Several posters have proclaimed "I must have my D??? by this weekend because I have a (whatever) event to shoot!!).

I would never use a new body on a paid assignment unless it was to carry it and fit in a few 'don't matter' images just to play. Particularly if the new body was as fundamentally different as the DX/FX difference that I will be experiencing. For this reason I will break in the D700 for a few weeks before I trust it and myself to anything that might influence my reputation.

I am curious if there is any paid shooters who would jump into an assignment with a new piece of gear as significant as a body without that break in period. Maybe my set in stone ways need examining?

I hear what you are saying but not everyone has so much money. I had to upgrade to a D200 for a wedding and didn't drift far from A mode with exposure compensation & minor tweeks. My D70 was adequate but occasionally created unreadable shots and wasn't reliable enough. I would have liked to had more time with the D200 but, as always: diapers, kids clothes, rent/mortgage, electricity, etc. outweigh a new camera without an immediate $$$ benefit.

It also depends on the subject matter. I certainly wouldn't use a new camera exclusively if National Geographic called me up to do an assignment on Tuareg's in Mali (although I'd be willing if they read this!).

I've been bitten twice by using new, untested equipment, and I'll NEVER do it again. I used untested lenses on some shoots. I got away with it a few times with some lenses, but twice they were horrible. One back focussed quite badly, and the other (used lens) had fungus deep inside one of the center optics that couldn't bee seen without a very bright light. Of course the fungus completely ruined the contrast. Two ruined afternoons, and a great deal of embarrassment.

Fortunately the seller of the Nikkor with the fungus was an honest man, and immediately sent a refund, along with postage both ways. The other 3rd party used lens could not be returned, and I was so angry I went out that afternoon and bought a Nikkor replacement at full list price - the 28mm f1.4 (the week before they announced it being discontinued). A week later I heard about it being discontinued, and I was REALLY mad, thinking I just paid a fortune for an obsolete lens. I'm not too unhappy about that now .

I also check my CF cards by running a bunch of non important pictures on them before using them for anything important. So far, so good.

I think the greatest risk of using a new camera body is not that the camera will be "bad", but rather that you will not be familiar with the controls and settings. There is no doubt that I would take a day or two of "playing" with the new camera before using it on assignment; but if you are buying the D700 and you have been using the D200/300, I believe from looking at the manual, that you will find almost all of the controls and settings to be identical. Of course, I would play with the settings to make sure I had them right, but if you are shooting in RAW, and you use the D700 essentially the same way you would use the D300, I see few opportunities for disaster.

Unless, of course, the camera is "bad." But, you can figure that out in a matter of hours in most cases.

Larry Miller, Annapolis, MD
D700/D800
http://www.pbase.com/lmmiller9
http://lmmillerphotography.smugmug.com/