Something for the weekend....

[andy_chubb]

<p>

<p>Hi,<br>

I'm just mulling over some options for my work next year and have mostly come to a conclusion about it but still have a little bit of doubt in my mind so thought to run some options and see if anybody has any other ideas.<br>

<br>

I take a lot of sports photos and do a couple of weddings each year and a few studio sessions. The rest of the time is family and landscape shots. I currently have a D700 and lenses of 24-70 f2.8, 70-200 VRII f2.8, 60mm macro, 85 f1.8, 50 f1.8, 18-35 f3.5-4.5, 28 f2.8 AIS, 70-300 f4.5-5.6 G. I also have a D80 as a back-up body which I rarely use as it just cannot cut it for indoor sports with high ISO. For major sports events I have in the past hired a 300 f2.8 lens and for early next year when I have 2 biggie sports weekends coming up, I was even considering hiring a D3S alongside this to have 2 bodies and 2 good lenses on hand.</p>

<p>While this is a nice luxury, I thought that I might be better off investing my money in something I can own.</p>

<p>A D3S or 300 f2.8 of my own is right out of the question =8( I have thought about getting another D700 body as it fits the bill on so many levels and I could perhaps just about squeeze to that in the longer term. The benefit being 2 identical bodies (and battery and grip etc), no real learning curve, both set up exactly the same and the 24-70 & 70-200 lenses staying on them pretty much all of the time.<br>

<br />More practically, I've been looking at a D7000. It has a number of obvious drawbacks (all my lenses are FX, it only has 2 customisable shooting banks U1/U2, and I have seen it's low-light performance given a good rating but not quite as good as the D700). I'd even consider trading in the D80 and/or the 70-300 & 28 lenses to get the battery grip as well, though again this won't help the D7000 keep up with the D700 in terms of fps.</p>

<p>So….is the D7000 up to indoor sports work (I know, it's not in the D700/D3S bracket but it would be a back-up body for these occasions), it would be fine for everything else, and would it give me something different to the D700?<br>

Or is there a third way…….?<br>

Thanks in advance for looking at this.<br>

<br />andyc</p>

</p>

[georg_s1]

<p>Hi Andy, <br>

my main camera is the also D700. I've bought a D7000 for sports (to much cropping needed with the D700) and because the D700 is a rather loud beast, for concerts, readings and so on. <br>

My findings: the D7000 is a well made camera with some drawbacks. Biggest issue for me is the rather tiny viewfinder. I prefer the ergonomics of the D700/D300 over the D7000 button-layout. Image-quality is something like a mixed bag: very good quality at low and middle ISO, okay at about 1600/2000 and useable at 2500/3200, if the exposure is spot on or a bit „rich”. Underexposed ISO 3200 shots are not exactly a joy to work with.<br>

The files from the D700 also will take much more sharpening if needed and they up-rez beautifully - compared to the ones from the D7000.<br>

I wish I had bought the D300(s) as a second body instead of the D7000.<br>

If you want some indoor or high-ISO-files from the D7000 drop me a note.<br>

Hope this helps, Georg!</p>

 

[elliot1]

<p> AF is actually quite good in low light. I have shot numerous indoor low light sports events with the D7000 side-by-side with my D3 and have not had any AF issues (using f2.8 or faster lenses). </p>

[alex_dc]

<p>I own the D700, D7000 and D300. I personally find that the small buffer is the biggest draw back of the D7000. If you shoot a lot of frames per second, as is common in sports photography, this is something to consider. Otherwise, I find the D7000 to be a very capable camera for the price.</p>

[johne37179]

<p>I have had buffer issues with my D7000, as well. I found that it was resolved if I gave up writing a backup image to the second card. I have yet to need that backup image, so I no longer do it. </p>

[kohanmike]

<p>I decided against the D7000 and went with the D300s because of the faster frame rate and auto focus, that it does not have a program dial on top left that I constantly nudged to the wrong setting, for the size and feel, and in your case, it has almost the exact same layout as the D700. I bought a factory refurb for $1249 US a few months ago.</p>

[alex_dc]

<p>For what's it's worth I still have buffer issues, and I don't write to two cards. I do shot in RAW however.</p>

[georg_s1]

<p>I shoot JPEG (size large/normal compression) and never had buffer issues.</p>

[hiro]

<p>I've recently went from FX to DX for financial reasons. D700 to D7000 specifically. I chose the D7000 over the D300s mainly for it's size and slightly better ISO performance. While I am content with my choice, the benefits mentioned above seem to favor the D300s for you. <br>

Things I noticed right away..<br>

The FX files are much easier to edit. - Now I pay attention more to my settings.<br>

The D700's AF is more accurate. - Oh well, I knew there would be consequences.<br>

The D700's viewfinder actually soothes my eyes. - I have installed the magnifying eyepiece and while it doesn't soothe my eyes, it works well for me.</p>

 

[andy_chubb]

<p>thanks guys. I guess I'm no further forward at the moment. I would like a DX camera to give my 70-200 a bit of reach but I'm not convinced it entirely fits the bill. Another D700 would be nice but would still leave me short and needing to hire a 300 f2.8 on occasion. I guess what I really want is a D3S and 300 f2.8 and am shying away from making a decision there. But thanks for the comments - I'll just have to wait and see what I can afford early next year....<br>

andyc</p>