MJ_Photo38
Veteran Member
Hello everyone, I thought I could share my thoughts on the Nikon D700 after using it for more than a year as a secondary system to my Fujifilm cameras.
The reasons I got it in the first place are quite simple : I wanted to test out a full frame camera as I had never used one before, and the cheaper the better. The two optiosn that I had were this and the Canon 5D1. I already had vintage Nikon F mount glass (that at this point, I have been using on my Fujis for years with adapters), so it would mea that I would not need any adapter or new lenses to use the camera properly, that wasn't the case with the 5D. So D700 it was.
So, let's talk about the things that make that camera a camera.
1) Ergonomics and build quality
I guess this is one point about this camera that is often discussed. Everytime I see the D700 in a conversation, its tank-like build quality is something that is brought up. Sometimes, it is even suggested that there is no other camera that would touch the D700 in that specific metric. I can't really say if there is any truth to that, I've never used a D800, D3 or any other high end Nikon camera other than the D2H and D1X. And the D700 sure feels that it has been built up to the same standard. Yeah, it's tank like and super solid. I think that I haven't been able to put a mark on it in the year that I've owned it, even with quite intensive use outdoors, banging it against trees (sometimes even rocks) in hikes, being thrown around in various bags etc... Not saying that my other cameras (especially my X-H1) have a weaker build, however the D700 stand the test of time.
Ergonomics is another aspect that the D700 is well known for. I wouldn't say that it's the best camera grip I've used (that would go to the D2H, and more recently the X-H1 when equipped with its vertical grip), but it's certainly one of the best. I have quite large hands and having a larger camera is quite welcome. Having space for tne entirety of my fingers without having to cramp anything on a body without a built in vertical grip is quite a nice feeling.
The controls are also, pretty well laid out, with large buttons. My only gripe being that the ISO button is in a somewhat weird position, I wouldn't have minded if we could switch up the ISO and MODE buttons in the menus as I feel like I change my ISO more often than I switch up modes. But hey, that's just me it doesn't affect the camera's usability in any way in my opinion.
I got the vertical grip for it, and I was surprised to see that it didn't provide a much better shooting experience. I quite prefer the camera without it (it doesn't make the camera uncomfortable though, so if you need it, there's no problem).
The viewfinder isn't 100% coverage (you'd have to step up to a D3 for that), but it never bothered me. The first few months with it, I noticed things in my pictures that I couldn't see in the OVF, but a little crop and it's taken care of. With time, I just integrated in my mind the fact that there is a border on the edge of the frame that I can't see and I take that into account whenever my composition requires to include or exclude something from the frame (typically i landscape scenarios).
The shutter is loud and heavy. It makes the camera shake a bit, which can be a problem sometimes, but it never was a bother to me. A bit of shake a and a loud noise is exactly what I'm looking for with this camera.
The live view function is nice to have, though I almost never use it. I never use the AEL-AFL button, so I repurposed it to be a live view toggle. The two front buttons are to switch my non-CPU lenses and to change the bracketing modes.
There is no joystick, but the joypad in the back moves the focus point by default, so to me it's almost like the camera has one. No complaints there. It's big, clicky and easy to find.
2) Image quality
That's the main thing about this camera. Some people seem to be fed up with that sensor and anything else would be better, and others say that it's the best sensor that ever existed.
I wouldn't say either of those, but I'm closer to the second group.
When it comes to technical stuff, aka resolution, noise and dynamic range, the D700 isn't particularly impressive nor dissapointing. It's right in line with what I'd expect from a high end 2008 camera. That is to say that my current cameras (aka Fujifilm X-T2 and X-H1) are better when it comes to noise and dynamic range (and resolution, duh), but they aren't so much better that it makes a world of a difference. I am totally okay with the D700's dynamic range, and I am totally okay with its noise performance. I would say that I would use it with no issues up to about ISO 3200. ISO 6400 is usable, but I wouldn't go into the extended ISO range either.
