I am considering getting either the D3 or the D700 with the grip for my wedding/events/portrait business.

Initially, I am planning to use it with my 35-70mm push-pull (screw drive focus). Will this lens focus quickly enough for typical wedding procession shots (dim ambient with flash) where the people are moving quickly toward me?

I'll get a 24-70mm AF-S as soon as finances will allow.

How many shots can I expect per battery with the D700? With internal EN-EL3e? With grip and EN-EL4? With grip and NiMH AA's?

Thanks,

Russ
Russell MacDonald Photography
Nikon CLS Practical Guide

Good Evening Russ,

I have both the D3 and the D700. Both are excellent Nikons. Well built. Menus are fairly similar. The D3 of course is a larger & heaver camera. My D700 does not have the MB-D10 Grip/Battery Adapter. I started pricing the Adapter and discovered that by the time you buy the grip itself, along with the en-el4a battery, the MH-22 Battery Charger, & the Battery Plug i was looking at close to another $500.00. Both use the same sensor & both will shoot with DX as well as FX lens. The FX lenses give you a larger photo as far as height & width. Noticed on your Profile that you already have some good lenses. I also shoot with the 24-70mm f/2.8 which you were referring to. With the D3 the camera absorbs the heavier lens better than the lighter weight D700. The D3 has slots for 2 CF Cards verses one for the D700. If you intend to use a en-el3e battery in the camera as well as one in the MB-D10, you will need to undo the MB-D10 to change out the battery in the D700. But some guys just shoot with a battery in the grip & none in the camera. As far as number of photos per battery recond it depends on a lot of different factors. One particular factor is if you use the Monitor a lot which also eats up battery power. The D3 battery is a lot bigger battery & has more "juice" for more photos. I have heard the figure of about 4000 photos per fully charged D3 battery. The D700 has a battery with less mili-amps so you do get fewer photos per en-el3e battery. Looked at your website & really good photos. hope you join us with either the D3 or D700.
Carl....

exfebee

The EN-EL4a battery and the grip on the D700 has three major advantages: more FPS (8), definitely more battery life and much easier to use when shooting protraits. Consider also a beter balanced rig when using the grip.

Hi Russ,
Both cameras are incredible. For wedding/events/portraits I think the 100% viewfinder of the D3 would allow precise framing. With the D700's 93% you would always be guessing. The 2 card slots is a very nice feature. The D3 will also bring new life to your existing lenses and open up many more opportunities to take advantage of existing light instead of requiring flash.

They say about 4000 shots per charge. If you put the grip on the D700, it is bigger and heavier that the D3.

> Both cameras are incredible. For wedding/events/portraits I
>think the 100% viewfinder of the D3 would allow precise
>framing. With the D700's 93% you would always be guessing. The
>2 card slots is a very nice feature. The D3 will also bring
>new life to your existing lenses and open up many more
>opportunities to take advantage of existing light instead of
>requiring flash.

Thanks to all who have added info to this thread!

I thought it was a 95% viewfinder? Anyway, I always leave room to crop to 8x10 anyway, so the missing 5% probably wouldn't bother me.

>They say about 4000 shots per charge.

Is that with the EN-EL4 or the EN-EL3e? I think both can be used in the grip.

>If you put the grip on
>the D700, it is bigger and heavier that the D3.

Now, I did not know that.

Doesn't the D700 have a self-cleaning sensor? Or is that just a gimmick?

Also, do they both have Live-View?

I also like to use the pop-up flash on my D200 quite often to fire a couple of remote speedlights. I think I'd like the D700 for that feature.

Price is probably the biggest issue with me. I'd like the D3, but it is about $4200, while the D700 + grip + (2)EN-EL4 batteries + charger + cover is only $3000.

Russ
Russell MacDonald Photography
Nikon CLS Practical Guide

One crucial factor you need to consider is that D700's shutter's time-to-live is clocked at 150,000 while D3 at 300,000. So the question boils down to how many photos you shoot everyday, every week and every month.

>One crucial factor you need to consider is that D700's
>shutter's time-to-live is clocked at 150,000 while D3 at
>300,000. So the question boils down to how many photos you
>shoot everyday, every week and every month.

I have been shooting about 30,000 images a year with my D200. I don't think the 150,000 shutter life of the D700 would be a problem. Of course, this may be the last pro camera I ever buy, so I'll definitely consider that.

Thanks,

Russ
Russell MacDonald Photography
Nikon CLS Practical Guide

Roughly, how many shots per charge could I expect with only the internal EN-EL3e battery in the D700?

Russ
Russell MacDonald Photography
Nikon CLS Practical Guide

>Roughly, how many shots per charge could I expect with only
>the internal EN-EL3e battery in the D700?
>
>Russ

that really depends on a lot of factors, including weather. i shoot in pure 14-bit uncompressed raw mode with all the fancy bells turned off. since i have one sb-900 attached all the time, i even use the flash's AF function under excellent lighting conditions. At normal room temp on average I can get 1200 shots, or about two 16GB Extreme III/IV filled up. However, in the winter outdoor temp of below 15F, the best I have achieved was about 700 shots.

