dj dunzie
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 p.1 #1 · Since so many asking about D600 vs D700... | |
I'm going to apologize right off the hop for a long post... BUT...
Since I've had a few asking about this comparison since getting the D600 yesterday, and since there's some posts asking about it...
Not sure if this is any help to anyone that wanted to compare the D600 to the D700, but I got some shots with some cheap cameras of the two together, and some other bodies, since physical size of the camera bodies seems to come into question a lot.
I personally thought the D600 was going to be smaller than it actually is. This is a good thing though, because I'm a fairly large guy and like handling the larger bodies like the D3.
Here's a Coolpix shot of (from left to right)... F75 with grip, D40, D5000, D600, D700, D3S:
http://djsphotography.smugmug.com/photos/i-FZPLdr3/0/X3/i-FZPLdr3-O.jpg
And since most won't care about the older film body comparison and the D40... the D5000, D600, D700 and D3S:
http://djsphotography.smugmug.com/photos/i-jfr9x87/0/X3/i-jfr9x87-O.jpg
Directly with the D600 against the D700:
http://djsphotography.smugmug.com/photos/i-nMdzVjw/0/X3/i-nMdzVjw-O.jpg
http://djsphotography.smugmug.com/photos/i-Zrz43qS/0/X3/i-Zrz43qS-O.jpg
http://djsphotography.smugmug.com/photos/i-kJkBTfV/0/X3/i-kJkBTfV-O.jpg
http://djsphotography.smugmug.com/photos/i-8tdWqWh/0/X3/i-8tdWqWh-O.jpg
http://djsphotography.smugmug.com/photos/i-JJZ4CjH/0/X3/i-JJZ4CjH-O.jpg
Basically the two bodies are closer in size than you might think. The D700 sits taller, especially with the VF/popup height, while the actual top LCD and top controls not far apart. The D700 might feel a little wider to me, but it's likely also to do with the fact that the grip is meatier. The D600 grip doesn't feel wimpy to me though, it's cut in a way that may let your fingers wrap around and "in" more if that makes sense. Weight wise the D700 feels slightly heavier, but again likely not as much as I expected. The D700 surprisingly doesn't feel that it's built more solidly, or more metal.
Control wise there's a heap of difference. Right from the exposure mode DIAL on the left top, to the playback zoom +/- buttons, to the AF controls, it's very much a different animal for those used to the D700 or D1-D3 series bodies. I don't want to go on record saying I like the older styles better (don't want to be labeled as an old dog more than I already am) but it definitely isn't second-nature to me at this point. I think I might actually like the AF controls. Instead of the familiar M-S-C switch to the front lower left of the body, the new machine uses a M-AF switch with a button inside which you can depress and roll front wheel for type of AF system and rear wheel for AF-A/C/S... very cool actually.
The D600 has no dedicated AF-on button which might upset some users, but you can configure the AE/AF lock button to be the AF-on, which I've done and tested. The location of the button is actually pretty good for this, but if you intend on keeping the AF/AE lock button as such, you'll miss the AF-on if that's how you typically focus and track with your bodies. Different anyway...
I guess the whole camera feels re-engineered to be tight and compacted slightly from the D700. The dual card slots are great, I just really wish one was CF. Again, call me an old dog but I have a stash of quality CF cards I've never had any durability issues with, and those dinky SD cards just feel wimpy to me. Sigh...
Hey here is a great innovation. The battery charger comes with a typical long cord plug-in, but also a mini-plug which goes directly into the back of the charger and "swivels" down so you can plug the unit directly into the wall and it sits on your outlet for charging. Very cool design.
The lens mount "node" for lens alignment will be familiar to people with newer Nikkor design lenses like the 85/f1.8G... a raised and larger bright wight dot which I guess technically can help you line up the mount in dimmer settings.
The twin inset dials on the top left of the camera are definitely a shock handling-wise too. Gone are the triple crown QUAL / WB / ISO buttons on top of the shooting mode dial from the D700/D300/D200 type bodies, and the new setup is a "locking" exposure mode dial that also includes SCENE and customizable U1 and U2 settings, that is reminiscent of older Minolta film bodies I guess. Directly underneath is the shooting mode dial that includes S - customizable CL - CH - Q (quiet) - (timer) - (remote) - (mirror-up). It too is locking, with the release to the lower left rear of the top panel. A little tricky to get onto these dials for me.
Outside of the square vs round VF setup (I have a DK19 on both my other bodies that I love) the VF on the D600 seems excellent.
The one button on this camera I doubt will ever get worn off is the video record button on top. I get the value in it for sure - nice, easily accessible one-touch start and stop once you're in movie mode. I'm just not a video DSLR shooter at this point and have a good video camera for that which I doubt I'd ever not choose when I want video, but heck I don't know enough better at this point I guess. Anyway it's there and I'm sure it's going to be well received with some shooters.
Oh and lastly about comparing controls the D700 had a separate popup and flash control button, where the D600 has one, but a bracketing control button where the D700 had the flash button. They both have programmable front FN buttons for the right hand. Metering controls have moved from a 3-position switch around the AE/AF lock button (D700) to a dedicated top-right-panel button and scroll setup on the D600.
Both LCD's are big and beautiful so I doubt most would notice the D600's slightly (0.2") larger screen. Both have standard screen protectors. Menu control is fairly standard and familiar to any Nikon shooter.
Startup times on both cameras... well maybe there's a spec out there to tell them apart, I doubt any shooter could distinguish which one's faster. Both fast.
So I guess I'll stop there. I want to comment on my initial AF system impressions, but I shouldn't. I've got years and tons of hours into the Multi-CAM3500 on four different bodies and love it. I loved the D2's for sheer acquisition speed, but the tracking performance of the D3/D700/D300/D3S was incredible to me. My initial sense with the D600 is that it's surprisingly very good. With the 70-200VR2 in my limited testing, acquisition is snappy fast, and tracking was flawless in the little testing I've put it through, and in low light it seems to edge out the D700 for quickness. This I really didn't expect, but I won't get too confident in my claims here because I've only had the body for one day and limited stress testing.
Low light results seem highly impressive. It's definitely better than the D700 I'm confident in saying, but I'll have to give it better head to head comparing with the D3S to see what's really what. ISO3200 is outstanding clean as you'd expect from a new FX Nikon body, but I'll push it more in the next little while.
Anyway, this post is going to beat records for rambling, so I'll end it there... Hopefully not a COMPLETE waste of time for those comparing it to the D700 in their minds (seems to be a lot lately). Starting on the weekend more shooting and real-world IQ results...
CHEERS!
-DJ
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