ISO 800 underexposed 2 stops then brought up 2 stops in Lightroom. Overall clean.
ISO 3200 underexposed 2 stops then brought up 2 stops in Lightroom. Definitely noisy, but usable.
ISO 12800 underexposed 2 stops then brought up 2 stops in Lightroom. Here banding is clearly visible and this is where I would say that it's not worth using. I'd stop at ISO 6400 (aka the top native ISO)
The biggest problem with the D700 could be the resolution, 12MP isn't cutting it for a lot of people in 2023. I'm not really bothered by that, even doing quite a lot of landscape photography.
The thing that really caught my eye with the D700 is the color science baked in the RAW files. With all cameras that I've used, I always need to spend quite a lot of time on the editing software to tweak little things that bother me when it comes to colors. Not with the D700. Sure, there is a few settings to adjust, but not nearly as much as with other cameras. Even cameras which I would say have a color science that I like like the Fujifilm X-Trans III cameras. With the D700, it's almost done right out of the box. Generally I only have to adjust contrast, shadows and highlights and I get something that I like. That's really something that I like with that camera above everything else and that made me keep using as much as I did this past year. Even if it's impractical or simply less powerful compared to the other cameras that own.
The very fist image where my intention was to get the shallowest DOF possible, taken the first week I got the camera. Overall I think it turned out okay
Fall season in the French Alps
Last lights of 2022, taken on December 31st
3) Autofocus and burst rates
The autofocus is the pretty well known 51 point system that was first introduced in the D3. It's a really good autofocus system, and even has some tracking modes (3D tracking) that is working pretty well. I generally don't use the D700 for wildlife photography (as I prefer the extra reach the D300 or my Fujifilm cameras give me), but I'm confident I would able to get pretty decent results out of it (judging by how well it works in the D300).
For action, sports and pets, it's equally as great.
Honestly, even if that camera is now 15 years old, it still gets around like a champ when it comes to focusing. Don't try to focus with the live view though, it's not good at all.
Burst rate is capped at 5 frames per second without the vertical grip, and 8fps if you have it equipped. I was fortunate enough to get a D2H with a charger for pretty cheap, so I didn't have to pay the high price for an EN-EL4 battery + charger, and it made the purchase of a grip quite a no brainner. Shooting 8fps means that you go through the buffer of about 17 RAWs quite quickly, but I still think it's a nice addition.
Honestly, looking at what that camera was supposed to achieve, it's pretty much par for the course. Sure, there is much better today, but even with my Fujis that can go up to 14fps bursts, I can count on the fingers of one hand the instances where faster than 8fps shooting was absolutely required. So there's that.
4) Value and lenses
To me, the D700 is one of the best cameras you can get a little under 300€ nowadays (I paid mine in excellent condition and 30k clicks on 305€ on MPB). The autofocus is great, the build qulity is great, the image quality though a little dated really is different from the other cameras (especially when it comes to the color science).
Some would say that a used D600 would be a better buy as the sensor is better, but I never really clicked with the D600's color science when I tried it, and all it did was removing my will to shoot with it in the short time I tried it (the autofocus being substantially worse didn't help).
12MP is also the perfect resolution to really take advantage of film era lenses without asking too much of their resolving power. And the native compatibility with AI/AI-S and AF-D lense is pretty damn nice. AF-P lenses are not fully supported, but you can still control the autofocus and the aperture with those, so you can still use them. Overall, not a bad score as far as lens compatibility goes.
5) Conculsion
I don't think I would ever sell this camera, even if it is outdated. It's always a pleasure to take pictures with it, and I couldn't think of a better camera for my needs as a second, fun camera body to complement my more modern cameras.
Sure, there is better options on the market. There is also cheaper options (like the D300, D200). But there isn't any other camera that made me love the images coming out of it instantly the way the D700 did. Truly an amazing camera, despite its limitations, even in 2023.
If you can deal with the weight, noise and comparatively lower resolution, this camera is for me a must have.
