Just ordered D600

Geoffc

Senior Member
After my recent post about not buying a D800 and going full frame because I love my D300s, I've just ordered a D600. This did not surprise anybody that knows me although in fairness I'm saving an awful lot off the street price so I'm not taking much of a risk if it doesn't work out.

After much deliberation I've bought the 24-120 F4 and the 50mm 1.8G lenses. I initially ordered the 50mm 1.4g but having looked at several reviews the 1.8g seems better in terms of IQ. I was originally going to get the 16-35 F4 as I wanted to keep the ultrawide capability of my Tokina 11-16, but after some testing here using a friends D700 I'm keeping the Tokina to use on the D600. I also have a 70-200 2.8 VRII which will be good on FX. I have an older 28-70 and 75-300 from the film days which probably won't get any use. The latter just doesn't seem to compare with the 70-200 even though I need to crop to get the same image. I will give them a try to confirm that again.

I'm going to keep the D300s for the foreseeable future just to remind myself what a semi pro body feels like in my hand and for the better features, autofocus, crop factor for wildlife, frame rate etc when required for certain types of shooting. This is not a straight forward move in my book. Yes the IQ, dynamic range and high ISO will be much better (The reason I'm getting it) but it still falls short of what I actually want, which is probably a D700 with the D600 sensor in it. This probably sounds ungrateful to some people, however that is genuinely how I feel right now. In six months I may be so taken with the improved IQ that the 300 never sees the light of day. I will be perfectly happy if that happens.

To make me feel even more guilty I've had to review my PC setup and need Windows 7 for the Lightroom and Photoshop versions that support D600 RAW. I decided to offer my wife (Also a keen photographer) a new high spec PC and I would have her current Windows 7 machine. "No you'll need the new PC for your big D600 files so you keep it " she says. That was after encouraging me to get the camera and lenses which I was going to hold back on. Therefore she is officially the best wife in the world!!
 

gqtuazon

Gear Head
Congrats on your new camera. Once you try FX, you'll never look back on DX unless you are into wildlife or bird photography.

NAS did strike me again. Well, I guess annually it does. I just got my Nikon 105mm VR last month and now I just ordered the 300mm f4. I hope that should take care of everything that I need.
 

Marcel

Happily retired
Staff member
Super Mod
Congrats on your new camera. Once you try FX, you'll never look back on DX unless you are into wildlife or bird photography.

NAS did strike me again. Well, I guess annually it does. I just got my Nikon 105mm VR last month and now I just ordered the 300mm f4. I hope that should take care of everything that I need.


Yeah... don't we all hope so. But NAS is a strong organism that needs feeding once a while, and sometimes it's when you expect it least that it gets hungry. :)
 

Geoffc

Senior Member
Congrats on your new camera. Once you try FX, you'll never look back on DX unless you are into wildlife or bird photography.

NAS did strike me again. Well, I guess annually it does. I just got my Nikon 105mm VR last month and now I just ordered the 300mm f4. I hope that should take care of everything that I need.

Thanks for the comments everyone, I'm sure I'll love it and suspect my D300 will only come out for special tasks which is a shame.

I had an option of the 105 as part of this deal at a silly price but unfortunately I had to draw the line somewhere. I'm sure it's fantastic on a FX body.

I've talked my wife into the 300 f4 later in the year, probably with a 1.4 TC. She has the kenko which is supposed to be good. I think this combo will be better than a 4-500 sigma or suchlike, partly because of the weight.
 

Ironwood

Senior Member
Good stuff Geoff.
I am looking forward to hearing your impressions once you are using your new D600, I will be interested to see what you think of it coupled with the 24-120 f4 also.
 

Geoffc

Senior Member
Good stuff Geoff.
I am looking forward to hearing your impressions once you are using your new D600, I will be interested to see what you think of it coupled with the 24-120 f4 also.

I'm expecting good stuff from the 24-120 as I went this way rather than the 24-70. I'm not expecting perfection, but I'll be disappointed if it isn't very good. The majority of my research suggests I'll be happy, but you never know until you try it.
 

Ironwood

Senior Member
I'm expecting good stuff from the 24-120 as I went this way rather than the 24-70. I'm not expecting perfection, but I'll be disappointed if it isn't very good. The majority of my research suggests I'll be happy, but you never know until you try it.

Hi Geoff, I have read quite a bit about the 24-120 f4, mostly good things, every now and again something crops up where someone says its not so good.
I think it would suit me later on, thats why I am interested in it.
 

aZuMi

Senior Member
Congrats on the purchase! What other lenses are you planning on getting for it?
Marcel hit it spot on, NAS is very contagious - especially whenever I visit this forum!
 

Geoffc

Senior Member
Hi Geoff, I have read quite a bit about the 24-120 f4, mostly good things, every now and again something crops up where someone says its not so good.
I think it would suit me later on, thats why I am interested in it.

