8700 vs 8800 pros/cons

I went to the store to play with the dslr and found I really didn't care for the d50/70. But I liked the 8800 more. Now I find the 8700 to be more affordable. Are there any reasons to go for the 8800 that a different lense couldn't take care of? Other than the 8X zoom vs 10x.

I would love anybodys first hand knowledge and information.

Thanks...

Rebecca

Rebecca,

I don't have the 8800. I can tell you about the 8700. It is a fine camera with P&S capability, shooting modes and manual. I use auto, manual and occasionally shutter priority. The 8700 has a better price and I don't think you can go wrong with it. The shot counter has passed 5K without the first problem.

Rebecca,

I own the 8800 and did own an 8700 for a short time. They are both fine cameras. The 8800 has the vibration reduction which makes a big difference in sharpness, especially when shooting at the longer end of the zoom range. It may be just me, but the 8700 seemed a bit 'noisier' than the 8800, but again I only had the 8700 for a couple of months. The button layout and menus are a bit different also, but those are secondary concerns. You might consider the 8400, which has a bit wider angle than either the 8700 or the 8800. It seems to be priced very well right now, too. I hope this was helpful. Good luck, I don't think you can go wrong.
--
Nikkormat FT2 , Nikon FM , CP 9 5 0, CP 8 8 0 0, CP 5 2 0 0

Ken G.

I can not speak for the 8700, I went from the 5700 to the 8800. In my opinion the 8800 has the best piece of glass ever put into a prosumer camera. It is not without it's faults, slow to write, hard to focus in low light. But once you learn to work around it's shortcumings it is one hell of a camera. If you want one get one now, they are out of production. If I would be buying a camera today, money being no object, ha ha, I would buy a DSLR.
--
Heinrich
Airdrie, Alberta. Canada
PBase supporter
http://www.pbase.com/hlohmann
http://www.lohmann.ca/heinrich

I've owned both the 8700 and the 8800, and consider the 8800 to be significantly better. The lens has greater zoom range, the Vibration Reduction is an outstanding improvement, the battery life is considerably longer, the control placement is much better, along with many other smaller improvements. The control placement in the 8700 causes many users, myself included, to inadvertently hit the buttons on the side of the lens without realizing it, resulting in lost pictures. The 8800 fixed this as well.

I would strongly urge you to try both cameras before getting the 8700. You will see what I mean.

Larry

I own an 8700 and have a bit of insight for you. Bottom line ... give the 8800 serious consideration.

After 30 years of use my manual Nikon F died and I replaced it with an 8700. I am tremendously impressed with the quality prints I can produce...sometimes very very large prints. In my opinion the "Prosumer" cameras such as the 8700 and 8800 have a signifigant design advantage over the DSLR cameras however the manufacturers do not manufacture them to their full potential...sadly.

There are two areas of concern with my 8700 and I think perhaps the 8800 addresses one of them; they are ability make changes while shooting... and processing time. Although the 8700 has the ability to manipulate just about every aspect of the process too many controls are in the menu section and often in menus within other menus. I think the 8800 gives more abilities in this arena. It just takes too much time and thought to adjust this camera. Also I find that I inadvertantly press the buttons on the side and make changes to settings I didnt want changed. This is a BIG deal for me.

The other area is the time it takes after shutter release until the camera is ready again. There´s not much you can do here I´m afraid. When shooting RAW images (really the best quality) it is disractingly long between shots. If you take landscapes this really isn´t such a problem but with dynamically changing situations it is.

Best of luck

A year ago I was about to purchase an 8700 and at the last minute took a look at the 8800. I bought the 8800 because in addition to all of the features the 8700 had, it had additional zoom (10x) but mostly because of the VR feature. I've taken some handheld photos at full optical zoom at fairly slow speeds (1/30, 1/60) and they've come out quite sharp.

The 8800 also includes a wireless remote as standard equipment. At the time I bought I think there was $150-$200 difference between the two cameras. After considering all of the additional features that the 8800 had I decided it was worth it. I've never used an 8700 but have read comments from others who have that attest to the 8800 also being a little more "user friendly". I'd say if you want to buy the best of the two cameras, the 8800 would be the way to go. If you want the best (lowest) price, then the 8700 is it.

I agree strongly with the previous posts about the VR being a great help...

...and especially about the change in the buttons on the side of the lens.

Not just the fact that I often hit buttons by accident that changed settings I didn't want changed,

but also by the fact that with the 8800, you can go from 'normal' shooting mode to 'landscape' (everything in focus to infinity) to 'macro' then back to 'normal' by just tapping on one button on the side of the lens.

I use that feature more than just about any other feature on the camera, and even if you accidentally push the button and change into landscape or macro, you know that a couple more taps on the button and you're back to 'normal' shooting.

I've gotten so accustomed to this ease of changing modes that I don't even need to lower the camera from my eye to switch between shooting modes.

That, and the much better battery life on the 8800 resulted in my selling the 8700 and picking up an 8400 to complement the zoom camera.
--
scott b.
http://www.countryshots.com

Sometimes I do get to places just when God's ready to have somebody click the shutter. Ansel Adams

--I have both. If you decide you want the 8700, I have an extra, very young one usage wise with several extras. Feel free to email me.
MATTinNE_FL