BEFORE you read this NIKON D700 review, I have to admit..I no longer have it as it was sold in Jan 09 - read on as to why this is so. Also, I know this camera has been out for quite some time but I still wanted to share my experience with it so those who may still be thinking about buying one can see more samples and read another glowing report on it! It is a remarkable camera. This will be more like a small write up instead of a review. Enjoy!

*G.A.S. ALERT* When Nikon announced the D3 I was floored by the specs. It was fast, smooth, FULL FRAME, and the high ISO IQ was astounding. Nothing like it was ever seen before. Shooting ISO 6400 in dark places was now realistic, and the masses flocked to the D3 with even Canon losing some of their base! As for me, I was shooting a D300 at the time and the Boss said NO WAY to the D3’s price tag (I am sure many of you reading this can relate). I was sad. :(

So I held off and I was glad I did.  All of us “in the know”, yea, we knew it was coming and when it hit it was an INSTANT success for Nikon. The full frame D700. The D700 arrived, and I was one of the 1st to jump in as I always wanted a FF digital, and this one appeared to fit the bill. 

I ordered the D700 from B&H Photo and paid for Next Day Air as I was so excited to get the camera. Upon arrival I opened the box and when I held the body I was happy to see it was pretty much a mini D3. It was love at first feel!

Same sensor, but some owners were claiming slightly better performance over the D3 so I was excited. When I took the camera out I noticed the body was solid as a rock, but melts in your hand. I immediately charged the battery and went out to shoot whatever I could find.

I ended up shooting with a Nikon 50 1.4 and a Zeiss 25 2.8. I later purchased a Zeiss 85 1.4 and Zeiss ZF 100 which were STELLAR lenses. The Zeiss 100 especially. In fact, I feel the the Zeiss ZF lenses render images much like classic Leica lenses. Warm with a nice soft glow and creamy backgrounds to them. Yes, the Ziess ZF lenses are the best I have used with the D700. If I were to buy a D700 today, it would be with a set of Zeiss ZF glass.

D700 AND ZEISS 100 F2

SO THE D700 WAS GOOD. VERY GOOD! SO GOOD, I SAID IT WAS THE LAST I NEEDED!

A year prior to me buying this D700 I owned a Leica M8. I loved that camera and had an emotional bond with it, but sadly I had to sell it to raise some cash for a move. With prices of Leica gear going up since then it seemed like I would never be able to own an M8 again. I told the wife the D700 is all I would ever need! Yep! I told my wife that this was my holy grail. All I needed. EVER! Can you imagine a camera addict telling his wife that? Did she believe me? Hell no!

Over the next couple months I shot with the D700 and I really did believe that I had the holy grail in digital SLR’s. I mean, how can this be topped other than with more Mega pixels which I did not need or want? Hell, I was happy with the old D2Hs and its measly 4 MP! While testing out the D700’s capabilities it never did disappoint me. High ISO was AMAZING and I was able to shoot in the dark at high ISO up to 12,800 and get usable results.

The 1st shot below is ISO 4000 with the Zeiss ZF 100, 2nd is 3200 with the Zeiss 85 ZF - VERY clean, and the amazing thing is the 2nd shot of my dog was taken when the room was DARK!!! The Zeiss 85 sucked in any light it could and brightened up the scene, much like my Leica 50 Summilux ASPH! The D700’s LCD screen is a thing of BEAUTY as well. Huge, bright and sharp. The best LCD I have seen as of this writing (02/09)

WINNY - ZEISS ZF 85 AT 1.4 - ISO 3200

So I was hooked! The D700 was fast (5 frames per second with standard battery, 9 with grip), it was SMOOOTH as silk with its creamy Full Frame files (I love shallow DOF and fast lenses), and it had VERY punchy color. This was one thing I found I had to tweak quite a bit as I worked with the D700 more and more. I sometimes found it was either too dull and flat, or too punchy with candy colors. I ended up shooting with the VIVID mode for a while as I got on a bright color kick.

