D700 price: How long do you think it will last?

I check the price nearly every day at Amazon, B&H, and Adorama. I have been keeping an eye on the refurbs which are going down too. Right now the current $300 rebate lasts until 8/1. What I am wondering is, do you think the price will stay down for the rest of the year? I will have some money to spend in September, but for me, a few hundred $$ does make a huge difference whether or not I can purchase. I am worried that the price is going to go up right when I am ready to buy.

I know some people follow pricing trends for new gear so I was wondering if you could tell me if anything is going to change from experience you have had before.

Oh, and I am defecting from Oly. I have an e-500 and I think I have about run it into the ground. I will not purchase Oly again due to the poor (EXTREMELY poor) ISO performance.

Thank you in advance to anyone who can provide some insight.
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Amanda
Mom. Photographer. Wonder Woman.
http://www.finnrosephotography.com/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/friskycat01/

we're all expecting that D700+ with the 24 megapixels
to come out this year. The rebate says sales are
slowing.
The D700 price will probably not go up.

Consider this: get the D3X. When you spending
$8000 a few hundred one way or the other really
won't make much difference.

Don't hold me to it, but the price in Sept will
probably be as good or better than the price now.

maljo

Your not going to find that the price drops significantly below where it is about now -- refurbs are selling for around 2000.00 -- and that is the lowest you are going to see...

It's all rumour right now, but if the D700x is announced this November as expected, then the D700 stock will begin to drop. People love this camera. It will most likely stay at the pricepoint it is right now, while the new D700x arrives at about 350 - 500 dollars more. If the D700x IQ is higher than the D700, then people will defect to that and you will be able to get a D700 used on eBay for around 1500 -1800. If the D700x does NOT prove to be a worthy addition, then you can expect the D700 to stay as high as it is now, or even go up in value.

You can also look at pricing trends for the D3 when the D3x came out and the price of the D3 did not go down.

That's the way Nikon has historically sold. The D300 came out two years ago, but the D200 is still selling at a higher rate than anyone would have expected 4 years later when you can still find them.

Its all speculation at this point -- but Nikon camera prices don't typically fluctuate tremendously. They adjust to market trends in the first 6 - 9 months that they are out, and then they pretty much stay there.

The D200 is still selling well because of Best Buy and their crazy low price of $600-800. I was going to upgrade to a D700 but decided to get a second D200 the price was so cheap and the cameras are so good.

I procrastinated and they sold out which is okay as I'm now waiting for the D700x with video to show up. I don't want the 24mp sensor, I'm more interested in high ISO and faster frame rates. The D700 prices are getting pretty attractive at around $2350. What's been the cheapest you've seen in price from a reputable company?
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Cheers,

Darrell

J&R has the refurb for $2000 and I am totally willing to go with a refurb if they keep them in stock.

B&H: New ~ $2370 Refurb~ rumored to be $2070 but they have been out for a couple weeks.

Adorama: New ~ $2400 Refurb ~ $2170

J&R: New ~ $2700 Refurb ~ $2000

Amazon: New ~ $2370

Thanks for the input guys! I know they have renewed this rebate and I am just hoping they do it again after it expires this time and that Amazon or B&H will still have them for the current price.
--
Amanda
Mom. Photographer. Wonder Woman.
http://www.finnrosephotography.com/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/friskycat01/

The D700 and D700x will probably be very different cameras image quality speaking. Look here and compare the D3x and the D3 cameras.

http://www.dxomark.com/index.php/eng/DxOMark-Sensor

If the D700x has a D3x sensor then the intended uses for the camera, at least in my shooting, will be very different.

The D700 is a steal at the refurbished price point. I traded my D3 and Fuji S5 pro in to purchase 2 D700 refurbs and it has worked out very well. Also, I expect the D700x to ht the market around $3,200 to $4,000.

David Myles Photography

--
Photography is freedom

Prices for a particular DSLR model will not go up; they never do. You might find a deal where the price drops some for a brief period, but right now the going price for a D700 is about $2400 and that's where it will be for awhile. Eventually it will go down more towards $2000, but I wouldn't expect a D700 in new condition to be much less than that for the next couple of years.
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Anthony Beach

For the past three weeks, I noticed the price on the D700 has gone up ten bucks a week at B and H. So, who knows.

I noticed that too. I don't mind it staying at the $2400 point, I'm just worried B&H will start listing it back at $2700 which I can't afford. Since I am switching systems I have to buy a lens as well an I just couldn't afford to get the 50mm if it goes back up by $300.

Clay Stewart said:

For the past three weeks, I noticed the price on the D700 has gone up ten bucks a week at B and H. So, who knows.

Click to expand...

