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Robert
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There I was sitting admiring my days efforts having created a new doorway in my borrowed, neighbours shed and dragged my part built Marlin car in, relaxing over a coffee when the 'phone started buzzing... A glance revealed it was my friend from Barrow who deals in Nikon cameras. "Hey buddy, I have just come back from London" he said; I retorted, jokingly, "laden with D3's? LOL" Well it seems he has obtained some examples which are not wonderful cosmetically but seem to be functionally OK. Just what I need, poor cosmetics should mean realistic pricing. I was only looking at prices on fleaBay a couple of days ago and they are becoming more realistic, from my point of view anyway. As I have said many times, I only ever considered the DX format as a temporary measure until Nikon managed to create a 'proper', full frame sensor. I only have two DX lenses, a Sigma 10-20mm and my 18-105mm which is pretty well glued to the D3100, although it turns out to be an excellent IR lens on the D200 IR. My policy has always been to only buy full frame lenses, mainly from the film era. So I am well placed to make use of an FX sensor body. Having had the opportunity to try a D3 and D700 side by side, I much prefer the feel and smooth operation of the D3. Having quickly read the spec's, it seems it will mean a slight increase of 2M pixels over the D200 to about 12M pixels, but the low light - hi ISO should be a huge improvement compared with the D200. Not that I take many photo's of black cats in coal cellars!  My new garage... Taken with the D3100. Attachment: Screen Shot 2014-09-20 at 21.39.55.jpg (Downloaded 80 times) |
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jk
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So you will be having your D3 soon ? |
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Robert
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Well I think that's my buddies plan but it will depend whether we can strike a deal. With all these high resolution bodies 24Mp+ coming along and so many people deciding they are a 'must have', the D3 @ 12.1Mp is becoming something of an embarrassment for the majority of camera technophiles. That is helping to bring the price down to a more affordable level. I am less concerned about a few scrapes and scratches, provided the internals are fully functional and the shutter count is within bounds. I saw one the other day which was being offered and the shutter count was a tad under 500,000. When the shutter fails, it's scrap, and that could easily be tomorrow, no thanks (at any price). Apart from the 18-105mm which goes with the D3100 my most used lens is the Micro Nikkor 55mm f 2.8, which would find a natural place on the D3, the Sigma 10-20 could go because I have a Nikkor 20mm f2.8 which is a lovely lens on FX. I would keep the D200 because that gives me the multiplication factor for longer lenses and would still be useful when I want to travel light, yet retain a quality camera. It may be I will have to wait another 12 months or so, until prices fall a little further, I just don't know yet but I am very excited by the possibility.  |
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jk
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I have a Nikon 20mm f2.8 AF which I have tested against my Sigma 10-20mm for IR. The Sigma in IR produces very soft images compared to the Nikonso I think it may get relegated to my use on D90 carry around camera. I had nt noticed how soft the IR images were until I tested the Nikon 20mm on the D80-IR camera. I think I may release my Sigma 80-400 and get the new Nikon 80-400mm AFS VR but it is a heap of money for an occasional use lens. |
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amazing50
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The D610 in dx mode is 10.3 Mp, so to me, it is not worth the trouble to keep a camera for the lens magnification factor. I do have a D5100 (16Mp) that is used for copy and macro work, but that is because of the articulating LCD. |
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Gilbert Sandberg
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Robert, re: D3 and D700 . I agree that the D3 feels more solid, the design is one level up compared to the D300/D700. A few plusses for a camera like the D700 are the option to feed it with alkalines, and have a smaller package without the vertical grip re: it's scrap. I agree 500.000 is beyond the stated life expectancy of the design. Just research the cost of a new shutter, and then consider the price asked for the camera. Regards, Gilbert |
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jk
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amazing50 wrote:The D610 in dx mode is 10.3 Mp, so to me, it is not worth the trouble to keep a camera for the lens magnification factor. Hmmmm. If I used my D800 in DX mode I get 15.3MP but since I only have FX glass I might as well shoot FX and crop if I want. |
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Robert
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Gilbert, I tried the D700 and the D3 side by side; both almost new at the time, the D3 action and shutter release was silky smooth in comparison with the D700 which was not silky smooth, more of a clunk! In my opinion mass (weight) is good, it absorbs vibrations and helps keep the camera solid and stable. For serious use I almost always use a tripod, so the mass is less of an issue. As for the carrying factor I tend to use a trolly to carry my gear, drinks and butties around the botanic gardens, due to the large distances involved. I accept the D700 is lighter, which does have some advantages, I would never ever use an add battery housing like the old 'motor drives' They make the D700 larger than the D3, although that may allow the use of alkaline cells, I very much doubt I would use them and you loose the main reason for buying a D700, it's smaller, lighter form factor. My main objection to an add-on battery housing is reliability; back in 1988 I lost a sequence of photographs taken with my Nikon FE when the motor drive broke its electrical connection with the camera in the middle of a dramatic event at a horse show, I missed the once in a lifetime photographs which I would have captured had I not been using the motordrive. I never used the motordrive again, I will never again introduce any complexity which can compromise reliability. Battery housings have a history of issues. Mike, I can't see any benefit from using the crop function except an increase in shutter rate, possibly helpful for sports although even at 11 fps the critical moment can still be missed in some cases. If not for speed, I would prefer to be able to frame the crop to suit the composition of the specific image, which the full frame gives greater freedom to crop and less chance of a limb out of the frame in an otherwise good image. |
