Pros

• Good design and ergonomics
• SLR form-factor
• True TTL Viewfinder
• Excellent easy-to-access controls
• Full complement of manual controls
• Fast easy-to-use zoom and manual focus rings
• Fast operation, good internal buffer size
• Excellent InfoLithium batteries
• Ability to take PCMCIA type II devices (read: larger storage)
• Good internal flash
• Flash WhiteBalance measurement

Cons

• Needs careful setup
• Noise at higher ISOs
• Slow focus / sometimes inaccurate
• Poor focus screen in viewfinder (eye can focus "through" the lens - no ground glass screen or split lens)
• Weight (subjective?)
• Dull images require digital darkroom work
• Undersaturated colours
• Low resolution by "todays standards" (1344 x 1024)
• Price

Overall conclusion

The D700 is a great camera, I can't take that away from it, nor would I want to. It offers the most flexibility of any digital camera available without paying $5,000+. Best of all, the manual controls are easy to access and the camera really becomes a workhorse for the photographer (rather than the other way around).

I really enjoyed using the D700 and as I'm comfortable with the idea of the digital darkroom (post-editting of images) was also happy with the images I got out of the camera.

It feels and looks like a "real camera" and you can happily use it with the top LCD and viewfinder alone, thus saving valuable battery life (up to 1.5 times longer in some cases).

I'll be very excited to see the next generation D700, and especially if they decided to put their 2 megapixel CCD (found in the DSC-F55K) into this body / system. (Hopefully they can also fix the speed and sometimes inaccuracy of the auto-focus system too!).

Recommended