Post 20

A few months ago, Nikon announced the D600, an "affordable" full frame camera. Compared to the other full fram cameras, the D600 is affordable at $2,000. The D800 is the next full frame  camera from Nikon, and that will set you back $3,000. When I first heard about the D600, I was ecstatic. Although the D600 wasn't as cheap as many had anticipated, it still seemed like a deal. A lot of photographers have said the D600 is basically like a full frame version of the D7000, which is what I have. I was strongly considering returning my D7000 for the D600. Full frame sensors offer a number of advantages over cropped sensor cameras, such as better performance at higher ISOs. As many of you know, I take hockey photos quite a bit, and I'm already pushing my camera, in terms of noise, at ISO 1600. I wouldn't be surprised if I could shoot ISO 3200-6400 with the D600 and get the same results as I am now.

Cropped sensors have their own advantage as well. I get more reach with a cropped sensor. 1.5x more reach. When shooting hockey, this makes a pretty big difference.

In my mind, the D7000 has advantages over the D600. The D7000 has a maximum shutter speed of 1/8000th, and a max flash sync speed of 1/250th of a second. The D600 has a maximum shutter speed of 1/4000th, and a max flash sync speed of 1/200th. These numbers don't make a huge deal, but I avoided cameras with the same shutter speed as the D600 because I can just imagine running into a situation that's really bright and wishing I could shoot just a little faster. It should be acknowledged that the D600 can shoot at ISO 50, while the D7000 can only go down to ISO 100. These small differences and the $1,000 difference combine to make the D600 seem kind of like a shiny turd, to me. Personally, I'd take a faster car over one that looked better.

After shooting with the D7000 for the past couple of months, the only other camera body I've wanted is a D3x, which is $7,000, or a D4, which is $6,000. I was considering a D800 for a while, but 36.3 megapixels means not only reduced noise performance, but ridiculously large files. Besides, anyone who knows anything about cameras knows that megapixels only mean something to those who know nothing about cameras. (Unless you're a studio photographer.) I shot with a D70 for five months and got great results. How many megapixels does a D70 have? 6.1.