F717 or Nikon 5700

[Rolf Sulzberger]

I will be buying a 5 meg in the next few months. Looking for your expert advice. I like the longer zoom on the 5700, but the F717 sounds awful good. I do mostly nature photography -- and do want to enlarge to the 13x19 capacity of my Epson printer. Tam

 

[Gregory Scott Bass]

well the 707 was better than the 5700 so I would expect the 717 would stomp it. my opinion Scott

I will be buying a 5 meg in the next few months. Looking for your
expert advice. I like the longer zoom on the 5700, but the F717
sounds awful good. I do mostly nature photography -- and do want
to enlarge to the 13x19 capacity of my Epson printer. Tam

--
Scott's photo gallery http://www.fotki.com/mercury7

 

[David Martin]

I will be buying a 5 meg in the next few months. Looking for your
expert advice. I like the longer zoom on the 5700, but the F717
sounds awful good. I do mostly nature photography -- and do want
to enlarge to the 13x19 capacity of my Epson printer. Tam

Of the alternatives you give I would be keener on the Sony. Not so much zoom but I really don't trust the low-light capabilities of the Nikon.
BTW, I don't own either, but am a Minolta owner so I have no ax to grind.
Regards,
--
DaveMart

 

[Gregory Scott Bass]

no ax to grind here either...my opinion was based on reviews from the nikon forum

I will be buying a 5 meg in the next few months. Looking for your
expert advice. I like the longer zoom on the 5700, but the F717
sounds awful good. I do mostly nature photography -- and do want
to enlarge to the 13x19 capacity of my Epson printer. Tam

Of the alternatives you give I would be keener on the Sony. Not so
much zoom but I really don't trust the low-light capabilities of
the Nikon.
BTW, I don't own either, but am a Minolta owner so I have no ax to
grind.
Regards,
--
DaveMart

--
Scott's photo gallery http://www.fotki.com/mercury7

 

[Shay Stephens]

Well if you do have an axe to grind, then the F717 would no doubt show the sharpest and clearest image of that axe ;-)

I will be buying a 5 meg in the next few months. Looking for your
expert advice. I like the longer zoom on the 5700, but the F717
sounds awful good. I do mostly nature photography -- and do want
to enlarge to the 13x19 capacity of my Epson printer. Tam

Of the alternatives you give I would be keener on the Sony. Not so
much zoom but I really don't trust the low-light capabilities of
the Nikon.
BTW, I don't own either, but am a Minolta owner so I have no ax to
grind.
Regards,
--
DaveMart

--
Scott's photo gallery http://www.fotki.com/mercury7

--
Shay

My Sony F707 Gallery: http://www.shaystephens.com/portfolio.asp

 

[ZipperZ]

I will be buying a 5 meg in the next few months. Looking for your
expert advice. I like the longer zoom on the 5700, but the F717
sounds awful good. I do mostly nature photography -- and do want
to enlarge to the 13x19 capacity of my Epson printer. Tam

Of the alternatives you give I would be keener on the Sony. Not so
much zoom but I really don't trust the low-light capabilities of
the Nikon.
BTW, I don't own either, but am a Minolta owner so I have no ax to
grind.

But the SOny axe would be the sharpest in the drawer
hehe

Regards,
--
DaveMart

--
cheers
Zip

=========================================
http://www.pbase.com/lafalot/i_n_f_r_a_r_e_d
BFS: been there had that...got the t-shirt
Sticker Status: ON...but on upsidedown
Pie Chute: UnCorked
Lens Cap: No dangle at any angle
128mem stick: lost

 

[Ulysses]

C'mon, Scott.

Give it to her straight. Stop messin' around.

