Upgrade from D300s

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Geoffc

Senior Member
I recently talked myself into staying with the 300s for the time being and spend time improving the thing holding the camera. This was after an in depth look at the D800 and all that would entail including a PC upgrade.

Yesterday my friend offered me a D600 at a silly price as he gets industry insider friends and family offers for Christmas. I won't disclose the price but I could buy it and sell it in a year and get my money back without trying.

After the initial excitement I sat down and thought about it. Unfortunately the D300s body and pro features are not there on the 600. If I'd never had the 300 it would be a no brainer, but I know it'll irritate me every time I use the 600 and something is missing or it simply feels less substantial in my hand.

Has anybody made the same move and if so what did you think?

Please note this thread is not knocking the 600 as it's a fine camera, it's just that in this case I will be going backwards in every respect except the sensor and video which I don't use.
 
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Rick M

Senior Member
Perhaps the much anticipated Dx D400 is just around the corner! Would be nice to see another pro Dx come out. Nothing wrong with waiting for exactly what fits you. You will appreciate it all the more when you get it!
 
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stmv

Senior Member
I agree with your reasoning, the D300/700/800 is an awesome family for features, and well almost perfect weight/feeling when handling. I sold my D300 to get the D7000, and a D700 to get a D800.

The D7000 is a lot like the D600 for build and features. Not bad, but definitely miss the D300 for build and a few features. The delta is not huge.

However, I would advise getting the D800 if you love the D300. Although, jeesh,, buy the D600, sell it without using, and you can use the extra cash toward the D800 (if your friend would not mind, or see what type of deal he can get on the 800).
 
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Geoffc

Senior Member
Thanks for the thoughts guys. I have done some more thinking today and it's looking like the D600 is the way to go at this stage (Albeit I reserve the right to change my mind ten times in the next twelve hours :) ). I have come to this conclusion for a few reasons. Firstly, having downloaded some D600 and 800 raw files onto my PC and tried them in LR4, I have concluded that my current PC hardware can cope with the D600 files but will be tedious with the 800. At this stage I can't really justify an FX camera, lenses and a new PC plus OS. Secondly, if I get the 600 now, I can get it and a 16-35 F4 (To replace the Tokina 11-16) for about the same as the D800 body only, even at his special prices. I can therefore dip my toe into FX and build lenses before going for the D800 or whatever they think of next. Thirdly, if I buy the 600 at this price I can get my money back after a year of use, so I can't really lose there. Fourth, I can live with/ work around the feature limitations when I see the IQ and high ISO performance.

I'll let you know what I end up doing.
 
Marcel

Marcel

Happily retired
Staff member
Super Mod
Geoffc said:
Thanks for the thoughts guys. I have done some more thinking today and it's looking like the D600 is the way to go at this stage (Albeit I reserve the right to change my mind ten times in the next twelve hours :) ). I have come to this conclusion for a few reasons. Firstly, having downloaded some D600 and 800 raw files onto my PC and tried them in LR4, I have concluded that my current PC hardware can cope with the D600 files but will be tedious with the 800. At this stage I can't really justify an FX camera, lenses and a new PC plus OS. Secondly, if I get the 600 now, I can get it and a 16-35 F4 (To replace the Tokina 11-16) for about the same as the D800 body only, even at his special prices. I can therefore dip my toe into FX and build lenses before going for the D800 or whatever they think of next. Thirdly, if I buy the 600 at this price I can get my money back after a year of use, so I can't really lose there. Fourth, I can live with/ work around the feature limitations when I see the IQ and high ISO performance.

I'll let you know what I end up doing.
Click to expand...

Once you see the files the D600 produces, you'll never want to sell it unless you go for an even newer model (whenever that happens). So far, Nikon has succeeded in making us believe that after 4 or 5 years our digital cameras have to be replaced… Eventually, we should understand that this is just plain well done marketing. The thing is that if you take the same pics with a newer camera, they will still look the same as you'd take with your older camera UNLESS you are making a living with the camera and work for ad agencies or publications. But I'm not going to judge since I now have 4 bodies and 24 lenses…(just to show you how good Nikon's marketing is). I might as well laugh at myself. :)
 
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Sambr

Senior Member
Marcel said:
Once you see the files the D600 produces, you'll never want to sell it unless you go for an even newer model (whenever that happens). So far, Nikon has succeeded in making us believe that after 4 or 5 years our digital cameras have to be replaced… Eventually, we should understand that this is just plain well done marketing. The thing is that if you take the same pics with a newer camera, they will still look the same as you'd take with your older camera UNLESS you are making a living with the camera and work for ad agencies or publications. But I'm not going to judge since I now have 4 bodies and 24 lenses…(just to show you how good Nikon's marketing is). I might as well laugh at myself. :)
Click to expand...


I hear you loud & clear 6 bodies 32 lens - Nikon got me by the short &.....
 
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jcottone45

Senior Member
Geoffc said:
I recently talked myself into staying with the 300s for the time being and spend time improving the thing holding the camera. This was after an in depth look at the D800 and all that would entail including a PC upgrade.

Yesterday my friend offered me a D600 at a silly price as he gets industry insider friends and family offers for Christmas. I won't disclose the price but I could buy it and sell it in a year and get my money back without trying.

