why I still love my D700 (after using the D800!!!)
I find it rather funny that so many peeps complain about the D800 not being an ideal wedding camera mostly on account of file size and top frame rate...
Frame rate is identical to the 5D2 which I didn't hear so many complaints about.
File size... Let's put it in perspective.... In terms of cost of storage we're talking maybe 3-4 dollars per wedding more than a 5d2... If that. In terms of cost of cards to shoot a wedding on, the D800 is actually cheaper per photo (using comparable speed cards) than the 5d2 was when it was introduced (unless you take advantage of dual storage and add CF cards to the mix... Which of course you could not do with the 5d2)
Photomechanic is not appreciably slower when culling d800 shots as it is with the 5d2 files I still have... And I honestly don't see a noticeable difference in LR3 between 5d2 and D800. Not on my Core i7 16gb ram Win7 box anyway.
It's certainly slower to cOpy the files, to import them in LR and to output JPG files. But it's not like a 5d2 wedding imports in the time it takes me to shift for a fart and the d800 takes 20 minutes. They both take WAY LONGER than I'm willing to sit there to wait for it to finish... So does it really matter?
And again comparing to the 5d2 I even get a totally usable 1.5x TELECONVERTER built in that yields 15mp images with Zero loss of light or optical quality.
p.1 #11 · Why I still love my D700 (after using the D800!!!)
I've been using my D800 for a couple weeks now and have found that neither Photomechanic or LR4 is any slower because of the files. Maybe a little bit on my Macbook Air, but nothing that is going to drive me crazy. The resolution on this camera is amazing, so I'll give up a little extra file space any day. This camera is incredible.
p.1 #12 · Why I still love my D700 (after using the D800!!!)
I'm a big believer in hands-on experience, but I didn't need to buy and try out a D800 for wedding photography to ratify what you found through actual experience. It's two D700 bodies for me. Yes, it's a pretty peppy cam for wedding photography.
p.1 #13 · Why I still love my D700 (after using the D800!!!)
I have similar findings as Ale. CPU speed isn't really an issue with PM or LR3, only copying speed and previews creation.
Avg file size for 14bit lossless compressed is 41mp, which isn't THAT much larger than 5D3 (around 26mb). Sure 50% larger sounds like a big deal, but it really isn't (to me).
p.1 #14 · Why I still love my D700 (after using the D800!!!)
One more thought on file size.
Of course this is also true for the D700 as for the D3, D3s or Canon's 5D2 or 5D3... but if file size is really bumming you out, one thing you can do is convert the NEF files to DNG.
I'm currently doing it out of necessity as LR3 does not support the D800 and I'm not upgrading to LR4 until I hear people I respect tell me that it's back to being as fast as LR3... but I've decided that this is as good an opportunity as any to move away from the proprietary file formats to DNG.
I just looked at some 26 photos I took while out with the kids on saturday... don't pay too much attention to the actual file sizes as I did use the 1.2x crop for a bunch of the shots... but the relative difference between NEF and DNG was measurable.
26 NEF: 1060MB
26 DNG: 985MB
a drop of about 10% in size
Personally I wouln't DNG just for that 10% but there are other (hypothetical anyway) benefits, so yeah DNG it will be for me.
And yes that DOES mean longer import times... but again... I don't sit in front of my desk waiting for the images to import.
One thing I was REALLY happy about... loaded up the DNGs into Lightroom, rendered them and looked. liked the skintones with the base profile that is available. They reminded me of what I used to get out of my Canon 5D Classic (which I never had issue with) I've admittedly only tested natural light situations... so who knows what might happen in artificial lgiht... but as I think I'd mentioned before I bought VSCO mostly because I was not satisfied with the skintones I was getting from my D700.
p.1 #15 · Why I still love my D700 (after using the D800!!!)
I'm with Alessandro here.
I also shot my first wedding with the 800 this weekend, and I couldn't have been more impressed with the camera. It functioned flawlessly for me. My computer hasn't had an issue with the files either. I mean it might have taken a couple minutes more to render the 1:1 previews in LR4, but other than that, it's like butter.
p.1 #16 · Why I still love my D700 (after using the D800!!!)
I just stumbled on this and wondering what you guys feel of going to the D850 from the D700 (which I love) and I shot both concurrently at a recent wedding and I think that the D700 is better in a lot of ways, minus the resolution (which never really bothered me) and only 1 card slot (which does bother me but I shoot 2 cameras concurrently and never had an issue). What are your thoughts? Is it time to finally let our trusty D700's go?
p.1 #18 · Why I still love my D700 (after using the D800!!!)
chaimschvarcz wrote:
I just stumbled on this and wondering what you guys feel of going to the D850 from the D700 (which I love) and I shot both concurrently at a recent wedding and I think that the D700 is better in a lot of ways, minus the resolution (which never really bothered me) and only 1 card slot (which does bother me but I shoot 2 cameras concurrently and never had an issue). What are your thoughts? Is it time to finally let our trusty D700's go?
Plenty of people here have switched to the D850 for weddings. Other than the obvious and huge resolution difference, you're going to see improvements across the board. D700s aren't worth anything to sell (I've seen a few in the $4xx range listed here on the Buy/Sell forum), but they make good backups or remote cameras.
I think you'd be hard pressed to find anyone who would advise against the D850 if you want to stick with the Nikon family.
p.1 #19 · Why I still love my D700 (after using the D800!!!)
This is about wants more than needs. I still have a d700 and it is my backup to my d750. I like the fact that I can push the images a lot more in lightroom than the d700. I also like that the d750 is quieter. Other than that .... I would shoot a wedding with the d700 tomorrow and not think that I was ending with an inferior product.
p.1 #20 · Why I still love my D700 (after using the D800!!!)
The logical upgrade from the ancient D700 is the D750 camera. Far better autofocus, dual SD card slots, and a 24MP sensor providing a 50% gain in resolution while providing for double the usable ISO compared to the D700.
The D800/D810 lack the autofocus performance needed for wedding photography. They are fine for landscape and other photography where you have static subjects. Even so the fact that they use CF cards would be good reason to consider alternatives.
