Is it a bad time to upgrade d700

[KLi]

Hey guys, just looking for a bit of insight from others if it's a good time right now to looking for a D700 both used and new. I am interested in upgrading from my D90 and after using a friend's D700 for a wedding the difference is night and day. However, I personally don't shoot wedding and I mostly do portraitures and looking to expand into shooting fashion/beauty/lifestyle. I understand the low light performance of the D700 alone would be a huge improvement from the D90 but 50% of what I will do would be inside a studio, and most location work will be done with flash.

If I do decide to upgrade should I want for the next announcement from Nikon and hope that it would be a d800 or D700x so that the D700 price would drop or is the 1900-2000 (used) / 2400 (new) price reasonable enough that it won't go significantly lower in the near future.

And if anyone is currently using D700 for studio / location flash work please let me know how you feel the camera handles.

Thanks guys.

[arthurking83]

I reckon $2400 for a new one is a pretty good price .. remembering that they initially came out at more like $4000 or so!

If it weren't for the imminent release of the updated body, I'd certainly have got one by now too.
The only reason I didn't/wont get a D700 is that I also want it to do video, so the update is what I'll be looking at getting.

[Tommo1965]

sit tight mate..no question that once the new model is released the D700 used price will drop....and if it dont..then you have haven't lost anything..and as you say the added High ISo isn't really affecting your current usage.

[I @ M]

I can't find too many negatives against the 700 as an all round camera but for the specifics of portraiture in a studio or location I would prefer :-

A lower native iso, 100 or even 50 would be ideal.

A 100% viewfinder would be appreciated.

Having focus points that extended further towards the edges of the viewfinder would be a further plus.

Other than that it works very well for what you want to do and is definitely a worthwhile step up from the D90.

Only time will tell if the replacement will have those features listed.

[arthurking83]

Hopefully one day Nikon will give us ISO 50 (or even 25) to play with (just as another option to have) on an affordable camera.

D3x has ISO 50 if you need it

I think that as pixel densities increase over time in successive bodies, Nikon will provide these options.

[Wayne]

I'm not so sure the D700 used price will drop in the short term, due to the probability that the replacement, like the D700 when new will be priced upwards of US$3K and probably closer to AUD$4K, which will put it out of reach of many, and therefore fuel demand for used D700's, especially as the D700 is such a great body. That assumes Nikon delivers a good replacement, if the new body turns out to be nothing special, alot of people looking to to move on from D700 bodies may just hang on to them, further tightening the used market, possibly even pushing the price upwards.

If I decide to sell my D700, I certainly won't be giving it away. If the used price dropped, I would just hang on to it as a backup, it is worth more to me to have it on hand than to get $1500 for it.

[ricktas]

Ah, but once the new body is announced..guess what, there will be another body announced 12-18 months later.. so why not wait for that one as well. Hell, after that one, there will be another new body around 2014, wait for that too, in fact the 2016 model will probably be amazing compared to the D700, so wait even longer and you will get something fantastic. Oh wait, 2017 might bring another new model out, that will be better again, perhaps you should wait for that one too?

The point is, waiting for a newer model is a waste of time, in my book. Get the camera you want now, and ignore the fact a new model is coming, cause a new model is always coming.

[LJG]

Rick is right. Even though I don't use Nikon I just went through the same thing with Canon. I upgraded to a 5DII. Everybody boohoo'd it and said why not wait for the 5DIII. Is there even going ot be a 5DIII? Nobody even knows 100% for sure. Did I need to upgrade? Probably not, but the FF offered things over the crop sensor I wanted with landscape and family shots, so I brought it. If a 5DIII comes out next year I won't really care. So, just do it and take advantage of the features the D700 offers over your D90 and don't even give the possibility of a new model a second thought. Buy it and enjoy it, that is my motto.

[Ben]

I just upgraded to the D700 from a D300. Very happy with my choice. As a hobby only there's no way I can justify $3.5-4k on the body alone for a D700 replacement. Unless you really need video the D700 is awesome, as you know. What ever replaces the D700 will be pricey and hard to get for a long while, there's heaps of people waiting on it.

I think the price of the D700 (new & secondhand) won't go down much with an announcement of a replacement. The current used price is almost the same as grey market new prices. It's like the 70-200 VR prices, still really good resale and it's replacement (VRII) has been out for years.

