New month - new Nikon?

[Reschsmooth]

stroke of genius by nikon to have the d300 and d700 take the same battery, charger and grip. thats going to be a great selling point for enthusiats and pros who want 2 bodies. another great move is retaining the onboard flash is brilliant and the controls all being the same as a d300 will make using multiple bodies as simple as it can possibly be.

I think having the rumoured D700 with wide lenses (such as, oh, a 17-35 2. and a D300 with a tele (such as, maybe, an 85 1.4) would be a very nice combination. Almost, just almost, beats using a film camera.

[chrisk]

heres a great little teaser.
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x5ye9t ... ation_tech

[bittenyakka]

Sexy

it's a pity i can;t read French or German
Just need to wait until a price is announced.

[Greg B]

More good stuff here

http://www.nikond700.com/

about the D700.

[Glen]

Good find Greg

[Greg B]

I must say that on the face of it, the D700 has some attractive specs. It will be very
interesting to see how it shapes up.

I noticed that it isn't in Gary's specials list from Poon yet, not sure what the problem is

[gstark]

Stay tooned.

I'm expecting to have real details - like official stuff - by around 13:00 today.

[Glen]

Confirmed that the product exists this morning and you don't have pricing till lunchtime Gary? Could imagine a few might ask for a backdated invoice.

[gstark]

You're suggesting immediate availability Glen?

[Glen]

You are probably testing one as I write this

[gstark]

Broadcasting, actually.

Joey De Francesco - All Of Me

[bwhinnen]

Now I am watching this thread... Shows how exciting my day has become

[gooseberry]

It's official

http://www.europe-nikon.com/product/en_ ... rview.html

[gstark]

I'm still waiting for my info - Leigh's at the dog and pony, but hasn't told me what's up as yet.

And I now need to head off from the station, (yes, there'll be movement here) so unless Leigh texts me in the next 30 seconds, I won't be able to give the official Oz news until laterer.

[Jonesy]

some new light as well i see
the SB900
http://www.europe-nikon.com/product/en_GB/products/broad/1632/overview.html

[Cre8tivepixels]

http://www.dpreview.com/news/0807/08070 ... viewed.asp

WOW

[gstark]

Leigh says the SB900 is very nice, and the 24PC is to die for.

No idea of pricing or availability here as yet.

[Cre8tivepixels]

Leigh says the SB900 is very nice, and the 24PC is to die for.

No idea of pricing or availability here as yet.

Any online details about that Gary? (link)

[gstark]

D700 - Availability - Late July, RRP $3999.

[radar]

Looks like a great set of additions to the Nikon stables.

Thanks for keeping us posted Gary.

Cheers,

André

[Mr Darcy]

Also a couple of new lenses. I saw them briefly on NikonUSA Website. but when I went to look in more detail, the site went gaga (Heavy Traffic???)
One was PC/E 85mm f2.8 MicroNikkor
The other was 45mm PC /E 45mm f2.8 MicroNikkor

Link back up. Here it is:
http://www.nikon.com/about/news/2008/0701_pce_nikkor_03.htm

[Cre8tivepixels]

Got to get me one of these 45mm PC /E 45mm f2.8 MicroNikkor

[gstark]

One was PC/E 85mm f2.8 MicroNikkor
The other was 45mm PC /E 45mm f2.8 MicroNikkor

Not quite new announcements.

All three of the PC lenses were o display at PMA in February of this year.

Leigh was very impressed with the 24, even on the D300.

The D700 was a pre-production model, and he was not able to use his CF card in it.

PP4K is way too much, given the pricing of the 5D. Street price, I guess, will be PP3300 ... I don't yet know what Poon's pricing will be.

[Reschsmooth]

Whilst I look forward to seeing Poon's pricing, this camera is very interesting, compared to the D3/D300, for the following, personal reasons:

1. Obviously, FF - 17mm becomes 17mm (with minimal distortion).
2. Great high ISO performance (if it is on par with the D3).
3. Priced significantly less than the D3.

It does make you wonder how difficult, or expensive, it is to give that extra 5% of viewfinder space. Or is it only a 'pro-camera' thang.

The real question for me will be whether or not I am missing shots because I have the D200?

[the foto fanatic]

Specs of the camera and flash now on Nikon's Aussie site too.

[Glen]

What a great camera for travelling. Wide become wide, ultra wides probably become distorted, but 12mm on a FX will be interesting. Price seems fair, especially given Poon's likely price.

