I bought the bullet.

"Pete" wrote in message
news:2010100219143457458-availableonrequest@aserverinvalid...
On 2010-10-02 16:34:13 +0100, Savageduck said:

On 2010-10-02 04:48:53 -0700, Robert Coe said:

On Fri, 1 Oct 2010 20:14:27 -0700, "Bill Graham"
wrote:
: Well, I finally "bought the bullet" and purchased a D700 reconditioned
from
: Nikon. It was recommended to me by Jason Kirby at whichdslrtobuy.com
It has
: a full frame sensor and will operate much like my F5 and use the same
lens
: set. This is important to me, since I spent years accumulating my
Nikkors
: and didn't want them to go to waste. My D700 won't operate at full
: functionality with all my lenses, but it will operate to some degree
with
: all of them, and this is good enough for me.

Sounds like a good decision. I'm from the Canon World, but I've never
heard
anyone say anything bad about the D700 (except, of course, that its
lenses are
too expensive, but you've already got some of them). May you live to
wear out
the shutter!

Isn't it "bit the bullet"?

Bob

Try this for an explanation for Bill's malapropism. ;-)

It all depends on whether Bill was anticipating some pain with the
purchase. If so, He could "bite the bullet" thereby applying a
psychological analgesic.
If on the other hand he was anticipating a fresh season of "shooting"
with his mind's eye as his weapon, the D700 could be considered the
figurative "bullet" he needed to buy to make that shooting possible.

Buy that? ;-)

Anyway, there is no reason he shouldn't enjoy his new toy. New or used,
bought or bit, it is still a very good FF DSLR, and not a bad choice.
It is a move I had considered for getting an affordable FF. I cannot
justify buying a D3s, a refurbished D700, yes. However I have a feeling
he might exhibit a degree of frustration with some of his old Nikkor
lenses, as it appears not all of the ones he has for his F5 are going to
perform within the parameters he remembers.

Totally agreed.

To the OP Bill: I've learnt a thing or two about the D700 so please feel
free to ask questions; pre-AI lens issues will have to be answered by
someone else.

--
Pete


Well, my pre-AI lenses don't operate too well with my F5 either.....I've had
a couple of them converted by John whatsisname.....It really doesn't matter
that much to me, because I like to shoot in manual mode once in a while
anyway.....

"Bruce" wrote in message
...
"Bill Graham" wrote:

Well, I finally "bought the bullet" and purchased a D700 reconditioned
from
Nikon. It was recommended to me by Jason Kirby at whichdslrtobuy.com It
has
a full frame sensor and will operate much like my F5 and use the same lens
set. This is important to me, since I spent years accumulating my Nikkors
and didn't want them to go to waste.


Great decision, Bill! The D700 is like a digital F100 or F5. You
will find many aspects of operation are near-identical.


My D700 won't operate at full
functionality with all my lenses, but it will operate to some degree with
all of them, and this is good enough for me.


Which lenses won't function fully? The D700 has just about the best
compatibility with older Nikon lenses of any Nikon DSLR.


I hope so....I haven't got it yet, so I don't really know, but I expect it
to work about as well as my F5 does.

"Pete" wrote in message
news:2010100221022139152-availableonrequest@aserverinvalid...
On 2010-10-02 20:47:21 +0100, Savageduck said:

On 2010-10-02 11:14:34 -0700, Pete
said:

On 2010-10-02 16:34:13 +0100, Savageduck said:

On 2010-10-02 04:48:53 -0700, Robert Coe said:

On Fri, 1 Oct 2010 20:14:27 -0700, "Bill Graham"
wrote:
: Well, I finally "bought the bullet" and purchased a D700
reconditioned from
: Nikon. It was recommended to me by Jason Kirby at whichdslrtobuy.com
It has
: a full frame sensor and will operate much like my F5 and use the
same lens
: set. This is important to me, since I spent years accumulating my
Nikkors
: and didn't want them to go to waste. My D700 won't operate at full
: functionality with all my lenses, but it will operate to some degree
with
: all of them, and this is good enough for me.

