D700 viable as a backup to a D750?

Looking at picking up a second full frame, primarily for wide angle through to 120 mm. I have a D750 which I use with my longer lenses. Is the D700 a viable option? Price is a bit of a consideration. A used 700 can be appreciably less than a used D600/610.

I recently went through the same as a backup to my D800.

 

The D700 has the advantage for me of control familiarity vs. the D800. Ultimately, though, I ended up with a D600, and got a nice one for ~$100 less than the roughest D700 I found. Ultimately, the sensor quality-in terms of high ISO performance and color rendition-won me over.

 

I think you might find a D600 a reasonable back-up to the D750.

Looking at picking up a second full frame, primarily for wide angle through to 120 mm. I have a D750 which I use with my longer lenses. Is the D700 a viable option? Price is a bit of a consideration. A used 700 can be appreciably less than a used D600/610.

The D700 is "affordable" because it is very old technology, 10 years. That is a very long time for digital electronics. I still own a D700. If you don't mind 12MP and a non-100% viewfinder, no dual memory cards and no video capture, it can still be a decent camera.

 

The problem with using a D700 to backup a D750 is that those two cameras share no battery and no memory cards. The D700 uses EN-EL3e while the D750 uses EN-EL15; those batteries are totally incompatible and you also need different chargers. If you travel, that is plenty of extra to carry with you. The D750 has dual SD card slots and the D700 has one CF card slot. If you need to buy extra batteries, memory cards and maybe also a card reader, it can easily close the gap for the savings you think you are getting.

 

On the other hand, the D600/D610 can share the same batteries and memory cards with the D750. That makes live a lot more convenient. However, the D600/D610 has an inferior AF system.

Edited April 11, 2018 by ShunCheung

On the other hand, the D600/D610 can share the same batteries and memory cards with the D750. That makes live a lot more convenient.

 

I'm still a CF fan(I know you're not, Shun), or at least prefer them to SD, but the battery thing was another consideration on my D600 decision.

I'm still a CF fan(I know you're not, Shun), or at least prefer them to SD, but the battery thing was another consideration on my D600 decision.

Personally I neither like CF nor SD, but that is irrelevant in this discussion. The issue is that if one already has a D750 and you add a D700 as a backup, the D700 uses a different type of memory cards. If you already have sufficient CF cards to get by, at least you don't need to spend money on them, but you still need to carry them around in case you need to use your backup camera.

 

Essentially the main things the D700 and D750 share are the lens mount, which is of course critical, and flashes. The controls are quite different as mentioned already. In its days the D700 was a higher-end body so that it has Nikon's 10-pin control socket. The D750 is more a "prosumer" grade body.

The interface differences between an D750 and D700 would irritate me, I suspect (not least my famous objection to the + and - buttons switching, which got in the way of chimping when I tried to use the D800 and D700 simultaneously). The little things may be less of an issue with the larger changes to things like the mode interface - sometimes it's easier to deal with two completely different systems than ones with only minor changes.

 

But, while I loved my D700 (which did at least share CF cards with my D8x0 cameras), I agree with those suggesting getting a D6x0 as a backup. I'd rather have roughly equivalent image quality (dynamic range, noise, resolution) but worse AF in a backup than have decent autofocus but worse images.

Recently obtained a D7200 which I found to be virtually identical to my D 750 in terms of operation. If you reversed your plan and used the D 750 for wide and the D 7200 for long, you'd get a 1.5 bonus from the D 7200 on your long lenses. Same cards, same batteries for both.

I nearly suggested a D7200 (or D7100 if you're not too worried about the buffer). As Sandy says, you get a reach advantage (or angle of view disadvantage) as part of your backup, but a D7200 is very much a DX version of the D750, as the D7000 is a DX version of the D600 (at least, that's how I think of them). Whether you can get the D7100 or especially D7200 for a little money as a D700 I'm not sure (but I'll let you investigate).

 

Purely as backup, I'd take the D600 over the D7200. As a camera to complement the D750, I'd take the DX body - a couple of years back I hired a D500 as a "backup" for my D810 on a trip, and they both got heavy use (with my wife subbing with whatever I wasn't using) - the D500 more for speed with wildlife, the D810 for landscapes. It depends what you're doing and how redundant your lens selection is, though.

Thanks to all for the input. The suggestion to go DX for the long lenses makes sense. The D7200 is not fully compatible with my AF-P 70-300 so I'm now considering the D7500 or D5600. So now I'd like to hear what folks think about those two bodies. In addition to the 70-300 I have a 200-500 which I use primarily for wildlife/BIF. All comments are much appreciated.

Thanks to all for the input. The suggestion to go DX for the long lenses makes sense. The D7200 is not fully compatible with my AF-P 70-300 so I'm now considering the D7500 or D5600. So now I'd like to hear what folks think about those two bodies. In addition to the 70-300 I have a 200-500 which I use primarily for wildlife/BIF. All comments are much appreciated.

 

Unfortunately, you don't have a clear-cut path here at least from my perspective.

 

I'm not a fan of the D3x00 and D5x00 series cameras due to their lack of a top LCD and front command dial. A D7x00 is the minimum I'd want to use.