Also, one cool thing with the D700 is that it has an automatic dust shaker sensor cleaner much like the Olympus DSLR line! YES, I feel this should be on EVERY DSLR camera. It is a  great feature that keeps the dust blobs off of your sensor. I never had one dust bunny with my D700. That is a good thing.

ICE CREAM! - D700 WITH NIKOR 50 1.4 AT 1.4

OMG! THE SHALLOW DOF WITH FULL FRAME IS WONDERFUL!

I have always been a sucker for shallow DOF (as you can see in my galleries) and the D700 was doing exactly what I wanted. To me a 2.8 lens is a SLOW lens. I crave 1.4, and the super creamy backgrounds and subject isolation. With the D700, this is easy to achieve, even with a cheap $300 50mm 1.4 lens.

Just a few niggles here and there with color and some OOF shots (most likely my fault) but other than that I found NO negatives with the camera. Its 12MP files were nice with plenty of resolution (though not as sharp/detailed as my 100% M8 files) if not a bit soft when viewed at 100%. None of that mattered as the D700 files could be printed LARGE (I have 3 20X30’s in my living room today from this camera) and have plenty of snap.

The camera really is like a small Nikon D3 with its tank like build and features and Nikon has really been banging out some great lenses like their 14-24 and 24-70. Still, as I have already stated my thing with FF is the shallow DOF. The D700 delivers this just as good as a Canon 5D. Look at the separation below of the main subject and how she is separated from the background. This shot was taken with the LOVELY NIKON 85 1.4, one of their legendary lenses. 

Notice the candy like colors? Yes, this was in VIVID mode. Some may enjoy these vivid color renderings, some may not. But if not, just take it out of vivid mode for a more natural look.

This write up is not meant to be a technical review. Just MY personal opinions of the gear I use. No scientific charts, no testing resolution or crazy 15 page comparisons. Just me, the camera, my thoughts and most importantly, MY RESULTS. The D700 is a near perfect camera in my honest opinion.

It’s full frame, its 12MP, battery life is crazy good (I got a couple thousand shots per charge), it’s built like a tank, has AMAZING pro level AF, has a wide selection of great glass to choose from, and it has been mostly problem free since its introduction. Nikon has really stepped up their game with the D3 and D700 and now D3X and soon to be announced D700x.

I can say without a doubt in my head that the D700 is my all time 2nd favorite digital SLR. (my true love is my Leica M8 even though it is inferior in many ways to the D700).

IF IT IS SO GREAT WHY ON EARTH DID I SELL MY D700?

I ask myself this everyday! ARG! Really though, here is the real deal. I am no longer a pro (I no longer shot for money) and here I was with a HUGE bag full of DSLR gear. It weighed 1/4 ton, and had 6 prime lenses, the body, and a bunch of other stuff I did not really need. I started to dread taking the camera out and would just leave it at home. That sucks.

My wife started complaining that I was not taking photos anymore, and realized that I was losing interest in photography! I asked myself why on earth did I have all of this high end camera gear if I was not using it?? When we took a trip to downtown Chicago for an Xmas weekend and I “forgot” my camera I realized a big heavy DSLR was not for me any more.

My wife suggested buying a new M8 as Leica lowered the price. (yea, she is cool like that). That was all I needed to hear! We did bring my wife’s Sigma SD-1 to that X-mas trip but we had 65% OOF shots. That was not good so we quickly sold that SD-1 and bought a Leica D-Lux 4. You can read my D-Lux 4 review here.

So here I was with a bag full of killer DSLR gear and I got bored with it. I can hear all of you guys screaming at me now! I know a few people who would sell your left big toe for a D700 and set of Zeiss lenses, and here I was bored with it?? Well, kind of.

I sold my D700, Zeiss lenses, entire Nikon kit and my SOUL and bought the M8 and two Leica lenses.