[chrisk]

well considering its the same sensor, you' expect the ISO performance to be identical in terms of IQ. what may not be there is the raw grunt of processing power/ speed. i **think** the VF reduction, (95%), is due to trying to keep the prism as small as possible for the camera body size and for built in flash to be accomodated.

the sb900 is fantastic. great range but even more appealing is the 180deg rotation on either end. that was a major flaw omn the sb800. very happy i waited a little while before i bought another strobe.

d300 with 70-200 on one arm and the d700 with the 24-70 on the other. and no need to remember buttons or adjust. thats some combination. nikon got this right. big time. gary's right $4k is a joke. far too expensive. should settle to under $3k in a few months i'd expect.

they screwed up with lens' though. in saying that, i would suspect that septembers photokina will yield updated glass and a d90. no point having state of the art bodies with old ass screw drive lens'. sticks out even more now.

[Reschsmooth]

they screwed up with lens' though. in saying that, i would suspect that septembers photokina will yield updated glass and a d90. no point having state of the art bodies with old ass screw drive lens'. sticks out even more now.

I don't think too much about future lens updates, but, you could conclude that their pro-zoom line up is pretty complete (14-200 at 2.8 with VR from 70-200); their PC lenses are up to date; super-teles have been updated and their micro lenses are pretty much up to date. That leaves the mid-range teles and normal lenses - AFS & VR?

If you take a 35 1.4 with VR at ISO 6400, it would have to be pretty dark before you couldn't take a usable image.

[chrisk]

their primes are too old Pat, they need af-s. at least their 50 and 85mm. AF speed is far too slow and they are far too noisy.

micros arent really updated. the 200 needs an update. the 105 is not a great micro either truth be told. its a much better short tele than it is a macro lens. i have found alot of difficulty with the 105VR at MFD producing good contrast, sharp images. the 80-400 is also ancient and needs a review.

but i admit...the micros are a "want". the primes though...they are an absolute must.

[Reschsmooth]

That leaves the mid-range teles and normal lenses - AFS & VR?

their primes are too old Pat, they need af-s. at least their 50 and 85mm. AF speed is far too slow and they are far too noisy.

Kinda saying the same thing? The 85 is typically considered a short/mid-range tele?

The 50 & 85 are too slow in terms of focus speed, the 50 in particular. I haven't had too many problems with the 85, but could imagine that some would have. Perhaps the new nano-coating on the primes?

[radar]

It sure is hard to keep these Nikon fans happy

Nikon has to leave some news for the future, otherwise what would we talk about!!

Off to take photos with my D200 and AF lens

Cheers,

André

[aim54x]

The D700 looks beautiful, as does the SB-900. Chances are I'll end up with a SB-900 in the future, but dont think I will get a D700 unless I win the lottery.

Now we wait for new glass.

[Killakoala]

About bloody time........

[chrisk]

From Nikon USA
The new FX-format Nikon D700 D-SLR camera will be available late July 2008, and will have an estimated selling price of $2,999.95 (body only).that pricing is very good. by the time i buy early next year it should come down to around $2600 i'd guess.

[bittenyakka]

It looks really good.

Am i missing something major? since it seems to be very expensive to get a D700 when you could in theory just use the D300 and take a couple of extra steps backwards?

[Killakoala]

It looks really good.

Am i missing something major? since it seems to be very expensive to get a D700 when you could in theory just use the D300 and take a couple of extra steps backwards?

Full frame compared to crop factor of 1.5x is enough of a difference but couple that with the difference between the sensor used in a D3 and a D300 and that makes the price differential understandable.

[chrisk]

Full frame is quite differnt from DX. its not just a matter of stepping back a few steps. if you've ever shot with a film camera, (or FF DSLR), you'd realise how beautiful, big and bright the viewfinder is. there is also a huge advantage in iso performance as the pixel density on the sensor is alot less resulting in much cleaner images. what it will also do is make the 35, 50 and 85mm lens' more in keeping with their intended design.

[Nnnnsic]

I'd say you are missing something. We're talking full frame compared to stepping backwards, and you do get the 25,600 ISO that the D3 gives you. That makes a difference.

I liked it, but I won't be moving from my D300 to the D700. As far as Nikon are concerned, the D300 and the D3 are still their flagship camera (ahoy, I have a flagship camera!) with the D700 being more like a slightly smaller version of the D3. I'm hearing some things have been fixed up over the D3... hold on, I'll find my press kit.

Ah... here are my notes. Yup, they're using a combination of Kevlar and carbon fibre in the shutter... that's like a nod to the F6 if I remember my cameras as well as I think I do. It's got HDMI mini which I'm hearing from another coincidental press release today might be on a couple of new laptops. It's ever so slightly bigger than the D300 so not quite the same body (D300 @ 147x114x74mm vs D700 @ 147x123x77mm) and it weighs a little more too (D300 @ 825g vs D700 @ 995g).

