D700 vs D3 - how to choose?

[roypanos]

"AFAIK dpreview.com report the dynamic range using JPG, which has really nothing to do with the real dynamic

range of the camera. I can't for the life of me understand why they do this; anyone who cares a lot about dynamic

range isn't going to be shooting JPG with this camera. "

 

Unless, of course, their name happens to have the initials "K.R."...

 

And secondly, most of the comment about the 14-24 mm lens simply ignores what I said : to repeat, I am mostly

shooting SPHERICAL PANORAMAS! Maybe yelling will get it across. So I need a lens <15mm in order to accomplish the

equatorial sequence with six shots (to simplify the issue). As I said previously, most people favour the Sigma

8mm circular fisheye, which accomplishes this in four shots. Much cheaper, but only useful for this purpose and

wasting lots of the sensor.

 

I am already using what is effectively a 15mm lens (10.5 FE on a DX body) so I'm well aware of the FOV - I'm

looking at it daily. The prospect of having the same maximum FOV (minus most of the barrel distortion, ca, etc of

the 10.5 - which many people "shave" to remove the vestigial lens hood and use as a circular FE on FF bodies,

btw) plus the capacity to use it at up to 24mm, makes this a very useful lens FOR ME! Particularly when it costs

only about £100 more than the 14mm 2.8 which has a generally worse performance in most respects as far as I can

recall.

 

Thread creep, but interesting anyway. Thanks everyone.

[sven keil]

"...according to DPreview, the D200 has a range of 8.2 stops and the D3 comes in at 8.5 stops. "

"That is for 8 bit per channel jpegs and is about what one would expect for a JPEG."

 

Technical correction: You can *show* more than 8 stops in a JPEG, despite of having 8 bits. Fuji's S5 can show

some 12 stops (!) in a JPEG. Since sensors record information usually with more than 8 bits (12bits or 14bits),

raw files actually *encode* this dynamic range (which in turn depends on [often correlated] factors, e.g. pixel

size or noise). Now, in order to show the full 14 bits of a raw file on an ordinary monitor (shows some 8 bits

of tonal range), or to write it to a JPEG, you need a clever algorithm which maps the 14 bits to 8 bits ("tone

mapping algorithm"). "Clever" refers to constraints such as not clipping highlights, or not amplify noise in

darker zones. Furthermore, care is needed to avoid contrast inversion effects or other artefacts, such as halos.

[bmm]

Ilkka - thanks for your support; I was a touch shy of putting up my opinion as I am an amateur, relatively new and also I know the current trend towards really wide with many assuming that they need an option in the teens. But given my current style 24-70 would be fine for me on DX, let alone on FX... I say this humbly though as I know how it goes, I might get something wide to play around with at Christmas bonus time and find myself eating my words. Such is the fate of a "newbie" with an opinion.

 

Actually while I'm responding to you, my 180/2.8 came just last month and I wanted to say thanks as you and a few others really encouraged me to think about this lens. After a few weekends with it I could not be happier.

[ellis_vener_photography]

"I am already using what is effectively a 15mm lens (10.5 FE on a DX body) so I'm well aware of the FOV - I'm

looking at it daily."

 

What might work better for you on a 24x36mm format camera (Nikon FX) is a 16mm f/2.8 AF-Nikkor. Like the 10.5mm

Nikkor on the DX format Nikons this is a "full frame fisheye -- meaning across the diagonal you've 180 degrees of

coverage.

 

on the DX (APS-C) format I'd also look at the Sunex Superfisheye. This is a circular fisheye and the diagonal

coverage of the iamge circle is 220 degrees. Sunex also sells a rotator tripod mount for this lens and you can

do a 360 spherical in 3 shots. LAst time I spoke with Snex they were considering making a version for full

frame (i.e. 24x36mm format) cameras.

[andy a.]

Back to the OP, the D700 is your choice for sure. The make or break feature of the D3, as I see it, is the voice annotation, which many sports and pj shooters cannot function without. The sensors are identical according to most reports.

 

I was about to give you some long-winded advice about the virtues of FX, but then I re-read your post. If you're already doing HDR bracketing, I honestly don't see what a new camera is going to get you, except maybe some convenience (fewer shots/less bracketing required). The 14-24 would be a step up in IQ from the fisheye, as you've noted, but also as you've noted this is pretty moot at web sizes. Maybe you should just concentrate on shooting?

 

As an aside, a prolific artist in my area still shoots with an old model coolpix. He produces wall-sized prints from this on an epson 9800, and the results sort of defy logic. They are pretty stunning. The reverse of the popular Ansel quote I guess: each a fuzzy image of a very sharp, well thought out concept.

