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Shortfalls of the D700

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FN button 2 as quick-crop-mode change, which is actually useful on the D3, as it has 8x10. So yeah, you are right, on the D700, I could have that be bkt.

But then , I'd like to change the D700 to have more crop modes, as I like them a lot. But if they gave it more crop modes, I'd need a BKT button, as I'd have to use the FN button to cycle my crop modes.

So it's a bit dizzying.

The world would be at peace, if they'd just give me a BKT button. I suggest removing the QUAL button at the top, because quite frankly, I never change my quality on the fly, and if I am changing the quality, it's not a big deal to do it in the menu. Bracketing? I'm always adjusting the # of frames, spacing, and exposure compensation, so I'd like a BKT button.

Whew. :)
dexmus said:
xjassa said:
Those two things were what swayed me to a D3 with 200k clicks over a D700+grip with 10k clicks for the same price.

D3 has other advantages, but the tipping point for me was the lack of a bracket button on the D700, and the 95% was not only a cropped mode, but also slightly less crisp to my eyes compared to the D3.

If the D700 would have had the viewfinder of the D3 and a bracket button instead of whatever useless button they added (wasn't it a play?), then I may have opted for the newer D700 over the older d3.

Both are fine cameras though.
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Agree on the viewfinder. But you can program the fn button or the useless dof preview button to do the bracketing, can you not?
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D700man said:
I assigned one of my fn buttons to bracketing so I now have a dedicated bracketing button.
xjassa said:
Those two things were what swayed me to a D3 with 200k clicks over a D700+grip with 10k clicks for the same price.

D3 has other advantages, but the tipping point for me was the lack of a bracket button on the D700, and the 95% was not only a cropped mode, but also slightly less crisp to my eyes compared to the D3.

If the D700 would have had the viewfinder of the D3 and a bracket button instead of whatever useless button they added (wasn't it a play?), then I may have opted for the newer D700 over the older d3.

Both are fine cameras though.
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  • Crappy live view clarity @ 10x magnification
  • No live view exposure simulation
  • No zoomed histogram (avail on newer models like D5000/D3s)
  • Mysterious intermittent refuse-to-focus issue in low light (requires restart of camera, only had this happen a few times)
  • Obscenely loud shutter
  • Deep-shadow banding (only occurs after approx 3 stops of shadow push, not nearly as bad as 5DII)
 
100% viewfinder
Quieter mirror slap
Better grip than MB-D10
Usable live view
Bracket button
Dual CF slots
Selectable crop grids in the view finder
And candidate for "Ain't never gonna happen" award:
Arca-Swiss grooves built-in to the body, no L-plate required.
 
Robin Casady said:
CriticalI said:
When putting the camera in a bag (or taking it out) its too easy to inadvertantly press the lens release, slide the card cover off, pop the flash or move the AF control lever. The card cover needs a catch...
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I've been using Nikons since 1967 and have never accidentally released the lens while removing the camera from the bag. Also, the CF card cover works fine for me. Never accidentally opened it.
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Well good for you.
Robin Casady said:
I'd rather not see a lot of nanny mechanisms added to the camera that make it more difficult to operate.
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Dont need more mechanisms just competent industrial design.
Robin Casady said:
Robin Casady said:
...the flash button needs to be less prominant and the lens release not so exposed. If it was flush with the body it would work better.
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Forgot about the flash. While the button hasn't been a problem, I'd prefer it if the D700 didn't have a built-in flash. Leave built-in flash for the consumer DSLRs, they shouldn't be on prosumer DSLRs.
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So I have to buy a flash controller. great idea.
Robin Casady said:
Robin Casady said:
A number of times I have switched the camera on and got an error.
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Don't understand this one. What were you doing?
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If the lens has shifted or card door is open, camera does not work, OK?
Robin Casady said:
Robin Casady said:
Also, the highlight smearing at high ISO can spoil some low light shots.
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I haven't noticed this. What conditions cause it? I'd like to see examples so I would know what to watch for.
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Well you obviously havnt read all the threads here have you. All the above issues have been mentioned before. Streking has been the subject of several threads.

