Nikon DSLR - which body?

[Windmillskies]

Morning all

I have a dilemma, my D200 body is on its way out!

I have 2 good lenses a 14-24f4 Dx and a 24-120f4 Fx - and a limited budget with which to play with. Whilst I'd love the latest D500 or 750, I have at the present moment to be realistic about what to get. I shoot mainly landscapes, architecture and want to retain a walkabout ability. I don't really need high ISO, video or rapid fire FPS. I've been looking at the 610 and 7200 but I remain unconvinced by the build quality - the joys of having a mag alloy body for so many years! I've thought about selling the 14-24 and switching to FF completely.

What would people suggest? Are the 610 and 7200 better built than I think.

 

Thanks for any thoughts, got the outlaws coming in 20 mins- no idea if I'll get chance to look again before this evening.

Martin

[RWatkins]

Does it have to be new? I imagine there could be some inexpensive d300 coming to the market with the release of the d500. (Although given the time it took for he d500 to appear, they will probably be well used)

[Chuck Nacke]

I'd suggest looking at a refurbished D800.  I am now using

D800's almost 100% and I love them.  I did use the 12-24

on my 800 and it worked very well in the crop mode.

[dov makabaw]

I have bought a number of second hand bodies and lenses on eBay and have been happy with the results.

 

I tend to look for individuals, rather than dealers, who sound like occasional users. Always worth asking a few questions to get a feel for who you are dealing with.

 

Good luck

 

dov

[Betty LaRue]

The D800 is a big camera. He wants walkability. I never considered it a camera to carry around all day. Plus with all those megapixels, it is at its best on a tripod, monopod or beanbag. Mistakes are amplified. Just my opinion.

Betty

[Michael Ventura]

Second hand Nikon D700, best camera ever 

 

Cheers,

Philippe

I agree with Philippe, it may be the best dslr that Nikon ever made. I also have the D800 and D750 and I keep going back to my trusty D700's. I was recently speaking with a Nikon USA rep and he was also in agreement that he felt it was their all around best camera....when you consider, weight, image quality, ease of use and reliability. Not sure what they sell for, for clean used one but I would ask first about how many shutter clicks the camera has on it.....it is like the miles or kilometers a used car motor has. Most cameras list the life of their shutters to be around 200,000 or more clicks. You can check how many your camera has by taking the last shot you took and uploading to a shutter click website and it reads that number in the hidden metadata. Try www.camerashuttercount.com

[Alex Ramsay]

Still perfectly happy with my D3, bought when first released - though it's a big beast, I admit.

 

Alex

[fotoDogue]

I bought the D610 just about two years ago so it's not exactly the newest model. It's currently on sale for $700 less than I paid for mine so that would seem like a good deal.

It's full frame and has auto-masking for DX lenses. Every lens I've bought over the past 30 or 40 years works with it. I'd say build quality is about the same as the D300 though you may be more particular than I am.

[Ed Rooney]

Regardless of which model you settle on, refurbished is the way to go. 

 

And +1 for  "I agree with Philippe, it may be the best dslr that Nikon ever made." - MV

[Vincent Lowe]

I bought the D7200 a few months ago after using a D300 for several years and before that the D200.  Very pleased with it, though it developed a shutter fault shortly after buying it (repaired under warranty of course).  I can vouch for the build quality, it having emerged unscathed from a full gravity powered percussion test (or, in other words, I dropped it... ).

[Marianne]

Love my D700. Also happy with my D5100 which is much lighter and which is great especially in good light and will work with all your lenses. 

If I were to add anything to my Nikon arsenal at this point, I'd go for a refurbished/used camera. 

[Windmillskies]

Thanks for all the replies, lots to go on. I was thinking about a 700 last night, but the 300 is another to consider. I need to go back and have a look at the 7200 again - lots to think about.

Thanks again for taking the time to respond.

Martin

[fotoDogue]

I still use my D300 as a second body, but it's 8 years old now and it's only 12 megapixels. B&H says they have them for $300 used, but for the same money you could buy a new D3300 with twice the file size.

 

EDIT: If money is an issue you should consider whether your current software is compatible with the various bodies you're considering. Soon after I bought my D610 Adobe released a new version of ACR for CS6 for compatibility,   but i had to upgrade to Lightroom 5 for these .nef  If you're currently using older software you might have to factor in a software upgrade.

[Sultanpepa]

Also using the 610 as it's a good combination of full frame and smaller file size. If I was into landscapes I'd have went for the 810

[Vincent Lowe]

Thanks for all the replies, lots to go on. I was thinking about a 700 last night, but the 300 is another to consider. I need to go back and have a look at the 7200 again - lots to think about.

Thanks again for taking the time to respond.

Martin

 

I know you said you didn't need high ISO but the 7200 is much superior in that respect to the 300.  It also has video, which I wasn't really interested in but I've used it a few times (waterfalls, crashing storm waves etc.) and it's growing on me.

