The time has come to replace my camera body. The D80, my first DSLR has served me well since 2006. The current purchasing decision is however more complex. Until quite recently I had my head set on whatever the D300S replacement turns out to be. This has now become less clear with the introduction of the D800 ahead of the D300S update (D400). Although the D800 is in a different class to the D400, FX versus DX, it has made the availability of lightly used D700's a reality. The pragmatic reader could also ask "what is wrong with a D7000?" Fair comment!
Back in 2006 when I bought the D80, I had actually decided to go for a D200 but there wasn't one available for some time so I settled for the D80. It is fair to say that as far as I'm aware the only area where I regret this is in the inferior frame rate when taking sports images.
So, how to make a decision? A list of bullet points for each body is a good start:
D800
- Current state of the art.
- Expensive.
- Enormous files.
- Some current lenses rendered redundant.
- Only 4 fps.
- Excellent high ISO image quality.
D700
- Last generation model.
- Becoming available second hand.
- Sensible size files.
- Some lenses also rendered redundant.
- 5 fps (8 with MB-D10 grip).
- Excellent high ISO image quality.
D400
- State of the art DX.
- Use existing lenses.
- ?
- ?
D7000
- Good frame rate.
- Relatively inexpensive.
- Sensible file sizes.
If the critical constraint is budget then I should get a D7000 and get on with it. The thought of the D400 appearing shortly after with major improvements is holding me back. I cannot see any way that I will pay the price of a D800 when the frame rate is lower than I require and the file sizes are enormous. They are seven times bigger than what I handle at the moment. Just offloading the camera would take too long. A tempting D700 bargain could however sway me to full frame.
The conclusion at this point is that I will wait a bit longer to hear about the D400 specifications. The announcement is so far overdue it must be coming soon.
