OK, so you want to know what you get for another 3 grand, don't you?

Got my D700 delivered this morning from Roberts. Nice work.

First thing I did was set all the settings exactly the same as I have them set on my D300. Same focus and metering, same ISO (max3200 - min100thsec); same picture control etc.

I shot in RAW, did no processing except to convert to jpg using CaptureNX2, then fit photo to maximum 1400pixel hight.

Then I shot with different lenses that you are likely to use, in low and day light. I had both cameras set to P mode for all shots.

Go to my gallery http://www.pbase.com/lmmiller9/d700300_comparisons&page=all

The photos of Zoe are with the 1.4/85m. These give a good comparison of the difference in framing from DX to FX.

The LvRm24m shots are with the 24-70, as are the Ern shots.

The porch shots are with the 14-24, both at 14m.

Shooting the house across the street the first shots are with the 24-70, and the remaining for are with the 70-200, both at minimum and maximum focal length.

My only comment is that these are both bloody good cameras and with these bloody good lenses, you are only going to see a difference in the low light shots. The shot of the Ern is lowest light and you can see the difference in noise.

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

Thanks for posting the comparison pix. Very helpful. Another interesting comparison would be to take identical pix at 6400 ISO with both cameras using a DX lens (such as an 18-70mm) to compare the noise level. Of course, the D700's files would only be 5MB shooting with a DX lens, so one would have to adjust accordingly with the D300. My D700 is due to arrive next week and I will be making similar comparisons. It will be so nice to be able to shoot at actual focal distances with my favorite lenses -- Nikon 50mm f/1.8, Nikon 85mm f/1.8, Sigma 24-60mm f/2.8 and the Tamron 70-200mm f/2.8.

RNV

Thanks for posting these. I have not seen many side by side D300 vs Fx sensor images taken under the same conditions. I would have loved to see ISO 1600 and ISO 800 tests. ISO 800 or below has been good enough for me 99.9% of the time and ISO 1600 is nice to use in a pinch. So the current Fx noise advantage is not that big a deal for me as long as I can get good ISO 800 with my D300. 95% of what I do is at ISO 400 or below

Albert J Valentino
Nikonian Team Member
Vantage Point Images
Mastery of Composition is the Key to Great Photography

Albert, I agree with you. For shooting landscapes, which I think you do most of the time, the only real advantage of the FX is the wider shot, better for panoramas. I guess it will also be better for those late sunset shots and other low light situations. But, as a landscape photographer you are using a tripod for those anyway and you can shoot at a lower speed.

As I suspected, where the D700 will shine is not in daylight, but shooting weddings, concerts, and other indoor situations.

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

I added a few more using my 105VR macro; and a few low light interior shots.

None of these are wonderful photos...that's not the point. But I think they give you some data to compare the cameras and how they use the lenses.

The D700 with the 14-24/2.8 would be a great gift for your friendly real estate agent.

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

Thanks for adding the new images at ISO 1000. Looks like there is about a stop noise difference which is what I expected. The D700 ISO 900 and D300 ISO 1400 threw me at first since I thought the D300 image was also at ISO 900 and my eyes popped out but then I realized the ISO was not identical between the two.

Good test shots with useful comparisons.

Albert J Valentino
Nikonian Team Member
Vantage Point Images
Mastery of Composition is the Key to Great Photography

Both cameras were set on ISO auto, so those are the choices the camera made.

Tonight I will shoot some comparisons in darker light and set the ISO to fixed settings.

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

At least for me, the ISO 1000 and 1600 comparisions showed me what I wanted to see Thanks for posting

Albert J Valentino
Nikonian Team Member
Vantage Point Images
Mastery of Composition is the Key to Great Photography

Thanks for the work and posting. My only comment is this--I really think you need to 'change' the comparisons...its a little apples vs oranges. We really need to see 'similiar' photos... If you were assigned to shoot a 'bed' you wouldn't shoot it with a 200 DX and then shoot it with a 200 FX--you get two totally different pictures..and that effects lighting, shadow metering etc Leave the settings equal but you need to take into account the 1.5 factor of DX.

You need to get the 'perspective' equal so you are seeing the 'same' object. 70dx- 105fx etc

Again--THANKS for the work and time your putting into this!

I see your point, and that is easy to do. My point in posting comparison shots at 14m, for example, was to show how the two cameras "read" 14m.

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

Larry--fully understand. And most importantly--we aka I do appreciate your efforts...but we are pigs and just want 'more'. Again, thank you!!!

Guys, I am confused. I thought the D700 could sense a FX lens vs a dx lens.

SO why are the shots taken with the D700 appear to have a wider view with the same lenses?

The two things are unrelated. None of the lenses used in these tests are DX lenses. So that is not an issue. The issue is how a lens at a focal length of, lets say 14m appears, to the FX sensor(D700) versus how the DX sensor of the D300 records the same lens set at 14m (or any other setting).

When you are taking a photo with any DX camera like the D300 and you are shooting at a given focal length, you are recording the image at 1.50 times that. The FX camera/sensor will record at 100%, so a lens set at 14m will record a true 14m image; versus on a DX sensor/D300 it will appear to be 21m. This is advantageous for DX cameras if you are shooting telephoto (200m appears as 300m). It is disadvantageous if you want a wide angle shot. FX sensors give you true, or more wide images than a DX.

If you look at the two pictures on the porch, you can clearly see the difference.

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

>The two things are unrelated. None of the lenses used in
>these tests are DX lenses.

Thanks for the reply. I had read that a dx lens would look the same.

