Desperately Need help, Choosing The Best Camera Option

Hi Fellow members,

I want to upgrade to a camera that has a better Auto focus system and have become totally confused and frustrated that I can't make a decision.

It is probably due to my inexperience, but I am in need of help please.

I am well served for city and landscape solutions it is with my wildlife and bird photography that I am looking at.

To cover that type of photography I have a Nikon 70-300VR11 lens and AF-S 300mm F4 FF ED lens with TC 14E 11 to combine with my D90.

My only selections are from D7000, D300s,D600 and used D700. I am aware of soon to be released D7100 but very concerned about too many small pixells packed together.


I am hopeful that members with far greater experience and knowledge can help me make a considered decision.

How much are you willing to spend?

If you go FX the minimum that you can sensibly get is the D800 as it will give you usable 15 megapixel DX size image. Otherwise your 420mm 300F4/1.4TC combination that currently gives an effective 630mm field of view will just be a 420mm. The 700 and 600 crops are worse than your D90. Have a look at this test I did between my D300s and a D700 one weekend when I had hold of both. The D700 was obviously much better at high ISO and overall IQ but not if you wanted reach.

I have the D800 now and it is a second to none landscape tool and it also does an acceptable job (For my use) when it's turned to sport/wildlife. I would certainly put it above the D600 for that purpose because of the autofocus, the main reason I sold the D600 and replaced it with the D800. I still have the D300s and I until recently would always recommended it, however the D7100 has too many of its features to discount it. The buffer isn't as good, but to me that wouldn't be a show stopper, for you it might. For some the smaller body compared to the D300 is an issue, but if that's not what you're used to it's probably not. The D300 is definitely top dog in the DX world in terms of build and features, but unfortunately the sensor is now a few years old and depending on your requirements that may be an issue. It does still produce fantastic pictures though..

The pixel pitch is quite small so the ISO won't be as good as the FX cameras (no doubt a lot better than the D90/D300 generation though), albeit you will mostly be down sampling. The D800 is only OK at 100%, but when you downsample to something tiny like 16-20 megapixels the noise becomes very much improved and it's up there with the best.

The final thought is "will they release a D400" (D300 replacement proper)? You may wait for ever or kick yourself because you didn't. That said it won't have a better pixel density so no point waiting for that.

In summary my recommendation would be the D7100, providing you check the spec sheet and nothing is a show stopper. If time is on your side I would wait two months post release to make sure it hasn't got and D600/800 like production problems.

muzza22au said:

How much are you willing to spend?

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Hi,

Thanks for asking but I listed in my request fro help, the only cameras I am interested in.


Cheers,
Neil

For what you are looking for (fast and better focus) your only choice within your selection would be the D300 or D700.

Which one would then depend on how large you print and how much value high iso has for you. The D700 would get you much better results at iso higher than 1600 and probably could make better larger prints than the D300 although I never compared actual prints of the same subjects.

The drawback of the D700 would be that eventually you'll want the better pro-zooms and they will cost.

Good luck.

jeffo said:

Hi,

Thanks for asking but I listed in my request fro help, the only cameras I am interested in.


Cheers,
Neil

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The reason I asked how much you are willing to spend is because your choice varies greatly from $750 for the D7000 and then $1600 for the D600.

But that's ok I tend to get the best camera I can afford and if you have a bit more leeway then you can get better.

Hi muzza22au.

Sorry I forgot to address you by your name.

No offence meant.
Cheers,
Neil

Hi Geoffc,

Thanks for the in depth advice.

I was put off the D7100 because in a couple of articles it was stated that 24 megapixels literally crammed into an APC sensor could likely to cause resolution problems. Seeing how Nikon have had serious quality issues with D7000,D600 and D800 in early days from launch, I decided it was not worth the risk. It appears that D7000 must now be okay but there are still grumblings about issues with D600 and D800. The D800 is over my budget anyway.

I have bookmarked the link and will look at it when I leave this forum.

I really appreciate your information, it is most helpful to me.

Thanks again.
Cheers,
Neil

jeffo said:

Hi muzza22au.

Sorry I forgot to address you by your name.

No offence meant.
Cheers,
Neil

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No offence taken, I was just trying to highlight why I would ask such a simple question. Sometimes a persons budget has a huge impact on the gear they can get and seeing as yours was pretty wide spread I wanted to see how much latitude you had if any.

Both Geoff and Marcel have given great response so you are in good stead. The only other thing I can recommend is to go to your nearest camera store and feel them for real and see which ones suit you and that feel right.

Marcel said:

For what you are looking for (fast and better focus) your only choice within your selection would be the D300 or D700.

Which one would then depend on how large you print and how much value high iso has for you. The D700 would get you much better results at iso higher than 1600 and probably could make better larger prints than the D300 although I never compared actual prints of the same subjects.

The drawback of the D700 would be that eventually you'll want the better pro-zooms and they will cost.

Good luck.

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Hi Marcel,

Wouldn't you know it, that was what I figured after bashing my brains with specs of the above cameras and example photo streams. But the fact that it is FX ( heavier ) and it would have to be a used one and it was old technology with 12 megapixels, put doubts in my mind.

Damb it is frustrating going back and forth, normally this situation would have me cool it for a while and come back later but soon I will have to decided on a replacement as I am off OS for 100 days with huge photo opportunities, which include many moments where I want to use long lens and some will need a better focusing system.