After the initial excitement I sat down and thought about it. Unfortunately the D300s body and pro features are not there on the 600. If I'd never had the 300 it would be a no brainer, but I know it'll irritate me every time I use the 600 and something is missing or it simply feels less substantial in my hand.

Has anybody made the same move and if so what did you think?

Please note this thread is not knocking the 600 as it's a fine camera, it's just that in this case I will be going backwards in every respect except the sensor and video which I don't use.
Click to expand...
I don't think I could pass up the d600 for that deal of a lifetime.!!
But my d 300s isn't going anywhere without me.!!
 
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vindex1963

Senior Member
I'm not a fan of menu based options so the D300 and D700 are the perfect camera in my opinion
with manageable file sizes. Resolution is another thing, the D600/800 are miles above in that respect
from the 100% crop shots I've seen. I know I wouldn't pass on a D600 for a good price but I'm not going
to seek one out.
 
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Eye-level

Banned
I'd pick a pro level camera over a semi pro or consumer model any day of the week. I'd pick FX over DX if I could have the glass to go with it. I prefer FX that is why I keep my film camera around... ;)
 
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Geoffc

Senior Member
Eye-level said:
I'd pick a pro level camera over a semi pro or consumer model any day of the week. I'd pick FX over DX if I could have the glass to go with it. I prefer FX that is why I keep my film camera around... ;)
Click to expand...

The problem is the only thing that really ticks the boxes is the D4 or the top D3 models and that's just way out of my budget or justification. Not that I actually had a budget :)

I suspect Marcel is right that I won't look back when I see the images. I downloaded some samples and the 100% crops were amazing.

The menu thing may bug me, time will tell. I'll probably keep the D300 for the time being. In six months I may trade the 600 for an 800 if it's an issue. At least I'll have some FX glass. I currently only have the 70-200 2.8 VRII and an older 28-70 3.5-4.5 in FX, although my wife's 70-300VR would be a nice match. I do have a 1992 75-300 but the 70-200 out performs it even when cropped to the same image so I don't count that.

I will probably give the D300s to my wife and I'll keep her 300 as my backup. I will also give her my new 35mm 1.8DX as I'm going to get the 50mm 1.4 G for the 600 along with the 16-35 F4.
 
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stmv

Senior Member
I have been busy printing this week, and mostly printing shots from the D800. Most of the prints have been 13x19 (largest printer I can do), and the details are such a joy.

I am a big advocate that the monitors and such can't do justice displaying today's ultra high density images. Often, I'll see and image, and frown, but then zoom zoom in, and go, ahhh,
its the monitor that is making it look like soft.

So, while I love my D700 and such, if you like printing big, then D600 or D800.
 
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Geoffc

Senior Member
Stangman98 said:
I have thought about the D600 but I just don't like it as much as my 300. I will only get rid of my 300 for a D3 or higher.
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I have a solution for now - keep the 300 and get the 600 as well. That was my wife's suggestion anyway. My friend has a 7000 and can't understand why I go on about the 300. I guess if you've never used that grade of camera you wouldn't understand. Tonight he referred me to Ken Rockwell's view of the 7000 being superior and I almost wet myself on several levels. I'm not knocking the 7000 it's just not the same beast.
 
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Stangman98

Senior Member
Geoffc said:
I have a solution for now - keep the 300 and get the 600 as well. That was my wife's suggestion anyway. My friend has a 7000 and can't understand why I go on about the 300. I guess if you've never used that grade of camera you wouldn't understand. Tonight he referred me to Ken Rockwell's view of the 7000 being superior and I almost wet myself on several levels. I'm not knocking the 7000 it's just not the same beast.
Click to expand...

The D600 just does not at all fit my needs. There are really only 3 bodies above the D300 that fit my needs. The D3, D3s, and D4 for their high ISO and fast shutter speed. I don't think I will ever get a D600. It is much cheaper to buy a used D700 now. I would rather have the 700. I don't believe in the pixel hype crap. I think you can make huge prints at 10mp or less if it's a quality shot. So pixel count doesn't worry me.
 
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Ruidoso Bill

Senior Member
Yes, the files are large, and it does take a little bit of computer power but I have had my D800 for 3 months, will hit 4,000 clicks tonight and my D300 has not been out of the bag since I got the new camera. I just finished shooting nothing but portrait studio shots, several thousand of them, used my 24-70 for 90% and the picture quality far exceeds anything I have ever used. Even with a large crop I still had large enough files for larger prints. As far as computers mine has 16 gb of ram and 3 gb on the video card win 7 64 bit but other than that it is nothing fancy, amd quad core. Biggest issues is backup storage which I am addressing with a NAS system with 3 3tb drives and I will just replace drives as I fill them. I use LR4 and cs6 and do not have any lag time that interferes with workflow. I only have one DX lens left and that will probably go when I get a second FX body. Once I used this camera in real world shooting I will not go back, my 2 cents.
 
Marcel

Marcel

Happily retired
Staff member
Super Mod
beaver962000 said:
When is the d400 rumored to be released?
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I read it was rumored to be announced in spring 2013. But this was a rumor as well. So it was the rumor of a rumor. Does it make it more real? :0

No one knows for sure except those at Nikon and they won't tell before it comes out anyway.
 
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