Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2011/08/13

[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]

Subject: [Leica] Thinking about a D700 or D7000
From: benedenia at gmail.com (Marty Deveney)
Date: Sat, 13 Aug 2011 16:54:06 +0930
References: <1254950807.4071991313212961627.JavaMail.root@dsmdc-mail-mbs12> <CA6B85F2.13362%mark@rabinergroup.com>

I have the D700 and D7000 and an M8, and have used the M9 extensively.

The high ISO difference between the D700 and D7000 is about a stop, in
some circumstances maybe 1.5 stops.  I prefer the D7000 because it's
smaller and lighter, but the D700 has a better viewfinder and
autofocus.  The D7000s autofocus is good, but it can shoot in lower
light than its AF can easily lock on in.  The area that it focuses on
seems to be larger too.  The D700 is much bigger and heavier, but I
can't see much practical "build difference".  Neither are as well
weather sealed as the D3 series cameras, and neither have shutters
rated for as many cycles.

There are other differences: because it is newer, the D7000 has some
high end featured that the D700 does not.  The D700 has one CF slot,
can do 6fps, and has better dynamic range, and a 95% viewfinder, does
5fps, while the D7000 has two SD slots, can do 5fps, has slightly
worse dynamic range and has a 100% viewfinder.  The D7000 also does
video; fun when you come across a barrel of eels at your local fish
market.

I am sure that the replacement for the D700 will address all this.  In
the end, what matters is whether you want a small, light, walkaround
camera or a low light tank.  When the Leica M8/9 and user get it right
there is much more fine detail in the images and the colour rendition
is unsurpassed, but the learning curve is steeper and the focus
mechanism is at the limits of its accuracy even with some not
especially demanding lenses.  I get a higher % of keepers with the
Nikons.  The D7000 is still quite a bit larger and more voluminous
than an M8/9.

If you have both, you have the best off all worlds.

Marty



On Sat, Aug 13, 2011 at 3:07 PM, Mark Rabiner <mark at rabinergroup.com> 
wrote:
> I got my D700 nine months ago at B&H where I've got most my gear for 30
> years. I've never seen them out of stock on it.
> I recommend picking a major supplier and sticking with it.
> That way they know you.
> If you ever get a blooper you can then take it back. Because they know you
> are a regular customer and they value your business.
> For awhile CAMERA WORLD in Portland Oregon got most my photographer friends
> attention but when they were bought out we were back getting our stuff from
> the other coast at B&H again. But now I'm here and I'm face to face with
> those guys. A much better way to do biz if you ask me.
> --
> Mark R.
>
>
>
>> From: Gene duprey <grduprey at mchsi.com>
>> Reply-To: Leica Users Group <lug at leica-users.org>
>> Date: Sat, 13 Aug 2011 00:22:41 -0500 (CDT)
>> To: Leica Users Group <lug at leica-users.org>
>> Subject: Re: [Leica] Thinking about a D700 or D7000
>>
>> Peter,
>>
>> I have also looked into the D700, which seems to be unfortunately very 
>> hard to
>> find in dealers shelves, outside of the occasional demo. ?My big gripe is 
>> the
>> loud mirror noise, seems they save some bucks by using the low end mirror 
>> box
>> mechanicals over the quieter high end parts. ?It sounds like several mouse
>> traps going off at once, IMHO. ?Outside of that I like the cameras
>> performance. ?As to the D7000, I have not looked at it since I am only
>> interested in a FF body. ?I have looked at the Sony A900 & A850 FF 
>> bodies, and
>> while quieter than the D700, they are still noisier than my R8DMR. ?But 
>> they
>> do offer quite a few interesting features.
>>
>> Gene
>>
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "Peter Klein" <pklein at threshinc.com>
>> To: "lug" <lug at leica-users.org>
>> Sent: Friday, August 12, 2011 11:31:02 PM GMT -06:00 US/Canada Central
>> Subject: [Leica] Thinking about a D700 or D7000
>>
>> Today I was at Glazer's in Seattle, and had a chance to handle two
>> cameras that interest me--the Nikon D700 and D7000. ?I've long had a bit
>> of D700-lust, as it is one of the best available-dark cameras out there.
>> I liked the big viewfinder of the D700 But after hefting them both, I
>> looked at the D700 and thought, "would you really carry that around
>> much?" Hmm--maybe not. Still, the ability to shoot at ISO 3200 like I
>> shoot the M8 at 800 is very tempting.
>>
>> On the other hand, the D7000 seems like a "Goldilocks" camera--a lot
>> about it is "just right." It felt good in my hands. The viewfinder is
>> not as spacious as the D700, but quite usable. The new sensor (also in
>> the Pentax K5) has previously unheard-of performance (for an APS-C
>> sensor) in both dynamic range and low light ability. There are buttons
>> for the commonly-used functions. The shutter is relatively quiet (the
>> D700 is MUCH louder). Dpreview and DXOMark comparisons indicate it might
>> have a 1-stop low-light advantage over the M8, compared to the D700's 2
>> stops or more. But that's lab tests. ?How about in real life?
>>
>> So... ?I would be interested in anyone's experience with the D700 and/or
>> D7000--particularly those who can compare it to the M8 or M9. ?I know
>> the difference between an SLR and a rangefinder. I'm most interested in
>> image quality, handling, and real-world available-dark performance. K5
>> users are welcome to chime in, too.
>>
>> --Peter
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Leica Users Group.
>> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Leica Users Group.
>> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Leica Users Group.
> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information
>


In reply to: Message from grduprey at mchsi.com (grduprey at mchsi.com) ([Leica] Thinking about a D700 or D7000)
Message from mark at rabinergroup.com (Mark Rabiner) ([Leica] Thinking about a D700 or D7000)