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Bjorn Rorslett's D700 Test Diary

Jonathon Delacour

Subscriber Member
Norwegian nature photographer and Nikon expert, Bjorn Rorslett, is "in a possession of a production-grade D700 and testing of it has commenced." If you're considering a D700 purchase you'll probably be interested in his D700 test diary thread at Nikon Gear. And those of you who live in Northern Europe will be delighted that his tests include a "cold temperature usage" test that measures how many exposures the D700 can manage in his deep freezer (at -23 C).

(Apologies to any Norwegian members that I used a plain "o" character rather than the correct "o with slash" (ø) character. I tried entering the appropriate HTML character entity but it was automatically converted on my Macintosh and I'm not sure it will be correct when viewed on other operating systems.)
 

Steen

Senior Subscriber Member
Thanks for the heads up, Jonathon :thumbup:

In my mind you are forgiven about the ø, OMMV :D
 

Jorgen Udvang

Subscriber Member
Freezer? I don't even have a freezer. And if I had one, why on earth would I want to take photos in it :confused: Ok, no need for a D700 for me then :scry:

People with silly letters like "ø" in their name, shouldn't be allowed into international forums like this anyway, at least not until they've had their freezer examined :lecture:


Jørgen :cussing:
 

Terry

New member
Freezer? I don't even have a freezer. And if I had one, why on earth would I want to take photos in it :confused:

People with silly letters like "ø" in their name, shouldn't be allowed into international forums like this, at least not until they've had their freezer examined :lecture:


Jørgen
Well we went to Moab this winter and it was quite cold -13c in the AM. We did lose some batteries very quickly.
 

Jonathon Delacour

Subscriber Member
...In my mind you are forgiven about the ø, OMMV :D
Steen, thanks! I just read the Wikipedia entry on the "o with slash" (ø) character and realized that I should have written "Apologies to any Danish, Faroese, and Norwegian members..."

People with silly letters like "ø" in their name, shouldn't be allowed into international forums like this anyway, at least not until they've had their freezer examined :lecture:
To be honest, Jorgen, I've often wondered whether your name is actually spelled Jørgen. :)

Well we went to Moab this winter and it was quite cold -13c in the AM. We did lose some batteries very quickly.
Terry, I hope you have a D700 on order -- its cold weather performance is most impressive!
 
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Arne Hvaring

Well-known member
I've been vaguely contemplating this camera, but with only 12,1 mpx to play with and a viewfinder that shows only 90 % of the captured image, I think I'll stay with the D3. Besides, a 250g weight reduction isn't that significant. All IMO, of course.
 

Jorgen Udvang

Subscriber Member
To be honest, Jorgen, I've often wondered whether your name is actually spelled Jørgen. :)
You are right of course, but living outside the Scandinavian freezer, it's not always easy to live with, so I tend to forget about it, even when writing in Norwegian.

In Thai language on the other hand, they have ø, and it can be spelled in three different ways, depending on its position in the word and the length of the vowel. But since "r" becomes "n" if it's at the end of a word (Jørgen becomes two words in Thai), I have to omit that one, or put an "omit-this-character-sign" above it. So the spelling ends up as "Yøgen", which more or less corresponds with the Scandinavian pronunciation.

Thai friends who want it to sound even better put an extra "i" in, so it becomes three words, and sounds like "Yørigen". Good, isn't it :)

Oh.... and about Mr. Rørslett's test. He certainly digs deep into it, but it looks very good so far. I think I would like to have one, even if I don't have a freezer :p

Guess I have to do some work then :angel:
 
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jonoslack

Active member
I've been vaguely contemplating this camera, but with only 12,1 mpx to play with and a viewfinder that shows only 90 % of the captured image, I think I'll stay with the D3. Besides, a 250g weight reduction isn't that significant. All IMO, of course.
Hi Arne
I'm having the same difficulty here - mind you, 90% area is quite a small sliver off the edges.

I quite agree about the weight - irrelevant . . . . . . . BUT there IS the size - I find that if I point the D3 at people they run for cover, which is definitely not the case with the Olympus E3 (which is roughly the same size as the D700). Added to that, the D3 with a lens on is a bugger to fit in any of the bags I use, whereas the D700 will be no bother (I know, I could get another bag, but I like small bags!).

Again - it sounds like the 24mp sensor will be in a BIG body, and I'm pretty sure that I won't be able to resist getting one - the combination of the high iso of the 12mp sensor and the high resolution of the 24 sounds like a match made in heaven, but two behemoth cameras.

I fancy the smaller D700 with my little voigtlander 58 f1.4 mmmm.
:)
 

Arne Hvaring

Well-known member
Hi Arne
I'm having the same difficulty here - mind you, 90% area is quite a small sliver off the edges.