[erik_christensen3]

I have a D300 and have just been offered:

D700 at USD 2,450 brand new

D3 at USD 3,600 demo/used with 6862 actuations

I intend to buy the 24-70 f/2.8 now together with one of the FF, but are in doubt if I get USD 1,100 more value with the D3 or I shoul go for D700 and add a 17-35 or 70-200 f/2.8 after new year or Sigma 10-20 now.

I am not a frequent sportsphotographer, however, it happens that I have a camera along during raining season.

[ShunCheung]

Erik, a brand new D3 with Nikon USA warranty is about $4200 at B&H. $3600 is not even 20% off the new price, although that items appears to be lightly used. I don't think it is that great a price.

 

The real question is regardless of price, do you prefer the bigger D3 or the smaller D700? Other than a few features such as the dual CF card, 100% viewfinder, built-in vertical grip & voice recording on the D3 and sensor cleaning, pop up flash on the D700, the two are very similar cameras.

I went with the D700 for the lower price and the smaller body.

[matt_schwartz2]

I do not know what everyone else has said to you, but to put in my two-cents from a review that I did for a photography group...

 

Ok, so, you need a new camera and you are a Nikon owner. You can get the fabulous Nikon D3 for a whopping 4.5k or you can buy the next step down for only (I know that it is still a lot of money..but) 2.5k. The question is, "is the D700 really a step down and if it is, how much of a step down is it?" Well, the D700 IS NOT much of a step down from the D3 except for the price, off course. In the following we will discover the true differences between the D3 and D700.

 

1. Price.

This is the BIGGEST difference. By going with the D700 you will save 2000 big ones. Imagine what you can buy with that?!

 

2. Body

This is the second largest difference. The body of the D3 is better. It is better sealed and it also has a built in vertical grip. The actual dimensions of the D3 are slightly larger too. Comparing the D3 to the D700 with a vertical grip, the D700 is slightly taller and the D3 slightly wider. However, even if you like a hefty camera, there is not enough of a difference to justify the D3.

 

3. Pentaprism

This is an unfortunate difference and for some may qualify as the 2nd largest difference. The pentaprisms are different between the D3 and the D700. The D3 has 100% viewfinder coverage and the D700 has a 95% viewfinder coverage. This difference is truly small but it is still an unfortunate difference and in my opinion, a significant one. This still, though, does NOT justify the extra 2 grand.

 

4. Compact Flash Slots

The D3 has a very convenient dual compact flash capability. The D700...does not. This is the most significant difference to me and I pondered the thought of it making the D3 worth the extra money but I decided that 2k for me is way too much extra to have dual CF slots.

 

5. Continuous Drive and Buffer

The last difference between the D3 and the D700 is the speed of the continuous drive and the buffer size. The D3 has a 1fps advantage over the D700 with a vertical grip attached and a 4fps advantage with no vertical grip attached. The buffer size is much smaller in the D700 compared to the D3. However, unless you are doing sports this is not a good reason to upgrade to the D3.

 

All-in-all, the D3 and the D700 have very few differences. If you are a sports photographer then chances are you need the D3, but if you aren't then there is no reason to upgrade to the D3. The best thing to do is to buy more glass with the money you saved. There are a few differences between the two cameras that I did not mention and most of them actually give the D700 an upper hand somewhat. The D700 has a sensor cleaner and the D3 does not. Is this very beneficial? No, I do not think so. But, it is a nice feature to have. The D700 also has an upgraded Virtual Horizon feature. Whats the difference between the D3 v. horizon and the D700? I have no idea. Another difference between the two cameras is that the D700 has an upgraded DX-lens viewfinder. What is the difference? Once again, I do not know and I expect that it is rather small. Kinda like Mac OS X 10.5.04 vs. Mac OS X 10.5.09. Small, right? Yes!

 

As a note, I want to say that I have heard a couple rumors that the D3 has slightly better quality than the D700. However, I do not see how this is possible. The D3 and the D700 use the same sensor, the same auto-focus engine, the same metering system, the same everything that pertains to image quality. So, as far as I am concerned, the rumors are debunked!

[stacie_spradlin]

<p><em>Bottom line: unless you are a pro sports photographer or camera abusive photo journalist the D700 is more than enough camera for you.</em><br>

My ? is this.. I am in the same range to decide between the 2. I do wedding and still life plus portraiture. So for me is the D700 good enough and pro enough for weddings in low light and high ISO settings ( I have shot indoor and at nite with weddings and portraits are outdoors and studio inside) or the D3 worth it for me to go that route.. I am currently using a D80.. so this is a big step up for me.. please need your help.. Thanks.. Oh and will I need to buy or upgrade lenses with the D3 or the D700?</p>