I give it a 4.5/5 score. Knocking down half a star cause I still can't deny the limitations are pretty huge for a lot of photograhy genres.
The reasons I got it in the first place are quite simple : I wanted to test out a full frame camera as I had never used one before, and the cheaper the better. The two optiosn that I had were this and the Canon 5D1. I already had vintage Nikon F mount glass (that at this point, I have been using on my Fujis for years with adapters), so it would mea that I would not need any adapter or new lenses to use the camera properly, that wasn't the case with the 5D. So D700 it was.
So, let's talk about the things that make that camera a camera.
1) Ergonomics and build quality
I guess this is one point about this camera that is often discussed. Everytime I see the D700 in a conversation, its tank-like build quality is something that is brought up. Sometimes, it is even suggested that there is no other camera that would touch the D700 in that specific metric. I can't really say if there is any truth to that, I've never used a D800, D3 or any other high end Nikon camera other than the D2H and D1X. And the D700 sure feels that it has been built up to the same standard. Yeah, it's tank like and super solid. I think that I haven't been able to put a mark on it in the year that I've owned it, even with quite intensive use outdoors, banging it against trees (sometimes even rocks) in hikes, being thrown around in various bags etc... Not saying that my other cameras (especially my X-H1) have a weaker build, however the D700 stand the test of time.
Ergonomics is another aspect that the D700 is well known for. I wouldn't say that it's the best camera grip I've used (that would go to the D2H, and more recently the X-H1 when equipped with its vertical grip), but it's certainly one of the best. I have quite large hands and having a larger camera is quite welcome. Having space for tne entirety of my fingers without having to cramp anything on a body without a built in vertical grip is quite a nice feeling.
The controls are also, pretty well laid out, with large buttons. My only gripe being that the ISO button is in a somewhat weird position, I wouldn't have minded if we could switch up the ISO and MODE buttons in the menus as I feel like I change my ISO more often than I switch up modes. But hey, that's just me it doesn't affect the camera's usability in any way in my opinion.
I got the vertical grip for it, and I was surprised to see that it didn't provide a much better shooting experience. I quite prefer the camera without it (it doesn't make the camera uncomfortable though, so if you need it, there's no problem).
The viewfinder isn't 100% coverage (you'd have to step up to a D3 for that), but it never bothered me. The first few months with it, I noticed things in my pictures that I couldn't see in the OVF, but a little crop and it's taken care of. With time, I just integrated in my mind the fact that there is a border on the edge of the frame that I can't see and I take that into account whenever my composition requires to include or exclude something from the frame (typically i landscape scenarios).
The shutter is loud and heavy. It makes the camera shake a bit, which can be a problem sometimes, but it never was a bother to me. A bit of shake a and a loud noise is exactly what I'm looking for with this camera.
The live view function is nice to have, though I almost never use it. I never use the AEL-AFL button, so I repurposed it to be a live view toggle. The two front buttons are to switch my non-CPU lenses and to change the bracketing modes.
There is no joystick, but the joypad in the back moves the focus point by default, so to me it's almost like the camera has one. No complaints there. It's big, clicky and easy to find.
2) Image quality
That's the main thing about this camera. Some people seem to be fed up with that sensor and anything else would be better, and others say that it's the best sensor that ever existed.
I wouldn't say either of those, but I'm closer to the second group.
When it comes to technical stuff, aka resolution, noise and dynamic range, the D700 isn't particularly impressive nor dissapointing. It's right in line with what I'd expect from a high end 2008 camera. That is to say that my current cameras (aka Fujifilm X-T2 and X-H1) are better when it comes to noise and dynamic range (and resolution, duh), but they aren't so much better that it makes a world of a difference. I am totally okay with the D700's dynamic range, and I am totally okay with its noise performance. I would say that I would use it with no issues up to about ISO 3200. ISO 6400 is usable, but I wouldn't go into the extended ISO range either.
ISO 800 underexposed 2 stops then brought up 2 stops in Lightroom. Overall clean.
