OP/ED: Why New Gear is Not Always the Best Gear

When I got my D700 the thing I was asked the most was, why not the D800. Very Recently I started hearing, “do you wished you waited for the D600. My choices have seemed to bother a few people in an interesting way. Success in photography does not always require the latest and greatest gear. It requires good gear that does what you need it to do and for you to actually get out there and shoot.

The D700

To be honest, when I bought my first DSLR, the Nikon D90, I settled for it because I couldn’t shell out the cash. The D700 was my first choice, however I could not justify the cost. The camera is a piece of primal photography power, and a lot of fun to use. Released in 2008, it’s not spring chicken, but performs admirably.

Why Not Get a D800

The reason for not buying this camera really falls to value per dollar. The retail value of the Nikon D800 body is $2999.95. This would have depleted all the money I had been saving. My D700 was slightly used and not abused. So the cost of it, with a Nikon MB-D10 Multi-Power Battery Grip, and and Nikon AF Nikkor 85mm f/1.8D Lens was still nicely below the D800. Another thing with the D800 is the file size. With the D700 I don’t have to make a drastic investment in hard drive space.

Why the 85mm f1.4D and Not the G

Another question I got was why did I get the Nikon 85mm f1.8D Lens instead of the Nikon 85mm f1.8G. Yes we did review it here the G is a great lens. For me the D gives me more versatility, because it had an aperture ring. I’m shooting more film and the camera’s I like to use require and aperture ring. It that’s simple. I try to buy gear that I can use with everything I have.

Why Not Wait for D600

At the time of the purchase of my D700, the D600 was a rumor. After shooting with the Canon 7D I realized I was passed ready for an upgrade. If I decided to wait on a rumor I would of not have been shooting with a full frame sensor. My current kit now consists of two bodies making me more efficient and helping me feel more comfortable now having a back up. In all honesty, I will probably get the D600, if it does exist. I will go fully full frame, retiring the D90. For my photography plans, it’s the only path I see. The most important thing is that I am shooting with better gear.

Avoid Gearlust

Lusting after the latest and greatest new gear, can be a hindrance.

If you take a look at the internet, it’s easy to get caught in the “Look how good this is, you should buy it now” mentality.

Most times things are incrementally better or so drastically different it’s not what you were hoping for. In most situations what you need is already available. It’s proven & reliable. For the longest time you have seen fantastic images created with gear that’s already out or much older. Furthermore some of the images you really admire we’re shot on film or on cameras literally older than you. It’s all subjective really. If a new camera is released, and it’s what you need, by all means, get it. It’s better to look at what you need instead of what people say you should have. This is the line of thinking that led me to purchase the D700.

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Tagged as: Cameras, dslr, gear, Photography

http://IslandNature.ca/ Dave

I’m currently shooting with a D80 and am ready to upgrade to a full frame – the D700 was my first choice but the cost was still fairly prohibitive even after the D800 was released. I’m not confident that the D600 will be built to the same quality as the D700 but it will probably be the right price point. I just hope it feels (and is) better built than the D7000. Otherwise I’ll probably be looking for a D700…
- http://twitter.com/intensitystudio Antonio Carrasco
  
  Whether you get the D600, D700 or D800, those are all great cameras. Get the best one you can reasonably afford and then shoot shoot shoot. Any of those are great machines and I don’t think you will regret whichever one you choose…
  - http://twitter.com/gservo Gevon
    
    That is a great way to think!
Alex

I agree.
Michaelina2

Good decision. That’s why I love my tiny Pentax K-5… It can be configured to conveniently utilize ALL of the beautiful legacy M42 and K-mount lenses (there are millions of them with some over 50 years old) and image stabilize them, too, if needed… Plus, it does not break the bank…
- http://twitter.com/gservo Gevon
  
  Thanks for reading , the K-5 is a great camera, and I live not to “break the bank”
http://twitter.com/intensitystudio Antonio Carrasco

Good article… There’s so many photo forums where people just argue about gear all day and it just turns into one big pissing match. Seems like they spend more time arguing over camera specs than they do actually shooting photos. When they actually post the photos they shot with their shiny new D800′s, the results are often laughable.
- http://twitter.com/gservo Gevon
  
  I learned early on that I enjoy ‘shooting’ more than i enjoy ‘talking about shooting’
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Oblivion3001

He said the 85D is better than the 85g for video, yet the D700 doesn’t have video. So now we’re not talking about the 85d & d700 combo, we’re actually talking about another camera that he use for video. Making his point about the 85D irrelevant.
- Gevon Servo
  
  I use the 85D on my Nikon D90 for video
http://www.facebook.com/toffa52 Þórrstein K. Berg

Good points. Yes I have the D800, and you know what, it’s just a little step better camera than my old D200 (now transfered to back-up camera). Now I’m not talking about the resolution of the files, but the camera as physical body. The two reason I bought the D800 was the file size, as I shot mainly landscapes and that it was full-frame. I first thought of the D700 as I cound’t justify the price of the D3x or D3, but since I had the money just when the D800 came out, the D700 fell short. One other reason for this is that I like to shoot and compse my images within the 4×5 format, and with the D700 resolution of 12 MP, this would leave me at 10 MP which is what made me want to upgrade the D200 with it’s 10 MP (a croped D700′s RAW-file will end up at around 10 MP). Now with the D800 my files end up at 30 MP, which is more than enough for posters.

In the past I’ve many times resorted to the second-hand market and got no problems with that in future either to get gear I need to a lesser price than I would if bought it new.

And to the grand question of “is the D800 so good a camera as they claim? Both yes and no. It’s just a what you expect from a high-end Nikon camerabody.
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Dreamwalker

Wow, that was a very useful article. Thank you. I’ve been thinking of saving up to get a DSLR but all that tech talk was very intimidating. I also became very disillusioned with reading site after site, post after post proclaiming I needed to get this camera, that camera, this lens, that lens, etc.

I’m not a rich person so reading this article helped me stay grounded in reality and not get carried away with some false illusions that better gear = always better pictures. Composition, creative exposure, lighting, layering, knowing limits of a lens and things like these which make a great photo. Hell, there have been some great photos shot with handphone cameras.