I will certainly reply with any issues on the 24-120, however if your interested in the results from it I would recommend you go over to flickr and have a look at that user group. Many examples of real world photos and lots probably better than I would produce. I tend to do that for bodies and lenses these days. Just go to flickr and search for the relevant user group. At least that way you can see what people are actually achieving rather than a lot of forums where opinionated spec sheet experts spout their opinion.
 

Geoffc

Senior Member
Congrats on the purchase! What other lenses are you planning on getting for it?
Marcel hit it spot on, NAS is very contagious - especially whenever I visit this forum!


In addition to the 24-120, I've ordered the 50mm 1.8G lens. I initially ordered the 50mm 1.4g but having looked at several reviews the 1.8g seems better in terms of IQ. I was originally going to get the 16-35 F4 as I wanted to keep the ultrawide capability of my Tokina 11-16, but after some testing here using a friends D700 I'm keeping the Tokina to use on the D600. I also have a 70-200 2.8 VRII which will be good on FX. I have an older 28-70 and 75-300 from the film days which probably won't get any use.


 

Nikonitus

Senior Member
I went from the D300 to a D600 a few months back and although I found quite a bit of difference between them, their layout and handling is almost exactly the same. I too have hung on to the the D300 and even took her out in favour of the D600 this past weekend. I was told going to full frame might be a bit more of larger step than you might otherwise realize, but I couldn't really see anything to get upset about at the time I bought the D600. I did learn however, that there definitely is a world of difference, some of which I had to overcome, and others that by default were more pleasing, mainly the results of a well set up camera/lens relationship. It took me a small while to learn to take good shots and that lenses seemed more fussy on the D600, until I suddenly clicked as to how set the camera up properly. I am still not 100% used to the D600 but am learning fast what it is capable of, and that is "much more than I am", so for me, no matter what I can demand from it, it's there for me to use...

I thought the D300 was so easy to use. That may well have been one of its most favourable attributes - so fuss free and user friendly. You literally go by a few settings and just point and shoot all day. For this I will always look at the D300 as the best camera I have bought to date, and still own... The D600 takes a little more time, effort and thought to set up and in some cases, for each inidvidual shot, especially when conditions begin to vary,, but oh boy the results can certainly make you proud to own one. For me, it's been a transition that has been a little long-winded but well worth it, considering the knowledge I have gained lately.

I use mainly the 24-120mm F4 and just lately I am really coming to grips with it and getting some superb shots, at least for my capbilities anyway. At first I had a little bother with this lens, getting some very dark shots, but that was while I was trying to carry over settings that I would have used on the D300. It was only when I realized that this was completely the wrong way to look at it, that I began to use what little brains I had and to apply some basic thinking to setting the D600 up better. Back to basics for a while and remembering the eternal trianlge - Aperture, Shutter, ISO... Then all of a sudden my shots began to really let loose with the D600's true capabilities. There's been no looking back ever since...


I just KNOW you are going to enjoy the new camera...
 
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Geoffc

Senior Member
Thanks for the report from a D300 user, it's very useful and reassuring. What sort of D300 settings caused a problem? If I used it the same way I would probably have -3 or-7 exposure compensation on as the 300 tends to expose a little bright if anything. What sort of shooting caused you to revert tot eh 300 this weekend?
 

Nikonitus

Senior Member
Thanks for the report from a D300 user, it's very useful and reassuring. What sort of D300 settings caused a problem? If I used it the same way I would probably have -3 or-7 exposure compensation on as the 300 tends to expose a little bright if anything. What sort of shooting caused you to revert tot eh 300 this weekend?

Not so much "what settings" from the D300, but more like the way I would make small adjustments. I found the D300 was an almost set and forget camera which needed adjustments only when conditions (weather) began to differ quite a lot. Even then you only had to make small adjustments at a time like increasing Exposure Compensation a few notches then you were right back on track. I hardly had to move ISO past more than 400 ever in the 4 years I've owned it, but then again I mostly only used it in good conditions. The D600, I find, has to be kept "more ontop of" but you can use its adjustments to a much larger degree without fear of overdoing it. This is what I am playing around with now,, playing around with higher ISO, lowering aperture settings etc etc. While this might not sound like much to somebody who is quite good with a camera, to me it's ground that I have seldom walked before. As I said, I thought of the D300 as quite a user friendly camera, whereby you could basically use one or two aperture settings on any lens and just play with Exp Comp or similar and shoot all day and still get some half good shots. I am now playing around and ""having fun"" with the D600, which is something I have never really experienced before with any DSLR. I don't really want to say I'm becoming more creative or imaginative,, more just finding out by trail and error and somtimes the results astound me...

I only used the D300 last weekend becuase I thought I'd take it out of its bag and blow out the cobwebs, as I haven't really used it since the D600 came along. I just wanted to use it again, that's all...
 
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