I've been a Nikon user since my college film days (Nikon FE2) and only slipped over to the darkside that is Canon a few years ago when i purchased a 5D Mk1 and a quantity of the very expensive L series lenses. Now I have nothing against Canon at all and have seen some stunning shots taken using their equipment - anyways after alls said and done its the photographer and not the camera right - but I just never really got on with the Canon. I always felt that the shots were slightly soft and that they lacked the clarity and punch I was after, even after post production and so with a heavy heart I sold all my gear off and started again.
At that point my finances left me with only one real choice if I wanted to get back in to the Nikon full frame club - the Nikon D700. So one was purchased - about 2 months before they became a very rare breed and Nikon decided to cease production - the rest as they say is history. I simply love the camera, the way it feels, operates and the quality of the images. Considering its only a 12MP camera, the images are truly outstanding and no matter what ISO you use it seems to just deliver the results.
Skip forward a couple of years and I'm still using the D700 and have no intention of getting rid of it at all - its too good, not to mention that I've also seriously invested a fair old wedge of money in Nikon glass so swopping systems would be a no brainer. But the time has come to consider getting a newer DSLR to add to the kit, one with a higher MP sensor.
Now I'd love to just go out and get a new Nikon D4 (or even a D4S) but don't know if I would need such a high spec machine (or if my bank balance let alone my accountant would think it a good idea) thats not to say I've written off the idea though. I'd thought about getting a second hand D3X body but then again its almost as old as my current D700 - not a bad thing, but it does have a few negative points to it - no sensor cleaner, very slow frame rate and an old OS. However none of those things really affect its image quality and at 24MP the image output would be pretty much perfect!! The only other option (for me at least) is the Nikon D800. This comes in 2 flavours - D800 and D800E. The one I'm considering is the D800E which at 36MP and with its anti aliasing filter removed pushes your image quality and detail capture into medium format territory - and it doesn't cost the earth to get there.
Decisions, decisions.....
