The Nikon D700, an artist camera.
It's been over two years owning my D700. What a ride!
This is a camera to love. At the beginning I was amazed how this camera easily exceeded my initial low expectations, being over 10 years old and all, you can understand. Soon later, so many things about it frustrated me, after getting to know all those features other cameras were so much better at. Afterwards, its limitations became a way to get inspired about the craft and technique of photography, a way to learn to enjoy those simple things about the experience of owning an artistic tool to create images: shutter sound, bulk of a body, a confident mirror slap and so many other things. And now, knowing the best and the worst of this camera, I am ready to say I love it. I love it properly. I love it the way true relationships work, when you choose to stay with someone despite his/hers shortcomings, you choose to love such person because he/she helps you balance your own shortcomings. This is a camera to fall in love with, a camera you choose to love for what it can do to help you grow as a photographer.
This feeling of love became very clear after making another purchasing decision… buying a Nikon D750. You see, one of the shortcomings that bothered me in several occasions about the D700 was how unable I was to confidently use the LCD to check on my compositions and a preview of my exposures. I can confirm that running live view on the D700 drains very, very quickly its battery, and being an old camera, it hadn't yet developed the properties of exposure preview. At the time, I was doing more nature and landscape photography with the D700 and I was adoring the colors I could get out of its sensors, specially those greens. But not having these feature made me feel I was being held back in my process, and being the Nikon D750 a more “advanced” camera, with a tilt screen to help my lower back and knees, I thought I would be better served.
One day, finally, the opportunity of purchasing a used D750 at a bargain price presented itself and I pulled the trigger. I'll be honest, unpacking and holding the D750 for the first time did not bring the same feeling of amaze and awe I had with the D700. It felt uninspiring, its body kind of inferior in terms of its built compared to the bulkiness and muscular feeling of the D700. I could do a review later of this camera, or not, I am not sure still at this stage if I want to keep it, but it became much clear to me that no matter how superior in features and technology the Nikon D750 is compared to the D700, the latter produce images that feel more true to life. Not sure how to say, but the D750's images look artificial, lifeless, perhaps too digital, I am not sure. Right below you could compare two photos unedited taken the same day, the first to your left being the Nikon D700, and. to your right the D750. Right there you could see how well the D700 captured the colors from the bark of the tree separate from the a deep green from the leafs, while the D750 messed the whole frame with a greenish tint. Editing the D750 file was a lot of work trying to find a coloring that wouldn't look unnatural and it was not easy.
Now, don't get me wrong, I have worked and tested many use cases where the D750 performed superb (sports for instance). Its dynamic range, recovering details in high ISO pictures, autofocus speed, a 24 megapixel sensor, and so many others. The D750 is a camera that performs, like a worker's tool, to get the job done. To me , the D750 is just not as inspiring a tool as the D700. If I had to guess what is it about this modern camera that when comparing it with the D700 makes me feel this way, I could say is the sensor. In the edit room the D700 sensor produces colors with a level of quality and beauty that are unbelievable, even in high ISO pictures. It feels as if the SONY sensor on the D750 captures a digital representation of the world, and it feels artificial, comparing with the D700 that captures a artistic view of the world according to the intention of the photographer. I believes this makes the D700 an artist camera, a tool built with the intention to create art.
From the D700
In conclusion, the Nikon D700 is a beast of a camera. Once again, it has taught me to focus on what is essential about the art of photography… the images and the emotions they evoke. Many times, when I go out to the streets I take two cameras, one of them being the D700 for those moments that call for an artistic approach. The D700 might be one of the reasons I might decide about selling the D750, and that's saying a lot.
If interested, you can follow me on instagram on my users: @eruizmiro and @panamastreetshooter. I hope you are well and blessed with health.
