d300s or d700?

[alan1572]

a long story short
when my insurance told me they would pay out for a new camera i bought a very nice d300 from one of our members here, now they have said they will replace it and not send a cheque out, so it's not a problem to sell the d300 on but they are sending out a d300s as the d300 is out of stock, i asked about an upgrade to the d700 and it will be £550, is it worth the £550 to upgrade?

[rksmith51]

The D700 is FX, will that be ok with the rest of your kit, ie lens compatibility.

[alan1572]

that's a concern for me as i only have 4 lens' and 2 of them will need swapping so i suppose it's more than just the camera,

[anglefire]

First question, do you need full frame goodleness?
Second question, can you not use dx lenses on a fx body in crop mode?
Third question, do the 2 lenses that are dx get a lot of use now? Would they on fx?

Lastly, can you afford the £550? (No need to answer this one on here  )

[Oldboy]

a long story short
when my insurance told me they would pay out for a new camera i bought a very nice d300 from one of our members here, now they have said they will replace it and not send a cheque out, so it's not a problem to sell the d300 on but they are sending out a d300s as the d300 is out of stock, i asked about an upgrade to the d700 and it will be £550, is it worth the £550 to upgrade?

Just checked with Camera Price Buster and the best price for a D300s is £1,085 whilst, the D700 is £1,701.99, so £550 sounds a good deal. The D700 is like the D3 and will detect a DX lens and set the camera to DX mode. This can be turned off if required. If you can afford it, it's a cracking camera and you can upgrade/add new lenses at a later date. 

[jinky]

Hard decision Alan. I upgraded to the D700 for the higher ISO stuff really but that was from a D80 and the jump in terms of results is even bigger than I thought it was now that I have seen what it can do. I too had 2 DX lenses at that time - an 18-200 which I rarely used as my newer 2.8 lenses were so much better - and my Sigma 10-20 which I don`t mind telling you I still miss as I get used to the 16-35 Nikon vr that i bought to replace it. I bought mine in the hope of getting more paid work - which I`ve since failed to chase or secure- but it depends what you think you need FX for. I was worried it would shop up my third party lenses but have to say that my tamron 28-75, Siggy 70-200 and Sigma 105 all produce great results with the D700. I have missed the seeming extra reach the crop body gives maybe once or twice but rarely do wildlife shots so not that much. I do find that the detail in my images is much improved and the megapixels are fine for what I do. I got a free grip at the time which made me jump to it and I must admit when I use it all together for a job feel I look more the part and even got one job when just out shooting for fun because the client looked at what I had and thought I knew what I was doing  . Then again the D300s is a great camera too I`m told by the Leeds Flickrites using it.

[Jonathan]

Or.....pay the £550 and then sell the brand new unopened D700 for about £1,500.

You keep the D300 you were happy with and have a grand in your pocket.

[alan1572]

i have to make a decision by 11am, the 2 lens that are not suitable are my 18-70 which i use quite a lot although it was the cheapest lens at around £180 and the other is the 12-24 which i like a lot but maybe don't use it as much as i would like, i suppose i am trying to justify the upgrade, like a lot of things it's not needed i just would like it, and i could get the £550 which as oldboy pointed out does seem like a good enough offer to tempt me

[alan1572]

Or.....pay the £550 and then sell the brand new unopened D700 for about £1,500.

You keep the D300 you were happy with and have a grand in your pocket.

think of the soft furnishings my wife could buy with £1k....it doesn't bare thinking about, 1 way or the other i think it a good move to get the d700 and worry what to do with it later, although i have been warned that once i open the box and use i won't want to sell it) plus it wouldn't be worth as much opened)

[ABERS]

....and even got one job when just out shooting for fun because the client looked at what I had and thought I knew what I was doing.... 

Wonderful!

I was out the other day taking a few shots by the river Wey and was approached by a couple who said, "You look like a photographer, can you tell us where we can see a Kingfisher please?". I pointed out that just because I had a camera with me I wasn't Bill Oddie! 

[alan1572]

That reminds me, i must get to see my first kingfisher, there's one about 15 miles away...that's not to say there isn't one closer, i just don't know of it.

[Trickee]

....and even got one job when just out shooting for fun because the client looked at what I had and thought I knew what I was doing.... 

Wonderful!

I was out the other day taking a few shots by the river Wey and was approached by a couple who said, "You look like a photographer, can you tell us where we can see a Kingfisher please?". I pointed out that just because I had a camera with me I wasn't Bill Oddie! 

yes and they also expect you to be able to identify every single bird and it's sex as well 

[Oldboy]

i have to make a decision by 11am, the 2 lens that are not suitable are my 18-70 which i use quite a lot although it was the cheapest lens at around £180 and the other is the 12-24 which i like a lot but maybe don't use it as much as i would like, i suppose i am trying to justify the upgrade, like a lot of things it's not needed i just would like it, and i could get the £550 which as oldboy pointed out does seem like a good enough offer to tempt me

I've tested my Nikon 12-24mm F4 on the D3, and it's OK on full frame from 17mm upwards. 

[Oldboy]

I was out the other day taking a few shots by the river Wey and was approached by a couple who said, "You look like a photographer, can you tell us where we can see a Kingfisher please?". I pointed out that just because I had a camera with me I wasn't Bill Oddie! 

Perhaps they thought you looked a little odd! 

[alan1572]

it's done..i stumped up the extra for the D700
thanks for the input