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Tomorrow is D700 Day for me. Hints?


luisarguelles

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<p >I’ve just ordered a D700. If everything goes well, I’ll receive it tomorrow. Well, just for the initial tests, I would like to get punchy, Velvia-like, jpgs files from the camera (there will be time for playing with RAW and all the bell and whistles of the camera). For that, what in-camera sharpening, contrast, brightness, saturation and hue do you recommend?</p>

<p > </p>

<p >Also, some hints for “discovering” the camera are really appreciated (including those as “don’t forget to smell the thing just after opening the box” :)</p>

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<p>For Velvia looks, quick and dirty, use the "Vivid" picture style.<br>

The most obvious hint... the manual. I assume it's as much of a book as the D300's novel. Maybe not so much to read it yet (although I find it a rather good manual), but more to look at it for a while and consider it's a camera that needs more than 400 pages for a manual :-)</p>

<p>And congrats on a great camera which I do not own (yet?) ;-) I'm not without envy....</p>

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<p>Set Picture Control to 'Vivid' and most of the job is done already there. I also set Active D lighting to 'Auto' and that can work incredibly well.<br>

I do find Vivid a bit lurid though and mostly just set it to Neutral or sometimes Standard but I only ever shoot in RAW where of course you can change all of that. Do you have/are you getting Capture NX2? It may have a clunky interface designed by Lucifer but it makes your NEFs sing better than Lightroom can (although I do use Lightroom most of the time).<br>

Congratulations on your purchase - you will love it.</p>

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<p>Congrats! The D700 is the first and only camera that is getting my film out of the way... I bet you will "suffer" it too. And don`t spend too much time shooting JPEGs; I agree, although I like Aperture and sometimes Ps, IMHO the best of this camera is on NX2 (RAW).<br>

Hints? Don`t know if you use glasses, if not, buy as soon as possible a Nikon original eyecup. I find it as essential as the memory card. Thanks God this camera has the <em>right</em> eyepiece.</p>

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<p>My general suggestions:</p>

<ul>

<li>Check out custom settings a1 and a2, and set those to what you prefer.</li>

<li>Figure out how exposure bracketing is set. I don't use that feature, but the real problem is that it is fairly easy to engage it unintentionally. The symptom is that you get a lot of inaccurate exposures in consecutive frames.</li>

<li>The D700's viewfinder covers about 89% of the frame in terms of area. Shoot a few test frames to get familiar with how much "extra" coverage you actually get.</li>

<li>Don't try to squeeze a Type 2 CF card into the D700; it won't take it. But I am quite sure that you don't have any microdrives.</li>

</ul>

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<p>Wouter, James, thanks for the “vivid” and “D-lightning auto” hints. I’ll do then just like in my D80 (which I’ll try to sell in the immediate future). About manuals, I must say I love them, but used to the Nikon DSLR interface I’m sure I’ll jump immediately to the camera!</p>

<p>James, I use Lightroom and I don’t plan to use Capture NX2 (I think that at this price level Nikon should include it in the package) However I’ll experiment a bit comparing the results from NEF files in LR and in ViewNX, despite being a basic software. In any case, I love LR and I feel at home with it.</p>

<p>Hans, it will take lots of perceived time to load the battery, I’m just sure!</p>

<p>Robert, thank for the great links. This can be made using ViewNX, right? Now if only there were Tri-X and Fuji Acros presets...</p>

<p>Jose Angel, yes, I use glasses, but when you have used the viewfinder of such cameras as a Leica I standard or IIIf, you can use everything :) Also I’ve tried the D700 in “El Corte Ingles” and it has worked fine for me. Interestingly, one of the reasons I’ve decided for the D700 is because it will allows me to think in terms of traditional 35mm photography (or at least I hope so).</p>

<p>Ok Joseph, this afternoon I’m going to go outside with both my Zeiss-Ikon ZM and Leica M2 in order to take some captures. They are my favourite cameras and I suspect they will continue in that way... for b&w work at least, fingers crossed.</p>

<p>Shung, you can bet sure no microdrives live at home! Thanks for the bracketing ergonomic issue. I’ll check also settings a1 and a2.</p>

<p>Well, about 18 hours to go and counting down....</p>

</p>

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<p>Obviously the most touted performance issue of the D700 is its lack of high iso noise. The camera is not noise free so don't expect that, but it is likely the best camera made so far on that issue. The key to low noise at high iso imo, even up to 6400, is to properly expose for what is important in the photo. I tend to use spot metering in low light situations and I spot meter on the faces, assuming there are some in the photo. It is an amazing camera, have fun.</p>
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<p>Nothing is going to look EXACTLY like Velvia except Velvia itself, but you'll get in right ballpark with the Vivid preset. Go into the fine tuning controls and boost the saturation and contrast one or two notches.</p>

<p>When shooting in the "golden hour" use the Daylight (Direct Sunlight) white balance preset to approximate the color response of daylight film. (After the sun sets, Auto WB usually works better.)</p>