I will be buying a 5 meg in the next few months. Looking for your
expert advice. I like the longer zoom on the 5700, but the F717
sounds awful good. I do mostly nature photography -- and do want
to enlarge to the 13x19 capacity of my Epson printer. Tam

--
Scott's photo gallery http://www.fotki.com/mercury7

--

Ulysses

 

[Jeremy Birn61459]

I will be buying a 5 meg in the next few months. Looking for your
expert advice. I like the longer zoom on the 5700, but the F717
sounds awful good. I do mostly nature photography -- and do want
to enlarge to the 13x19 capacity of my Epson printer. Tam

It's a mixed bag for those needs, but here's how I see it:

Speed - to shoot animals you need to power-on, focus, and shoot quickly, or you miss your shot. If speed is your #1 concern, then choose the Sony.

Zoom - often your little birds and things are far away, and telephoto capability is a key issue. The 5700 has the better zoom range.

Focus - shooting through branches, and shooting animals whose coats blend into the environment, creates a challenging focus situation. The Sony has the best auto-focus and a more convenient manual focus ring on the front of the lens.

Image quality - if you're often going to want to crop your images and print enlargements, then you want the sharpest, highest resolution pictures possible to start with. The Sony has the sharpest lens and best picture quality.

Portability - You've got to lug this camera around in different terrain. The 5700 is smaller and more portable.

Shooting in shadows - You can't control the lighting in nature, you have to adapt to it. The Sony works best in low light.

Power - You are far from the nearest outlet, and want to shoot all day without worrying about your batteries dying. The Sony is best on battery life.

-jeremy

--
Jeremy Birn
http://www.3dRender.com/

 

[James_Vic]

nice summary.

The more I read about the F717, the more I want one.

But the F707 is a brilliant machine anyways, so we shouldnt be too greedy. Perhaps Ill just wait for the F909/919.

James.

I will be buying a 5 meg in the next few months. Looking for your
expert advice. I like the longer zoom on the 5700, but the F717
sounds awful good. I do mostly nature photography -- and do want
to enlarge to the 13x19 capacity of my Epson printer. Tam

It's a mixed bag for those needs, but here's how I see it:

Speed - to shoot animals you need to power-on, focus, and shoot
quickly, or you miss your shot. If speed is your #1 concern, then
choose the Sony.

Zoom - often your little birds and things are far away, and
telephoto capability is a key issue. The 5700 has the better zoom
range.

Focus - shooting through branches, and shooting animals whose coats
blend into the environment, creates a challenging focus situation.
The Sony has the best auto-focus and a more convenient manual focus
ring on the front of the lens.

Image quality - if you're often going to want to crop your images
and print enlargements, then you want the sharpest, highest
resolution pictures possible to start with. The Sony has the
sharpest lens and best picture quality.

Portability - You've got to lug this camera around in different
terrain. The 5700 is smaller and more portable.

Shooting in shadows - You can't control the lighting in nature, you
have to adapt to it. The Sony works best in low light.

Power - You are far from the nearest outlet, and want to shoot all
day without worrying about your batteries dying. The Sony is best
on battery life.

-jeremy

--
Jeremy Birn
http://www.3dRender.com/

 

[Tigadee]

David Martin wrote:
Not so much zoom but I really don't trust the low-light capabilities of
the Nikon.

Agreed.

--



Tigadee
Keep On Snappin'!
http://www.pbase.com/tigadee

 

[Tigadee]

Shay Stephens wrote:
Well if you do have an axe to grind, then the F717 would no doubt
show the sharpest and clearest image of that axe ;-)

LOL! Hmmmmm, "Sharp as an axe, dull as a 5700"? ;-)

--



Tigadee
Keep On Snappin'!
http://www.pbase.com/tigadee

 

[Tigadee]

Tamara wrote:
I do mostly nature photography --

Check out today's POTD at Steve's. It's by the F707



--



Tigadee
Keep On Snappin'!
http://www.pbase.com/tigadee

 

[Tigadee]

Jeremy Birn wrote:
Speed - to shoot animals you need to power-on, focus, and shoot
quickly, or you miss your shot. If speed is your #1 concern, then
choose the Sony.

Stamina: If you'd rather leave your camera on a lot of the time so as not to miss anything, the F707/717's superb battery life will do the trick. Any other camera will require a 2nd battery for the same battery performance.

