Pixiq

Nikon has pretty much hit a home run with their latest batch of pro caliber cameras including the D3x, D3, and D700. In my D300 review, at the end of that article, I mentioned that the perfect camera for adventure photography would be a more robust D300 with the D3 full-frame sensor. Nikon must have been listening because just a few months later they announced the D700. I got one within a month after it became available. The D700 is by far the best Nikon I have owned just as the D3 is one of the best Nikons ever made. In fact, DxO Labs just released their findings on the top digital SLRs on the market today and they rate the Nikon D3x, D3 and D700 as the top three cameras over and above all other cameras – even those with higher resolution sensors! If that isn’t an endorsement of Nikon’s commitment to excellence I don’t know what is. I realize I might sound like a sponsored photographer gushing over products gotten for free, but I don’t get any free gear from Nikon. I have to buy everything at full price just like the rest of us. 

In this review I am not going to cover the specs of this camera - there are plenty of places that  have much more detailed and technical reviews than I care to do. Check out dpreview.com for an extended technical review of the D700. I will instead concentrate here on what I have found to be the strengths of this camera for outdoor and adventure photographers.

The D700 is about as good as it gets for adventure photographers or any photographer wanting a rugged and versatile camera. With a 12.1 MP full-frame CMOS sensor, incredible low noise performance, a smaller lightweight body (lighter than the D3 at least) and a fast framing rate of 8 fps with the additional MB-D10 battery grip, this camera offers a lot of options. Over the course of my career, I have preferred Nikon’s larger “pro” model cameras like the F5, D2x, D3, etc. The D700 was my first pro model Nikon that I intended to use as my main camera body which didn’t have a built in vertical grip. Because of it’s superior image quality when compared to my D2x is was a no brainer to go for this camera. The D3 is still a phenomenal camera but I needed a camera I could go light and fast with when I needed to and the D700 is that camera.  The good news is when you have the MB-D10 battery grip attached to the D700 it fits the camera perfectly and even enhances the ergonomics. And while 8 fps isn’t as fast as the 9 fps on the D3, I can live with one fps less for most of what I shoot. I also like the fact that this camera has a sensor cleaning unit built in like the D300 so everytime I turn the camera on or off, the sensor vibrates a few dust particles off. With a full-frame sensor that is a big deal since they attract a lot more dust than Nikon’s smaller DX sensors. 

While the 12.1 MP sensor in the D700 might seem a little lacking in the resolution department these days, it is perfect for my work. I don’t really feel the need for a 24 MP sensor. The higher resolution D3x would not work for my needs because it is not fast enough with a 5 fps firing rate in 12-bit mode (and way slower in 14-bit mode). Plus the 12.1 MP sensor in the D700 allows for incredibly noise free images all the way up to 2,500 ISO and beyond. With the D700 I don’t hesitate to shoot at 800 or 1,600 ISO. Even at 3,200 ISO the images have very little noise if you expose correctly. At 6,400 ISO, the images have less noise than any other camera and look like 200 ISO film did back in the day which is pretty amazing. Since a lot of my photography happens in low light this feature has opened up incredible imaging opportunities. And even when I don’t have to worry about low light, being able to crank up the ISO to 800 or 1,600 so I can be sure to get razor sharp images is a huge benefit. At 800 ISO the noise level is so low it is almost indistinguishable from ISO 200. 

Over the last eight months I have been using this camera it has been put to the test in some very harsh climates. In fact, I am already on my second D700 as I fell into the ocean while covering the Wenger Patagonian Expedition Race back in February. The camera is very well sealed and does fine in the rain, even without a rain cover, but swimming with it in the ocean is asking a bit much of any camera. I have shot surfing, rock climbing, sea kayaking, mountain biking and trekking with this camera and having the ability to customize the camera to the sport, by attaching or removing the MB-D10 battery grip, is a huge bonus. For those times when I have to go light and don’t need a high framing rate I just take the battery grip off. And while having a pop-up flash on the camera might seem less than ideal, it is great not having to take any extra gear to trigger my SB-900 speedlights - all I have to do is pop up the flash and I have instant wireless flash control. 

Last but not least, image quality wise the D700 is heads and shoulders above any other Nikon I have owned to date. It isn’t the D3x, which has better resolution and slightly better color fidelity, but the overall image quality is solid in every respect. It shows much less chromatic aberration than my D2x or D300. Add in the low noise factor and it is a very flexible machine with respectable resolution. At low ISO the resolution isn’t much different than the D300. But overall the look of the images shot with the D700 have better color fidelity and a larger dynamic rage, likely due to those massive pixels. Crank up the ISO and nothing, save for the D3, can touch it in terms of image quality. It is just about perfect for my work, but no doubt Nikon will come out with a camera that has similar low noise, a fast framing rate and 20+ MP in 2010. 

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