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Gilbert Sandberg
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Robert, re: electrical connection I agree: it can be another possible point of failure. If you use a trolley anyway: carrying a spare rechargable battery will not be a problem. Regards, Gilbert |
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Robert
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Spent a very pleasant evening fondling three D3's and a brace of D700's. I took my Nikkor 20mm f2.8 along since I really bought it with full frame in mind. It is superb! Having tried the two available D3's, one has about 175,000 actuations, the other about 225,000 actuations. They both seem to have been studio cameras because they haven't been bashed or bumped, the rubbers are good and there is very little sign of wear on the black parts, even underneath. We took quite a lot of exposures with both D3 bodies, we then put my card into a D700 which my buddy wanted me to try. I said I don't want a D700 but just for fun we had a play. Well one of the the D700's drove us mad, we couldn't get the exposure right. We were using an SB800 flash. It was grossly underexposing. Eventually we discovered the exposure bracketing was set to 'ON" and the flash exposure compensation -3EV. Eventually after about an hour I worked out how to reset both to zero. The Fn button accesses the Exposure bracketing and we eventually figured the flash is controlled by the on-board flash compensation setting. That further convinced me the D700 is not for me because the D3 worked perfectly, with logical and intuitive controls. I am now even more convinced the D3 is exactly what I need. I just need to try to strike a deal with my buddy. |
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Ralph G Speer
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Robert, Go for it! I have the D3 from day one and won't part with it. Yes, - I have the D4 & D4s which are also doing a fine job but there is something about that camera that I enjoy when I put it to use. Ralph |
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Ralph G Speer
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Robert, Correction; -- Should read D3x -- Camera. Ralph |
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amazing50
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Robert wrote:Gilbert, Totally agree, I have fornd that a lot a of tel converters do not give better results than the native lens cropped. |
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Gilbert Sandberg
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re: Eventually we discovered That is the reason for the so called factory reset key-combo. One never knows what any previous user-owner has set, so a general reset is the only way to go. The same is the reason for many-a-first question from the Nikon support staff "have you done a general reset?". Regards, Gilbert |
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Robert
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Gilbert Sandberg wrote:re: "Eventually we discovered" That was exactly what I suggested about ten seconds after we encountered the issue, " 'O', I can't do that... it will upset my settings..." was my buddies reaction. Wasn't my camera, so we went about it the hard way.It was further complicated by the fact that neither of us were familiar with the SB800 and we didn't know if it was the camera or the flashgun causing the 5 stop under exposure. Turned out it was 2 stops in the camera and 3 stops from the built in flash, which were being passed on to the SB800 but not appearing in the flashgun settings screen. We could see it in the exposure info, but not why. |
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Gilbert Sandberg
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Robert, I agree. One tip (I discoverded on first acquaiintance with the D3): One can store most settings on a memory-card, it may be wise to store standard personal/preferred settings on a small CF card, and keep that card handy. Note: on most Nikon DSLR's a two button reset will set the file-format to JPG. Regards, Gilbert |
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Robert
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Thanks Gilbert, that's a good tip, I will do that. I have a few small CF cards from the D1 days. |
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Robert
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Well I decided to shelve the D3 until I have completed the car build or I win the lotto, which is unlikely, given I never buy a ticket! LOL My buddy took it well and promises to keep one with my name on it, so eventually I will get the D3 I have promised myself. This experience has further convinced me that the D3 is the camera I need, having used several now, I feel so comfortable with them, they seem so natural and forgiving of my lack of technique. Providing top class results in very adverse conditions. They work so well with older film lenses which although they are outdated seem to produce such charming images. I don't want to be able to define a gnat's whatnots at three miles. Or even the gnat!!! |
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novicius
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I so understand ,.. am myself mounting Old glass , " Ye Olde Gold " is exactly that , |
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