D300 Vs D700

[MOMI]

Hello All,

I am in the market for an dslr, but am not sure if the D700 is worth spending the extra money.

My question is what are the benefits of going to this camera compared to the D300?

I want to use this camera for weddings and portrait photography...

Thanks in advance....

[Old Timer]

Let me preface by saying that I have never used the D300 but hear glowing reports on it. Now for what I know and what I think. It has been several years since I shot weddings professionally and then I was using Medium format film cameras. However this past weekend my daughter was married in a very dimly lighted church (as most wedding chapels are). I have had the D700 Nikon since November of last year and bought it mainly for low light sporting events and have been very pleased with the results. I was not the official photographer (I paid out the nose for that) but did take a few hundred shots of my own over the course of the weekend. I was impressed with every thing I shot with the D700 especially the few available light pics I was able to shot somewhat clandestinely form my front row seat when my wife seemed to be looking the other way. All the available light shots were done at ISO 3200, with the aid of just a very little Neat Image adjustment, I was very pleased with the results. As for other shots before and after the ceremony with the SB800 attached and shooting at ISO 200 there was never a hitch all were exposed perfectly and could be enlarged to nearly any size a bride would want. I also think that the full frame of FX formate is much better suited to the wedding photographers need since there is less cropping to be done for an 8X10 which seems to be the preferred enlargement size for framing. I hope my little narrative is helpful for you in making a decision on which camera to purchase.


I am posting this from the office and don't have many of the images I took with me but I will include a few. The first is a 50% crop of the original shot at 3200 with a bit of neat image applied. the bride prep shot was at ISO 200 with the SB800 and the others were outside after the ceremony with fill from the SB800.

[Franglais]

I have a D300 and I've never used the D700. Here's my view:

From what I've read it seems the two cameras are very similar. The D700 has about a 1 stop advantage in terms of noise i.e. I can do 3200 ISO on the D300 but it looks like 1600 ISO on the D700. The D700 has a slightly less transition from white to burnt-out in the highlights.

If I were a professional I'd go for the D700:
- the image quality is better
- carrying around a load of big heavy lenses is just part of the trade

As I'm not a professional I'll stick with the D300:
- the image quality is more than enough to satisfy me
- I really like the small size of the camera + lenses. I prefer to appear to be a normal person most of the time yet be able to whip out a camera when I need it
- some DX lenses have no FX format equivalent and I find them very useful (16-85VR, 18-200VR)

Both would be excellent for weddings. It's up to you to decide what style you want to adopt

[Old Timer]

Charles makes a very good point about the weight of the system I am using. All the examples I posted were shot with the 28-70 f2.8 AF-S Nikkor. The Pro lenses are heavy and most weddings involve a long day of shooting. I find however with the f2.8 and faster lens you minimize many potential problems because of slow shutter speeds. When I made the transition to the D700 I only owned one DX format lens so I was already use to the additional weight. With the exception of the available light ceremony shots all the others during the day could have been accomplished with the D300 or even my previous camera the D200.

[Franglais]

I also have a Beast (28-70 f2.8). I find it very useful for important events like weddings. On the D300 it's the equivalent of a 42-105mm f2.8 which is just right for the ceremony itself. I'm never close enough to need to go wider plus with the f2.8 aperture there's never any hesitation about focussing.

After the ceremony when people start milling around and I have to work at less than 6 feet, I usually switch to the 17-35 f2.8 (equivalent to a 25-52mm).

With these big lenses I find the battery pack is essential to have something to hold on to. The final configuration looks and feels just like a D700. The D300 goes back to being a "small" camera (no battery pack, smaller lens) when I'm at an outside event like a parade and I want to slip quietly through the crowd.

[Old Timer]

Very much the same with me and the battery pack with the vertical shutter release Charles. The D700 works great as small camera with the 24-120 VR that I bought as a package with the D700. With the battery pack the the 28-70, 80-200 and 300 work great.

[easypress]

Now the question is D300 or D300s or D700? Nikon released too many new cameras this year.

[Frog]

Well the D300 price will drop when the s model comes out.