It's here! It's here!

[NLD]

D700 arrived yesterday, along with the 50 1.4D and 85 1.4

I FINALLY had a few minutes tonight to test-drive it.... and am utterly and completely in love.

These are with the 85mm. (Haven't even cracked the box on the 50mm.)


ISO 6400? No problem.

Can I just say.... the focus system on the D700 is like a dreamworld compared to the D60. I knew those three focus points and that slow AF was annoying, but didn't know HOW annoying until getting the D700 in hand. Oh and ditto for the viewfinder....

And it just FEELS better in my hands. Fits my grip and long fingers better.

And obviously the ISO capabilities are just stunning....

And then the bokeh that 85mm delivers....




....Is it a bad idea to sleep with your camera? You know, like a grown-up lovie? ? ?

Okay. Done gushing. Really.







(For now.)

 

[YesDear]

Congratulations! I am jealous.

If you went from a D60 to a D700 there is no comparison between the two. You went from a beginning level DSLR to a professional piece of equipment.

Enjoy!

 

[AbbysFamily]

Nice!!!! Both are very good pictures too! Congrats on the upgrades.

I do have a question though? This could be my inexperience too, but something to wonder about... What mode did you take these in and which settings did you force?

Heres why I ask - in another thread, you posted the specs for the 2nd picture as 1/250 second, f/3.2, ISO 6400, no flash. 85mm.

It would seem to me that with a 85mm f 1.4 lense, you could have bumped some of those down to avoid any "grain" (not that I see any). For example, I would think that you could open a couple of stops and lower the iso. and lower the speed too.

Drop the speed to 1/125 gets you to iso 3200...
Open the aperture to f/2 and the bokeh may improve and get you to at least iso 1600 if combined with the speed?

Don't take this as complaining about the pics, just wondering if you turned you iso down would help?

I'm picking up a 50mm f1.8 today, so I'm curious about this for myself too.

 

[wenrob]

Nice!!!! Both are very good pictures too! Congrats on the upgrades.

I do have a question though? This could be my inexperience too, but something to wonder about... What mode did you take these in and which settings did you force?

Heres why I ask - in another thread, you posted the specs for the 2nd picture as 1/250 second, f/3.2, ISO 6400, no flash. 85mm.

It would seem to me that with a 85mm f 1.4 lense, you could have bumped some of those down to avoid any "grain" (not that I see any). For example, I would think that you could open a couple of stops and lower the iso. and lower the speed too.

Drop the speed to 1/125 gets you to iso 3200...
Open the aperture to f/2 and the bokeh may improve and get you to at least iso 1600 if combined with the speed?

Don't take this as complaining about the pics, just wondering if you turned you iso down would help?

I'm picking up a 50mm f1.8 today, so I'm curious about this for myself too.

The D700 is known for excellent ISO capabilities so I'm assuming she cranked it up to 6400 to see how it did with noise. I know it's probably one of the first things I would do, lol. Kinda, let's see what all the hoopla is about.

Huge congrats NLD! So very jealous! Your test shots are awesome. Could we possibly see a close up crop?

 

[JoeDif]

Congrats!!! That is a sweet camera

Great images!!

 

[NLD]

The D700 is known for excellent ISO capabilities so I'm assuming she cranked it up to 6400 to see how it did with noise. I know it's probably one of the first things I would do, lol. Kinda, let's see what all the hoopla is about.

Yep, pretty much. Right out of the box I pushed it to 6400 to see how it would do.

Though with that shot I'd switched to auto-ISO, with a ceiling of 6400 and a minimum shutter speed of I think 1/250. Mode was aperture-priority, so with the aperture I selected the camera chose the ISO and shutter.

A slower shutter speed would probably have worked just fine, and allowed lower ISO, but given that these were test shots meant specifically to help me get a feel for the ISO capabilities, 1/250 sounded good... especially since dd does NOT pose and does NOT stay still long. Wanted to make darn sure to freeze any motion and didn't mind seeing how the high ISO would perform.

 

[NLD]

OH and... no offense taken at all!

I am still learning and freely admit this camera is beyond my needs, so am still learning from all of you!