So If I understand you my DX lenses that I currently have will look wider on the 700 sensor. So in reality I will also lose some focal length zoom as well.

Did I get this correct?

Jerry,

The best way I know to explain this is to simply illustrate it. So, I just took out my 12-24DX lens and my 14-24 non-DX lens and shot with both of them on the D700 at 24m.

Interestingly, the file size of the shot with the DX lens is 5.3mb, where the one shot with the non-dx lens is 11.6mb. This, of course, is because the camera crops the photo to the size of a DX sensor, which is the size that the DX lens is projecting onto the sensor. When you look through the viewfinder with the DX lens you see a box illustrated within the frame and this is the size of the actual photo that will be recorded.

I have just added these two shots to the gallery and you can see the difference. http://www.pbase.com/lmmiller9/d700300_comparisons

I hope this makes sense.

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

Larry,

One question. Is High ISO NR turned On for these captures? If so, was the setting Lo, Med, or Hi. I know this function only kicks in at ISO 800 and higher. So I am curious what I am looking at.

As a side note I leave my high ISO NR On and set to Low on my D300 but try to avoid using ISO 800 or more

Also, just a comment about your galleries. I also use pbase and if you go to Edit the Gallery, under 'multi-page gallery' you can set the number of images to appear on a page. Yours seems to be set for 12 but a higher number, like 24 or 36 lets the viewer scroll the set instead of clicking to the page. I mention this in case you were not aware of this feature

Albert J Valentino
Nikonian Team Member
Vantage Point Images
Mastery of Composition is the Key to Great Photography

Albert, High ISO noise is on "normal". This must be the default setting because I haven't changed it since I got the camera. The settings say "High, Normal, or Low, or Off.

Thanks for the tip on Pbase. I'll do that.

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

Lary,

After posting these shots it might be time to update your signature

Albert J Valentino
Nikonian Team Member
Vantage Point Images
Mastery of Composition is the Key to Great Photography

Done

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

I thought a couple night shots might also be interesting. These are just on the D700, but show high ISO performance. Last night I put the camera on the tripod, with the 14-24 lens and shot these comparisons at 1600 and 6400 ISO.

http://www.pbase.com/lmmiller9/image/100785868
http://www.pbase.com/lmmiller9/image/100785908

Then just the porch at 3200 and 6400ISO. I'm pretty impressed with this high ISO performance. If you're going to be shooting night shots, and you can see how this would translate to concert shots, the D700 definitely shows its stuff.

http://www.pbase.com/lmmiller9/image/100786382
http://www.pbase.com/lmmiller9/image/100786390

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

Thanks for the gallery!

We can see that wide is wider on FX but why not add some comparison with your 70-300VR @ 300mm to show that long is shorter on FX? Any birds in your area?

Ask and ye shall receive. Its true, long is shorter on the FX. Notice that I did find a "bird" as you suggested.

Also, this morning I went for a walk downtown. There is always something worthy of a photo when walking around Annapolis. I added a few shots I took, that aren't comparisons with anything, but might be interesting anyway.

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

Funny! That's a lot of bumper stickers, must be entertaining for the next guy in traffic jams. Love the B&W one... on the D300 shot.

Larry
Regarding your post #14, I understand the purpose of the specific illustration you were making. May I also assume that while you evidently allowed the camera to determine the FX mode for the 14-24 lens and the DX mode for the 12-24 lens, you understand that it is possible to chose the FX and DX modes manually using either one of the lenses by it's self to achieve the same effect? This is because of the unique ability of the 12-24 to provide full coverage of an FX sensor from approximately 18mm to 24mm.

This isn't possible of course with most DX lenses, but shows the flexibility of both the D3 and the D700. The only downside to the DX crop with the D3 and D700 is evident to sports shooters like myself where we often need the longer reach of the DX crop factor but also need the additional pixel resolution of the D300. From my mind, a combination of the D300 and D700 bodies is optimal!

OldPhotos
"If everyone possesses some measure of this intangible quality called creativity, photography is unprecedented as an outlet for its expression." - Ansel Adams

Thanks, I was not aware of that. I'll give it a try. Frankly, since I got the 14-24, which is a fabulous lens, my plan was to us that rather than the 12-24DX for wide angle/landscape shooting.

I also agree that having both the D300 and D700 bodies makes a perfect combination allowing for any type of shooting.

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

>Thanks, I was not aware of that. I'll give it a try. Frankly,
>since I got the 14-24, which is a fabulous lens, my plan was
>to us that rather than the 12-24DX for wide angle/landscape
>shooting.
>
>I also agree that having both the D300 and D700 bodies makes a
>perfect combination allowing for any type of shooting.
Thats my plan and your post is motivating me to save money faster for the D700. Love the comparisons.

I shoot therefore, Iam.
http://joves.smugmug.com

Hi Larry, does the D700 feel "snappy" like the D3 or is it pretty much the same like the D300?

Thanks,
-Alex.

>Hi Larry, does the D700 feel "snappy" like the D3
>or is it pretty much the same like the D300?
\

That's funny. "Feel snappy?" Well I haven't handled a D3, so I can't relate it to that. It is a bit larger and heavier than the D300, although ergonomically, it feels very good to me. I also love the sound of the shutter, which is much more "snappy" and satisfying than the shutter sound of the D300. But, this is all so subjective, you just need to go into a store and handle one yourself.

I think you will find it snappy.

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

He..he.. thanks. Nothing's bad with the D300's shutter. I just prefer the D3's feel. I have the D700 on the way, just want to know before hand.

Best,
-Alex.