[Keith Burdett]

Another +1 from me for the D700 as an excellent camera for use on the fly or for careful considered work. Beautiful images straight out of camera, very fast files to work on, low capital investment and better for use with some older, cheaper, lighter lenses that wouldn't shine on the D800 eg 28-105 although you have 2 stunning lenses to go with it. I transitioned seamlessly from a D200 a few years back. I love the D800 too but it's a much slower camera in various ways.

[Chuck Nacke]

Sorry I did not intend to see this turn into a "I like this camera" rant.

 

I buy a lot of equipment on eBay and I often buy the "Square Trade"

warrantee and it has worked perfectly for me.  Two times I've had their

check in my hands before the repair was even complete.

 

On Nikon D bodies, the 700 is a different animal than the 800.  I am

currently doing commissioned work and the 800 is a great tool.  I've

never been happy with the 700 and only use it when I want small files

at very high ISO.  The seven FPS seemed nice years ago but I

can get by with the 800's 5. 

 

Betty,

 

I hardly ever put my 800's on a tripod.  I use good to great glass and

I'm almost always at f8 or11.  I also carry over 4,000 watts of strobe

most of time.  I've also used the 800's for photographing sports and

the 7360 by file lets me use shorter glass and crop, BIG advantage.

 

In my opinion the D800 is the best image making machine that NIKON

has made since the 1967 F which I still have two of.

[NYCat]

For those of us with those lovely and delicate feminine hands the size and weight of a camera can affect how easily we can use it. I think I took some of my best images when I was using the D80. So petite and light (like me). 

 

Paulette

[Martyn]

Still have and enjoy using the D700 on the very rare occasions that it sees the light of day. I have been tempted to sell it but remember doing that years ago with my F4s….only to buy another one years later ! Out of curiosity, I did a shutter count check on the D700….. 7034…..so not exactly heavily used !!

[Jacob Y]

I use the d3200 and there never been a lighter,easier to user camera. Your lenses woudld work well with it.

[MDM]

As with Chuck, a secondhand D800 (or D800E even better) would be ideal I think. It's not particularly heavy (about 1.25kg I think) and the build quality is excellent. The D700 was an excellent machine in its day but the D800 is way better (I think only somebody who has never used a D800 would say otherwise) - the much larger pixel size of the sensor allows lots of room for cropping and it can be easily used in what I call D700 mode (downsize the images in PS to 12MP and get a far superior result to the D700 all else being equal). It is no problem handheld if your technique is good (you can use it at high ISOs with little noise to ensure fast shutter speeds). Get rid of your zooms and get a few primes to get the best out of it - the 24-120 is likely to be very disappointing on a D800.

[Guest]

Whilst I'd love the latest D500 or 750, I have at the present moment to be realistic about what to get. I shoot mainly landscapes, architecture and want to retain a walkabout ability. I don't really need high ISO, video or rapid fire FPS. I've been looking at the 610 and 7200 but I remain unconvinced by the build quality - the joys of having a mag alloy body for so many years! I've thought about selling the 14-24 and switching to FF completely.

 

 

I think somewhere in this is a budget - not a lot of use extolling the virtues of cameras which may be well beyond both budget and need.

 

Obviously anyone who shoots landscape and architecture should be using a Canon........ how else can you get to use a 17mm TSE.......

[dustydingo]

 

Whilst I'd love the latest D500 or 750, I have at the present moment to be realistic about what to get. I shoot mainly landscapes, architecture and want to retain a walkabout ability. I don't really need high ISO, video or rapid fire FPS. I've been looking at the 610 and 7200 but I remain unconvinced by the build quality - the joys of having a mag alloy body for so many years! I've thought about selling the 14-24 and switching to FF completely.

 

 

I think somewhere in this is a budget - not a lot of use extolling the virtues of cameras which may be well beyond both budget and need.

 

Obviously anyone who shoots landscape and architecture should be using a Canon........ how else can you get to use a 17mm TSE.......

 

 

Cough . . . talk about "beyond budget" . . . 

 

Strangely (then again, perhaps not), there's not a lot of evidence I can see of that particular glass hereabouts

 

dd

[wiskerke]

 

Whilst I'd love the latest D500 or 750, I have at the present moment to be realistic about what to get. I shoot mainly landscapes, architecture and want to retain a walkabout ability. I don't really need high ISO, video or rapid fire FPS. I've been looking at the 610 and 7200 but I remain unconvinced by the build quality - the joys of having a mag alloy body for so many years! I've thought about selling the 14-24 and switching to FF completely.

 

 

I think somewhere in this is a budget - not a lot of use extolling the virtues of cameras which may be well beyond both budget and need.

 

Obviously anyone who shoots landscape and architecture should be using a Canon........ how else can you get to use a 17mm TSE.......

 

 

It fits on all mirrorless cameras too.

 

wim

 

edit: some of which use the same sensor as the d800/810.

[MDM]

Looking at a few pages of the OP's portfolio, I would continue to advocate a secondhand D800 with a few prime lenses (the superb 50 mm Nikkor 1.8 is cheap even new plus a 24 or 28 would do much of the trick). The D800 fits the bill in terms of build quality and I would suggest FX rather than DX to take advantage of good reasonably priced wideangle lenses for the type of work he does.