Just my two cents

[swifty]

A big mistake I made was not buying a D700 sooner. It met more or less all my needs but I procrastinated and procrastinated. But earlier this year at a time when rumours were rampant about an 'iminent' release of a D700 replacement I took the plunge and couldn't be happier and have got about 9months use out of it now and it's still a current model.
Now I'm not saying there aren't better or worse times to buy, but cameras are getting so good these days that you're not very likely to run into limits with even current technology so why chase vaporware. It's not like 5 years ago when subsequent models brought fairly significant improvements to table.
But having said all that, I am one of those who think a replacement is coming very soon so if you have no pressing need, particularly if you're not maxing out your current camera's capabilities then I'd just wait and spend the time improving my skills in the mean time.
The better you get, the more you'll get out of a better camera when you eventually upgrade.

I also think with initial pricing and potential supply shortages of the replacement, D700 used pricing will remain strong for awhile yet. It will drop but I just doubt you'd be seeing it under $1500 anytime soon, probably not til 2013.

[KLi]

The thing is I am not waiting for the replacement because I want to chase the latest camera but to buy the D700 as cheap as I can, I would be happy with $1800 for a reasonably new D700.

[Wayne]

The thing is I am not waiting for the replacement because I want to chase the latest camera but to buy the D700 as cheap as I can, I would be happy with $1800 for a reasonably new D700.

I wish you luck getting anything but a taxi (been round the world and has a million clicks) for that $$

Used they are bringing US$2000+ with 50,000 clicks in good condition, and near new ones mint are fetching US$2300 and regardless they are selling as fast as people list them In fact I see several current "Wanted to buy" posts on one of the net's biggest photography forums. Here in Aus, its very hard to get one at these prices because most people would have paid lots more so they hang on to them.

[KLi]

One with 6k counts was just sold on gumtree for 1800 5mins away and i am kicking myself for not fining it sooner, it was sold within a week.

[arthurking83]

You can buy a new (grey) body for approximately AU$2400 from the usual grey market retailers.
A few months back when the AU was at US1.10, I remember seeing new D700's for $2200 or so from Aussie based ebayers.

D700's on Ebay can range from $1500 to $2K in used low shutter count condition.

I've had three over the past 6 months tagged on my ebay watch list, 2 from AU and one from US. The US one was the $1500 item, with $50 postage.

People have to cease this delusional perspective where they think that something is worth more money second hand, than it is new! (vintage items excepted, and the D700 is a classic, but certainly not vintage and or rare!)

I also watched a D3s sell for US$3k not too long ago(used of course) and in the scheme of things .. why would you buy a D700 for $2400, when another $600 gets you a D3s.
I've had stray thoughts on going with a D3s due to it's close to perfect feature list for me at the moment. The limitation of it's fixed size is a problem, whereas with the D700 one can equip it with a grip when a larger form is required, and remove it when more compactness is subsequently needed.

I think if you're not interested in having the 'latest features' and the D700 suits what you want from a camera, then you should definitely go for it.
If it had 30fps(more would be nice to have) and 1080i video ability, I know I would, and the bulk of the D3s would occasionally annoy me.

20Mp is of no interest to me, and I actually prefer less for the vast majority of what I use images for, so having more simply means more bulk for no real gain.
I can't imagine printing anything larger than about 30" or so, and even the D70s produces images that print well at this size.

[swifty]

There's still one on gumtree for $1900 at Potts Point for a D700 with grip. Is that the one you're talking about?
If not, then here's the heads up. Seems pretty good asking price with the grip. I'd take that if I was after one now.

[KLi]

Nah it was in SA, if I buy on gumtree I will only buy it local where I can actually see it before I buy.

[geoffsta]

My opinion. Get yourself the D700. But keep the D90 as a backup body. I'm sure that you will have DX lenses. Keep them for the D90.
The D700 is only as good as the lenses on the front, and the user at the back. Prepare to pay good money for good FX lenses. And as you said' Once you pick one up, it's hard to put down.

[KLi]

I have decided to buy one at local store, got a quote $2500 for a d700. The only DX lens I have left is a 35mm f1.8 I have sold my other DX and only have a 24-70 and 70-200 so should be good enough for the d700 for now. Although I have seen what a d700 + 85mm 1.4 can do and it's amazing so that might be something to save up for next year lol.

[bgolds99]

Hang on to the 35/1.8 DX.... apparently it does a good job on FX when stopped down a little.