Zoom - often your little birds and things are far away, and
telephoto capability is a key issue. The 5700 has the better zoom
range.

But it'll take only Nikon telephoto lens...

Focus - shooting through branches, and shooting animals whose coats
blend into the environment, creates a challenging focus situation.
The Sony has the best auto-focus and a more convenient manual focus
ring on the front of the lens.

And the F717 has manual zoom now too...

Image quality - if you're often going to want to crop your images
and print enlargements, then you want the sharpest, highest
resolution pictures possible to start with. The Sony has the
sharpest lens and best picture quality.

'Nuff said!

Portability - You've got to lug this camera around in different
terrain. The 5700 is smaller and more portable.

Unless you add the lens adapter, battery pack/portrait grip, which is what I'd get for the 5700 if I owned it because the 5700 does not accept lens filters and has average battery life/performance.

Shooting in shadows - You can't control the lighting in nature, you
have to adapt to it. The Sony works best in low light.

Amen for that!

Power - You are far from the nearest outlet, and want to shoot all
day without worrying about your batteries dying. The Sony is best
on battery life.

Right on, brother!

--



Tigadee
Keep On Snappin'!
http://www.pbase.com/tigadee

 

[Tigadee]

Tamara wrote:
I do mostly nature photography --

Check out today's POTD at Steve's. It's by Dane Tessler and his F707



--



Tigadee
Keep On Snappin'!
http://www.pbase.com/tigadee

 

[Alien]

Good points Jeremy. I'm exactly in the sam situation as Tamara now. Having read the previews, I tend to buy the 717 over the 5700 because:

• The extra tele range without IS is difficult to use for me
• 5700 has better external flash compatibility, but for my shots in the nature this is not critical
• 717 is faster, this is critical for me
• 717 has the better EVF as far as I understood from the previews
• 717 has a better collor rendition now (over the 707)
• 5700 has contrast and saturation controls. Now, this point makes me think, because with my current cam (Oly 4040) I set contrast and sharpnes to absolute minimum on camera to avoid blown highlights and get better saturation. Afterwards I tweak the pics heavily in PS. The results are colorwise good, however resolution and details are not suitable for printing large. As far as I've seen from 707 pics, Sony seems to be better at highlites compared to Nikon or Oly. What do you think?

I will be buying a 5 meg in the next few months. Looking for your
expert advice. I like the longer zoom on the 5700, but the F717
sounds awful good. I do mostly nature photography -- and do want
to enlarge to the 13x19 capacity of my Epson printer. Tam

It's a mixed bag for those needs, but here's how I see it:

Speed - to shoot animals you need to power-on, focus, and shoot
quickly, or you miss your shot. If speed is your #1 concern, then
choose the Sony.

Zoom - often your little birds and things are far away, and
telephoto capability is a key issue. The 5700 has the better zoom
range.

Focus - shooting through branches, and shooting animals whose coats
blend into the environment, creates a challenging focus situation.
The Sony has the best auto-focus and a more convenient manual focus
ring on the front of the lens.

Image quality - if you're often going to want to crop your images
and print enlargements, then you want the sharpest, highest
resolution pictures possible to start with. The Sony has the
sharpest lens and best picture quality.

Portability - You've got to lug this camera around in different
terrain. The 5700 is smaller and more portable.

Shooting in shadows - You can't control the lighting in nature, you
have to adapt to it. The Sony works best in low light.

Power - You are far from the nearest outlet, and want to shoot all
day without worrying about your batteries dying. The Sony is best
on battery life.

-jeremy

--
Jeremy Birn
http://www.3dRender.com/

--
Alien

 

[Jeremy Birn61459]

The extra tele range without IS is difficult to use for me

I don't know about that - with the F707 I see people adding various telephoto extenders, or even using the digital zoom, and still getting great hand-held shots.

I think more zoom is great. The trade-offs in between the lens designs seems to be: do you want a more zoom in a more compact package, or do you want better optical resolution and a wider aperture that lets in more light?

