Why would I need a D700 nikon camera when my D70 and D80 do just fine?

Question

Nikon states the D700 is the best.

Answer 1

The  D700 is a higher end camera than a D70 or D80. It is rated for hundreds of thousands of mechanism activations, it is designed for day in and day out use in demanding conditions without failure. It give you a bigger sensor for better pictures and more features. That in no way means your D70 or D80 are not great cameras ( they are ) or that everyone needs a D700. It depends on what you are doing with it. Many folks would be better off putting the money into lenses, strobes, tripods or workshops to learn new skills.

An H1 Humvee is a more advanced vehicle than my Isuzu Trooper but I dont need a humvee and am happy with my trooper so your camera issue is really not too different.

Answer 2

"Nikon states the D700 is the best." Well they would, wouldn't they!

Seriously the D700 is a magnificent camera based largely on the new sensor which has superb low light capability and is the next step in digital camera technology, but if your happy with the results you're getting now why change? - if it ain't broke - don't fix it.

I know several professional photographers who are still using their Canon 10D 6Mp cameras, now 5 years old and several generations from the newest models, but they still sell their pictures.

Chris

Answer 3

Hi ETA,

You don't need a D700,  you WANT a D700 and you are in the same community of guys who are always wanting the latest and greatest.

You have good equipment so why not use what you already put $2000.00 in and have not gotten all of the mileage out of yet?

I have been in your shoes, and all that has come of it is more cameras than I know what to do with.  All of them GOOD...  just sitting around because the newer model bumped it out of my camera bag.   But I realize how foolish I have been...  And have decided to just STOP.

Instead of me running out and swooping up the newest toy... I have decided to use the money for better purposes..... and that is on a couple of pro level lenses.  Cameras tend to come and go... as we are talking about now....  but lenses tend to stay and also retain their value.   Camera prices drop like lead where as your lenses can even appreciate in value.  Anyway....  That is how it is with the market.

If you become addicted to ''the new stuff'', you will never get your money's worth out of your cameras..... as new stuff is replacing the D700 as we speak.

Thanks for reading.

Answer 4

I think your opening line answers your question.

If you are happy with what you've got then why change?

Nikon won't tell you that when you put a DX lens on to the D700 or D3 you cut the resolution to just over 5MP.

And canon ave just launched a cheaper camera that will give you 15MP no matter what EF lens you put on it.

Who's winning?  

Answer 5

Your current camera is doing just fine. You don't need to upgrade just to get a few extra bells and whistles. There seems to be a pervasive sickness that we all need the biggest, fastest and flashiest to feel satisfied. Don't buy into that. Your camera does fine and is more than capable of providing great pictures. What else do you really need?

Answer 6

The D700 would give you a few extra options, eg:

* you can use wide angle lenses as intended, incl. the Sigma 8mm fish eye.

* good image quality at insane ISO settings for low light situations.

* faster AF and 5 FPS (8 FPS with the battery pack) for sports.

* slightly larger prints (double the resolution of the D70)

* more buttons for faster access to settings.

* larger, brighter viewfinder (which I'd personally pay extra for with my D200 if I had the option)

* et cetera, and so forth...

But if you don't need any of that, the D700 is indeed a waste of money.

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Hi Paul. Why would you put a DX lens on a full-frame sensor? But since you bring it up, Canon's FF bodies don't even accept EF-S lenses so I guess it's 1-0 Nikon ;-)