All are easy things to fix, its not a big deal, but its pointlessly annoying. Almost as annoying as people who have used one make for 35 years and dont realise how much better other people do some of these simple things but feel the need to defend an inamimate object that doesn't care.
Robin Casady said:
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Regards,
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Robin Casady said:
Forgot about the flash. While the button hasn't been a problem, I'd prefer it if the D700 didn't have a built-in flash. Leave built-in flash for the consumer DSLRs, they shouldn't be on prosumer DSLRs.
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Got to disagree. There are times where the built in flash comes in handy. It's better than having to carry around an SB600 or SB900 all day with a D3.
 
I concur with many of the points others have raised but what annoys me most, constantly, is the p0xy imprecise and undersized joystick/selector wheel. It's absolutely hopeless whether you're stepping through images and it switches to a different display mode (every third click) or moving the focus cursor around the inadequately sized focus sensor area.
Great camera but by no means perfect..
 
Hi Al,

I have read every post here and everyone is correct. These posts read as a wish list for the D700 replacement. Frankly I love the D700 it is the finest most ergonomically correct camera I have ever used. I am excited about it's replacement.

The two things I wish it had were:

100% viewfinder.
FX blackout when shooting DX as in the D3.

These are minor issues. I just can not say enough good things about the D700. A superb tool in every way.
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Just FYI - micro four thirds cameras are loud too, unexpectedly loud. You would need the same degree of compliance from your subjects :-)

Axe
lnbolch said:
Big dSLRs are loud - it is in their DNA. I still have my superb and silent Coolpix 8400, the last of the prosumer compacts, and may at some point check out the Micro Four Thirds cameras. On the other hand, most of my subjects seem to carry on with life, ignoring me and my camera in spite of the noise.
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After recently moving to a D700 after 3 years with D300 and 4 with D200 (I still have, and use all 3), here are the things that I'd like to see improved:

1. By a large margin, this is #1 for me - spread the focus points out like on the D300
2. 100% viewfinder, like on the D300.

I guess if you were improving it to a new model, I'd like what everyone else has expected: a D700s with the D3s sensor.

One little improvement, which could possibly be done with firmware updates: I'd like some different capabilities with the Auto-ISO function. The least of these would be that I could add adjustment of the Auto-ISO parameters to My Menu, instead of having to dig for those settings on the fly. I'd like to have two choices - 200-1600, and also 200-6400. It would be convenient for me to be able to quickly swap between those two, probably with different shutter speed limits.
 
With my D3:

I use FN-1 for Depth of field preview: Necessary.
I use FN-2 for quick crop mode change: Necessary.
I use BKT for quick bracket option change: Necessary.
With the D3:
Quick button for crop mode change: check
Quick button for DOF preview: check
Quick button for bracket: check

Downside of D3: ISO isn't as easy to change on the fly as with the D700. The D700 was smart to have ISO on the top. I'd swap the "lock" button on the D3 with the ISO, but that was a carry-over from the D1, when nobody really knew how important ISO was, yet everyone loved camera 'lock" from the film days.

With the D700:

Fn-1 for DOF, check
FN-2 for BKT, check

Shortfall:

1-Bracket modes (only DX). No 8x10. D3 is limited too. Frankly, I'd like more crop masking modes. The D3x has it right. I'd also like a full square crop too.

2-have to go to the menu to change bracket mode.

Options 2:

FN-1 for DOF, check
FN-2 for Crop mode, check

Shortfall:

1-Bracket modes (only DX)
2-No bracket button (have to use the menu).

So simply assigning the "BKT" button to the FN key does not overcome the shortfall, for my style of photography.