>For wedding/events/portraits I
>think the 100% viewfinder of the D3 would allow precise
>framing. With the D700's 93% you would always be guessing.

I did some checking and found that the D200 and the D700 both have the same 95% viewfinder spec, so that should not be an issue for me.

Russ
Russell MacDonald Photography
Nikon CLS Practical Guide

Russ,

The D700's AF motor is pretty similar to the one in your D200. If you can manage the 35-70 with your existing gear, it will be no slower and likely slightly faster on the D700. On a D2x, the 35-70 has been fast enough to track everything I've ever tried with one exception. That was once when vfnewman was in a kart, and I was trying to track him as he zipped by - about five feet away at what I'd guess was about 25mph. That sure didn't work. But pretty much everything else has, including trains at ~40-50mph at a distance of about 20 feet. (Ie, commuter trains shot from the back of the station platform.)

_____
Brian... a bicoastal Nikonian and Team Member

My gallery is online. Comments and critique welcomed any time!

>Russ,
>
>The D700's AF motor is pretty similar to the one in your D200.
> If you can manage the 35-70 with your existing gear, it will
>be no slower and likely slightly faster on the D700. On a
>D2x, the 35-70 has been fast enough to track everything I've
>ever tried with one exception. That was once when vfnewman
>was in a kart, and I was trying to track him as he zipped by -
>about five feet away at what I'd guess was about 25mph. That
>sure didn't work. But pretty much everything else has,
>including trains at ~40-50mph at a distance of about 20 feet.
>(Ie, commuter trains shot from the back of the station
>platform.)

I have never used my 35-70mm for weddings with my D200, because 35mm isn't wide enough on DX. It does seem to focus very quickly on other subjects though.

The thing that makes weddings so focus-challenging is that you often have only a split second to grab a shot, in dim light, with the subjects walking fast (nearly running) straight at you. It is the initial focus acquisition speed that is most important; more than the focus tracking speed. The AF-S lenses are spectacular in that regard, and I will get the 24-70mm f/2.8 AF-S as soon as I can swing it.

Thanks,

Russ
Russell MacDonald Photography
Nikon CLS Practical Guide

Russ: you have received alot of good info, so no need to reiterate. One factor to consider is the price difference between the two. The lesser cost of the D700, will permit you to get the 24-70. I do not shoot the EN-EL4 battery or use AA's. The battery life of the EL-3 in my hands is good for 400+ shots. The 700 and 24-70 are a fabulous combination. Thanks for the great CLS site. Richard

Russ,

Just a thought for your consideration on pricing. We all like to save money.
Yes, the D3 is around $4200-$4300 new, however.
If you look on the Internet closely there are "Demo D3s" which do carry
a one year warranty, and which have been "re-checked" & "tuned-up" by
Nikon that run around $3500. Demo's are ones which have only been for Camera Shop Displays or Sales Representative's Samples. They have never been owned by a Consumer. That is the way I got my D3. It was perfect cosmetically,
and had been to the Nikon factory for a check up... etc before it went back out to the Nikon Dealer for sale. Nikon gives a 90 day warranty on factory "refurbs" and the Dealer i got mine from also added another 9 months warranty. Same warranty period as a brand new D3. When i got mine i ran my first photo thru Opanda, and it showed that the camera had only 51 Total Shutter Activations. That critter was like brand new. Just a thought.
Carl..

exfebee

>If you look on the Internet closely there are "Demo
>D3s" which do carry
>a one year warranty, and which have been
>"re-checked" & "tuned-up" by
>Nikon that run around $3500.

Carl,

I will check on that! Sounds like a great deal! Maybe there are D700 Demos as well.

Thanks for the info!

Russ
Russell MacDonald Photography
Nikon CLS Practical Guide

Evening Russ,

I just checked on the site i go to on occasions, and did not see any Demo D700s this evening. However, I have seen them on previously. I did see one demo D3 on the site. Left me email you the address if you'd like to take a look at it for your info.
All the best.
Carl

exfebee

>Evening Russ,
>
>I just checked on the site i go to on occasions, and did not
>see any Demo D700s this evening. However, I have seen them on
>previously. I did see one demo D3 on the site. Left me email
>you the address if you'd like to take a look at it for your
>info.
>All the best.
>Carl

Just to let you all know; I bought a D3 Demo.

Thanks to all of you for all the info!

Russ
Russell MacDonald Photography
Nikon CLS Practical Guide

Congratulations Russ on your new D3 Demo!!!

Let us know how you like your 35-70 on it . I think you will be using your flash a lot less often.
Best Wishes and Best Captures!

>Congratulations Russ on your new D3 Demo!!!
>
>Let us know how you like your 35-70 on it . I think you
>will be using your flash a lot less often.
>Best Wishes and Best Captures!

Thanks!

I will post about my D3 experience after I shoot my first event.

I will definitely try a lot more available light shots!

