Wow, the Coolpix 8800 looks like a mini D40. They don't make them like they used to...

Sigh...

Yeah I understand what your saying Pierre and I'm not saying you should never upgrade your camera. It's just that people think upgrading is the answer to better photography.

Anyway I think we've hijacked this thread enough so I'll just pick up my comments on the above link.

NikoDoby said:
you'd have to have been on full manual... I would have pulled the neck strap tight ... get some low shutter speeds and with VR ... The swivel LCD would have been perfect

Yap, tried everything and seeing the kid pic did it for me. I had the camera for 6 years and was happy with it until I needed the ISO. Now I compare my daylight shots with others and it is definitely time for me to move on, I really want the extra. I whent as far as the cam would allow me and it was starting to hold me back seriously. Waiting for that thing to come-on and ready for shooting was a real downer. One nice thing was the weight and size which the D700 24-70 worries me. If it is too heavy for travels, I can always buy a D90 later.

Only when I start shooting with the D700 will I be able to truely appreciate the differences. Everything I have read here convinced me that I need the D700 and you have adviced me to get it at least 3 times already.

That news about no D700 replacement this year is a real bummer, some video would had been nice, and september/october seems too far, I am effraid I will start loosing my mind soon if I keep waiting (even if my new BMW 325 convertible helps me to remain sane).

Olympus?!? For shame jonny! ;^)

I went ahead and started a new thread on the whole "point & shoots aren't really cameras" or "I need a bigger, better, and more expensive camera" debate.

http://nikonrumors.com/forum/topic.php?id=1887

Last weekend I played around with a point and shoot that I'd like to have. It was an olympus that was waterproof to (I think) 10m and shock protected for a 6 ft drop. What a fun vacation camera! My brother-in-law got it with some rewards points or something, but he said they cost about $300.

You know there was a war photographer who only used point & shoot cameras while he was in Iraq. Not because he couldn't afford a DSLR but because point & shoots made him less of a target and at the time (2004/5) his camera options were limited and he had to make do with what was available.

His biggest obstacle was shutter lag but with practice he was able to time his shots. He came back with some amazing work and I believe he won numerous awards. I can't think of his name but his point & shoot work is amazing. I'll try to find him for you guys.

The 8800? That was a good camera! One of the last metal bodied big zoom (35mm-300+mm) COOLPIX cameras. It even shot RAW files! Yeah it's not a great performer (ISO wise) in low light, but it had an f2 or f2.8 lens with VR.

If you were shooting through glass you'd have to have been on full manual. Auto anything would have given you poor results. Except perhaps the white balance which was pretty good with that camera and with RAW you could have changed white balance later anyway. Since you couldn't use a tripod I would have pulled the neck strap tight downward and pressed my arms in against my body to get some low shutter speeds and with VR it would have been very possible to get usable shots. The swivel LCD would have been perfect for composing the shot in that stance even though it was pretty small screen.

Another problem, did you zoom in to frame the bracelet? The max aperture at zoom is I think F4 or 5.6. What you would have to have done is zoom out to take advantage of the f2 aperture at 35mm. Then get the camera physically closer to glass.

Kids annoy me all the time but they never stop me from getting the shot I need :^)

NikoDoby said:
A camera is just a tool. A good photographer can get great images out of any camera regardless of the specs.

I am not sure I completely agree with you, last year at le Louvre in Paris, I spent a good one hour trying everything I could to get a roman gold bracelet trough a glass with their no-flash politic, and still could not get it focused or decently visible, then a kid pulled over with a big Nikon, spent less than 2 seconds, click-no-flash and he showed me his great picture, zooming-in showing details barely visible to the naked eye. I swear I wanted to leave my $1500 6 years old Coolpix 8800 in the trash can. I felt too cheap to deserve calling myself a photographer and I was quite annoyed by the kid.

Yes, I still got shots with it in the bright daylight that wow my friends, so you are right, it is possible. None the less, I gave this camera for free, 3 batteries, polarizer, 4 gig, the whole thing and I don't have one at the moment. I am done with low-end.

A photographer is just as good as his equipment (or lack of) allows him to be.

