Nikon D700 Report

I just finished a 2 week assignment to the Baltic region, and did a brief video report about how I travel with equipment cases and computers (Dispatches From the Edge: Avoiding Excess Baggage Charges, 8/21/08). However, this piece is about my experiences with the Nikon D700 camera .

(Continued after the Jump)

First, the video report and commentary:


Now, here are the files for your own critical review.

Nikon D3 SAMPLE BELOW (click to see full-size file):


Nikon D700 SAMPLE BELOW (Click to see full-size file):


Here's the EXIF data from both:




Below you will see a 100% view of a deal of each of those images. The process for handling these files was straight through Adobe Camera Raw. No adjustments whatsoever were made to the sharpening. You'll note that there is a slight degradation in sharpness on the D700 despite the same settings on the camera and the same exact lens. This difference is negligible, and easily corrected in the raw processing software. I can't be sure if it's just how Adobe handles the raw data from a D700, since it is so new, or it's how the camera stores the raw data, since it's the same chip in both cameras.



Here's another set of files that I didn't discuss in the video report.

Nikon D3 SAMPLE BELOW (click to see full-size file):



Nikon D700 SAMPLE BELOW (Click to see full-size file):


Here's the EXIF data from both:




Below you will see a 100% view of a deal of each of those images. The process for handling these files was straight through Adobe Camera Raw. No adjustments whatsoever were made to the sharpening. You'll note that the nominal loss of sharpness is less aparent at ISO 2000 than at 3200 in the previous set of images. As noted before, this difference is negligible, and easily corrected in the raw processing software. I can't be sure if it's just how Adobe handles the raw data from a D700, since it is so new, or it's how the camera stores the raw data, since it's the same chip in both cameras.





As noted on the GPS comments, here's the GPS coordinates. (click to see larger):





That really cool feature is a part of Camera Bits' application Photo Mechanic, and whenever an image has GPS data, the option "show on map" appears when you right-mouse-click the image, as below:


The GeoPic II is available at B&H for $299, and is well worth it in my opinion.

As for the D700, it too is a great camera - surely delivers the same image noise levels that the D3 is known for - and something that is causing many a Canon user to switch to Nikon for. There are, of course, pro-level features like the dual card slot, and other things that make the D3 a workhorse, but if you're looking for a second camera to backup your D3, or if you want a camera that delivers D3 quality images in the final analysis, I really like the Nikon D700 camera ($2,999 at Amazon, free shipping)..

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