The D700 Experiment, Two Weeks In

I’m now two weeks in with the new Nikon D700. I had a list of rational reasons for starting this experiment to add a Nikon kit to my current Canon kit, but I also had a bit of trepidation. After all, it’s a big leap to go dual system, and the financial aspect of making the jump is only one part of it. It took more than a little gusto to overcome second guessing myself make the jump. I’m pleased to report that two weeks in, I’m totally thrilled.

Obviously, the biggest hurdle I’ve had to face these first two weeks with the new system is getting used to the user interface. To help the process along, I’ve set the Canon gear aside for a while and am working solely with the Nikon kit. A form of immersive learning, if you will. At this point, I think that I’ve pretty much jumped all the big hurdles and have settled in. The only thing that really catches me from time to time is the whole everything turns the opposite direction thing.

I had talked about this in my day one post with regards to exposure compensation and was quickly pointed to a solution for flipping the indicators using function f12 in the comments. I jumped on that advice and it made things a bit better visually, but my excitement subsided when I found that I still needed to turn the wheel the “wrong” way. That ended up really baking my brain until I read the manual again and found that I could flip the command dials using function f9. Now, not everything turns the wrong way, just a few things. Mostly, I’m pretty OK with things at this point and a bit more practice should do the trick. Of course, if I pick up somebody else’s Nikon, I’ll probably be confused again.

On the other hand, one thing that I’m finding to be much easier control wise is manual focus. The focus rings on the two lenses I have, the 14-24 and 24-70, are much nicer to use than the focus rings on any Canon lens that I can recall. In addition, I find the default focus screen in the D700 to be much more useful for focusing than the default screens in my Canon’s. Of course, focusing screens and focus ring feel are very subjective things and my experience may not match yours. But, I’m really pleased with this unexpected surprise. Something about the setup just really pairs well with me.

Speaking of focus, the autofocus system in the D700 is one of the areas that I’ve spent a bunch of time with. After all, if you’re going to use autofocus, you have to have confidence in what it can do and know its limits. What I’ve found pleases me a great deal. In a match up with the Canon EOS 5D, the D700 focus system simply dominates. There is no comparison. I don’t think I need to dwell too much on this other than to say my mind still boggles why Canon chose to saddle the 5D Mark II, a remarkable camera in most every other respect, with the focusing system it did. Especially at its price point.

In a comparison against the Canon 1D Mark III, a camera that costs quite a bit more, the story is a bit more interesting and nuanced. The 1D Mark III focuses faster than any other camera I’ve ever put a hand on, and my experience with the D700 hasn’t changed that fact. The D700 is not quite as fast at initial acquisition as the 1D Mark III. Of course, the problem with the 1D Mark III is that under some lighting conditions, it will quickly misfocus and provide you with out of focus shots. Speed without accuracy destroys confidence. The D700 autofocus, while a bit slower on initial acquisition, has been solid and reliable in my testing so far and inspires confidence, doubly so for me since I find the focusing screen easier to use to confirm focus with. Furthermore, when using 3D Matrix continuous focus, it is more tenacious on holding onto a subject than I’ve ever seen before. And, being able to see the focusing points used as your subject tracks across the frame lets you know when things are working out or if the system is failing to track what you want it to.

That said, the big test for the D700 autofocus system for me is coming up in a few weeks when I shoot the Web 2.0 Summit. It’s a lighting environment that has proven to be a problem for the 1D Mark III to work in and is one of the reasons why I’ve chosen to go with a dual system strategy at this point. I’m sure I’ll have a lot more to say about how much I like the autofocus system in this camera after that.

Beyond the big obvious things to talk about, I’ve been really appreciating the little touches built into the camera that are obviously targeted towards making a photographer’s life nicer. One particular example of this that I’ve run into and want to call out is the built in intervalometer. With my Canon cameras, I have to use Canon’s external TC80N3 Timer Remote Control, a $140-odd part. Nikon builds the functionality right in. When the entire system is computer controlled, such a feature is straightforward to implement. But, Nikon didn’t stop with just implementing a basic intervalometer. They added an ever so useful parameter that just pleases me to no end. They let you set the start time for the sequence of photographs to be taken. After all, there’s a clock on board the camera, so why not use it?

Of course, a camera body is only one part of the equation for making photographs. Lenses matter too. In fact, without a great lens, the best of cameras can’t live up to its potential. I want to talk more about the two Nikon lenses I picked up, the AF-S Nikkor 24-70 f/2.8G ED and the AF-S Nikkor 14-24 f/2.8G ED, in follow on posts, but I should mention an important thing here. These two lenses are the best lenses of their type that I have ever used. My Nikkor 24-70 handily bests the Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L I own, especially in sharpness across the frame and into the corners. I keep having to remind myself it’s a zoom when I look at photographs I’ve made with it. As for the Nikkor 14-24, it simply kicks the crap out of any Canon wide angle lens I have ever shot with, prime or zoom. It’s just amazing.

More to come...

Related Posts:

• Going Dual System, the start of this experiment.
• D700 First Impressions, my thoughts on the D700 after spending a day with it.
• The D3, D700, and Canon, where I outlined many of the thoughts between the systems that eventually led to me going dual system.