 

Also, with the D5x00 cameras, you lose the ability to AF with "screwdriver". This may or may not be a problem for you, but I find them lacking in too many features to considering them.

 

So, that would leave the D7500 as you've mentioned, although I'm not wild about the fact that it can no longer meter with AI/AI-s lenses.

Ben, the OP has completely different lenses from yours. Your concern is compatibility with old AI/AI-S lenses and old AF lenses that use screwdriver AF from the body. rwa757 has the latest AF-S E lenses (200-500mm/f5.6) and AF-P lenses; I think he shares none of your concerns.

 

Since now we know that the OP has a 200-500mm for wildlife, the DX D7200 and D7500 should be good choices. I wonder exactly which 70-300 AF-P we are talking about. There is a DX and an FX version. The D7500 has essentially the same 20MP sensor the D500 has, but it has only one SD card slot. The D7200 has dual SD slots like the D750. The D7500 has newer electronics than the D7200, but in a way it is a bit of a downgrade from the D7200 to further separate it from the top-of-the-line D500 DX body.

My 70-300 is FX.

My 70-300 is FX.

Then it should be fully compatible with the D7200 provided you install the latest firmware upgrade: Nikon | Download center | D7200 Firmware

For the DX version, the issue of not being able to turn off VR has not been implemented yet.

I'm now considering the D7500 or D5600. So now I'd like to hear what folks think about those two bodies.

I would not consider the D5600 for the application that you have in mind - there are just too many shortcomings. The choice between D7200 and D7500 is a tougher one - but I would lean towards the D7500 now unless the missing 2nd card slot and the inability to add a battery grip are deal breakers.

Looks like I'm heading for the D7500. Thanks again to all.

The D7500 should be a good choice. Just keep in mind that it has similar electronics as the D500 and can capture 8 fps, but it has just one SD card slot. The D7200 is very similar to the D750 with dual SD slots, but it maxes out at 6 fps. By the way, I think the D7500 is not UHS-II compatible. If you indeed shoot at 8 fps, its buffer may fill up fairly quickly with UHS-I SD cards. Since I bought a D500 in 2016, I have no interest and experience with the D7500.

 

Another issue is the DX crop factor. It good for telephoto lenses such as the 200-500mm, but the crop may make it less effective as a backup camera for the FX D750, especially when you use wide-angle lenses.

Ben, the OP has completely different lenses from yours. Your concern is compatibility with old AI/AI-S lenses and old AF lenses that use screwdriver AF from the body. rwa757 has the latest AF-S E lenses (200-500mm/f5.6) and AF-P lenses; I think he shares none of your concerns.

 

Shun,

 

Regardless of that, I still think that the lack of a top LCD and front command dial(which were the first things I pointed out) are a BIG deal for someone use to using higher end bodies stepping down to a D3000 or D5000 series. If you're use to glancing down at the top LCD to see the main settings, not having it there is a big deal. If you're use to setting the aperture(or shutter speed, if that's your preference) on the front dial and it's not there, it's a big deal in terms of the muscle memory of using these cameras.

 

Even if Nikon made a D3x000 with full AI and screwdriver AF compatibility(which I know doesn't have a chance of happening), I'd still pass on it for those two reasons alone.

Sorry, Choosing a DX body as backup for a FX body sounds like a mistake. But it depends what your doing. I shoot professionally and bought a 850 and turned my 750 into backup. If you already owned a 700 I would of said go with that. I find going backwards (to DX) to always be a mistake in life.

Best of luck.

Generally speaking, using a DX body to backup an FX body has a lot of limitations. Hence I wasn't the one who suggested any D3x00 or D5x00 to the OP. However, given that he uses super teles a lot, a DX body has its advantages there, but either a D7200 or D7500 will show its limitations with wide angles and low-light situations.

 

I have four FX bodies, but I added a D500 two years ago and use it, of course, with super teles.

Generally speaking, using a DX body to backup an FX body has a lot of limitations.

And so does having to use an FX body as a backup for a DX one :D

Seriously, I wouldn't want to have to use my D810 instead of the D500 when I am in shooting scenarios where the D500 has some serious advantages. A D850 with MB-D18 would close that gap somewhat but certainly wouldn't have the advantage under those circumstances.

 

While the OP mentioned "backup" in the thread's title, his post gave me more the impression that he was after a 2nd camera - and given what he shoots, a DX camera makes a lot of sense. As already pointed out a DX/FX pair isn't a preferred choice as a mutual backup - but if a true backup camera is needed, then it should ideally be the same as the primary one. Which incidentally means that a DX/FX pair requires another DX/FX pair as backup.

Get another D750 and that's a true backup.

Get another D750 and that's a true backup.

In that case, BeBu you should buy a second Df as backup. ;)

 

Just kidding

Edited April 17, 2018 by ShunCheung

In that case, BeBu you should buy a second Df as backup. ;)

 

Just kidding

 

Certainly if I need a back up. I don't buy another Df because I never have backup camera. But for backup a second or third identical unit is ideal.