Some of you maybe a little bit confused on what should you get, either Nikon D300 or Nikon D700. Both are high quality top of the line Nikon digital slr camera. Almost similar in size and shape, but they are actually fall into different category.
Nikon D700 is a full frame sensor (FX), which means that it employs larger sensor than D300 which is using 1.5 crop sensor (DX or smaller sensor) .
Because of the differences of the crop factor, there will make a difference in focal length of the lens you attached to each camera. In crop factor camera, you will get a farther reach because you will multiply the lens focal length with the crop factor of 1.5. So if you have 100mm lens, then it will be acting like 150mm (100 X 1.5) in Nikon D300. This feature will be helpful if you shooting wildlife or sports. On the other hand, Nikon D700 will be great in wide landscape shots.
In term of noise handling, The D700 is pretty usable up to 6400, while D300 is very usable at 1600, so it you will gain 1-2 stops advantage if you use D700. This is especially useful if you shooting in low light condition or fast-pace action indoor sports.
The other important different is the viewfinder will be significantly larger.
Body and Controls
As you can see in the images, D300 is a wider camera. This will help if you have a big hand or fingers. Because it is wider, D300 also has a larger top LCD screen where it display almost everything you need including Nikon’s sophisticated the auto focus mode.
On the other hand, The D700 is more narrower. It has a big viewfinder and pop up flash in the middle. The trade off is you get a narrower top LCD screen. But don’t worry you still get most of the important information handy.
Other than that, most of the controls, button placements and build quality are almost the same as D300.
Lens Compatibility
If you decided on moving from DX format camera such as D300, D70, D80, D60, D40, you will need to let go DX lenses and low quality lenses. Because the full frame sensor is not compromising on low quality lens. It will show the defects on the image.
The good news is you can still use the DX lens on D700, but the resolution will be down to 5 megapixel instead of 12 megapixel.
Some newer lens such as 70-200mm VR f/2.8 also can’t escape from this unforgiving sensor in D700. To get the most fo this camera, you need to invest on lenses that designed for FX. They are quite expensive, for example: Nikon 14-24mm, Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8.
In a nutshell, if you choose Nikon D700, prepare to spend more bucks on the lenses. Without good lenses, you can’t get the image quality that you suppose to get from full frame camera.
Become our Facebook Fans
Follow me @ Twitter
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Your comment about the width of the two camera’s is flawed.
Here are their sizes:
D700: 147 x 123 x 77 mm
D300: 147 x 114 x 74 mm
clearly the D700 is equal or larger in every direction.
The comparison picture from the top is also wrong, just compare the size of the hotshoe’s, they are different, but should be the same.
yes, you’re right, thanks!