Appreciate your help, I think ;0

Cheers,
Neil

muzza22au said:

No offence taken, I was just trying to highlight why I would ask such a simple question. Sometimes a persons budget has a huge impact on the gear they can get and seeing as yours was pretty wide spread I wanted to see how much latitude you had if any.

Both Geoff and Marcel have given great response so you are in good stead. The only other thing I can recommend is to go to your nearest camera store and feel them for real and see which ones suit you and that feel right.

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Hi muzza22au,

Been there done that already except for the D700 and D7100.
Notice you are at top end, can only imagine the many fantastic photo opportunities you have up there.

My aim is get up there before much longer soon as I can can learn to hypnotize my wife, she's always organising adventure trips OS. Fortunately they include mandatory heavy dose of wildlife.

Have you got a photo' from up there in Flickr or such?

Cheers,

Neil

jeffo said:

Hi muzza22au,

Been there done that already except for the D700 and D7100.
Notice you are at top end, can only imagine the many fantastic photo opportunities you have up there.

My aim is get up there before much longer soon as I can can learn to hypnotize my wife, she's always organising adventure trips OS. Fortunately they include mandatory heavy dose of wildlife.

Have you got a photo' from up there in Flickr or such?

Cheers,

Neil

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Neil you guys would love it up here I do and have only been here for 2 and a bit years.

This is a link to my flickr site - Flickr: Scott H Murray's Photostream feel free to have a gander

muzza22au said:

Neil you guys would love it up here I do and have only been here for 2 and a bit years.

This is a link to my flickr site - Flickr: Scott H Murray's Photostream feel free to have a gander

Click to expand...

WOW!

That's says it all. Classy stream of photographs, brilliant sunsets and storms. Have bookmarked your stream to continue viewing tomorrow.

Thanks for the link and be carefull of those little crocks

Cheers,
Neil

jeffo said:

WOW!

That's says it all. Classy stream of photographs, brilliant sunsets and storms. Have bookmarked your stream to continue viewing tomorrow.

Thanks for the link and be carefull of those little crocks

Cheers,
Neil

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Cheers mate.

Pretty soon I will have to worry about more than crocs, like hippo's, lions, cape buffalo to name a few lol

Hi Geoffc,

Had a look at the comparison, glad I did.

Whilst there I had a look at the photo stream from the D300S and I was pleasantly suprised.

Will stop thinking about it all until launch of D7100.

Cheers,

Neil

I might suggest that ANY auto-focus is simply a tool at your disposal. If I were you I'd start mastering whatever AF system I have and get past the "frustration" because you're likely to encounter this learning curve with any AF system; only the details will change. It's not the tool (or the AF system in this case) that delivers great results; it's the craftsman behind it.

Horoscope Fish said:

I might suggest that ANY auto-focus is simply a tool at your disposal. If I were you I'd start mastering whatever AF system I have and get past the "frustration" because you're likely to encounter this learning curve with any AF system; only the details will change. It's not the tool (or the AF system in this case) that delivers great results; it's the craftsman behind it.

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Hi Horoscope Fish,

I would be only too delighted if it turned out that it was all down to my lack of ability. In fact I would be really grateful to you if you can set me in right direction to overcome my difficulty locking onto focus in Low light/shadowy areas and in areas of distraction in good light. First to admit I am still on at the bottom of long learning curve.

Perhaps you might offer me some help buy telling me how to set up to photograph birds about 50/100 metres away amongst prominent branches leaves etc and focus keeps drifting or locking onto a close branch etc. The bird is clear for me to see and unobstructed. Oh, this all hand held.

In flight I have no such problems, wish they were all flying

I am very willing to learn so please give me some guidance.

Cheers,
Neil

muzza22au said:

Cheers mate.

Pretty soon I will have to worry about more than crocs, like hippo's, lions, cape buffalo to name a few lol

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Sounds like African safari coming up.

Magic place for wildlife, did Kruger, Masai, Serengeti 2010 migration time, simply magic.

The Nile crocs are huge and I can see your portfolio is going to be huge with wonderful memories, lucky bas....d

jeffo said:

Hi Horoscope Fish,

I would be only too delighted if it turned out that it was all down to my lack of ability. In fact I would be really grateful to you if you can set me in right direction to overcome my difficulty locking onto focus in Low light/shadowy areas and in areas of distraction in good light. First to admit I am still on at the bottom of long learning curve.

Perhaps you might offer me some help buy telling me how to set up to photograph birds about 50/100 metres away amongst prominent branches leaves etc and focus keeps drifting or locking onto a close branch etc. The bird is clear for me to see and unobstructed. Oh, this all hand held.

In flight I have no such problems, wish they were all flying

I am very willing to learn so please give me some guidance.

Cheers,
Neil

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I'd say use 1 single point focus, focus and re-frame after focus acquisition.

Marcel said:

I'd say use 1 single point focus, focus and re-frame after focus acquisition.

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Ummmm... Yeah; pretty much this. And lets not forget the fine art of manual focus. I like AFS as much as the next guy but I've taught myself not to be utterly dependent on it. All I'm saying is... AFS is a tool and sometimes it just flat out doesn't work very well; so it's a good skill to have to be able to adapt and overcome its limitations in certain circumstances. But hey, you use what works for you.

Just my two-cents.