The Nikon D700 is alluring as a professional grade DSLR camera that it makes me feel extra good to be writing a blog post about it. The surprising thing is that I am not much of a Nikon fan. Sure, they have some splendid cameras but their prices are at the top end of the pro-sumer DSLR market. Needless to say, I cannot afford a professional Nikon DSLR just yet. The Nikon D700 is one of their splendid cameras & also one of the pricey cameras from Nikon.
Functions aside, the D700 is a one big & ugly camera. Even the D3, which is bigger, has a more compact look to it. The D700 has more empty spaces on the lens area which makes the part look bland & hollow. Sure, other parts look compact like the shutter button & the other side but the lens area does little justice to the D700 for being a smaller version of Nikon’s flagship DSLR, the D3 concept. Nonetheless, you can use a bigger lens to make the lens area look more filled.
Now let us look a bit beyond its aesthetics. The D700 is almost identical to the D3. You will find that you can have almost everything on the D3 by purchasing the D700.
Some of the D700 features:
• 12.1 megapixel full-frame sensor (8.45µm pixel pitch)
• ISO 200 – 6400 (with boost up to ISO 25600 and down to ISO 100)
• Also supports DX lenses, viewfinder automatically masks (5.1 megapixels with DX lens)
• 14-bit A/D conversion, 12 channel readout
• Same ultra-fast startup and shutter lag as D3
• Nikon EXPEED image processor (Capture NX processing and NR algorithms, lower power)
• Multi-CAM3500FX Auto Focus sensor (51-point, 15 cross-type, more vertical coverage)
• Live View with either phase detect (mirror up/down) or contrast detect Auto Focus
Some of the idiosyncratic features of the D700 which sets it apart from the D3 (be it better or not as good):
• New Kevlar / carbon fibre composite shutter with 150,000 exposure durability *
• 95% coverage, 0.72x magnification viewfinder *
• Image Sensor Cleaning (vibration) *
• 5 frames per second continuous with auto-focus tracking*
• Optional MB-D10 Battery Pack (same as D300), increases burst rate to 8 fps *
• UDMA compatible single CF card slot *
• Smaller, lighter body *
• D700 is approx 34mm (1.3 in) shorter, 13mm (0.5 in) narrower and 10mm (0.4 in) shallower
• Weight (no battery) : D3 – 1240g, D700 – 995g
In a nutshell, you will be buying a compact sized & lighter version of Nikon D3 that will weigh less heavily on you (real weight & on your wallet) for your professional ‘out of studio’ photography sessions. Plus it has its own pop-up flash so you can use it for the occasional casual snapshots. More information about it is available at Nikon USA (http://www.nikonusa.com/Find-Your-Nikon/Product/Digital-SLR/25444/D700.html)