My photography style is different though. Many of you own D700's and have never tried the 8x10 crop mode. As 8x10 is a very popular print format, I find it invaluable to maximize my pixels for an 8x10 crop. I use it all the time on the D3.

I also use bracketing all the time, although not to the extent I do with the D2x since the D3 has such good dynamic recovery.

D700 is a great camera , but no matter how you look at it, the loss of a bracket button is a shortfall. It might not be for your photography, that's cool. You probably utilize the QUAL button quite often. I find it wasted space, and better suited for BKT. Rather change QUAL in the menu, since I'm usually always RAW or RAW + JPG on card #2.

OP asked us to list what we didn't like about the D700, and the BKT quibble was one of them. Minor yes, but when push comes to shove and for the same $$, I chose the camera with the ergonomics I needed.

Neither the D700 or D3 are perfect, but the D3 fit my style better, so that's what I went with.
donmcvee said:
Gee, I set the function button on the front of my D700 to operate as a bracket button - shortfall overcome!!
Don
--
It's all about light.
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Robin Casady said:
CriticalI said:
When putting the camera in a bag (or taking it out) its too easy to inadvertantly press the lens release, slide the card cover off, pop the flash or move the AF control lever. The card cover needs a catch...
Click to expand...
I've been using Nikons since 1967 and have never accidentally released the lens while removing the camera from the bag. Also, the CF card cover works fine for me. Never accidentally opened it.
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While I've not accidentally opened the CF door, I'm thinking may be due to the bags I use. When I put the camera into a backpack, it slides in such a way that it would not open the door. I could see a holster-type bag catching the door and opening it.

I rather prefer the door on the D700 over the D300 and D200 I have. Less fiddly.

I find the other controls interesting to compare to the D300. The power switch is definitely harder, and I prefer the easier feel of the D300. The CSM switch is definitely harder, and I prefer that over the D300's as the D300 switch would sometimes get accidentally changed. The AF switch on the back seems easier than the D300's, and I'm finding that to be in the wrong position sometimes, along with the playback review (often) ending up in a histogram or data display.

I think a lot of this has to do with how your bag fits the camera. Too tight in some control area, and you end up with a mis-set control when taking the camera out.
Robin Casady said:
Forgot about the flash. While the button hasn't been a problem, I'd prefer it if the D700 didn't have a built-in flash. Leave built-in flash for the consumer DSLRs, they shouldn't be on prosumer DSLRs.
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I think those of us who like to use off-camera speedlites with CLS will disagree here. I sure do. I rarely use the built-in flash for flash, but it sure is more convenient and cheaper than getting an SU800.
 
I've only had mine for a couple of days and I would say....

1) Needs IR
2) Dedicated Live View button
3) 720P/1080P video
4) Second CF card slot
5) price :)

Can't think of anything else at the moment. Things like 100% viewfinder and shutter sound doesn't matter to me. I actually really like the shutter sound/mirror slap.
 
I can't (shouldn't) buy another.

I know others have listed a series of pet peeves, but seriously, when you read them, consider how low in the noise they are. The D700 is one of the best cameras out there, and none of the nuisances listed in this thread has ever prevented me from capturing nice photos.
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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It's easy to argue about equipment and technique, but hard to argue with a good photograph -- and more difficult to capture one .



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THANK YOU! I just changed mine to ON--I am always hopping from photographing my black dogs to photographing people, so now I'm using the sub command dial--more discreet and pro looking when I shoot now! Thanks for pointing this out...
rssarma said:
  1. Go to Custom Settings Menu
  2. Enable "Easy Exposure Compensation" in b4.
  3. By default this allows the main command dial to adjust EC, you can reverse this and use the sub-command dial by switching them in Custom Setting f9.
On the E-3 this is is very easily set in the "Buttons/Dials" menu, it took me a while to figure this out on the D700.

This is also documented in Pg. 293 of the manual. Hope this helps.
rssarma said:
Cross point AF sensors spread out more would be nice.
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Yes, definitely!

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