“Lo, the poor Indian! whose untutored mind Sees God in clouds, or hears him in the wind; His soul proud Science never taught to stray, Far as the solar walk or milky way”~Alexander Pope, originally uploaded by dmzajac2004-.

Via Flickr:
Copyright © 2011 Deborah M. Zajac. All Rights Reserved.

Playing with high ISO, the D700, and the stars. Still trying to nail the Milky Way shot.
The latest Nikon announcement in which they told us about more than 6 Coolpix cameras coming soon when I was hoping the D700 replacement would be announced with a pre-Christmas release date was a disappointment to say the least.

I wouldn’t have been an early adopter, but had hoped by Spring I’d be the owner of a Full Frame camera.
This announcement came on the heels of my hiking trip to Clouds Rest in Yosemite National Park where a Full Frame Camera would have been wonderful for capturing more sky or foreground, and my good friend Dali sent me a text message while I was on Clouds Rest saying, ” I bought a D700. SJ Camera has 3 more in stock. When you get home go buy one!”
I was feeling so underwhelmed and frustrated with the wait knowing I could be waiting until next summer to buy one.

I came home and weighed the Pros and Cons for buying the D700.
My lists:
Pros:
Can get it now. No more missed shots!
My 17-35 would be used as meant to be used
Would have Ultra Wide Angle lens
Uses same cables and batteries as the D300s
Higher ISO-low light sensitivity
Nicer picture contrast, colors
Faster fps
More focus points
Better weather sealing
Well regarded and loved in the field by users
I have several primes and Pro FX lenses already
Haven’t bought a Tilt-Shift lens yet

Cons
Old technology; it’s 3+ years old
Uses CF cards only
Flash unit blocks full functionality of Tilt/Shift lens
Heavy

The Pros outweighed the Cons in my mind. I called the store. They had one D700 left. I decided to go down there. IF they still had it in I would try it out and buy it. I took my time getting down there. When I got there they still had it. I bought it.
I’ve had it just over a week now and though I’ve not used it a lot I am very happy with the performance and handling of it so far.
Just look how much sky I was able to get in this shot! I even cropped off some of the foreground.
The colors and contrast are just as I hoped -great, and the meter seems to be spot on! The unit I rented back in March over exposed this one doesn’t.
Technology will continue to get better, and the replacement to the D700 can be announced next week. I’m a content photographer! It’s such a relief to be done waiting and stop wanting.
I plan to spend the next few years working on making better photographs.

Nikon D700| Nikkor 17-35@ 17mm| f3.5| 20 seconds| ISO 3200| Manual Mode| Tripod| Release Cable