--
Amanda
Mom. Photographer. Wonder Woman.
http://www.finnrosephotography.com/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/friskycat01/

And if they raise it back to $3000 I am going to curl up in a ball and cry...
--
Amanda
Mom. Photographer. Wonder Woman.
http://www.finnrosephotography.com/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/friskycat01/

I believe that if there is an upgrade to the D700 it will not be the D3X sensor and resolution, rather a possible mnor increase in resolution plus incremental improvements, as 'S' version for want of a better description. However, it could remain as is as it's still a great camera which suits many photographers wishing to shoot full-frame without the highest level of resolution. For example, I would not want a much higher res camera for what I do (and no video) and I too am saving for one of the current models. That said, Nikon must/will be introducing a direct competitor to the 5D MK II which may well have taken sales away from the D700 while creating a new lower price/higher resolution market offering high quality video.

For this reason I believe that this Nikon competitor will not be designated D700x but be a totally new camera which is likely to be better than the 5D and be called a D800. This would give Nikon the market advantage of having 2 full-frame cameras in this sub-D3/D3X market price segment. In the same way Nikon will upgrade the D300 to enhanced D300s status to remian ahead in this market segment while also introducing a higher res D400 which will include a video facility.

My conclusion therefore is that the D700 may lower slightly in price but will remain close to its current level. Nikon's investment in sensor/software/production point to a significant market push in the next 5 years. I own a D3 and original 5D and I have been watching prices of second-hand 5D sales. Good examples are selling at quite high prices on Ebay which point to a healthy demand for full-frame at this resolution. Production levels of the D700 may drop which is another reason to expect its price to stay pretty firm as availability becomes more limited.

If the D700 matches your resolution requirements I would buy as soon as you can afford it. With second-hand/grey market prices reamining high, it's probably worth buying new from an authorised dealer.

Tony

You could buy the very cheap 50mm F1.8D which is a fabulous little lens. I had the new 1.4G and sold it...
Tony

Clay Stewart said:

For the past three weeks, I noticed the price on the D700 has gone up ten bucks a week at B and H. So, who knows.

Click to expand...

Over the last several months the price has been $2369 -- just add it to the cart and that's the price that comes up. Maybe it was a little cheaper for a couple of weeks when I wasn't looking, but just as I said in my previous post, the price hasn't been going up over the long run and it's not likely to start.

Now I'm a big advocate of "just buy it now." However, if Amanda can't afford it now, then she doesn't need to fret about it.
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Anthony Beach

In my opinion one thing that is keeping the prices down are the refurbished models. I shop at Adorama, when I traded in my D3, the prices I saw one week earlier had been lower by around $300 because they were selling D3 refurbished cameras. What they were selling used D3's for they were now selling the refurbished product at that price point. So they had to lower their D3 used price to $3,600 while refurbs were going for $4,000.

Now that they have no more D3 refurbs the used price is back up to $4,000. Actually I think that was my camera. Damn, I should have held out for more money.

Now I can't predict what the prices will be if the D700 refurb models dry up. But I can look at what other Nikon products have done.

David Myles

--
Photography is freedom

Amanda

If you're so worried about the price, why not just take advantage of the current superb prices. Think of all the picture opportunity if you get it now!

photonut2008 said:

Prices for a particular DSLR model will not go up; they never do.

Click to expand...

This is utter rubbish. Here in the price of all cameras and lenses has risen significantly this year due to exchange rates. There is no guarantee that this will not happen again.

Just to provide another perspective, I check the D700 prices on kakaku.com every day. (This site provides prices at Japanese discount stores.) The D700 has remained stable at 227,000 for nearly a month. There were dips earlier in the year when Nikon believed the market would be tighter, but the company seems to have hit a balance between market price and production numbers. I'd like to see that cost come down with the introduction of a D700?, but I would not bet on it.

Alex

DeeFifty said:

photonut2008 said:

Prices for a particular DSLR model will not go up; they never do.

Click to expand...

This is utter rubbish. Here in the price of all cameras and lenses has risen significantly this year due to exchange rates. There is no guarantee that this will not happen again.

Click to expand...

Relax, I should have written that I have not seen ANY Nikon cameras trend up in price here in the United States. FWIW, Amanda is in the United States.
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Anthony Beach

I just got my D700 and must say that the image quality is outstanding. IMHO the months you waste waiting for a small (several hundred $) decrease in price are months of enjoyment you'll never get back. The E-3 seems much more solid, but the D700 just blows it away in terms of capture. I thought the E-500 to E-3 jump was a quantum leap but from the E-500 to D700 will be something else entirely.

Go ahead and get it now - you won't be disappointed.

Think you might consider D300. Canon still can not beat the AF system and High Iso performance on D300 (confirmed by DPReviews). Nikon has more choices on DX lens (yet of course the third party here has more choices too). Have you made research on Nikon FX lens line (variant and price), and DX too.