<p>If you're shooting JPEG, you're going to have to under-expose everything by -2/3 to -1. The D700's meter is tuned to the capacity of its 14-bit RAW files. 8-bit JPEGs are going to be overexposed frequently.</p>

<p>Tip: Buy a copy of Capture NX 2 and shoot RAW.</p>

<p>Keep in mind that the D700 has a lot more exposure latitude than slide film. The deep black shadows of Velvia now contain tons of detail. You can recover a lot of that detail if you shoot in RAW mode.</p>

<p>The D700 makes amazingly clean images at ISO 1600 and even ISO 3200 - something that's absolutely impossible with film - but as with any digital camera, it performs BEST at lower ISOs. ( 200 - 400 )</p>

 

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Turn the sound off. I cannot recall where it is now, but there's an annoying beep that comes as factory setting. You can

turn it off easily. In fact, after turning the camera on, that was the first thing I found how to turn off with relative ease.

 

Also, look for a pdf "unprintable" copy of the D700 in the Nikon website. It's the whole thing, but the printing is disabled

(you can download a "printable" copy if you can supply the serial number of your camera). It'll save you time and will

answer some questions you may have.

 

Take care and congratulations! Getting mine out of the box was such a joy... And yes, that's the one and only camera I

was expecting to see before abandoning film.

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<p>Inspired by Joseph I'be just scanned an image taken with my M2 and Zeiss ZM 50mm f/2 using Fuji Acros: http://www.photo.net/photo/9849363&size=lg</p>

<p>Just click on the attached file in my comment. Different things, of course, but analog b&w will always have a place inside my soul.</p>

<p>Tomorrow I'll post some comments before receiving the camera. Now it's time to go bed!</p>

 

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<p>Reverse the direction on the control wheels so that they work in the logical direction ;)</p>

<p>Do some reading on the AF system. It is very capable but also pretty confusing with the amount of settings available.</p>

<p>Be sure to try your RAW files in NX2 (demo comes with the camera I think) even if your default RAW converter is something else. NEFs really do look better when processed with NX2.</p>

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<p>Congrats on the new D700! I remember you contemplating it not too long ago. I definitely agree about NX2, and until you process your NEFs in NX2, you have not seen the full extent of what your camera can do (if it's a Nikon DSLR, that is). I see you use Lightroom regularly, and I make this observation: The higher up in ISO you go, the better NX2 will fare as compared to Lightroom. It handles the noise much better than LR. Shun posted a good comparison earlier this year, and it was the last word for me (until my own experience with the two, that is).</p>
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<p>Mark, actually I think the control wheels work in the correct direction. Volume (exposure) up is clockwise, volume (exposure) down is anticlockwise.<br>

Luis, congrats on your D700 purchase. You will love it. Shun is right, practice with the viewfinder, it takes some getting used to for some (myself included). Ultimately I ended up going back to the D300 after my D700 foray, as much as I liked it, the technology is too young for me (I expected better low ISO performance and will wait a few years for better per-pixel sharpness). Also the D700 is too big and bulky for me, even the D300 is too much at times. I just scored a mint used Nikon P6000 for less than $200 on ebay and so far it's a pretty sweet little point and shoot that will go with me everywhere.</p>

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<p >Phil – Yes, no detector on Earth is noise-free, but I was really surprised with the test results I took in a store at 6400 ASA with the camera (please note that I write ASA instead ISO: I’m from the old school :)</p>

<p > </p>

<p >Dan - Only Velvia can match Velvia, of course, but I’ll play with Vivid and the fine tuning controls. Thanks also for the WB and exposure tricks! By the way, NX2: 1 vote.</p>

<p > </p>

<p >Francisco – The least noise, the better, I completely agree (hey, we both shoot with Leicas, too :) Also, it will be nice to have the pdf at hand in the computer. Finally, I also agree with you that the D700 probably will give me the feelings of handling a (color) film camera.</p>

<p > </p>

<p >Oskar – RAW+JPEG, Good idea. Nowadays diskspace is the cheaper factor.</p>

<p > </p>

<p >Mark – That’s right, the AF system has so many capabilities that it’ll deserve a deep reading and testing. By the way, NX2: 2 votes.</p>

<p > </p>

<p >Joe – Yes, in Spanish it’s “La camara” (she). Lovely bodies, you know!</p>

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<p >Josh – I’ll install the NX2 trial and will decide. Of course I’ll compare results with those produced in LR, but everybody is pointing in the same direction, uhmm. By the way, NX2: 3 votes.</p>

<p > </p>

<p >Dave – Yes, the D700 is not a light camera, but two weeks ago I conducted a simulation spending a weekend in Aveiro (Portugal) with my Leica R8 and Elmarit 24mm f/2.8 That configuration weights more than any combination of the D700 + my prime AF lenses (from 20mm all the way up to to 85mm). Ok, maybe the 85mm f/1.8 plus the D700 it’s a bit over the R8+24mm, but not by far. As you can imagine, the simulation of weight –several hours/day- resulted very well.</p>

<p > </p>

<p >By the way, NX2: I'm sure you all are right!</p>

<p ><br /></p>

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