Russ
Russell MacDonald Photography
Nikon CLS Practical Guide

>Russ: you have received alot of good info, so no need to
>reiterate. One factor to consider is the price difference
>between the two. The lesser cost of the D700, will permit you
>to get the 24-70. I do not shoot the EN-EL4 battery or use
>AA's. The battery life of the EL-3 in my hands is good for
>400+ shots. The 700 and 24-70 are a fabulous combination.

Thanks for that info! 400 shots per charge is about what I expected. I get about 250 shots per charge with my D200.

>Thanks for the great CLS site.

Thanks for the compliment!

Russ
Russell MacDonald Photography
Nikon CLS Practical Guide

HAve you heard about the 4x5 crop mode on the D3? I have the d700 and love it but have a few friends who love the ability to switch.

ALl in, my d700 with grip, charger, additional battery was $2700 or so. It's enough under a d3 to get you the 24-70 for the same money.

GOod Luck

Visit my Nikonians gallery.

>HAve you heard about the 4x5 crop mode on the D3? I have the
>d700 and love it but have a few friends who love the ability
>to switch.

The 4x5 crop mode was one of the things that convinced me to get the D3. I do a lot of portraits, and with my D200 I always was guessing at the crop. And then sometimes, I'd forget and end up without enough crop room.

Russ
Russell MacDonald Photography
Nikon CLS Practical Guide

I tried the D3 ended up with the d700, I would rather have two 700s than the d3 to prevent so many lens changes.
Shot an event yesterday, 475 nef captures on one battery, like the bunny could of kept going.
Sold my 35-70mm for 500.00 bought the 24-70mm for 1440.00 from b&h before price increase best 940.00 I have spent.
Each camera has different advantages, for me this is the direction I went. By the way I was going to keep the 200 for second body but image quality of the 700 is so far ahead of the 200 I stopped using it.
Good luck, Jeff

Visit my Nikonians gallery.

Visit my Nikonians gallery.

Congrats on the D3 you will never regret the upgrade.
Jeff

Visit my Nikonians gallery.

Visit my Nikonians gallery.

>Congrats on the D3 you will never regret the upgrade.
>Jeff

Thanks! I'll report back on my results after using it at an event.

Russ
Russell MacDonald Photography
Nikon CLS Practical Guide

>I tried the D3 ended up with the d700, I would rather have
>two 700s than the d3 to prevent so many lens changes.
>Shot an event yesterday, 475 nef captures on one battery, like
>the bunny could of kept going.
>Sold my 35-70mm for 500.00 bought the 24-70mm for 1440.00 from
>b&h before price increase best 940.00 I have spent.

I may end up doing the same, but I have to earn some money first!

Russ
Russell MacDonald Photography
Nikon CLS Practical Guide

Good Luck Russ,

The place you got yours from will probably ship by mid-week & hopefully
you should have it by Friday.I'm in Florida & its about 3 days from there to here by UPS Ground.
Theres a lot to learn about the D3, but its a really great camera.
Let us all know how it looks when you get it.
The battery is larger than the D200 one so charge it up good for about 3 hours.
If you have a copy of Opanda Software let us know what the shutter activations are.
if i can offer any assistance email me & i'll send you my tel-number & we can talk on the landline.
Carl..

exfebee

>Good Luck Russ,
>
>The place you got yours from will probably ship by mid-week
>& hopefully
>you should have it by Friday.I'm in Florida & its about 3
>days from there to here by UPS Ground.
>Theres a lot to learn about the D3, but its a really great
>camera.
>Let us all know how it looks when you get it.
>The battery is larger than the D200 one so charge it up good
>for about 3 hours.
>If you have a copy of Opanda Software let us know what the
>shutter activations are.
>if i can offer any assistance email me & i'll send you my
>tel-number & we can talk on the landline.
>Carl..

Will do! And thanks again!

Russ
Russell MacDonald Photography
Nikon CLS Practical Guide

I would really recommend the D700s for your work. I own a couple of these and cannot say enough good things about them...

The D700 + Grip + Nikon D3 EN-EL3e Battery (and you need a special cover) is a real killer combo.

The weight is there but I am young and could care less about it for now. I have a nice camera strap to counter-weigh that and free up my hands if need be. The EN-EL3e will ramp up your shots per second to 9 which is really neat and well worth the $200+ in getting the battery, charger and battery cover cap thing...

I get soooo much use out of one EN-EL3e battery. I leave it out when not in use and that helps. I hate that Nikon keeps the shot counter active when you turn the camera off but whatever. I can easily shoot 2,000 shots and chimp away without charging the battery. It also gets me through an all day wedding no sweat with life left over. But I always have backup batteries so I have the stock D700 battery and cartridge for it to fit in the battery pack as a backup.

-----------------------------------
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My Photography: www.ParamourPhoto.com
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I think you're probably referring to the EN-EL4a battery from the D3, Michael, rather than the regular EN-EL3e from the D700

Brian
Welsh Nikonian
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