I quite agree about the weight - irrelevant . . . . . . . BUT there IS the size - I find that if I point the D3 at people they run for cover, which is definitely not the case with the Olympus E3 (which is roughly the same size as the D700). Added to that, the D3 with a lens on is a bugger to fit in any of the bags I use, whereas the D700 will be no bother (I know, I could get another bag, but I like small bags!).

Again - it sounds like the 24mp sensor will be in a BIG body, and I'm pretty sure that I won't be able to resist getting one - the combination of the high iso of the 12mp sensor and the high resolution of the 24 sounds like a match made in heaven, but two behemoth cameras.


I fancy the smaller D700 with my little voigtlander 58 f1.4 mmmm.
:)
Hi Jono,
size can certainly matter. I've just traveled for some days in Europe with the D3 and the 2,8/24-70 zoom, and the combination did indeed draw some attention to itself:) A small lens, like the 2/40 mm Voigtländer would have been a blessing sometimes.
The problem with bags is the cameras awkward form factor. I now use the rather compact Lowepro Nova 3 and can -just- squeeze the D3 with the 24-70 into it.
Btw, I agree re upcoming 24Mpx Nikon. This will be their flagship camera and I doubt they will use anything but their top body for it.
 

Jorgen Udvang

Subscriber Member
Btw, I agree re upcoming 24Mpx Nikon. This will be their flagship camera and I doubt they will use anything but their top body for it.
I think they will do both. Sony puts the same sensor in a D700 sized body (the A900), and Nikon's top (and only) film body, the F6 is also that same size. There's a market for small cameras with big sensors.
 

Arne Hvaring

Well-known member
I think they will do both. Sony puts the same sensor in a D700 sized body (the A900), and Nikon's top (and only) film body, the F6 is also that same size. There's a market for small cameras with big sensors.
I hope you're right, that would make it an irresistible proposition (to me at least)!
 

jonoslack

Active member
I hope you're right, that would make it an irresistible proposition (to me at least)!
Jorgen - Arne
I hope so too - i've never owned a grip, and although I shoot a lot in portrait dimensions, I never use the vertical release. So the big body has only disadvantages for my personal use.

A D700 for low light and general with a D900 for landscape and travel would be a wonderful thing for me!

As far as bags are concerned, I mostly use Billingham Hadley bags, and you can just about stick a D3 with a Voigtlander 58 1.4 in one, but nothing bigger, as they are quite narrow front to back (which is why I like them). A D700 with the 14-24 would be fine, because the body would go in side on (the D3 is too deep).
 

Terry

New member
Here's the two questions I'm waiting for Bjorn to get to : AA filter vs D3 and focus speed.
Watch out for news on Luminous Landscape as well. Michael Reichman has a D700 that he is testing and will post his findings some time this week.
 

jonoslack

Active member
Watch out for news on Luminous Landscape as well. Michael Reichman has a D700 that he is testing and will post his findings some time this week.
Hi Terry
there are obviously a lot of them about.
I'd guess that Nikon are pretty confident about this one (quite right too).
 

Jonathon Delacour

Subscriber Member
I think they will do both. Sony puts the same sensor in a D700 sized body (the A900), and Nikon's top (and only) film body, the F6 is also that same size. There's a market for small cameras with big sensors.
I hope you're right, that would make it an irresistible proposition (to me at least)!
Jorgen - Arne
I hope so too - i've never owned a grip, and although I shoot a lot in portrait dimensions, I never use the vertical release. So the big body has only disadvantages for my personal use.
Looks like there's a chance your dreams may come true. Thom Hogan predicted a D900 on DPReview earlier this month:

I'm going to go a different direction: no D3x. Yes, a 24mp FX body, but it'll be the D900. This allows them to use the Sony sensor and bring it downscale to compete with the A900/5DII.​

Now Nikon Rumors has a post titled: Breaking News: Nikon D800 with the 24 Megapixels Sony sensor! Plus new Nikon D3 with anti-dust! WOW! that quotes a story in the August-September issue of the French photo magazine, Chasseurs d'Images that describes two new models (or one new model plus a revised model).

But, if the 24 megapixel sensor is in a D700 size body, will the "D800" have the dust-removal system, which -- according to Bjorn Roslett -- is responsible for the slight reduction in finder coverage on the D700? Is a 90% viewfinder an acceptable tradeoff for a 24 megapixel sensor in a smaller body? According to the French magazine, Nikon have added the dust-removal system to the D3. But there is probably room for this in the larger body and it seems unlikely that they'd reduce the viewfinder coverage from 100%.

One thing is certain, though: the choices don't seem to be getting any easier!
 
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