Thanks for the congrats all.

 

[Scottwdw]

Congratulations! I've borrowed a D700 a few times for weddings and ice hockey. It is a dream machine. I will get one (as I keep telling everyone) this year.

 

[AbbysFamily]

Yep, pretty much. Right out of the box I pushed it to 6400 to see how it would do.

Though with that shot I'd switched to auto-ISO, with a ceiling of 6400 and a minimum shutter speed of I think 1/250. Mode was aperture-priority, so with the aperture I selected the camera chose the ISO and shutter.

A slower shutter speed would probably have worked just fine, and allowed lower ISO, but given that these were test shots meant specifically to help me get a feel for the ISO capabilities, 1/250 sounded good... especially since dd does NOT pose and does NOT stay still long. Wanted to make darn sure to freeze any motion and didn't mind seeing how the high ISO would perform.

Thanks! That makes sense. It really helps to understand the thoughts. I've not pushed my T1i hard yet to see low light tests, but will be soon! (gotta get ready for those dark rides)

 

[pgowder]

My D700 will be here in about an hour! Can't wait!! Your thread, if possible, has me even more excited.

 

[NLD]

My D700 will be here in about an hour! Can't wait!! Your thread, if possible, has me even more excited.

Yay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Congrats!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



Post some pics when you get a chance!

How long have you been shooting?


Next is Scottwdw--get one, get one!


wenrob, I will see if I can get a 100% crop for you.... constantly have issues uploading pics (there is something wrong with our Internet connection and Comcast has been no help, but as far as we can tell it's not on our end). But I will try. Honestly the 100% out-of-camera crop does have a lot of visible noise. The above shots were obviously resized and also given some noise reduction.

Still, you know? For the web and regular old prints? Pretty darn good!

 

[pgowder]

Yay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Congrats!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



Post some pics when you get a chance!

How long have you been shooting?


Next is Scottwdw--get one, get one!


wenrob, I will see if I can get a 100% crop for you.... constantly have issues uploading pics (there is something wrong with our Internet connection and Comcast has been no help, but as far as we can tell it's not on our end). But I will try. Honestly the 100% out-of-camera crop does have a lot of visible noise. The above shots were obviously resized and also given some noise reduction.

Still, you know? For the web and regular old prints? Pretty darn good!

I've been shooting Sony/Minolta for a years. And need better ISO performance for what I mainly shoot--Native American Pow Wows.

http://www.powwowimages.com

It arrived last night about 5:45, right as we were leaving for daughter's soccer practice. So haven't had a chance to play with it much.

 

[pgowder]

There is some noise at high ISO, but nothing compared to what I've been using.

Here is a comparison I did this morning between the D700 and the Sony A700.

Same subject, same light.

D700-4000 ISO
Sony A700 - 3200 ISO

Both at f6.3.

D700 - Nikon 24-70 f2.8
A700 - Minolta 24-75 f2.8

http://www.flickr.com/photos/96077153@N00/sets/72157623472368632/

Full size:
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4041/4372266365_1da0dd9aaf_o.jpg
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4014/4373025360_1ed9728471_o.jpg

No post processing except to crop and export as a jpg.

 

[pgowder]

....Is it a bad idea to sleep with your camera? You know, like a grown-up lovie? ? ?

I didn't sleep WITH it, but it was on the night stand!!

 

[wenrob]

Paul, that's quite a difference!

 

[pgowder]

Paul, that's quite a difference!

I know!! It was very frustrating with the A700 at Native American Pow Wows. The ones I go to are inside, usually at basketball arenas or conference rooms. And I wasn't able to get a clean picture above 1600, really above 800. And it is tough to get a sharp picture of people moving fast when you can only get 1/250 or so shutter speed! Of course I tried using flashes, but that brings in another set of problems--dancers don't like it, I'm usually shooting 12 hours per day so batteries become an issue, placement of the flashes, etc, etc!

I can't wait for my first Pow Wow with the D700! Gathering of Nations in near the end of April.

But of course I have a Disney trip before that, so I'll have to take it along to get some practice!

 

[DznyFan]

Congrats to both of you!