The Nikon D700 is Nikon's top new amateur camera. Unless you're a full-time sports, news or action pro, the D700 replaces the D3 for studio, wedding, portrait, nature and landscape pros, as well as all advanced amateur photographers. (I'm a very strict grader for what defines a pro; everyone else is amateur.)

I average 5,000 shots every month on my D3. When I got a D700, there wasn't much difference. The D700 has exactly the same image quality, and handles just a little bit better. I can't say anything better about the D700 than that. The D700 is a D3 with a smaller battery (unless you add the grip) and a cheaper finder screen system, and that's it. The D700 even has the superior rear thumb control of the D3, not the crappy single-piece thing from the D300.

The D700 is a mostly improved version last year's $5,000 camera, for just $3,000. If you want to read all the good things I think about the D700, read my D3 review in its entirety, and read this review simply for what differs between the two.

The thing I missed most in the D700 is the option to shoot in the professional 4:5 aspect ratio, which fits more of my subjects better than the outdated 2:3 aspect ratio of 35mm film and most DSLRs. On my D3, I program the FUNC button to let me chose my framing with one finger without having to take my eye from the finder.

To make up for it, the D700 adds an AUTO option to the Auto Dynamic Range mode, which will probably give the D700 slightly better image quality in difficult light with less twiddling (I leave my D3 set at Normal, since it has no AUTO setting), and more importantly, the D700 added a much needed way to get to my color saturation and contrast Picture Control settings, as well as a way to display the huge INFO panel on the 3" LCD, each with just one tap of one finger on my shooting hand. On the D700, I can get to all the menus with just one hand.

Which is better? If I didn't use the 4:5 mode so often and have a personal issue with the obstructive black AF sensor markers and too-small exposure compensation marks in the D700's finder, it's obvious that the D700 is better so long as you're not shooting action at 9FPS.

The D700 is so good that I'm suggesting people buy a D700, then sell their D3s and pocket the cash. Shoot the D700 until the D3X comes out so that you aren't holding onto a depreciating D3. (see $1,000 off on a D700).

The D700 uses the same image sensor and has exactly the same image quality as the D3, even at ISO 3,200.

The D700 has some subtle, but critical firmware improvements which make it far easier and faster to use than the D3. I can shoot the D700 with one hand, but need to two hands to set Picture Controls and get to the menus in the D3. See my D700 User's Guide for details. In the D700, I can program the FUNC button to call up my Picture Controls, program the power button to call up the rear INFO display, and another tap of the INFO button gets me to other frequently used menu settings. The D3 lacks these options, so it takes a second hand on the MENU button to do all this. Time wasted jacking with more button pushes on the D3 needing an extra hand means missed photos.

Things unique to the D700

"Auto" ADR mode. The D300, D700 and D3 all have selections for OFF, LOW, NORMAL and HIGH. The D700 adds "Auto," which magically selects among them all. It really works.

Ability to program the FUNC button to bring you immediately to your top item in My Menu (CSM f5: Assign FUNC Button > Access top item in My Menu). I set this to Set Picture Control, which lets me select among my various settings of saturation and contrast. This is very important and I wish my D3 did this, because when I photograph things, I use very high saturation, and a second later if I'm photographing a person, I need to set it back to more reasonable colors. If I have the colors set to one or the other, my images are poor and would require post-processing screwing around which would cost me money.

Easy to set the rear LCD to show what's going on, either with the dedicated rear INFO button, or better, by setting a Custom Function (CSM f1) to make the INFO panel appear on the back simply by rotating the power-switch to the illuminator setting. I prefer the more complete INFO display on the large LCD to having some of the information, like ISO and WB, on the second smaller text-only LCD of the D3.

The D700's rear INFO display is superior. It's a masterpiece of interface design that tells me every conceivable option that's set in the camera, all on one screen I can pop on with one touch from my shooting hand.

WB is easier to set than the D3, because it can come up easily on the rear 3" INFO panel and comes up with all the icon in a row on the top LCD. On the D3, the tiny rear LCD has the icons jumbled in no particular order, and it takes a second hand and some logic to get the INFO panel to display on the D3. The D3 takes a moment to display the INFO panel once you figure it out; the D700 does it instantly.

