First D700 Shots

[Joe Marques]

The guy with the brown shorts delivered the little brown box today. :tongue: After struggling to pick my "normal" FX zoom lens (final choices were 24-70 2.8, 24-85 2.8-4, 24-120 VR and Sigma 24-70 2.8), I finally decided on the Nikon 24-85 2.8-4. What a terrific lens. It meets my needs without breaking the bank (the 24-70 is just too pricey for my use of a normal zoom).

So here's my first decent shot with the D700 - 24-85 @ 85mm f4:

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I also had to try ISO 6400. Nikon, are you kidding me. I mean seriously, how on earth did they do it??? As a former D2H owner, ISO 6400 is cleaner than ISO 400 on a D2H (I'm not kidding). Wow. I'm stunned and can't wait to use it for Soccer or Football under the lights.

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Look at this crop, just ran it through LR2 with no NR:

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My D300 was a very fine tool but this thing is on another level. It reminds me of the first time I shot with a Canon 5D. There was something about the tonality of the shot that was hard to describe but it just looked "right". I think the D3/D700 sensor/processor has that same quality.

 

[lanthier]

Yeah Joe! Enjoy your new cam, a whole new world!

 

[Bandnuts]

Hooray Joe.... Nice shots too.

Be sure to keep your flash. You may need it for fill!

 

[Joe Marques]

Here's another ridiculous example of how good the D700 is @ high ISO. This shot is with my 120-300 2.8 @ 300 2.8 - hand held ISO 8000. Yes, you read that correctly - hand held @ ISO 8000 :tongue::

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Crop (lower left corner to show shadow noise):

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[Joe Marques]

Just noticed something odd. The D700 misread the 120-300 2.8 as a DX lens and used DX mode (so I turned off auto DX mode). Hopefully a firmware update will fix it.

Here's the 120-300 2.8 in FX mode @ ISO 6400 - 300mm f2.8:

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100% Crop:

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[MrKegFlex]

That's odd that it thought it was a DX lens... I wonder if that is more likely to happen with 3rd party lenses?

 

[LindaZ]

wow....I'm flabbergasted.

 

[spalding12]

joe,
congrats on the camera and
glad you are enjoying the combo already

love that first shot
the high-ISO capability of the D700 (and D3) is something to behold

 

[Jeff Mims]

I'm flabergasted..and I want one!

 

[Frits]

Way to go Joe, great choice of camera.

 

[Joe Marques]

Me too - flabbergasted that anyone wants to post shots like these? WHY? There are zillions of shots around the web showing what these cams can do - let's see what YOU can do! Surely this isn't it. Can't believe people cooing over them either.

EDITED ORIGINAL POST TO THIS:

The comments are about low noise performance, which is pretty obvious, and those shots were clearly test snaps. It seems you're just looking to criticize almost every time you post. Perhaps DPR is a better place for you.

 

[Joe Marques]

Yeah Joe! Enjoy your new cam, a whole new world!

It really is a new world. The sensor is far better than I thought.

Hooray Joe.... Nice shots too.

Be sure to keep your flash. You may need it for fill!

Still have the flash, no ISO can preven racoon eyes. :tongue:

That's odd that it thought it was a DX lens... I wonder if that is more likely to happen with 3rd party lenses?

That's my guess given the history with 3rd party lenses and cpu udates.

wow....I'm flabbergasted.

I'm guessing you mean high ISO. Yeah, me too.

joe,
congrats on the camera and
glad you are enjoying the combo already

love that first shot
the high-ISO capability of the D700 (and D3) is something to behold

Thanks Greg. It's a nice improvement over an already great camera.

Way to go Joe, great choice of camera.

I'm certainly pleased so far, hard to find any weaknesses.

 

[Joe Marques]

I'm flabergasted..and I want one!

Hey, don't blame me when you spend more $$$. :biggrin:

 

[Geof]

So you removed the insult - afraid anyone else would see it? I post a lot of helpful comments to people who ask. I still don't understand why people post such ridiculous test pics!

The man has just gotten his new cam and was thrilled with the hi iso performance. What's the harm? OTOH, your post was somewhat confrontational which diluted your message (which I took to mean you'd rather see crafted shots whether or not they show off the capabilities of the new cam). I'm sure those will come once the camera is more fully understood.

 

[Joe Marques]

So you removed the insult - afraid anyone else would see it? I post a lot of helpful comments to people who ask. I still don't understand why people post such ridiculous test pics!

Afraid? Cute. Just changed my mind. I'm sure this isn't the only thing you don't understand - probably a very long and tiresome list.

BTW, how was this helpful to the poster?

https://www.nikoncafe.com/vforums/showthread.php?t=184754

Where is the specific, insightful critique that might actually be helpful?

And I keep looking for crafted shots from you but I can't seem to find anything more than snapshots. At least I call my snapshots snapshots, you call yours "stock photograpy". LOL.

 

[Joe Marques]

Yes, I would rather see crafted shots - what is the point of these test shots - for personal consumption maybe - for the internet no. I think we all know what the camera can do technically.

NC is a laid back place where not every shot needs to be "crafted" and ready for full on C&C. When I post serious shots for C&C I make it abundantly clear. I also won't hesitate to post these shots here at the Café. You see, sometimes it's just about sharing enthusiasm with friends over the capabilities of a new tool. Light, breezy, fun - any of these things resonate with you??? Didn't think so, only crafted serious shots are for the internet!!!

In any event, if you'd rather see crafted shots then skip the thread. Pretty simple to grasp, no?

 

[SWDan]

Joe, I appreciate your test shots, the only thing that you tick me off about is, that I gotta go buy one of those D700. Looks like a fantastic machine to me.

 

[Joe Marques]

Joe, I appreciate your test shots, the only thing that you tick me off about is, that I gotta go buy one of those D700. Looks like a fantastic machine to me.

:tongue: It's hard to believe Nikon has come this far in such a short amount of time.

 

[VPT]

So you removed the insult - afraid anyone else would see it? I post a lot of helpful comments to people who ask. I still don't understand why people post such ridiculous test pics!

I still don't understand why you posted such ridiculous comments like this.

Joe just got a new camera and wanted to share with us what he thought about it. Most people are happy to read it because it's helpful. If you don't like it, don't read. OK?

 

[VPT]

Joe,

Congratuations on your new camera. The first shot is very nice. I had the 24-85/2.8-4D for several months and used it on my D200. It was soft at 85mm f/4. It seems this lens works better on FX cameras?