Outstanding performance, outstanding build
By Lawrence I. Charters
December 5, 2009
In the megapixel war, the Nikon D700 seems behind the times at “only” 12 megapixels. But there comes a point at which additional pixels don’t count for much; the quality of the pixels makes for a better picture. With its superb noise reduction, stabilized lens system, and outstanding low-light capabilities, the Nikon D700 allows you to take photos — without a flash — that you really can’t manage well with any other camera. Don’t have a tripod? Poor light? There is still a good chance you can get a good, crisp image.
On the down side, the camera is large and heavy, especially when you add in the 24-120 mm F3.55.6 ED IF VR Nikkor Zoom Lens. Not only is that a mouthful of specifications, it is a lot of glass, metal and plastic. The camera is weather-sealed, has a magnesium frame, and takes full-frame photos, so it is physically larger and heavier than most digital SLRs. It lacks the novice-friendly “scene modes” of many of the current SLRs. Instead, you have a massive variety of things you can set manually, or automatically, or in some hybrid synthesis of the two. The manual has 24 pages of prefatory material and another 437 pages of details, plus an index. It is a good thing that you can find what you want fairly quickly as there are a great many possible settings, tweaks and adjustments.
If you want an easy to use digital SLR camera, get something else, like a Sony Alpha or a Canon Rebel or a Nikon D90. On the other hand, if you’ve gone beyond the basics and are willing to invest the time and mental effort in learning more, the Nikon D700 will reward you by helping you go places you’ve never been able to go before.
Update:
After several years, I did replace the D700 with a Nikon D600, which, despite the name, is a much newer camera. It has almost four times the resolution, but still weighs a ton. Still, after thousands of shots (many of them high-speed action photos of the University of Maryland Women’s Basketball team), the D700 never failed to astonish me with a combination of crisp photos and excellent color. Of course, it also punished me severely if I forgot that it was a complex camera, and failed to adjust one or more important settings. Ah, well: the price of power.