It won't be taking Microdrives... so no more support for that. Move onto CF cards. It may have a better Scene Recognition System (yeah, I'm using terms from the press materials). I was writing when he was talking about this and more or less gazing into the notetaking ability of my iPhone so I didn't pay much attention here. It'll take the same battery grip as the D300 -- I was paying attention on this one. The dioptre can be adjusted at -3 to +1 m-1 which I'm told is better than before.

Oh, and the CAM 3500FX AF sensor is apparently the same as the D3's except in a different sort of circuit layout or something.

The SB900 I quite liked. It's always nice to know where to sit when the guy from Nikon hands the equipment to you first. First guy in the room! Woohoo!

Anyway, the SB900 is nice. It feels like they've gotten the design of the SB800 and made it better. Easier to use though some of the buttons will take a bit of getting used to. Luckily, it's a flash so you don't use it for long periods of time in the same way you do a camera. I quite like the switch for remote and master flash... it's a lot easier and quicker to do then flicking through the menus on the SB800.

The SB900 shifts between Full-frame and DX automatically, feels quite solid, and can be firmware upgraded. I'm a bit confused however on the side of this one because the hypothetical used on this one was a "say the SB900 has some incompatibility with a D100; Nikon could release a firmware upgrade to fix it" (different wording, but you get the point). That's all well and good, but you can only upgrade the SB900 firmware with a D3 or D700 which kind of makes an incompatibility with a different camera useless in regards to firmware upgrades. Should I head to a JB HiFi or Ted's Cameras and ask them if I could borrow their D700 so I can upgrade my flash?

Oh yes... I tried the 45mm PC and the 24mm PC. I prefer my 45mm Pancake but I did like the 24mm a lot.

[Grev]

This D700 sounds SO MUCH like a D3... I really wonder how the people that bought a D3 justifies their cameras now... No matter how many professional job you've put the D3 through, the D700 gives the D3 a great run for it's money.

[Jonesy]

Hmmm, right when the Tax man was going to help fund a D3. Now I have to sit back and re-think... and maybe wait till the d700 hits the market to find out some true comparisons

I'm liking the look of the SB900 as well.

Thanks Leigh for the info

[Yi-P]

Look like its official now, appeared on Nikon site. Both D700 and SB900.

Anyone have any idea of them both? Looks very interesting as I'm considering the D300, but now the D700, even better...

[methd]

This D700 sounds SO MUCH like a D3... I really wonder how the people that bought a D3 justifies their cameras now... No matter how many professional job you've put the D3 through, the D700 gives the D3 a great run for it's money.

I'd still buy another D3 if I was looking for another camera for work. You get twice the shutter life, better weather sealing, dual CF chambers (a must for weddings), faster fps and much longer battery life. I'm sure there are more features but that's off the top of my head.

By the time you buy the grip, battery and chamber cover (+ charger for those who don't have it) the price of the d700 is fast approaching that of a D3 with all the above shortfalls. The unit will also be bigger too, and still not quite a D3

The only thing I like about the D700 over the D3 is the built in flash. Would be absolutely great for travel so I can leave the SB800 at home.

[DVEous]

... Obsolete ...

[bwhinnen]

So any D300 users wanting to upgrade

[Reschsmooth]

If I had a choice (which I don't), I would still go for the D3 for many of the reasons Methd mentioned, and others. I actually prefer a larger body (hence my own physique), and would prefer the components to be more integrated, as in the grip of the D3 compared to a separate component grip of the D700.

Still, I would be tremendously happy with the D700 if I acquired one, from all reports.

[Grev]

I thought the D300 is $1850 or something at those US online stores?

methd - even after le grip, le charger, le batteries and le battery cover (lame), you'd still be better off i think, since I think stores would sell the camera at less than $3000 and Nikon ranks the weather sealing the same as the D3.

Just biggest concern is the 5D Mk2...

[PiroStitch]

will await the pricing on this. would be nice to have a combo kit of a 5D with my current lenses and a D700 + 50 1.4 for documentary

[Yi-P]

That leaves the mid-range teles and normal lenses - AFS & VR?

their primes are too old Pat, they need af-s. at least their 50 and 85mm. AF speed is far too slow and they are far too noisy.

Kinda saying the same thing? The 85 is typically considered a short/mid-range tele?

The 50 & 85 are too slow in terms of focus speed, the 50 in particular. I haven't had too many problems with the 85, but could imagine that some would have. Perhaps the new nano-coating on the primes?

They need to fix the CA issues with the 85, too.

[firsty]

first hands on report on the SB-900 from some who knows his flashes

Joe McNally

[Oneputt]

If the pricing of the D700 is where it is rumoured to be then having bought a D3 I am more than a little ticked off with Nikon.