I have a z50, but looking to get into FF I’m not interested in video but do not want to spend the money on the new z FF, is the d700 worth getting in 2024. I can get one with 8,000 clicks for under $400.
I bought a D700 3months after I bought a Z5. The IQ of the Z5 is in a different league but I still take the D700 on outings, just for the optical viewfinder alone.
Shashank Bhat
January 10, 2022 9:51 am
Amazing review. I bought my Nikon D700 5 months ago and it doesn’t even feel like an old camera. It is built like a tank and has all the buttons in the right place. It is very much easy to use with all the switches and buttons in reach. I used it for a college event where top celebrities were present with 24-120mm F4 lens and the images were really amazing. The colors are really nice and accurate. The autofocus holds up to this date and its soo accurate.
mark fisher
December 3, 2021 4:00 pm
I’m on my 3rd d700.The colours and image quality are nicer than my d850
I have 4 digital cameras besides D700, all being newer (incuding X-T2 and D750). Yet I like my D700 the most, and it’s the reson I spend money on some Nikon lenses; money that could expand my fujifilm lens lineup. There is something magical about D700 that newer cameras and senors miss…
Larry L Moyer
May 7, 2021 1:02 pm
I just bought a used D700, and I found a interesting problem, the number of photos you can take that shows on the top deck display seems correct for full compression files, and non-compressed files, but the number does not change when using lossless compression files, the number of possible photos you can take does not change from the number of photos when using no compression-this does not change, no matter what bit depth(12 or 14) you use. The number of frames changes because of the bit depth, but does not change due to non compressed or lossless compression is used, the counter only changes if full compression is chosen. How can that be? Lossless compression files are smaller than non-compressed files ! My camera has the latest firmware updates available.
Because its lossless, Nikon dont know how big the file will actually be as it depends on the image, consequently Nikon give you a pessimistic number based on the uncompressed files – which can be closely predicted in size and hence an accurate number that will fit in the space available on the card.
Peter Burridge
April 23, 2021 12:40 am
I miss the D700 that I sold a few years back. I have gone Fuji and all my Nikon gear has gone. I was browsing a list of 2nd hand D700s yesterday and noted a new one in Excellent condition with a shutter count of 400. I was very tempted….. It should arrive today. But I have no lenses. I found a nice looking mint condition 28-105 on eBay and it should arrive next week. I just hope it’s a reasonably sharp copy. I should have kept my old one. The user experience of shooting with one and the IQ are still brilliant. It’ll be interesting to see how often I pick it up compared to the Fuji’s
Jim
December 4, 2020 6:50 am
Thanks Nasim for the review of the Nikon D700 which I throughly enjoyed reading. I have just today ordered a D700 with 5500 actuations and this will be added to my other Nikon Cameras. Your review confirms my decision to purchase the camera and I look forward to using it when we are out of lock down
Dominic Gerard Smith
December 4, 2020 5:02 am
I come from the days of shooting fast action sport, mainly football (soccer,) under poor lighting conditions (well I do live in Scotland,) when I was using 1600 ISO black and white film pushed to 6400 and Fuji 1600 colour film pushed to the same extent. If you ever get the chance to look at prints taken with film pushed to those limits, then you will know what grain really can look like. So in my opinion high ISO noise is nowhere near as bad as what I’ve had printed in newspapers in the days of film.
I have been using a Nikon D700 for 12 years for everything from Weddings, Portraits, Landscapes, TRavel to Sports and love the camera. It is the closest I have ever found to my all time favourite film camera the F100, which I now regret having sold.
I also have the D300 and can agree with everything said about the noise from the D300. Again in my opinion, it is actually worse than the high levels of film grain I used to previously get.
I will happily let the Auto ISO on the D700 run up to 6400, but anything above 1600 on the D300 is pretty unusable.
With advancing years, sciatica, scoliosis, deteriorating discs in my back, I decided to that as Nikon did not seem all that interested in mirrorless, I would have a look at changing systems and opted for a Fuji X-T1.
This is a great camera if you have time to compose your shots etc, but is effectively useless as a sports shooter camera. The3 high ISO performance from this crop sensor camera is easily on a par with the D700, so it is not impossible to get crop sensors to perform as well as FF sensors.
My biggest disappointment is that the autofocus is not up to shooting sports, and from what I have read even the X-T4 cannot perform as well as a DSLR.
The biggest problem with the D700 (I have the grip and the larger battery,) is the buffer capacity. I can get about 24 medium res jpegs at 8 fps before it slows down and have missed some celebration shots (which is what the newspapers want,) because of this. So I have been contemplating getting a D500 but I am worried about going back the way to a smaller sensor and smaller viewfinder image.
I would love a D850, but would need to buy or build a new PC to deal with the 45 megapixel files coming from it.
If anyone has experience of using both the D700 and the D500, then comments would be appreciated.
Alan
August 1, 2020 4:41 pm
Excellent review, Nasim, as always. Thank you! I just bought a D700 from Robert’s Camera for $380 with 3100 clicks! Can’t wait to try it out. It is the perfect complement to my D500 and Z7. I’ve long been a believer in lower-megapixel full-frame sensors.
Mark Butcher
April 15, 2020 11:55 am
Great article Nasim. I’ve always maintained the D700 was the best camera I ever used. I sold mine some years ago after being lured in by new camera tech, video capability and more resolution. However, I have to honestly say nothing ever really hit the spot like the D700 and I’m now looking at buying another.
