My backup camera, Nikon D700

Ok... So basically I've recently gotten a used D700 as the backup to my D3. One thing mainly because of price, another thing is because of workflow


Nikon D3 & D700

FX Logo

So one thing is of course, both bear the FX badge and are full frame cameras. They're very similar as most people would have noted. But somehow, the grip of the D700 doesn't quite match the D3. People may go "of course, if they make it exactly like the D3, its one reason more to get the D3" but I'm saying, its off. I held the D300 and it felt a lot better than the D700. I'm still waiting for my grip to arrive though.


Front D3

Front D700

So yea... The front of both the D3 and D700 are pretty much the same. I don't see much differences other than the port covers for the remote and sync port.


Top D3

Top D700

The LCD on the top of the D3 is noticeably longer, but other than that, I still don't see much differences.


Back (both cameras)

Back D3

Back D700

Other than the obvious difference of the 3rd LCD panel on the D3. Its quite similar between the 2, and having used a D200 for a while some time back, the D700 was no stranger to me. Though getting used to zooming in on preview took a little bit of adjusting.

The one thing that I missed on a camera is in the picture below

Yup, I miss a pop up flash on my camera. Though I guess the good thing about not having a pop up flash is that its probably more durable? Less parts exposed, less mechanics to break? Only thing I hate about the flash is that with the 24-70 and hood, there's a shadow, no surprise there. But if I were to use the pop up for last resort fill flash, I guess I'll zoom in anyway.

So yea, another thing about the pop up flash, commander mode. True I don't get the flexibility of a speedlight rotating head, but it lightens the load, especially when I know I'm not shooting in open areas.

The reason why I chose a D700 as my backup rather than the D600 or D800 as I probably said in previous posts is because of workflow. The D800 having a 36 megapixel sensor and the D600 having a 24megapixel sensor means huge files to work with, which I don't think I want to stress on my computer at the moment. Also, bigger files means I'll need a bigger hard drive, which I try not to spend money on yet cause it'll mean I'll have to upgrade my computer earlier which I'll do a few years later with the technology then. Also, the future technology would mean my computer would be faster in processing bigger image files rather than current computer technology. They do a fair job, but I'd rather not spend time waiting.

Also, higher resolution doesn't really mean better images. I'd rather have my main and backup as close as possible. So probably in the future, if like, the D5 is similar to D800 or D900 (whatever the model is at that time), I'd probably get those 2 to replace the D3 and D700 together and by then, computers should be processing their images about the same time as my computer processes the D3 and D700 images now.

But seriously, the megapixel war is getting more and more ridiculous. I'm good with 12 megapixels, even the D4's 16 megapixel is good. But the resolution of D600 isn't too bad, its the fact that the body isn't a robust one which I would require with the world I shoot now (unfortunately). I'm hoping that the megapixel war will end soon because I dont' want to work on a 70 megapixel FX format camera with huge file size and many hard drives at home. I have a lot of hard drives at home as it is. I don't want to add more. So yea, an entry on my choice for a backup camera. Have a good day everyone!

Nikon SB910

Hey guys,

So recently I order a Nikon SB910. I know... I'm slow, but doesn't matter. The delivery was from Hong Kong and it was very fast.


Huge packaging

Huge Box

The box of the flash

So yea... I forgot to take photos of the flash itself. I also bought a few batteries for it. Specifically 2 sets of 4 Sanyo XX/XXX (unsure how many Xs are there) and 4 normal Sanyo Eneloops.


The batteries

I actually like the sheen of the black batteries. So anyway, I took out the SB910 and played with it on my D3 after setting it up to my preferences. Feels as good as SB900 and supposedly similar performances. I like the light up buttons (which matches the D4 but works with my recently acquired D700 and D3. It should work with pretty much all modern day DSLRs and the F6).

I love the new hard filters that comes with it, but I hate the new pouch which is similar to the SB700. Its basically a big squarish rectangle, hard to stuff in my bag. I'm currently using the SB900 case until I find an alternative. I've used it for a few events recently and it works good. Unsure of the overheating improvement since I've yet to work i that hard though, but I'll update this when I have.

The SB910's UI has changed a little and it has a dedicated menu button as well, not sure the purpose since I hardly enter the menu after setting up, only entering to turn off flash to use AF assist only but yea. The on switch feels better too for some reason.

That's pretty much it for now since nothing much has been going on actually so yea... Have a good day everyone!

Personal Thoughts On Nikon D600 & D800

Alright, its finally here, my personal thoughts on the Nikon D600 & D800/

So, probably start with the older model, the Nikon D800.

Initially when the D800 rumors were floating around, I was very excited and happy until the official announcement and release was made, which made me kind of sad seeing that its 36 megapixels as opposed to the Nikon D4 which had 16 megapixels. I didn't really like the roundedness of both the D4 and D800, but the D4 was still quite good looking.

The D800 seemed really small as opposed to the D700 which according to Amazon, which is the replacement for the D700. Looking through the specs, the use of 1 SD card and 1 CF card is pretty cool. But the price of the camera and the resolution are what deters me from getting one. I love the video function and capability of it though. The quality I've seen from the web show great promise though. I don't have much to say really.

The Nikon D600.

When rumors of the D600 were around, I was once again happy that a cheaper FX camera is in the works and seemed to have everything I would want. Unfortunately, that isn't the case when it was released.

Again the camera is too rounded, and now its made smaller. Similar in size and shape to the Nikon D7000 though. Which I had in the office and was able to try a few times since I use my own D3 for shoots. The D7000 is pretty nice to hold and I can only assume the D600 would be too. Unfortunately, it is too small for my own liking. Even with the grip, its holdable, but I find that there's something missing to it.

24 megapixels is quite a lot to me actually. And the video function has some limitations to it which puts me off. The price is reasonable though. But one thing I find still desirable is the overall size.

I find that both cameras cannot truly replace the D700 since the D700, with a battery grip can improve its burst rate. I would also like a D700 size replacement without too much curves. And probably the same sensor as the Nikon D4, 16 megapixels.

Not sure if Nikon actually researches or what, but I'm writing my thoughts here in the event they do. A camera that is the improved version of the D700 without the resolution of either the D600 or D800, with D800's video capabilities and possibly closer to D600 price. That's my dream backup camera to my D3.

I honestly can't see the D600 or D800 as the backup to the D4.

On a side note, was thinking of the future of these cameras, with their resolution. D800's 36 megapixel RAW files is huge. So it would require a lot of hard disk space to store the photos and backup. Think there's a 4TB hard drive now, with motherboards having 14 SATA connectors. 1 DVD drive, so its 4TB times 13 equating to 52TB worth of storage space. Quite a lot though, but I don't want to have a huge external drive to backup all my photos especially over the years as I shoot more and more. Unless they become really really cheap. But 36 megapixels, and D4's XQD cards, gotta wait for technology to catch up, like quad core processing 10-12 megapixel images, probably the gen 2 i7 computers can process 20 plus megapixels, and probably the next generation of computers to process 30 plus images with even bigger storage capacity.

I wonder how things would be like in the next few years, especially since everything is constantly changing and improving. One thing is for sure, I hope that manufacturers will quit the megapixel race. Nice to have D3x type of camera, and probably D700x type? Rather than like the D800. 2 versions would be good. That's all I'm saying. Everyone's thoughts differ. These are mine from a event, photojournlistic type of photographer. Or even wedding, pre wedding, commercial and fashion would probably be happy with the resolution, but there are still limits that need to be set.