Nikon D700 Review Round-Up

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Get information and user reviews for this camera from Amazon: Nikon D700 12.1MP Digital SLR Camera (Body Only)

Imaging Resource

Nikon now has a full-frame digital SLR for pros, semi-pros, and well-heeled enthusiasts: the Nikon D700. Nikon has done it again, producing a market-leading digital SLR that sets a new standard for image quality and ISO performance. Stacked up against its nearest competitor, the Nikon D700 wins in high ISO performance and overall camera features. …The Nikon D700’s list of pluses is overwhelming. Easily the greatest advantage offered by this digital SLR is the ability to shoot usable photos in ridiculously low light. Though the initial price is still high, the Nikon D700 produces images of the same quality, if not better, than the Nikon D3. …The Nikon D700 earns a five-star, as one of the finest digital SLR cameras ever produced. READ FULL REVIEW

Other Nikon D700 Reviews

Camera Labs

The D700 boasts many of the flagship D3’s features, but squeezes them into a smaller and lighter D300-sized body. So the D700 sports the D3’s 12.1 Megapixel full-frame sensor, 3in VGA monitor, 51 point AF system and Live View, but additionally features a popup flash and anti-dust features. The viewfinder may not deliver 100% coverage, but as a full-frame model it’s still large, and continuous shooting remains a respectable 5fps….There’s also AF micro-adjust and in-camera correction of vignetting and chromatic aberrations. The D700 faces tough rivals in Canon’s EOS 5D Mark II and Sony’s Alpha A900, but handles admirably while delivering great quality output. It’s also steadily becoming the most affordable of the new full-frame models. READ FULL REVIEW

Digital Photography Review

Speed wise the D700 is as good as it gets in this class of camera. …The D700’s most obvious strength though is its high ISO performance. It’s the combination of the huge photosites on the full frame sensor and Nikon’s very sensible approach to noise reduction (heavy-handed on chroma noise and much more lenient on luminance noise) that lets you (within limits) take usable pictures up to a sensitivity of ISO 12800. At low sensitivities the D700’s image results are very clean, virtually noise- and artifact-free and look pleasantly “˜unprocessed’. ….In conclusion the Nikon D700 is an excellent camera that is extremely versatile and performs well both in the studio and on location. No doubt it sets a benchmark in the ‘compact’ pro bracket of the market. READ FULL REVIEW

Photo.net

The D700 is merely a slightly reduced D3 while retaining most of the important features. Therefore, the D700’s strengths are essentially the same as the D3’s, minus a few somewhat important but not absolutely critical features such as a 100% viewfinder and dual compact flash card slots, but it is roughly 1/3 cheaper and a lot smaller. In other words, the D700 is another 12MP DSLR that has state-of-the-art high ISO results that is extremely suitable for indoor wedding and event photography under dim light….In my opinion, the main advantage of the D700 is its smaller size without the MB-D10 grip, making it easier to carry around for an extended period and on hikes. It turns out to be an excellent all-purpose DSLR, but I am particularly spoiled by the fact that under low-light conditions either indoors or at night, I can just boost the ISO to 3200 or even 6400 and still can capture some good images while hand holding the camera. READ FULL REVIEW

Luminous Landscape

The Nikon D700 is a full-frame (FX) camera using the same 12 MP sensor and image processing electronics as in the Nikon D3, except in a body closer in size and weight to the Nikon D300. Remarkably, the D700 has as much as 95% of the goodness of the D3 in a camera that costs some $2,000 less. If that isn’t aggressive, I don’t know what is. It has among the lowest noise and otherwise highest image quality of any camera. At any sensitivity up to ISO 1600 there’s little of concern in terms of low noise. At ISO 3200 a slight bit of luminance noise appears, but it can be easily removed in post. Dynamic range and color purity is first rate. The D700’s large 8 micron pixels ensure a very high signal to noise ratio and these clean pixels really allow for more ressing up when needed than one would think. Image-wise the D700’s only real shortcoming is its 12MP sensor. READ FULL REVIEW

Ken Rockwell

The Nikon D700 is Nikon’s top new amateur camera. The pictures are spectacular, at least as good as Nikon’s previous best, the D3. Unless you’re a full-time sports, news or action pro, the D700 replaces the D3 for studio, wedding, portrait, nature and landscape pros, as well as all advanced amateur photographers. The thing I missed most in the D700 is the option to shoot in the professional 4:5 aspect ratio, which fits more of my subjects better than the outdated 2:3 aspect ratio of 35mm film and most DSLRs…For everyone else shooting landscapes, portraits, products, and nature, the D700 is the new king. READ FULL REVIEW

PopPhoto

After weeks of shooting in the field and the full battery of tests in the Pop Photo Lab, we see it as an amazing combination of the two cameras. And by combination, we don’t mean compromise. Does the D700 obviate the more expensive D3? Not for high-end pros: Hardcore types who find themselves shooting in the Arctic one month and the desert the next will prefer the D3’s extraordinarily tight level of weathersealing. For paparazzi, who shoot lots of vertical images and so prefer a built-in vertical grip to a bolt-on battery grip, the D3’s better. And pro sports shooters blasting off frame after frame need the faster native burst and extra CF card slot of the D3. Meanwhile, the rest of us will be more than happy with the D700 fulfilling our full-frame fantasies. READ FULL REVIEW

Thom Hogan

The D700 is some sort of hybridization of the D300 and D3. So the questions you probably have are these: why not the D3? I don’t usually need the extra performance, and size/weight is almost always an issue when and where I’m shooting. Why not the D300? At a pixel peeping level it just can’t quite match the cleanliness of the D700 file, nor the usable dynamic range. To many, the D700 feature list and price were shockers. But here’s the way I see it: the D3 is squarely targeted at the photo journalist and sports shooter who needs absolute performance, the D700 is more targeted to the serious amateur and pro backup market. READ FULL REVIEW

Photo Review

Nikon’s D700 is positioned between the ‘pro-sumer’ D300 and the professional D3 models and is the second Nikon DSLR with an FX-format (35mm sized) CMOS sensor. One feature that has consistently amazed both reviewers and owners of the Nikon D3 is its superior performance at high sensitivity settings. The D700 turned in an equally impressive performance in our shooting tests. Thoughtfully designed and a pleasure to shoot with, the D700 is currently the best DSLR camera in its class and provides excellent value for money for photographers who want the advantages of the 36 x 24 mm sized sensor in a smaller, lighter and more affordable body than the D3. An ideal second body for a working professional, it provides top-level performance and excellent versatility for serious enthusiasts. READ FULL REVIEW

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