Is the D700 worth its weight? I haven't met very many people who have purchased a D700 and I have been contemplating purchasing a D-SLR to complement my existing F100, but the decision between DX/FX, resolution and price have me a bit confused and holding back. Just a few weeks ago I decided that a D700 may be what I need. I did a photo shoot this weekend using a D2x and I am very impressed with the photographic experience compared to my film camera. For example would have taken me a little bit longer in terms of photo setup to get less than a 3rd of the photos I took with the D2x. I managed to shoot just over 200 pictures in two hours, most of them being multiple duplicates because instead of spending time perfecting each shot I just blasted away. I think some of my readers would say that is the benefit of a digital, but I think my overall pictures were about 80% the quality I would have gotten out of my film camera. Why do I say that. Well the D2x requires a lot of setup when you want to get the right shot. For example, we were shooting inside with lots of windows and light; the difficulty with the setup meant that often there was lots of sunlight mixed with cloud and I needed to adjust the ISO and White Balance (WB) manually. Why would I need to do that? Well my few hours of testing revealed a considerable difference in image grain and quality when difference ISO and WB setting were selected in difference light. In fact if you select ISO200 in a evening you will get softer and more grainier pictures than if you shoot at ISO800. In fact, what I realized is that the sensor reacted veevry much like film in that you would choose the correct film for the correct setting to deliver the best results, the same rule applies for Digital. If you are not consistent with your settings, unlike film which is more forgiving, the digital sensor is not. The performance of the sensor depends heavily on your ability to configure your camera for each shot. That is why I said the quality of some of my picture were 80% of my film camera, where I am using Kodak E100G in daylight with a 50mm 1.8, can't go wrong, where as On a D2x there plenty that can go wrong (color, grain, fuzziness).
When I realized the importance of adjusting the camera setting for each picture so that it results in the best capture for the sensor and ultimately better consistency between each picture, I began to wish I had more time to adjust program settings. I don't know if I would rely on the AI entirely (setting WB or ISO to Auto) just yet. I did not in this case and would have to spend time with the camera to complete my testing and calibration. But I am begging to get the feel for professional shooting with a DSLR. Here are some rules I find useful when I shoot with my F100 vs the D2x:
F100:
Meter - (spot or matrix - zone or meter for highlights with slide film, exposure lock)
Compose - (rule of thirds, interest, contrasts, etc)
Focus (Make sure you are focused, adjust depth of field)
Shoot (focus, adjust depth of field)
D2x
ISO/WB - (Bright low ISO, dark high ISOs, )
White Balance - (Know what light your shooting in and set appropriately)
Aperture - (Adjust your depth of field, override aperture settings)
Compose & Shoot - (Lots of space, shoot and move until you find the right composition)
both are simple to follow and yield fabulous results.
