Nikon Announces the D700: Second Full-Frame Nikon
by Wesley Fink on July 2, 2008 12:01 PM EST- Posted in
- Digital Camera
D700 Compared to D3
The D700 is much more compact than the D3. By moving the D3 sensor to a D300 body and removing the integrated battery grip of the D3, Nikon has reduced the height and weight of the D700 substantially compared to the D3. The D700 is also 40% lower in cost - $3000 versus $5000.
The MB-D10 Multi-Power Battery Grip that was introduced with the D300 also fits the D700. Adding the MB-D10 brings the shooting speed as high as 8 fps, which is the same as the Nikon D300 with the Battery Grip. This is just a bit lower than the 9fps with the D3.
To be completely fair the D700 plus grip is taller than the D3 with the integrated power grip. However, you do have the option with the D700 of leaving the grip off when 5 frames-per-second is enough speed. That is not an option with the D3 as you always have the added size and weight of the integrated grip.
Other differences are a 95% viewfinder compared to a 100% viewfinder on the D3. There is also a 5:4 ratio shooting option on the D3 which is missing on the D700. The D700 does retain the ability to mount all APS-C Nikon lenses, just like the D3, and shoot in a crop-sensor mode. This is in stark contrast to Canon EF-S lenses for their APS-C models which will not even mount on the Canon 5D or 1Ds models.
Nikon is using the D300 shutter, or one rated at the same life as the D300, in the D700. This means a rated shutter life of 150,000 actuations for the D700, compared to a rated 300,000 actuations for the D3. With most prosumer models with a rated life of 50,000 or 100,000 the rated life for the D700 still puts it in Pro company.
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Wesley Fink - Thursday, July 3, 2008 - link
Nikon has also announced a new Top Flash Unit and a couple of new perspective control lenses•SB-900 Speedlight – With an unmatched zoom range of 17-200 feet, and Nikon’s popular wireless capabilities, the intelligent and versatile SB-900 Speedlight takes its place as the new Speedlight flagship. Available in August for an estimated selling price of $499.95.
•PC-E Micro NIKKOR® 45mm f/2.8D ED and PC-E Micro NIKKOR 85mm f/2.8D – Nikon’s newest PC-E lenses give photographers control over tilt and shift to adjust perspective and adjust linear distortion, while providing excellent depth of field control, which makes them idea for shooting buildings or product photography. These two new lenses join the NIKKOR 24mm PC-E lens to give photographers perspective control from wide to medium telephoto. Available in August the new 45mm and 85mm PC-E lenses will have an estimated selling price of $1,799.95 and $1,739.95, respectively.
strikeback03 - Thursday, July 3, 2008 - link
17-200 feet? According to DPReview, it is 17-200mm, i.e. the flash zooms its pattern to cover the field of view of those focal lengths (plus automatic adjustment for DX or FX format).Wesley Fink - Thursday, July 3, 2008 - link
This was a copy and paste from the Nikon Press release sent to us. However in the detailed description at the Press site the zoom range is quoted as 17 to 200mm. Based on the detailed info 17 to 200mm is correct.FreeTard - Friday, July 4, 2008 - link
This was over on Daily Tech as well. I posted the following link there:http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/d700.htm">http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/d700.htm
He sums up what I first thought when I read about the 700. Either get the DX D300 and a decent lens. Or get the FX D3.
I love my 300, and the only upgrade that would make any sense would be the D3. I know the 700 has a few different features compared to the D300, other than just the FX sensor. But it's still a fairly lateral move.
Lord 666 - Friday, July 4, 2008 - link
After reading Ken's preview, not sure I entirely agree with him... and he usually is dead on. Let's see what the consensus says when they start shipping. Ken did make a good point about the apparent lack of CF card lock on the D700 due to the info button now being there. Having dropped my D300 from the top of a baby stroller without any damage, the integrity of a "sealed" design works well.With the body at 3k and a piece of glass that you will buy anyway for a D3, you will still wind up spending less money than buying a D3 body by itself. Granted, you will not get the dual memory card slots, faster fps, or 100% FoV, but the smaller form factor is the perfect size.
It all comes down to what the intention of the camera is for. As I put in my DT post, the D700 would have been greatly appreciated on my recent family trip to Disney due to the native 6400 iso and (assumed) much faster AF than D300. After vacation, the FX sensor would be at home for the indoor/outdoor architectural side work I do, but still be manageable in size for my wife to feel comfortable using it for family shots as well.
Tard and any other D300 users... had a scare on vacation for a bit. During a family action period of pictures around 7pm, noticed "Err" on the display screen flashing along with "Auto-ISO." The body had about 5,500 shutter releass at the time and the manual just refered it to a camera error that if continued to send back to Nikon, but with no real explanation. Has anyone else come across this? Restarted the camera twice with no luck, but pulling out battery and reseating CF card worked.
FreeTard - Friday, July 4, 2008 - link
I can see your point. I think I would need to try this body out for a couple of months and see how it does. Without having the opportunity to do that (my wife would kill me if I bought a D700, as I bought the 300 right after getting the 200), I'd still lean towards the D3 instead. But that's more of a preference in this case I think. It's true, for the price of the D3 you can get the D700 and a decent lens.I keep forgetting to look, what do you get MP wise, when you put a DX lens on the 700?
The only time I've had err come up is if I adjust the f stop on one of my old manual lenses. I haven't seen it any other time. I think I'd be a little worried if I did see that come up for no apparent reason.
One other thing I'm curious about, has there been any hint of a bump to 1/16,000? 1/8000 is nice, but I think I could find a use for 1/16,000
haplo602 - Thursday, July 3, 2008 - link
Now this one is very surprising.I was expecting a middle-tier FX camera but not that soon. Now I have a dilema to stay with slides and my wonderfull F100 or save some money for the D700.
Oh well ... difficult decision ...
Calin - Thursday, July 3, 2008 - link
"A large pixel size of 8.45 µm allows for an extremely low signal-to-noise ratio"Maybe extremely high signal to noise ratio?
Wesley Fink - Thursday, July 3, 2008 - link
I suppose even Nikon Press Releases are not immune to mistakes. I do agree the correct statement should be extremely HIGH signal-to-nois ratio. This is the definition of LOW noise, which is what Nikon is trying to communicate.marokero - Wednesday, July 2, 2008 - link
The D700 will need to use the same battery as the D3 (EN-EL4a) in order to shoot at 8fps. It appears it can't be done using two EN-EL3e in the MB-D10 grip. So a D700 buyer woul also need to purchase at least one EN-EL4a, an MH-21 charger from the D2's, the MB-D10 grip of course, and a BL-3 grip cap for the battery, adding around $500 to the D700's price in order to shoot at 8fps. That would still be $1300 cheaper than a D3 though. If I could I would add a D700 to my repertoire... it's a lighter camera than my D2xs, and a better match to my D3 as a second body. Hope Nikon keeps cranking up great stuff like this. ;^)