08-25-2008, 06:09 PM
[quote john dough]I have on order a Nikon D700 with a 70-300MM VR lens. I sold my D300 to a colleague and after seeing some shots (online) from a D300 with a 70-200MM 2.8 VR lens, it made me think that was a better setup, as far as better IQ.
All things being equal, which setup, in your opinion, would produce better IQ? The FX D700 and the 70-300 MM or the DX D300 with the 2.8 70-200 MM? I am going away on a mini-vacation next week and want to get the best IQ shots possible.
This is a pretty loaded question that can be answered in all sorts of ways. I will do my best to answer it but you will need to be aware that there is no perfect answer.
First you need to establish what is IQ. What aspects of it matter the most to you. Color, noise, sharpness, contrast, color reproduction, focus, corner sharpness, diffraction.
What will you be shooting and what type of lighting will it be?
You are basically trading the FX chip D700 70-300mm lower noise, lower diffraction, bigger viewfinder for the D300 70-200 2.8 faster AF, more light hitting Af sensors, 70-200mm is sharper and probably better contrast. The tradeoff are canceling each other out in the setups you are considering.
As far as the issue of full frame corners vs. DX, yes, corners may not be as sharp in DX. The big thing to remember is the D300 12mp is much more packed with pixels. As you use the D300 at F/11, 16, 22 the diffraction start affecting OVERALL sharpness. IMO, I would rather have slightly soft corners with FX over pixel density issues with DX.
How would I make my decision? If I am shooting moving objects that need accurate focus tracking, I would use the 70-200mm 2.8. The sample images you saw maybe better due to the 70-200 sharpness plus more accurate focusing. There is a reason the 70-200mm is 3 times the price of the 70-300.
All things being equal, which setup, in your opinion, would produce better IQ? The FX D700 and the 70-300 MM or the DX D300 with the 2.8 70-200 MM? I am going away on a mini-vacation next week and want to get the best IQ shots possible.
This is a pretty loaded question that can be answered in all sorts of ways. I will do my best to answer it but you will need to be aware that there is no perfect answer.
First you need to establish what is IQ. What aspects of it matter the most to you. Color, noise, sharpness, contrast, color reproduction, focus, corner sharpness, diffraction.
What will you be shooting and what type of lighting will it be?
You are basically trading the FX chip D700 70-300mm lower noise, lower diffraction, bigger viewfinder for the D300 70-200 2.8 faster AF, more light hitting Af sensors, 70-200mm is sharper and probably better contrast. The tradeoff are canceling each other out in the setups you are considering.
As far as the issue of full frame corners vs. DX, yes, corners may not be as sharp in DX. The big thing to remember is the D300 12mp is much more packed with pixels. As you use the D300 at F/11, 16, 22 the diffraction start affecting OVERALL sharpness. IMO, I would rather have slightly soft corners with FX over pixel density issues with DX.
How would I make my decision? If I am shooting moving objects that need accurate focus tracking, I would use the 70-200mm 2.8. The sample images you saw maybe better due to the 70-200 sharpness plus more accurate focusing. There is a reason the 70-200mm is 3 times the price of the 70-300.