ISO 3200 underexposed 2 stops then brought up 2 stops in Lightroom. Definitely noisy, but usable.
ISO 12800 underexposed 2 stops then brought up 2 stops in Lightroom. Here banding is clearly visible and this is where I would say that it's not worth using. I'd stop at ISO 6400 (aka the top native ISO)
The biggest problem with the D700 could be the resolution, 12MP isn't cutting it for a lot of people in 2023. I'm not really bothered by that, even doing quite a lot of landscape photography.
The thing that really caught my eye with the D700 is the color science baked in the RAW files. With all cameras that I've used, I always need to spend quite a lot of time on the editing software to tweak little things that bother me when it comes to colors. Not with the D700. Sure, there is a few settings to adjust, but not nearly as much as with other cameras. Even cameras which I would say have a color science that I like like the Fujifilm X-Trans III cameras. With the D700, it's almost done right out of the box. Generally I only have to adjust contrast, shadows and highlights and I get something that I like. That's really something that I like with that camera above everything else and that made me keep using as much as I did this past year. Even if it's impractical or simply less powerful compared to the other cameras that own.
The very fist image where my intention was to get the shallowest DOF possible, taken the first week I got the camera. Overall I think it turned out okay
Fall season in the French Alps
Last lights of 2022, taken on December 31st
3) Autofocus and burst rates
The autofocus is the pretty well known 51 point system that was first introduced in the D3. It's a really good autofocus system, and even has some tracking modes (3D tracking) that is working pretty well. I generally don't use the D700 for wildlife photography (as I prefer the extra reach the D300 or my Fujifilm cameras give me), but I'm confident I would able to get pretty decent results out of it (judging by how well it works in the D300).
For action, sports and pets, it's equally as great.
Honestly, even if that camera is now 15 years old, it still gets around like a champ when it comes to focusing. Don't try to focus with the live view though, it's not good at all.
Burst rate is capped at 5 frames per second without the vertical grip, and 8fps if you have it equipped. I was fortunate enough to get a D2H with a charger for pretty cheap, so I didn't have to pay the high price for an EN-EL4 battery + charger, and it made the purchase of a grip quite a no brainner. Shooting 8fps means that you go through the buffer of about 17 RAWs quite quickly, but I still think it's a nice addition.
Honestly, looking at what that camera was supposed to achieve, it's pretty much par for the course. Sure, there is much better today, but even with my Fujis that can go up to 14fps bursts, I can count on the fingers of one hand the instances where faster than 8fps shooting was absolutely required. So there's that.
4) Value and lenses
To me, the D700 is one of the best cameras you can get a little under 300€ nowadays (I paid mine in excellent condition and 30k clicks on 305€ on MPB). The autofocus is great, the build qulity is great, the image quality though a little dated really is different from the other cameras (especially when it comes to the color science).
Some would say that a used D600 would be a better buy as the sensor is better, but I never really clicked with the D600's color science when I tried it, and all it did was removing my will to shoot with it in the short time I tried it (the autofocus being substantially worse didn't help).
12MP is also the perfect resolution to really take advantage of film era lenses without asking too much of their resolving power. And the native compatibility with AI/AI-S and AF-D lense is pretty damn nice. AF-P lenses are not fully supported, but you can still control the autofocus and the aperture with those, so you can still use them. Overall, not a bad score as far as lens compatibility goes.
5) Conculsion
I don't think I would ever sell this camera, even if it is outdated. It's always a pleasure to take pictures with it, and I couldn't think of a better camera for my needs as a second, fun camera body to complement my more modern cameras.
Sure, there is better options on the market. There is also cheaper options (like the D300, D200). But there isn't any other camera that made me love the images coming out of it instantly the way the D700 did. Truly an amazing camera, despite its limitations, even in 2023.
If you can deal with the weight, noise and comparatively lower resolution, this camera is for me a must have.
I give it a 4.5/5 score. Knocking down half a star cause I still can't deny the limitations are pretty huge for a lot of photograhy genres.