Sounds like a good decision. I'm from the Canon World, but I've never
heard
anyone say anything bad about the D700 (except, of course, that its
lenses are
too expensive, but you've already got some of them). May you live to
wear out
the shutter!

Isn't it "bit the bullet"?

Bob

Try this for an explanation for Bill's malapropism. ;-)

It all depends on whether Bill was anticipating some pain with the
purchase. If so, He could "bite the bullet" thereby applying a
psychological analgesic.
If on the other hand he was anticipating a fresh season of "shooting"
with his mind's eye as his weapon, the D700 could be considered the
figurative "bullet" he needed to buy to make that shooting possible.

Buy that? ;-)

Anyway, there is no reason he shouldn't enjoy his new toy. New or used,
bought or bit, it is still a very good FF DSLR, and not a bad choice.
It is a move I had considered for getting an affordable FF. I cannot
justify buying a D3s, a refurbished D700, yes. However I have a feeling
he might exhibit a degree of frustration with some of his old Nikkor
lenses, as it appears not all of the ones he has for his F5 are going
to perform within the parameters he remembers.

Totally agreed.

To the OP Bill: I've learnt a thing or two about the D700 so please feel
free to ask questions; pre-AI lens issues will have to be answered by
someone else.

The photo groups always seem to be a good place to air this observation;

"The machine does not isolate man from the great problems of nature, but
plunges him more deeply into them."
Antoine De Saint-Exupéry

...and he was talking about aircraft and flying in the 1920's & 30's.

Man and machine in perfect harmony is idillic. It neither judges the man
nor the machine, it simply drives those that have the desire to create.
That could undoubtedly be worded better by someone else! Wish I could
create a poem on-demand...

--
Pete


I downloaded the D700 instruction manual in PDF.....It's got 472 pages!
It's going to take me a few weeks just to read through it......

On 2010-10-02 15:53:37 -0700, "Bill Graham" said:


"Savageduck" wrote in message
news:2010100208354775249-savageduck1@REMOVESPAMmecom...
On 2010-10-01 20:14:27 -0700, "Bill Graham" said:

Well, I finally "bought the bullet" and purchased a D700 reconditioned
from Nikon. It was recommended to me by Jason Kirby at
whichdslrtobuy.com It has a full frame sensor and will operate much
like my F5 and use the same lens set. This is important to me, since I
spent years accumulating my Nikkors and didn't want them to go to
waste. My D 700 won't operate at full functionality with all my lenses,
but it will operate to some degree with all of them, and this is good
enough for me.

BTW: What was the asking price for the reconditioned D700?

--
Regards,

Savageduck


About $2000. I also bought a fancy battery pack, which set me back
another $350......My total outlay will be about what I paid for my F5
10 years ago....

That isn't too bad. I have the MB-D10 on my D300. it is a great
accessory and makes handling much better. That EN-EL4a seems to work
forever.
All I can say is, if you have an important day's shooting planned,
check & charge both batteries. It will seem as if you never have to use
the small EN-EL3e and that you are only charging the large EN-EL4a once
a month or so. It is easy to become complacent with your available
battery power.

Now, with that extra battery weight, do your well used, retired neck a
favor and order a BlackRapid R-Strap. For $54, your neck will thank you.
http://www.blackrapid.com/product/camera-strap/rs-4/


--
Regards,

Savageduck

On 2010-10-02 16:03:38 -0700, "Bill Graham" said:


"Pete" wrote in message
news:2010100221022139152-availableonrequest@aserverinvalid...
On 2010-10-02 20:47:21 +0100, Savageduck said:

On 2010-10-02 11:14:34 -0700, Pete said:

On 2010-10-02 16:34:13 +0100, Savageduck said:

On 2010-10-02 04:48:53 -0700, Robert Coe said:

On Fri, 1 Oct 2010 20:14:27 -0700, "Bill Graham" wrote:
: Well, I finally "bought the bullet" and purchased a D700 reconditioned from
: Nikon. It was recommended to me by Jason Kirby at whichdslrtobuy.com It has
: a full frame sensor and will operate much like my F5 and use the same lens
: set. This is important to me, since I spent years accumulating my Nikkors
: and didn't want them to go to waste. My D700 won't operate at full
: functionality with all my lenses, but it will operate to some degree with
: all of them, and this is good enough for me.