Niko, 3 months ago, you were talking about your D800, you still have it?

If you think that's bad just have a look at the way canon names their cameras! Nikon's way has always been easy and consistent.

shivaswrath said:
I think D900 will be out April.
... be the D3x sensor in a $4000 body

I know its all rumors but would the D900 be that D3x at $4000? What kind of spec are we thinking here for the D900?

I am not sure I grasp Nikon naming convention. From low to high end we have D60 - D70 - D90 - D300s - D700, yap I see the trend, then D5000 is less than D90 and D3s is more than D700? What a mess. If I was writing my code like this, I would get fired.

adamz said:
Nice finding NSX

niko - please don't show off so much, I'm getting jelous :)

Yup, no prob.

Seems like a really nice guy, Mr. McNally.

Too bad he doesn't seem to update his videos all too often. Moose Peterson does a lot of videos on all sorts of topics.

Both of them though update their blogs regularly.

Hey he started it! Besides if I really wanted to make you jealous adamz I'd post a picture of my washboard abs :^)

Nice finding NSX

niko - please don't show off so much, I'm getting jelous :)

Jeez, ok fine. taken with a 4mp point & shoot.

Taken with an iphone or point & shoot I forgot which.

*Moved the photos to a new "on-topic" thread*

http://nikonrumors.com/forum/topic.php?id=1887&replies=10#post-31747

Well yeah, most piano pieces would sound great on a well tuned Steinway, whether it was new or old.

If Niko is right, that it is only a photographer that makes a difference, than Niko should be shooting with a 1MP point and shoot with a 32MB SD card, to prove his point.

PB PM said:
True, but I bet it sounds nicer on a new piano. ;-)

Not necessarily. I'm sure Beethoven would sound great on an old Steinway.

NikoDoby said:
You know you'd be surprised at how often I see people holding their cameras wrong. Not that that's what Orval is doing.

http://www.nikonusa.com/Learn-And-Explore/Photography-Techniques/g699vchg/1/Getting-Started-How-to-Hold-Your-Camera.html

Slightly related- :D

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDsx3-FWfwk

True, but I bet it sounds nicer on a new piano. ;-)

Let me put it in another way then. No one credits Beethoven's brand of piano for his music. A camera is no different.

You bet Niko, a camera is just like a hammer. You just need to hit the nail square on to slam it into the wood. That said, you can buy a cheap, light weight hammer and have to hit the nails three times as hard, thus taking more time to get the job done, than if you got a more expensive, heavier hammer that puts the nail in with one hit every time.

If you need an FX camera you know it, and you'll get it because you need the low light shutter speeds and noise free high ISO shooting capabilities.

A camera is just a tool. A good photographer can get great images out of any camera regardless of the specs.

I'm a bit late getting into this, but I was definitely in the same situation, waiting with a D90 in hand for Nikon to bring out the D700 upgrade.
Finally I realized that I enjoy taking pictures more than waiting to take pictures, and just bought the D700 last week.
I love it, and even if the D700 replacement came out today, it would likely have only a few upgrades (albeit great ones, I'm sure) and would cost at least $1000 more than I spent.
I also went about getting my camera a bit differently than many, I'm assuming. I live in Canada, and Future Shop (Canadian Best Buy, basically, owned by the same company) had the D700 on their website, but it never went on sale or was in stores. So I used my VISA points to get Future Shop gift cards, then went to Future Shop, ordered the camera, asked them to price match the lowest online Canadian price I could find (they did!), used my gift cards, and ended up "making my own sale price" about $500 cheaper than it was originally selling for. Just have to think outside the box!

Now it's in hand and I'm glad I took the plunge. Although in your situation a new lens is really never a bad idea either!

Thanks for the reminder but I'm clean with that...it was the first thing I learned when I started photography lessons and I make sure never to look like a novice with my camera... well, that's what I hope ;-)

You know you'd be surprised at how often I see people holding their cameras wrong. Not that that's what Orval is doing.

http://www.nikonusa.com/Learn-And-Explore/Photography-Techniques/g699vchg/1/Getting-Started-How-to-Hold-Your-Camera.html