It's Hard to Take that Plunge

[F8&Bthere]

... But some of you others in this forum have taken similar plunges recently and inspired me (my empty wallet will thank you later Lisa!). As I mentioned in that other thread I've been selling off all my Pentax gear, and long story short is that I've decided to add my Nikon D300 body to the for sale list, so I end up within a reasonable/barely affordable shot of a D700 with the new 16-35/4 VR lens. Any feedback from others who have upgraded in this or similar ways? Does it make you feel uneasy walking around with like $4000 worth of gear? I'm heading for the camera store after work today and I'm still not sure I'll have the cajones to go through with it. If I chicken out I'm keeping the D300 and coming home with a Nikon 10-24 lens. If I go with what I really want and think I deserve, I'll come home with the full frame deal, nervous as hell, and the D300 will stay up for sale.

The only full frame lenses I already own are 50/1.8, 85/1.8, and 300/4. The reason I want full frame is because I like bigger viewfinders (bad eyes), better high ISO performance, and I shoot landscapes and people, and have become a bit of a wide angle junkie, and not that much interest in birds, wildlife or sports where the extra "reach" of crop sensor would be desireable. And when I think of my shooting habits with current gear, I'm more often wanting to step back than wishing I had more reach.

[Marko]

Those are good lenses F8!
I can vouch for the D700 - it's very solid and a very good deal at this time!

[F8&Bthere]

Thanks Marko. Yes the D300 is a great camera too, and this is why I'm so on the fence, but aside from what I mentioned above, there are little perks too like the viewfinder level indicator, the built-in eyepiece shutter, but the biggest reasons are that the price came down to around CA$2500 and as I sell through all my unneeded gear it comes very much within reach and it's mainly about the bigger viewfinder, better low light performance and last but not least- I've had a struggle with UWA optics on crop sensor bodies, most of the available options to get down to 10-12mm (15-18mm in 35mm terms) just not really being that good.

And I don't know why, maybe just a hangover from film days, but my 50mm and 85mm lenses on a APS-C sensor just seem a bit too long. I guess it's because I'm using them mostly indoors in smaller environments? I'm always backing up and tripping over the baby or stepping on the dog, lol

[casil403]

Sorry Syd...what I can say is no regrets on my purchase and my empty wallet would be happy to sit beside yours! :)
Personally I hope you do it. :D

[JAS_Photo]

Well if the camera store is The Camera Store, you will probably buy the camera. :) They treat their customers very well and will let you spend all the time you need trying stuff out.

About the carrying of gear around- my D300 with the 17-55mm 2.8 is worth about 4k if you kick in the Singh Ray Polarizer. :D And I spend a lot of time in the downtown core. I don't look for trouble so it's been good. But what I did do is get extra insurance specifically on my camera gear.

[F8&Bthere]

Well I did it, and had to have a couple stiff drinks when I got home to take the edge off. This combo (D700/16-35/4VR) is so heavy that I can't even imagine having chosen the 14-24/2.8 on that point alone, despite the fact it is almost legendary. Now I have to pray to the eBay gods that I sell the rest of this stuff to help subsidize my visa bill. I did really well the first few days on my Pentax gear at the pentaxforums.com classifieds, but I still have a ways to go and now the D300 as well.

Thanks for warming up the ol' cold feet you guys, I think I'm going to enjoy the new gear.

BTW for accuracy's sake, I now see that the Nikon virtual horizon only displays in the rear LCD not the viewfinder like I thought. Canon's version is even niftier with forward and backward tilt as well. But minor issue, those little 3-way hotshoe bubble levels are so cheap.

JAS- I will be looking into that insurance idea. Thanks for the reminder.

[zenon5940]

Congrats on your new acquisition F8. I'm sure you'll enjoy it.

[casil403]

:clap: :clap: :clap: :highfive: :highfive:

[Marko]

Way to go F8! I'm Still learning how to use mine. There's lots and lots of menu options.

In terms of the horizon thing...there is a setting that allows you to overlay a grid in the viewfinder. That also helps me big time.

Congrats again!

[JAS_Photo]

Congrats on the new baby!

[F8&Bthere]

Way to go F8! I'm Still learning how to use mine. There's lots and lots of menu options...

No kidding, but I was already expecting that from my D300. I have to say it freaks me out a bit. And it's nice in a way to have that level of control, but probably overkill. I found myself liking my pentax camera more at times just because it seemed so much simpler.


...In terms of the horizon thing...there is a setting that allows you to overlay a grid in the viewfinder. That also helps me big time.


Thanks for the info, that's good news. I guess I'll have to... :eek: read the manual :eek:

[JAS_Photo]

Is that the same grid as in the D300?

[F8&Bthere]

Ahhh, you mean the regular old grid lines, not like a cool flight simulator kinda live leveling thingy. Yeah I knew about that and it would be helpful to check horizons etc but I prefer to have a clean wide open view. When I need to, I'll use the virtual horizon in the rear LCD or a 3-way hotshoe bubble.
JAS- yes I think the grid is the same as on the D300.

[Fortytwo]

You should have stuck with Pentax. The K-7 levels the sensor for you, so no need for a hotshoe bubble or virtual horizon. Phuh! :p

Yeah, I'm a Pentax fan...

[Wicked Dark]

My Olympus E-30 has an electronic spirit level for side to side and front to back leveling and it's visible in the viewfinder, the screen on top and the live view display. heh.

[Marko]

Yeah, Ok... but does YOUR camera also make espresso :laughing:

[F8&Bthere]

You should have stuck with Pentax. The K-7 levels the sensor for you, so no need for a hotshoe bubble or virtual horizon. Phuh! :p

Yeah, I'm a Pentax fan...

Yes, I'm a fan too. The K-7 is an uber cool camera that really had me tempted to stay in the Pentax camp, but it had to be one or the other, and the prospect of full frame now plus my current investment in Nikon CLS flashes and other accessories kinda decided for me.

[Wicked Dark]

Yeah, Ok... but does YOUR camera also make espresso :laughing:

How did you know about my hot-shoe espresso maker???

[JAS_Photo]

My D300 and $5 bucks at Starbucks gets me a Latte!