Good job, i said you wouldn't regret it, but you will regret wanting all of the dreamy FX glass when you have to pay for it.

After moving over to the d700 even if it did come out I dont think I would care. This camera will cover all my needs and puts my mind at ease for the low light wedding inside at night in march. Good times right;-) It really is a huge jump. night and day(even though its only 2 mp)
~cheers. heres waiting for the d800

Of course now the first new rumors of the D800 are going to show up on the main page next week ;^)

Got the d700 on friday. It has not left my side. All I can say is amazing. Im very glad for all the imput from everyone.

This is all really good info for me. Thanks for all the help.

Lightroom 3 is much faster than 2. As well as what has been talked about. You will notice a big difference with a fast PC and card reader.

Those two changes might be enough for me. My workflow sadly goes lightroom photoshop lightroom. If I could drop a jump that would be great. They are two such good programs I would never be able to give one up but to be able to do more in one of them would always be better.

The noise reduction is worth the upgrade price, in my opinion.

They also have a new demosaic routine, creatively called "2010 process," that seems to me to make images sharper on import but with slightly more pleasing noise patterns in noisy images (and with slightly more noise when no noise reduction is applied).

The tone curve is fully editable now, but still no separate RGB curves (you click on a little icon in the lower left part of the tone curve section to toggle between the previous way and point edit mode). It's yet another feature to help stay in Lightroom instead of having to go to Photoshop.

I never though about the 30 day trial. I always use it for new software not upgrades. I use noise ninja mostly for high iso but i could see how lr3 does. It would fit into my work flow a little better.

aetas said:
I was going to skip this upgrade for lightroom and get the next one. What is worth the money in this upgrade?

Apart from high ISO noise reduction , no "killer" improvements, just better, easier and quicker all round
As ever, it depends on what you do. In the UK you can download a free 30 day trail

Looks like you have decided to buy the D700 at this point. I would definitely agree with that idea. I bought mine last March and couldn't be happier with it. With the 24-70 it has been an excellent camera, one that I am still trying to catch up to.

I would say get it soon and get used to it. While it is like other Nikon cameras it has way more settings than what you have currently. I moved from the D70s to the D700 and the number of configurable options is a bit overwhelming at first. A couple months to work with it would be a good suggestion before shooting the wedding.

I was going to skip this upgrade for lightroom and get the next one. What is worth the money in this upgrade?

aetas said:
I have lightroom2 .

The upgrade to LR 3 is worth every penny

Im pretty sure im going to buy the d700. Im a little up in the air for new or used but im sure about the d700. I have lightroom2 and photoshop cs5 for editing. Thanks for the advice of iso over 3000. I am very picky about noise. I am waiting till jan to pick it up for tax reasons. Thanks again for all the help everyone. Any other comments are still welcome.

Save some money and buy a used one. Cost will be about $1800-$2000 in used good condition. Less than 20K actuations will be easy to find at that price. Take a look at the Fred Miranda boards for some good deals on buying used.

Renting the camera is stupid, let's say you spend $400 (keep in mind you pay shipping/insurance). That is about 20-25% the cost of buying a used one. Keep in mind if/when a replacement comes about, you can probably get $1500-$1700 for your D700, so your net cost for keeping it for months would have been anywhere from $100-$500, with $250 median, makes it cheaper than renting and you get to use it for months.

Pengranger said: as long as you check the condition and number of shutter actuations.

There is no unfakeable way to check shutter actuations.
I'm strongly in favor of buying a better used camera instead of a lesser new camera, but don't fool yourself that you have perfect knowledge of such things when shopping. Treat it as an unknown and look at the other evidence.

I had a D700 for a while and used it for a wedding recently. It performed without fault. If you really want/need one, buy it. Going secondhand isn't a problem, if you're worried about cost - as long as you check the condition and number of shutter actuations.

I used my D700 with 14-24mm, 17-35mm, 50mm 1.4 and 80-200mm. Most of my lenses are either old (I used them with an F5) or purchased secondhand. The one I found most useful were the 17-35mm for group shots, 80-200mm (on a tripod) for detail, and 50mm for night shots.

I found the grain getting intrusive around 3000 ISO, but I was happily shooting up to 6400. I didn't use much flash as it didn't look natural. One thing I would recommend is Lightroom 3, which quickly adjusted the colour balance and removed the noise on shots above 3000ISO.

broxibear said:
What ???

I meant waiting for the replacement body instead of just buying what is available now.

I have the feeling that the D3s replacement will come before a D700 replacement. This way, the ones waiting for the D700+ may jump to the more expensive D3s+. For those tired of waiting but without the cash, they would sell them D7000, then the D700+ comes, and D3s+ owners may get it as a second body while the ones waiting and the D7000 upgraders could jump-in.
D7000 was important for the mass market.

I agree with the others, get a D700 now or jump up to the D3s. The lenses cost is the same and for those that would be happy with a D700+, there would be no real need to upgrade from a D3s. The D800 may well be within the price range of a D3s anyway.

By the time you get the D700+, the recommended 24-70 and 70-200, SB-700, clear filters, extra battery and other goodies, you will be in the vicinity of 10K$ so an extra K is not going to be a breaker.

I have been shooting the d80 for years. I have never had a complaint from any clent about image quality. On the other hand I never had anyone print bigger then 16x20. I always shoot low iso and mainly I try to light the portraits myself unless its very good natural light. I wanted to move up to full frame (pretty much since the film days) so the lenses I have are such: 85mm 1.8 - 50mm 1.8 - 105mm 2.8 - 17-35 2.8 After reading your replies(thanks for all the good advice) I believe I am going to get the d700 and be happy. If something new comes out and I feel I really need it i can sell the d700 and move up. But you all have a good point the d700 is not going to get worse just because something new comes out. I might have a little NAS. I have enough shoots the first quarter of 2011 to help with the cost. Thanks again for all the advice. This has been extreamly helpfull.

Oh and I forgot to add that I will be renting the 70-200vr 2.8 I might go with the 80-200 if I do buy the d700 though. I am sure that I will need the added reach. I dont see missing another lens.

"Hard to tell not knowing what you shoot now. " he uses a D80, I'm psychic...and I read it on one of his other posts lol.

Tcole has a point. I watched a wedding Photog last weekend shoot a D2x and I can not tell the difference between it and any D3x photos. Just remember how everyone was pineing for the D2x with the same arguments and questions? With some proper lighting, flash and a little Photoshop I can take my Canon G11 look like I shot someone with a D300 any day. Depending on what you have now, the D700 may not gain you all that much.

M. Gunter has even a better point in lenses. You may gain more from some better glass.

Ebay listings are selling the camera for around $1900 used so in the case of a new one coming out you can sell it probably for $1700+.

Hard to tell not knowing what you shoot now.

tcole1983 said:
People who wait for camera replacements get old, miss opportunities to take pictures, and are ultimately disappointed when they can't tell the difference between pictures taken with their old camera and the new one :) *coughs* D7000 *clears throat*

What ???

why not getting used d700, You should get one for app 1200-1300 quids, and still be able to sell it in summer loosing max 200 quids. also remember that You will see better results when You upgrade Your lenses, for me N24-70 is a must during the weddings, also wide zoom is very handy (especially during the party) and long tele during the ceremony.

People who wait for camera replacements get old, miss opportunities to take pictures, and are ultimately disappointed when they can't tell the difference between pictures taken with their old camera and the new one :) *coughs* D7000 *clears throat*