Sounds like a good decision. I'm from the Canon World, but I've never heard
anyone say anything bad about the D700 (except, of course, that its lenses are
too expensive, but you've already got some of them). May you live to wear out
the shutter!

Isn't it "bit the bullet"?

Bob

Try this for an explanation for Bill's malapropism. ;-)

It all depends on whether Bill was anticipating some pain with the
purchase. If so, He could "bite the bullet" thereby applying a
psychological analgesic.
If on the other hand he was anticipating a fresh season of "shooting"
with his mind's eye as his weapon, the D700 could be considered the
figurative "bullet" he needed to buy to make that shooting possible.

Buy that? ;-)

Anyway, there is no reason he shouldn't enjoy his new toy. New or used,
bought or bit, it is still a very good FF DSLR, and not a bad choice.
It is a move I had considered for getting an affordable FF. I cannot
justify buying a D3s, a refurbished D700, yes. However I have a feeling
he might exhibit a degree of frustration with some of his old Nikkor
lenses, as it appears not all of the ones he has for his F5 are going
to perform within the parameters he remembers.

Totally agreed.

To the OP Bill: I've learnt a thing or two about the D700 so please
feel free to ask questions; pre-AI lens issues will have to be answered
by someone else.

The photo groups always seem to be a good place to air this observation;

"The machine does not isolate man from the great problems of nature,
but plunges him more deeply into them."
Antoine De Saint-Exupéry

...and he was talking about aircraft and flying in the 1920's & 30's.

Man and machine in perfect harmony is idillic. It neither judges the
man nor the machine, it simply drives those that have the desire to
create. That could undoubtedly be worded better by someone else! Wish I
could create a poem on-demand...

--
Pete


I downloaded the D700 instruction manual in PDF.....It's got 472 pages!
It's going to take me a few weeks just to read through it......

THAT is not poetry! but dont lose it. There will come a time you will
want to change a menu setting and need a reference.

I would also suggest you check-out Kelbytv and DtownTV. The first 24
episodes, before they added Canon to their content, were Nikon DSLR
specific, with some information usable by owners of other brand
cameras. It is worth going through all of them, some of the information
is very good.
http://kelbytv.com/dtowntv/

--
Regards,

Savageduck

On Fri, 1 Oct 2010 20:14:27 -0700, "Bill Graham"
wrote:

Well, I finally "bought the bullet" and purchased a D700 reconditioned from
Nikon. It was recommended to me by Jason Kirby at whichdslrtobuy.com It has
a full frame sensor and will operate much like my F5 and use the same lens
set. This is important to me, since I spent years accumulating my Nikkors
and didn't want them to go to waste. My D 700 won't operate at full
functionality with all my lenses, but it will operate to some degree with
all of them, and this is good enough for me.

Congratulations!

Please, let us see some of your initial work. It will be interesting
to see comparrisons if you have them too.

I left the wonderful world of photography back in the early 90's as
finances precluded doing a lot of traditional film work for me. I
didn't get back into it till I jumped onboard with a Canon Rebel. The
10 year or so gap left me pretty much as an advanced amature moving
into the digital age.

Your change over will be more night-and-day and it would be
interesting to see and hear how it goes for you. Please keep us
posted. I for one would be very interested.

On Sat, 2 Oct 2010 16:03:38 -0700, "Bill Graham"
wrote:

Snip



I downloaded the D700 instruction manual in PDF.....It's got 472 pages!
It's going to take me a few weeks just to read through it......

If I can offer a suggestion.....

Concentrate on the White Balance parts.

Everything else pretty much correlates to traditional.

On Sat, 2 Oct 2010 15:50:50 -0700, "Bill Graham"
wrote:

Snip


Anyway, there is no reason he shouldn't enjoy his new toy. New or used,
bought or bit, it is still a very good FF DSLR, and not a bad choice.
It is a move I had considered for getting an affordable FF. I cannot
justify buying a D3s, a refurbished D700, yes. However I have a feeling he
might exhibit a degree of frustration with some of his old Nikkor lenses,
as it appears not all of the ones he has for his F5 are going to perform
within the parameters he remembers.

