Ok, so I have funds for a new camera!!! I am unsure if I will keep the F5 (will most likely sell it..), but right now I am leaning twords a D700. I see that there are some high mileage D700s around -- and at excellent prices! When I say a lot of clicks, I mean around 95-100K.
I know there are rated for 150K (give or take - it varies too much), and I don't think I have taken more than 20,000 pictures in my entire life (maybe not even 10K), so I am not worried about hitting the 150K limit anytime soon. I understand a new shutter is around $300, but what about other wear and tear on the camera is there to consider?
Thanks for any advice.. if I can get one for $1100-$1200 (plus the $$ for my F5), I would be pretty stoked..
I was thinking of going the same route, but I have heard some shutter go before the speed limit. I buried a D1x at early age. Be carefull save and get a better one.
I recently sent in a D300 that had one foot in the coffin.
CF door level had fallen off.
focusing screen was scratched, and the assembly holding it in the camera was jacked up.
Rubber was loose everywhere.
every couple of frames was a black shutter (apparently a solenoid issue with the mirror box)
approx 2 billion actuations.
I sent it in, and for a couple hundred bucks, the damn thing came back as new as can be. It even had new camera smell.
So, if your price takes into account the cost to fix it, and you still end up ahead, you will get a factory refurb level camera after you send it in.
Up to you if that adds up to being worth it, but NPS did a stellar job (and only took a week)
Yep. My 28-70mm 2.8d came back like mint. Razor sharp Man. About to send my 17-35mm 2.8d in for fine tuning. I guess if you get a mint body with high milage? it's probably worth it
It could depend on how long you want to keep it - a shutter or something could go on a much newer camera too, but if you plan on reselling there's a lot of people that seem to shop on number of actuations above all else. I wouldn't hesitate to buy a high mileage great deal but understand you will likely have more hassle selling later...
D700's are tremendous cameras but the used prices seem pretty high to me now with the D600 out and the capabilities of the D800....with a used D800 going for under $1k more than a used D700, I'll go for the 800.
Ya know, for a second there, i was like "2 billion actuations, that's gotta be a record!" And i thought, hey maybe it's true....then i figured out it would take one shot every second for 63 YEARS to hit 2 billion....lol....
I have two D700's. One has about 160K on it, the other about 50K or so. I make my living with them.
The high mileage camera has been great, except for the hot shoe issue. You may want to check the camera out with hot shoe mounted flash before you buy to make sure you don't get misfires, lack of 'fires, etc. I had the hot shoe replaced once already at the beginning of last summer and it's on it's way out again. The shutter is still original.
Personally, I don't think i'd pay more than $1,000 for a high mileage D700.
Cameras are like people. A few die young. A few die in middle age. Most make it into old age. A few get really really old. About the only thing that will kill a camera beyond repair is water in the innards.
JOSHUA.ABIOLA wrote:
Any used gear scares me .You could wind up a happy camper or
JOSHUA.ABIOLA wrote:
Not everybody take good care of their gears. Mine are like mint , I baby them. But some are abused regardless of their age.
But when/if you sell your gear it will likewise be "used" but in like-new condition since you baby your equipment. You're the kind of people to buy used gear from.
NathanHamler wrote:
Ya know, for a second there, i was like "2 billion actuations, that's gotta be a record!" And i thought, hey maybe it's true....then i figured out it would take one shot every second for 63 YEARS to hit 2 billion....lol....
Yeah but with the grip they can hit 8fps. So that would only be a little under 8 years! If he got ahold of a prototype 4 years before the camera was released and had Nikon's magic "never run out of juice batteries" (based on the same technology as Wonka's everlasting gobstoppers) it might just be possible
Thanks for the advice guys. I may go for it.. I usually keep bodies for several years -- and I don't shoot a ton of photos, so the other D700s will have time to catch up in clicks
Personally if I were in your shoes, I'd wait a few more weeks and see if a lower actuation (~35 to 50K clicks) D700 shows up in the Buy & Sell for that amount. As more and more people transition to the newer D800 and D600, you'll see more used D700's being sold at even lower prices.
runamuck wrote:
Cameras are like people. A few die young. A few die in middle age. Most make it into old age. A few get really really old. About the only thing that will kill a camera beyond repair is water in the innards.
Some CCD sensors (or boards) used to die bit faster. Otherwise you are right. Most stuff lasts way longer than most users will keep it. Even Contax N Digital cams work today..
I suspect more and more people will sell their D700s soon. It is such a great camera, I don't want to sell mine, however I got pulled into the D800E hype and now cannot really justify having two bodies!
Come pick up my D700 with original box/accessories with official grip and two official batteries, $1500 on Craigslist in MI and no replies yet after two weeks!
I haven't heard anything like the following that happened to my friend and his d2x.
The camera had over 200k and over time, the images became soft and "out of focus". He took it into Nikon Services in El Segundo. After several trips, the Nikon folks concluded the sensor went bad due to its age...it's a big paper weight sitting on his shelf right now.
JOSHUA.ABIOLA wrote:
I was thinking of going the same route, but I have heard some shutter go before the speed limit.
The shutter has an MTBF of 150K clicks. That's "mean time between failures", and it does not mean each shutter is "rated" and expected to reach 150K. It only means that, across the whole set of cameras sold, that the average life of a shutter is 150K clicks. Yours may last 50K or 250K... no way to know which.