Best wishes
Mark
Mark Butcher
April 15, 2020 11:54 am
Great article Nasim. I’ve always maintained the D700 was the best camera I ever used. I sold mine some years after being lured in by new camera tech, video capability and more resolution. However, I have to honestly say nothing ever really hit the spot like the D700 and I’m now looking at buying another.
I have a z50, but looking to get into FF I’m not interested in video but do not want to spend the money on the new z FF, is the d700 worth getting in 2024. I can get one with 8,000 clicks for under $400.
I bought a D700 3months after I bought a Z5. The IQ of the Z5 is in a different league but I still take the D700 on outings, just for the optical viewfinder alone.
Amazing review.
I bought my Nikon D700 5 months ago and it doesn’t even feel like an old camera. It is built like a tank and has all the buttons in the right place. It is very much easy to use with all the switches and buttons in reach. I used it for a college event where top celebrities were present with 24-120mm F4 lens and the images were really amazing. The colors are really nice and accurate. The autofocus holds up to this date and its soo accurate.
I’m on my 3rd d700.The colours and image quality are nicer than my d850
Join us Mark! (in case that you are not already there)
www.facebook.com/group…120976297/
I have 4 digital cameras besides D700, all being newer (incuding X-T2 and D750). Yet I like my D700 the most, and it’s the reson I spend money on some Nikon lenses; money that could expand my fujifilm lens lineup. There is something magical about D700 that newer cameras and senors miss…
I just bought a used D700, and I found a interesting problem, the number of photos you can take that shows on the top deck display seems correct for full compression files, and non-compressed files, but the number does not change when using lossless compression files, the number of possible photos you can take does not change from the number of photos when using no compression-this does not change, no matter what bit depth(12 or 14) you use. The number of frames changes because of the bit depth, but does not change due to non compressed or lossless compression is used, the counter only changes if full compression is chosen. How can that be? Lossless compression files are smaller than non-compressed files ! My camera has the latest firmware updates available.
Because its lossless, Nikon dont know how big the file will actually be as it depends on the image, consequently Nikon give you a pessimistic number based on the uncompressed files – which can be closely predicted in size and hence an accurate number that will fit in the space available on the card.
I miss the D700 that I sold a few years back. I have gone Fuji and all my Nikon gear has gone.
I was browsing a list of 2nd hand D700s yesterday and noted a new one in Excellent condition with a shutter count of 400. I was very tempted….. It should arrive today.
But I have no lenses. I found a nice looking mint condition 28-105 on eBay and it should arrive next week. I just hope it’s a reasonably sharp copy.
I should have kept my old one. The user experience of shooting with one and the IQ are still brilliant. It’ll be interesting to see how often I pick it up compared to the Fuji’s
Thanks Nasim for the review of the Nikon D700 which I throughly enjoyed reading. I have just today ordered a D700 with 5500 actuations and this will be added to my other Nikon Cameras. Your review confirms my decision to purchase the camera and I look forward to using it when we are out of lock down
I come from the days of shooting fast action sport, mainly football (soccer,) under poor lighting conditions (well I do live in Scotland,) when I was using 1600 ISO black and white film pushed to 6400 and Fuji 1600 colour film pushed to the same extent. If you ever get the chance to look at prints taken with film pushed to those limits, then you will know what grain really can look like. So in my opinion high ISO noise is nowhere near as bad as what I’ve had printed in newspapers in the days of film.
I have been using a Nikon D700 for 12 years for everything from Weddings, Portraits, Landscapes, TRavel to Sports and love the camera. It is the closest I have ever found to my all time favourite film camera the F100, which I now regret having sold.
I also have the D300 and can agree with everything said about the noise from the D300. Again in my opinion, it is actually worse than the high levels of film grain I used to previously get.
I will happily let the Auto ISO on the D700 run up to 6400, but anything above 1600 on the D300 is pretty unusable.
With advancing years, sciatica, scoliosis, deteriorating discs in my back, I decided to that as Nikon did not seem all that interested in mirrorless, I would have a look at changing systems and opted for a Fuji X-T1.
This is a great camera if you have time to compose your shots etc, but is effectively useless as a sports shooter camera. The3 high ISO performance from this crop sensor camera is easily on a par with the D700, so it is not impossible to get crop sensors to perform as well as FF sensors.
My biggest disappointment is that the autofocus is not up to shooting sports, and from what I have read even the X-T4 cannot perform as well as a DSLR.
The biggest problem with the D700 (I have the grip and the larger battery,) is the buffer capacity. I can get about 24 medium res jpegs at 8 fps before it slows down and have missed some celebration shots (which is what the newspapers want,) because of this. So I have been contemplating getting a D500 but I am worried about going back the way to a smaller sensor and smaller viewfinder image.
I would love a D850, but would need to buy or build a new PC to deal with the 45 megapixel files coming from it.
If anyone has experience of using both the D700 and the D500, then comments would be appreciated.
Excellent review, Nasim, as always. Thank you! I just bought a D700 from Robert’s Camera for $380 with 3100 clicks! Can’t wait to try it out. It is the perfect complement to my D500 and Z7. I’ve long been a believer in lower-megapixel full-frame sensors.
Great article Nasim. I’ve always maintained the D700 was the best camera I ever used. I sold mine some years ago after being lured in by new camera tech, video capability and more resolution. However, I have to honestly say nothing ever really hit the spot like the D700 and I’m now looking at buying another.
Best wishes
Mark
Great article Nasim. I’ve always maintained the D700 was the best camera I ever used. I sold mine some years after being lured in by new camera tech, video capability and more resolution. However, I have to honestly say nothing ever really hit the spot like the D700 and I’m now looking at buying another.
Best wishes
Mark