--
Regards,

Savageduck


Yes, I could have bought other, cheaper Nikons, but I was waiting until I
could buy a full frame (35 x 24 mm) camera. Unfortunately, Nikon never (to
date) came out with one within my price range. The d700 is a bit expensive,
but it does have a full frame sensor, so I scrimped and saved, and finally
decided to buy it. My lenses should perform much as they do on my F5 (which
I intend to keep.)

If I might offer a prediction.....

The F5 will soon gather dust. I am betting you are gonna be 100%
digital by this time next year.

On 2010-10-03 00:45:16 +0100, Savageduck said:

On 2010-10-02 16:03:38 -0700, "Bill Graham" said:


"Pete" wrote in message
news:2010100221022139152-availableonrequest@aserverinvalid...
On 2010-10-02 20:47:21 +0100, Savageduck said:

On 2010-10-02 11:14:34 -0700, Pete said:

On 2010-10-02 16:34:13 +0100, Savageduck said:

On 2010-10-02 04:48:53 -0700, Robert Coe said:

On Fri, 1 Oct 2010 20:14:27 -0700, "Bill Graham" wrote:
: Well, I finally "bought the bullet" and purchased a D700 reconditioned from
: Nikon. It was recommended to me by Jason Kirby at whichdslrtobuy.com It has
: a full frame sensor and will operate much like my F5 and use the same lens
: set. This is important to me, since I spent years accumulating my Nikkors
: and didn't want them to go to waste. My D700 won't operate at full
: functionality with all my lenses, but it will operate to some degree with
: all of them, and this is good enough for me.

Sounds like a good decision. I'm from the Canon World, but I've never heard
anyone say anything bad about the D700 (except, of course, that its lenses are
too expensive, but you've already got some of them). May you live to wear out
the shutter!

Isn't it "bit the bullet"?

Bob

Try this for an explanation for Bill's malapropism. ;-)

It all depends on whether Bill was anticipating some pain with the
purchase. If so, He could "bite the bullet" thereby applying a
psychological analgesic.
If on the other hand he was anticipating a fresh season of "shooting"
with his mind's eye as his weapon, the D700 could be considered the
figurative "bullet" he needed to buy to make that shooting possible.

Buy that? ;-)

Anyway, there is no reason he shouldn't enjoy his new toy. New or used,
bought or bit, it is still a very good FF DSLR, and not a bad choice.
It is a move I had considered for getting an affordable FF. I cannot
justify buying a D3s, a refurbished D700, yes. However I have a feeling
he might exhibit a degree of frustration with some of his old Nikkor
lenses, as it appears not all of the ones he has for his F5 are going
to perform within the parameters he remembers.

Totally agreed.

To the OP Bill: I've learnt a thing or two about the D700 so please
feel free to ask questions; pre-AI lens issues will have to be answered
by someone else.

The photo groups always seem to be a good place to air this observation;

"The machine does not isolate man from the great problems of nature,
but plunges him more deeply into them."
Antoine De Saint-Exupéry

...and he was talking about aircraft and flying in the 1920's & 30's.

Man and machine in perfect harmony is idillic. It neither judges the
man nor the machine, it simply drives those that have the desire to
create. That could undoubtedly be worded better by someone else! Wish I
could create a poem on-demand...

--
Pete


I downloaded the D700 instruction manual in PDF.....It's got 472 pages!
It's going to take me a few weeks just to read through it......

THAT is not poetry! but dont lose it. There will come a time you will
want to change a menu setting and need a reference.

How about:

I downloaded the manual, phew!
It will take ages
To read all those pages
Four hundred and seventy two.

--
Pete

Bill Graham wrote:

Well, I finally "bought the bullet" and purchased a D700 reconditioned from
Nikon.

The digital back will let you do things that you thought were likely to
be a waste of film because the probability that a usable image was slim.

After you get past the "film would to this better" phase and too risky
to do in film and on to, "I think this was maybe a good idea" go back
and sit down with the manual and read through what is possible. Go out
and take a 100 or so images with no expectation of any result other than
just trying to understand the camera features.

Have fun.

w..