• 5700 has contrast and saturation controls. Now, this point makes

me think, because with my current cam (Oly 4040) I set contrast and
sharpnes to absolute minimum on camera to avoid blown highlights
and get better saturation. Afterwards I tweak the pics heavily in
PS. The results are colorwise good, however resolution and details
are not suitable for printing large. As far as I've seen from 707
pics, Sony seems to be better at highlites compared to Nikon or
Oly. What do you think?

On the issue of blown highlights, the F707 does well - I haven't had problems with that "video look" with highlights getting clipped, as happens with some digicams.

But no matter how well the camera is configured to handle those issues, I wish they would add electronic saturation and contrast controls. There are times, such as when shooting a view from a mountain, where I am shooting through a lot of haze into the distance, and I know that the contrast needs to be boosted. I'd rather have an option to boost contrast from the raw 14-bit sensor data while I'm shooting, than be stuck enhancing the tonal range of the jpeg afterwards in Photoshop. (To be fair, I should mention that you do have a lot of room to move in terms of doing the Photoshop tweaks and maintaining high photographic quality, though. When I've done that Levels adjustment to remove haze, I've generally gotten away with it and seen that all the detail is still there without any bad grain or banding.)

I haven't found myself wanting to lower the contrast compared to the camera's current behavior, I think it's already giving you the full exposure lattitude of the CCD. (Although CCDs with a few stops more dynamic range would be a great thing to see someday, that's not a software fix.)

-jeremy

--
Jeremy Birn
http://www.3dRender.com/

 

[Flying Burrito]

the Nikon does have some good points; however. like many other 5700 owners, I have found the slow low-light focusing to be a major drawback. The zoom is fine and coupled with the accessory tele lens, the images are very good. True, the MB-E5700 grip and it's six NiMH's do add much weight, but it does provide a nice stable, more ergonomic grip to the camera. The internal controls are numerous though, and require a bit of a learning curve. The 5700 must be tweaked to obtain the best images. The absence of filter threads is also a detriment, but a third-party adapter is available and works fine. Am I really happy with the 5700? In short, No! I believe the new 717 would be ideal for my type of image-taking. In the coming weeks, I would not be surprised to find myself seriously considering the 717!

Best wishes...Peter

Photography records the gamut of feelings written on the human face, the beauty of the earth and skies that man has inherited and the wealth and confusion man has created....Edward Steichen

 

[Hariette]

I own a coolpix 5000 and it does make wonderful pictures and when well taken you really don't have to do much in PS besides some sharpening and the colors are pretty much perfect. BUT it is a moody camera and will struggle through overcast weather or a sun playing hide and seek with the clouds. As a CP5K owner (and well I am kind of pist as well at Nikon) I'd like a camera with more predictability in all situations and that my friend it means that I am quite reticent to get another Nikon and the new Sony looks really good (if the colors are right this time) and if you don't mind the shape, I would try the Sony first (then you can go on and try the 5700 if you don't like it)... but then again Canon and others are around the corner....

I will be buying a 5 meg in the next few months. Looking for your
expert advice. I like the longer zoom on the 5700, but the F717
sounds awful good. I do mostly nature photography -- and do want
to enlarge to the 13x19 capacity of my Epson printer. Tam

 

[Rolf Sulzberger]

I will be buying a 5 meg in the next few months. Looking for your
expert advice. I like the longer zoom on the 5700, but the F717
sounds awful good. I do mostly nature photography -- and do want
to enlarge to the 13x19 capacity of my Epson printer. Tam

Thanks to all of you. Tam

 

[Glenn A]

I will be buying a 5 meg in the next few months. Looking for your
expert advice. I like the longer zoom on the 5700, but the F717
sounds awful good. I do mostly nature photography -- and do want
to enlarge to the 13x19 capacity of my Epson printer. Tam

If you do mostly nature photography - take a look at the Minolta 7i. You can macro focus at either wide angle or telephoto. This is a great plus.

Glenn A