D300 or D300s or D700

[Harshad Barve]

Dear All
I am getting very good price fro my D300 ( 95% of what I have paid 10 months back )
It has clocked 50k actuations ( Pl dont ask how many keepers :D:D )

I am basically bird profile photographer and Tigers ofcourse. I have 300/f4 and 600/F4

My question is , should I buy D300 , D300s or D700
FF or 1.5 reach ? :confused::confused:

All suggations are most welcome and much appreciated
Harshad

[arash_hazeghi]

Harshad since you have the 600 VR and shoot in dark jungle I recommend D3 or D700. D300s is not an upgrade to your current camera unless you want to shoot videos of tigers (not a bad idea :D) you are getting an excellent deal given the high shutter count on the body, even if not planning to buy a different model would sell immediately and buy a new one again!

[Harshad Barve]

Recieved payment few min back , now I must buy:D . Would love to know more on D3 and D700

Harshad

[arash_hazeghi]

Harshad,
D700 is a compact D3, sensor and AF is the same, 3 has 100% and larger finder plus shoots at 9 fps, 700 has 95% finder and shoots at 8 fps max but needs the MB-D10 grip + AAs or EN-EL4 which you already have. If you want the best and expect to shoot more than 100K per year get the D3 if price is not an issue, D700 does the job too but shutter is rated for 150K as opposed to 300K in D3 so it wears out faster.

[Harshad Barve]

8 Fps should do for me and 150k shutters means 2 years of usage

[Desmond Chan]

If you need the "reach", a DX camera is still the way to go. A 600 on a D3 or a D700 give you the "reach" of a 400 on a D300 or D300s, but you have to carry a heavier 600 lens around (unless your 400 is a 400f2.8).

[Harshad Barve]

D700 seems to be best choice

[Sabyasachi Patra]

You got a superb price. Full frame is certainly the way to go. Just that you need to decide whether D700, D3 or D3x.

[subrata dass]

Harshad,
Would like to know what's the present price of Nikon D700 and D300s. I am upgrading to D 700 with a nikon 24-70 and 200-400.
dass.

[Jason G. Harrison]

You stated your mainly a bird photographer. I can say that about me as well. Given that...with birds, especially smaller birds, you need all the reach you can get. There is no way I could give up the 1.5 crop factor of the D300/D300s. Going to an FX body is giving up alot of real estate and when you crop to regain that reach, you now have lost the pixel density of the DX body. I wish Nikon had a real pro DX body, but we have to take what we have for now, and the D300/D300s are the way to go.

The one thing I wish these DX bodies could deliver is better upper ISO performance. With that said, I have not shot the new D300s. I know some serious bird photographers who have used it and say it is indeed a step up from the D300 in both AF capabilities as well as ISO performance.

When you shoot tigers...your 300mm will be fine, or get a 200-400VR. Right now I have the 200-400VR and the 600VR and think those two lens compliment each other well with a DX body.

[Krishnan]

Keep one DX body and one for high ISO. I kept my D2x. One does need a backup body in the wild just in case there is a problem.

[Ilija Dukovski]

Recieved payment few min back , now I must buy:D . Would love to know more on D3 and D700

Harshad

Harshad,

With D700 you lose the 1.5 factor (not too much a problem I think with 600mm add TC1.4)
but you gain huge loss of noise and much higher ISO performance. Take a look at some
of the images with D700 and D3 at ISO1600 and try to find noise and you'll see what I mean.
My next camera will be D700.

I also answered your similar question in educational forum.

Cheers,