By Daniel Fishman

I class myself as a keen amateur and have been learning more about photography every day for the last couple of years. I have tried my hand at most types of photography except macro and like nothing more than transporting a landscape onto my wall at home or capturing important memories for my family and friends.

Nikon D700 Review

Having started off in photography by borrowing my brother’s D40 and then purchasing my own D5000 my look at the D700’s capabilities will focus very much on the upgrade from a small body APS-C or crop frame Nikon DSLR. My decision to upgrade was not based on a need to, I had not outgrown what my D5000 could achieve by a long way, but by a desire. I am a sucker for always wanting the best and having played around with a friends D300 the possibilities that became apparent with the ease of manual control that a more “professional” body offered was something that I instantly wanted. Having begun my research I came across the D700 and the notion of a Full Frame (FX) sensor. This appeared to offer some benefits over the Crop Frame (DX) sensor that greatly appealed to me, most notably the vastly improved performance at high ISO’s, the possibilities for shallow depth of field and extreme wide angle. But could I afford it? Should I afford it even if I could? I finally took the decision to jump straight to the D700 rather than risk having to go through all this again in a years time!

Nikon D700 First impressions

My first impressions upon opening that hallowed gold box was that this was a serious piece of kit! Compared to the mostly plastic and lightweight construction of the D5000 this felt substantial and beautifully put together. The weight was surprising at first but as soon as you attach a lens and lay your right hand around the rubberised grip it felt perfectly balanced. You find your fingers naturally gravitating towards the most useful control buttons and dials with the on/off switch, shutter release and main control wheels all obviously at your fingertips. This is one of the main reasons I originally chose Nikon kit over other brands as I found that, for me, they were much more ergonomically pleasing.

So I attached the 50mm 1.4G Nikkor that I already owned, pointed my new toy at the nearest thing of interest and …… WHACK!!! I suppose it follows that with a larger sensor comes a larger shutter and therefore a louder noise when it fires but it was still a surprise to me how much louder it was and there is no Quiet Mode like on the D5000.

Nikon D700 performance

So did my D700 do for me what I had hoped it would? As I enjoy making the most of available light the high ISO capability of the D700 has been a revelation, particularly for candid portraits or interiors where flash is prohibited. I am quite happy for casual shooting to leave the auto-ISO set to go up to 6400 without fear of unusable images. This is unthinkable on the DX camera’s that I have used. In the poorest of light at the highest ISO’s the noise reduction in camera I do find a bit heavy handed so I generally leave this off, I prefer the very fine grain to the smearing and loss of detail that this creates. On the camera’s base ISO of 200 it produces clean crisp images with plenty of detail and the 12MP resolution is more than enough for the 4x2ft print I have hanging on the wall in my Dining Room. One caveat on the subject of image quality is that I have found the quality of lens that you use is more noticeable. The FX sensor seems to push your lenses to their limit and to really make it sing you need to invest in some decent glass. Unfortunately this pushes an already high cost through the roof.

The creative possibilities made available by the use of a wide aperture prime lens on an FX sensor have allowed me to create some beautiful portraits through artistic use of a very shallow depth of field although you do run the risk of it being too shallow and missing focus. Whilst on the subject of focus, the 51-point autofocus system is another significant improvement over the D5000 although this only becomes apparent when trying to track moving subjects. The 3D continuous focus tracking locks on magically well and combined with the 5 frames per second continuous shooting rate has allowed me to photograph flying birds, footballers and Ferrari’s around Thruxton race track with ease. Although small children still provide the toughest test!

What’s missing

So what did it not deliver? As you probably know there is no video function but I was not using this on the D5000 and have not missed it one little bit, this is a personal opinion however and I know one person who will not buy a D700 no matter how much he wants to as it doesn’t have HD video capability. Also it uses CF not SD cards so that added to the upgrade cost.

Conclusion

The D700 doesn’t contain a magic potion to make anyone a better photographer, that can still only be achieved through learning and practising. What it has allowed me is the freedom to control every aspect of taking the photographs quickly, clearly and intuitively. Also if you do not like where Nikon has the buttons you can reassign almost everything to exactly how you want it, for example I have the AE/AF lock on the front function button rather than the back as I find it easier to hold whilst pressing the shutter. With the dual control wheels and full array of buttons at your fingers rather than having to dive into menus it has encouraged me to take full control of my pictures and experiment beyond what the camera thinks is the correct exposure.

