Which FX camera to choose: So I found two Nikon cameras. One is a D610 and the other is a D700. It will be used mainly for wildlife and aircrafts. Which one or neither would you pick...

Catnlion Loc: Arizona City, Arizona

So I found two Nikon cameras. One is a D610 and the other is a D700. It will be used mainly for wildlife and aircrafts. Which one or neither would you pick and why? Yes, I have quality FX glass.

rdubreuil Loc: Dummer, NH USA

IMO that's a tough choice but, if going by specs alone I'd go the D610. The D700 is built tough and takes great images but, it does use older batteries that you won't be able to share with other modern bodies. The D610 uses an EN-EL15 which many other Nikons also use. Add to that having to spend a few bucks more for a charger for the EN-EL3e batteries.

Could be a none issue if you've already got an older APS-C say D90 or D300 and already have extra batteries and charger. Again, tough choice, as the D700 gets very high praise from wedding and portraiture photographers. Don't let the 12 MP vs. 24 MP fool you, I've got an older D90 (12MP) that produces some stunning images. It's not always all about the gear but, how one uses it.

So, both are great cameras and for me it comes down to the lowly battery if I had to choose one over the other, good luck with you're decision and as always keep shooting...

JPL

Catnlion wrote:

So I found two Nikon cameras. One is a D610 and the other is a D700. It will be used mainly for wildlife and aircrafts. Which one or neither would you pick and why? Yes, I have quality FX glass.

I think the D700 is better built, like weathersealed. And it has better autofocus system. So better at tracking wildlife. In other respects the D610 is better. If you could afford a used D800, D800E or D810 that would be much better than those you have found.

jackpinoh Loc: Kettering, OH 45419

Catnlion wrote:

So I found two Nikon cameras. One is a D610 and the other is a D700. It will be used mainly for wildlife and aircrafts. Which one or neither would you pick and why? Yes, I have quality FX glass.

In my opinion, you would be much better off with a crop sensor camera such as the D7500 or D7200 for wildlife and aircraft, unless you already have a full frame Nikkor lens that reaches at least 600mm.

IR Jim Loc: St. Louis

Another thing to consider for shooting wildlife is megapixels. The D610 has 2x more megapixels than the D700 which means you'll have more freedom to crop the image.

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

Catnlion wrote:

So I found two Nikon cameras. One is a D610 and the other is a D700. It will be used mainly for wildlife and aircrafts. Which one or neither would you pick and why? Yes, I have quality FX glass.

You'll enjoy a D700. With 12 mp you have enough pixels to print any size you want. I am not sure I would make the compromise away from a pro quality D700 to pro-sumer D610. A D800 or D800e might make a better choice for a whole lot of reasons.

One of the concerns with getting an older camera is that while it may seem like a good deal, they are victims of obsolescence. Nikon just stops supporting it with parts, and depending on the nature of the repair, you may not be able to get it fixed.

I personally like the feel in my hands of a Nikon pro body. The prosumer cameras don't handle as well, require more interaction with the menus to use, and feel unbalanced, particularly with longer lenses.

Catnlion Loc: Arizona City, Arizona

Gene51 wrote:

You'll enjoy a D700. With 12 mp you have enough pi... (show quote)

Based on your feedback I have large hands. Would you like to expand?

Catnlion Loc: Arizona City, Arizona

rdubreuil wrote:

IMO that's a tough choice but, if going by specs a... (show quote)

I think and look into the battery issue.

As for the megapixel I'm not really worried about it. Except for some pet pictures very little goes past monitor size.

Thanks

Catnlion Loc: Arizona City, Arizona

Gene51 wrote:

You'll enjoy a D700. With 12 mp you have enough pi... (show quote)

As for repairs do you know if they are supported still? Both being older have fairly low shutter count. While you have a point and I guess for a few bucks I could get a local shop to evaluate them the price is in the "throw away" range if it lasts a couple years. Being 61 how long does it need to last? It's just another toy. My other body is a D5300 with a shutter count of a few thousand so it should out live me.

mrpentaxk5ii

Catnlion wrote:

So I found two Nikon cameras. One is a D610 and the other is a D700. It will be used mainly for wildlife and aircrafts. Which one or neither would you pick and why? Yes, I have quality FX glass.

It's good that you have quality FX glass, but that's not telling us much...what are the focal lengths of the lens that you are using... I have a 120-400mm Sigma that I use on a Pentax K5ii, this is my wildlife and airshow set up. on a Full frame your going to have to have 300-600 mm coverage to shoot wildlife and airshows.

Catnlion Loc: Arizona City, Arizona

mrpentaxk5ii wrote:

It's good that you have quality FX glass, but that's not telling us much...what are the focal lengths of the lens that you are using... I have a 120-400mm Sigma that I use on a Pentax K5ii, this is my wildlife and airshow set up. on a Full frame your going to have to have 300-600 mm coverage to shoot wildlife and airshows.

I like using the Nikon 100-400 lens.

bpulv Loc: Buena Park, CA

JPL wrote:

I think the D700 is better built, like weathersealed. And it has better autofocus system. So better at tracking wildlife. In other respects the D610 is better. If you could afford a used D800, D800E or D810 that would be much better than those you have found.

I agree that a used D800, D800E or D810 would be a much better fit than the D700 or D610. Nothing beats full frame combined with high megapixel for versatility; especially the ability to substantially crop an image in post production so that a medium telephoto effectively becomes a long telephoto. That is a bigger advantage than you might think. For wildlife, flying airplanes and birds, a long telephoto can be difficult to find and hold frame. With a medium telephoto, you can more easily find and hold frame on a flying or distant subject and then substantially crop the image in post production while still maintaining quality.

via the lens Loc: Northern California, near Yosemite NP

JPL wrote:

I think the D700 is better built, like weathersealed. And it has better autofocus system. So better at tracking wildlife. In other respects the D610 is better. If you could afford a used D800, D800E or D810 that would be much better than those you have found.

Just some insight from someone who owns a D800, a camera that I do love and use often and I think it is near being just worn out. However, it is not a good wildlife or action camera, at least it has not been that for me, as the buffer fills up very, very quickly. I finally bought a D500 for action/wildlife shots and it is wonderful for this, a truly great camera for action. You can get a couple of shots with the D800 but you will most often miss a lot of the action and that can be frustrating.

bpulv Loc: Buena Park, CA

via the lens wrote:

Just some insight from someone who owns a D800, a ... (show quote)

I also have a D800 that I use for similar purposes all the time. THE PROBLEM IS NOT THE CAMERA. I never have buffer problems. It sounds like your buffer is starving for data, not overfilling. That problem is caused when your memory card(s) has too slow of a write speed. The faster buffer is filling with data and sitting there waiting for your slow memory card(s) to accept the data. That is why you must use high speed professional memory cards that have a minimum 120Mb/S transfer rate. For wildlife photography, I would use a 160Mb/S Sandisk Extreme Pro CF card.

via the lens Loc: Northern California, near Yosemite NP

Thanks for the insight, too late now; but love the D500 anyway. I did use compact flash cards (a couple are 1066x), probably older but cannot recall when they were purchased. Probably got them when I got the D800, picked up at a Best Buy the day before leaving for an Africa photo shoot, in 2013. I think the CF card insert slot no longer works but have yet to clarify that, simply using the SD cards, of which I also have many. I've read up on this stuff over time but probably forgotten most of it. I did look it up today on something called photocitizen.com and they had a pretty good discussion on CF cards and speeds and how they affect cameras and it is worth a read for those who want to know more. He goes into some detail on buffer rate and how a card might affect that as well as how card readers affect the rate of download. Good info to know in general.