The D700 adds a sensor cleaner lacking in the D3, but present in the D300. UNlike Canon, it only runs when you tell it to so it doesn't slow down your power-on and power-off switching. I don't care, I send my cameras in to the manufacturer one every year or so for cleaning, and FX cameras are much less picky about crud than DX cameras were.

WB is easier to set because you can see it much more easily on either the big rear INFO display (no fiddling required), or the top LCD which has the WB icons in a row. The D3 has the WB icons all jumbled together in no order on the tiny rear LCD, making it slower to get where you need. The D3 requires a second hand to call up the INFO panel.

It's not only smaller, lighter and less expensive than a D3; it's quieter, too.

The Vignette Control defaults to NORMAL.

D700 Lens Compatibility

Intro Comparisons Lens Compatibility Specifications Accessories Performance Recommendations

Thank goodness, the D700 works with every Nikon lens made since 1977.

Every AF, AF-D, AF-I and AF-S lens just works, which is every Nikon AF lens ever made since 1986.

It also meters with AI and AI-s manual focus lenses as does the D3. If you enter the focal length and f/stop, it gives color matrix metering, aperture-priority and manual exposure and correct EXIF data. Whoo hoo, this means you can use the full catalog of manual lenses.

DX lenses work on the D700, but who cares? The D700 is only a 5MP camera with a DX lens, because it only uses the middle of the sensor. It's silly to use DX lenses on the D700; even the D40 has more resolution (6MP) with DX lenses than either the D700 or D3.

See Nikon Lens Compatibility for much more.

Specifications:

Finder: Worlds better than any DX camera. 18mm eyepoint. 95% coverage (of full FX frame, not the tiny DX frame), 0.72x with 50mm lens. (D3 is 0.7x and 100% coverage.) Inferior finder for DX lenses; doesn't crop the finder as does the D3.

Electronic Level: Yes, electronic virtual horizon, just like D3.

AF: 51 points. CAM3500FX sensor array (same as D3 and D300). Fine-tuning, if you have slight errors with certain lenses.

Shutter: 1/8,000 ~ 30 sec, bulb. Carbon fiber and Kevlar, tested to 150,000 cycles.

Flash Sync: 1/250.

Frame Rate: 5 FPS. 8 FPS with MB-D10 and EN-EL4 or 8-AA battery.

Built-in Flash: GN 39/12 (Feet/meters at ISO 100). Controls wireless flash.

Sensor: 12.1MP CMOS, same as D3. 14-bit linear ADC, 16-bit data pipelines, as the D3. 12-channel parallel readout.

Sensor Size: FX (23.9 x 36mm) and cropped DX, just like D3. No professional 5:4 mode.

Live View: two modes.

Resolution: 12.1MP in FX, 5MP in DX.

FX: 4,256 x 2,832 (L), 3,184 x 2,120 (M), 2,128 x 1,416 (S).

DX: 2,784 x 1,848 (L), 2,080 x 1,384 (M), 1,392 x 920 (S)

ISO: 100~25,600. Nikon really only want you using ISO 200~6,400, so lower ISOs are read as gibberish like "Lo-1" and higher ISOs are coded as garbage like "HI+2."

File Formats: JPG, TIF, NEF. NEF in 12- or 14-bit with no, lossy or lossless compression.

Rear LCD: Exquisite 3," 920,000 pixels. HDMI HD output, but it uses a screwy, non-standard mini HDMI connector.

Storage: Single CF card. Too bad; I love the in-camera backup of the D3's dual card slots.

Data Communication: USB. Optional WT-4 wireless and ethernet.

Optional Macho-Man Grip: MB-D10.

Power: EN-EL3e, standard; same as D200, D300, etc.

Size: 5.8 x 4.8 x 3.0" (147 x 123 x 77mm).

Weight: 35.1 oz. (995g) without battery, card, strap, monitor cover or lens.

More Reviews at: http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/d700.htm