Nikon D700 sample photos

Pros

• Image quality
• Low ISO ability
• Autofocus ability
• DOF control
• Ergonomic layout

Cons

• No Video
• Loud Shutter
• Doesn’t take SD
• Heavy (comparatively)

9/10

Find the cheapest Nikon D700 digital SLRs currently available

By Anthony Rampersad

I’m 28 and I live in Trinidad & Tobago. I’ve always been interested in photography but I guess its only recently that I’ve started taking my interest seriously. Somewhere in 2008 I shot my first “serious” picture and fell in love with both the process and results of the capture. I particularly enjoy nature and landscape photography and aspire to one day reach a pro-level skill even if its not accompanied by the pay.

Overview

Its been just about 7 months now that I’ve been using the Nikon D90. After months of online research scouring forums and retailer sites I decided to get it as an upgrade to my compact/bridge with every intention of developing my photography beyond the “hobby” level. Many folks think that their first DSLR needs to be an “entry-level” system that will help them to learn the ropes of DSLR use. I disagree. If you’re serious about photography invest in a system you’d keep for at least 3 years and learn it thoroughly. For the purposes of organization this review is broken up into categories and addressed as follows:

Nikon D90 handling

From the moment you wrap your hands around the D90’s body you get the feel of an intuitively designed ready-to-use system. Though heavier than a compact it seems to be made with comfort in mind. In use at times I find myself in some very awkward shooting positions yet the camera manages to keep a firmly balanced feel and grip in my hands. With a 50mm prime lens you can shoot hand-held for hours without numbing your arms to that trembling point where your pictures appear both shaken and stirred.

Nikon D90 controls (ease of use)

Moving from a compact/bridge to a DSLR system can be a challenge. Naturally a thorough reading of the camera’s manual can be expected to make things easier. This was a cinch with the D90. It may have taken just about 30-45 minutes to fully grasp how the controls work. The menu is structured similar to a compact’s with main shooting or settings categories broken into hierarchies and sub-categories. Key to mastering the controls of the D90 is getting comfortable with the main command and sub-command dials found to the front and back of the right hand-grip very intuitively placed to allow quick and easy adjustments of shutter speed and aperture. For an added touch of simplicity, Nikon added menu assistance screen hints for every menu item so you can reference before adjusting.

Nikon D90 build quality

The D90 is all around solid and you can easily get that impression from the weight and rigid feel when handling. I had the misfortune of dropping the camera from about 3 ft while on vacation in NY once. After it fell to the wooden floor I picked it up expecting to hear or see a trail of broken parts. It survived with just a tiny crack to the plastic just below the power button and with no consequence at all to any of its functions. Note: Do not leave your D90 in an open backpack on top your packed luggage.

Nikon D90 sample photos

OK, so Im guessing this is the part you’re most interested in. Well read on with pleasure. My initial research on the D90 (prior to buying) gave nearly notorious acclaim to the D90’s distinct high image quality. I was not disappointed. I bought the D90 with the 50mm f/1.8 AF lens so this section will review image quality with this combination. The sensor produces crisp, sharp wonderfully colour-rendered images.

At the low-mid ISO settings, images are super clean and noise-free, granted of course lighting is suitable to the ISO being used. Whether shooting Vivid, Neutral, Portrait, Landscape or Standard you can expect great quality shots. I usually shoot in Neutral and post-process to achieve the right amount of saturation. Shooting in RAW/NEF also gives an added touch of control over the quality of your shots as the camera allows for in-camera RAW processing. Colour saturation and gamma can be altered through your choice of any of the above mentioned shooting modes with noticeable differences in image quality. My preferred shooting mode is JPEG/RAW and I hardly ever use the jpegs. But its really only after you sit down to process the NEF/RAW files that you realize what a wonderful job the D90 already did in capturing crisp clean colour and detail in your frame.

Nikon D90 Functions

The D90 while catering to the amateur user market simultaneously captured the needs of a mid- level/prosumer market. Quite simply its loaded with functions that make the shooting experience for a user of either category sheer joy. The top panel LCD is very convenient. You’d also find that the sensor-cleaning function on the D90 comes in seriously handy if you find yourself changing lenses in less than ideal environments.

Pros

• Superb image quality
• Solid build
• Great high ISO performance
• Intuitive menu and controls
• Fast shooting and processing speed.

Cons

• No mirror lock-up feature
• Priced above competing models

10/10

Current Nikon D90 best price