But when I look back at my D700 shots I really do miss the Full Frame quality it gave me. I do not miss the weight. To many, the weight is a NON issue, but to me the weight of a bag of DSLR gear was not needed. Bottom line is that if I were a working pro, I would have two of these things. It really is that good. Best in class for sure.

FULL SIZE SAMPLE AND CROP WITH ZEISS 85 1.4 at F2

Here is one sort of technical sample. Click the lovely portrait below for a full size image. It was converted in ACR (Adobe Camera Raw) and this was shot at ISO 500 at F2 with the Zeiss ZF 85. If you do not want to download the full size, just check out the crop on the right. The D700 puts out some pretty smooth files even at ISO 500. This was a natural light shot in my living room. Not a studio, no lights, no flash. Pretty good for no lighting.

I LOVED the Zeiss 85 1.4 and tested it on my own side by side with the Nikon 85 1.4. I preferred the warmer colors of the Zeiss and it had a MUCH creamier background. Die hard Nikon fans would have my head for saying this but to me, the Zeiss really did perform better than my Nikon 85 1.4. It was a GREAT portrait lens, and if you do not mind manual focus (which was pretty easy on the D700 with it large VF) it’s a lens you will cherish for its build quality and image quality.

THE PROS AND THE CONS OF THE D700

The D700 has it all. Super fast focus with Nikons Multi-Cam 3500FX AF module and 5 FPS. It’s got a built in flash for those times when you need some fill. It has great AWB and always seemed to nail it, inside or outside. It has a “virtual horizon” feature to make sure you get your shot level. How about the LIVE VIEW feature that comes in handy when using MF lenses and macro? The build is tank like but not too heavy. The AUTOFOCUS is leagues better than the Canon 5DMKI AF. This is a pro’s and an amateurs dream camera in many regards. Many want even more resolution (can you say 21-24MP D700X?) but at $2449 (BH Photo) at the time of this writing it is a tremendous buy. If you go there they show it at $2999 but add it to your cart for the discount price.

CONS? There are no real cons to this camera! If you have a D700 and a couple of really good lenses (HIGHLY recommend the Zeiss ZF line) it can provide you with amazing quality images. I suggest you shoot RAW and process in Capture NX. This will get you the best file quality out of this camera. Capture NX takes the image quality one notch up but it is a slow as molasses program compared to Adobe Camera Raw or C1.

To me there was only one con and that was I no longer enjoyed carrying a bag full of DSLR gear with me everywhere.

The little Leica M8 fills MY needs as an enthusiast photographer - light, small, exceptional quality. BUT if I had the spare cash I would keep a D700 and 50 1.4 around for those times I want that FF look or need high ISO shooting. I highly recommend this camera, but if you are reading this then you already know how great the D700 is as its not exactly a new model. This was written to share my thoughts on it as well as provide samples.

I often see questions like “Should I buy the D700 or wait for the next model”? BUY the D700! If you keep waiting for the next best thing you will be lying dead before you get to enjoy shooting. If i had to have a DSLR, I could be happy with the D700 for a lifetime. It is that good. If you want a Full Frame, pro quality DSLR it is a no brainer.

I hope you enjoyed this small write up! As always, I recommend BH Photo as I have always had the best service from them over the years. Great store and great service.

Click here to go directly to the D700 BH page if you want to check out its full stats or pricing. 

THE TAKEOVER - D700 AND NIKON 50 1.4 AT 5.6

If you are in the market for one of the best highest quality DSLR’s you can get for the money then the D700 gets my nod for best of the best. For the last 9 months it has become the one to beat. Nikon has come a long way since the D100 and the D1. The D700 will be a classic, and in 10 years you will see newcomers buying used D700’s for their photo classes much like they buy the old Olympus OM1’s today. As for cutting edge, the D700 may have just been passed up by the new Canon 5D MKII with its 21MP sensor. I hope to get a chance to check out the new Canon and write up a full report soon! For NIKON fans though, this D700 is a real winner.

CLICK HERE FOR MY FULL D700 SAMPLE GALLERY!