Hoping someone can point me in the right direction for a camera body purchase.

I have a D80 that I use for Virtual Tours and still photos of real estate sales and rental properties. The lens I use for this job is the Nikon 12-24 f/4 ED.

I use the same lens / body combo to shoot landscapes for stock as well.

My hobby photography (no money in it yet) is motorsports photography, and for that I use the Nikon 80-200 f2.8 D lens and the D80. I often carry along a D50 with an 18-70 ED DX lens attached for the closer shots when shooting motorsports.

I use the D80 and Nikon 50mm f/1.8 D lens for helicopter photography.

So the big question is - upgrade to a D300 or a D700?

Will my 12-24 DX lens provide a wider field-of-view on the D700 as opposed to the D300?

I cant see myself upgrading body and lens at the same time, as many people have suggested when upgrading to FX like the D700 / D3. Just can't afford it.

Am I better served (with respect to my lens collection) with a D300 or D700?

Thanks for any advice

12-24 on the D700 works but at just under half the mp because it would be in DX format. Probably just over 5mp. So with your 12-24 on a D700 you get same fov as with your D80 but with half the mp of your D80. Not really worth the D700 body upgrade if you do not upgrade to FX lenses.
To really get your moneys worth out of buying a D700 would mean upgrading to any non DX wide lens. Example 14-24 f/2.8 @ $1799.00
D300 with your 12-24 is perfect,unless you have the $4800.00 to spend.

Dan Berg
www.bergscanvasgallery.com

Wait a second. Doesn't the 12-24 lens cover the full frame from 18mm up? My Tokina 12-24 does. If that's the case, it seems to me you would get the full benefit for at least part of the zoom range. I use my 12-24 on my N80 all the time from 17mm/18mm and up without any cropping. Or do DX lenses automatically put an FX sensor camera into DX mode?

Mike

On the D3 I think you can overide the DX shift. So yes it becomes an 18-24. You can also use the 10.5 fisheye full frame if you shave off part of the hood.

Regards,

Don Kesler

http://www.donaldkesler.com

Through the judicious use of adjustment layers, no pixels were actually harmed in the processing of my shots..

>On the D3 I think you can overide the DX shift. So yes it
>becomes an 18-24. You can also use the 10.5 fisheye full frame
>if you shave off part of the hood.

I have the 10.5 fisheye lens - what bit would I have to shave off?

sean
The "bit" that causes vignetting! Seriously, just shoot an image wide open, marking the hood location relative to the image orientation, and where you see vignetting is where you need to shave the hood. How much is a different matter, depending on what you decide is the desired result.

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

The Sigma 12-24 is full frame and the one I used is one of the sharpest lens I have ever used.

A lot less than the Nikon lens.

ledmun

>The Sigma 12-24 is full frame and the one I used is one of
>the sharpest lens I have ever used.
>
>A lot less than the Nikon lens.

I have been looking at the Sigma 10-20 recently - that is supposed to be quite sharp as well - do you know if that is a DX lens?

Yes, it is a DX lens. Check the Nikonians digital Super-Wide Shootout from a couple years ago

I think what you really should be using is a medium format camera for interiors. I would suggest the Mamiyas just because they do a good job and are certainly affordable. But if you have the money for the best of the best, go with hasselblad.

But if that's not a consideration, you'll want the D700. It's very affordable (3000 dollars in medium format world is chump change) and it gives you much more wide angle that the D300. You may see better imaging results as well because no matter what people tell you... bigger sensors do produce better detail and nicer pictures over all.

Have fun with which ever camera body you choose.