If you haven’t already, check out DPR’s traditional “6 months after the fact” review of the Nikon D700. There are some nice crop comparisons of the D700, the Sony A900, the Canon 5D, and the D300. I think it’s fair to say that Nikon has figured out the whole noise management thing, giving that luminance noise the most appealing film-like grain (with no banding—a peculiar flaw cropping up in certain DIGIC IV processed pictures). On the noise, DPR says:
The ability to produce usable results at such high sensitivities makes the D700 the camera of choice for any photographer who is having to deal with challenging light conditions and prefers the D700’s smaller dimensions over the D3. It’s also an ideal second body for anyone already using the D3.
-DPR
What I found interesting though was the image comparison between the D700 and Sony A900. The A900 has a 24 megapixel sensor, the D700 has 12. The results? Unquestionably the A900 pulls in far more detail.
However, the amount of detail that is rendered by the Sony’s new 24MP sensor is quite simply astonishing. If resolution and detail at low sensitivities are high up on your priority list it’ll be difficult to ignore Sony’s new flagship. Default colors and sharpening are not far off from the Nikon’s though.
-DPR
This doesn’t make me necessarily want a Sony A900 (I’ll take any and all gifts though) but going forward, a D3x or D700x will be a mandatory upgrade for most pros, and also the 5D Mark II will be scoring some points in tests to come with its 21 megapixels.
DPR concludes that the D700 is an excellent camera, blazing fast, with excellent ISO performance. Oddly though, there’s a sense in the conclusion that the D700’s time has passed or is about to pass. One of its cons is the 12 megapixel sensor! Amazing. But this points to 2 things for me. One, product cycles are bound to get shorter and shorter, and two, DPR might want to review things a little closer to release.
Get the review here.
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