Review: Nikon D700 Legendary 12-Megapixel DSLR

The Nikon D700 is a full-frame (FX in Nikon’s terminology) DSLR from 2008. While they’re slowly being replaced by mirrorless cameras, DSLRs are still popular among both enthusiasts and professionals. MPB’s Jakub Golis conducted a full review of the D700, with an in-depth evaluation of its features, build and image quality, as well as test images. 

Jakub’s Nikon D700 review has everything you need to decide whether the DSLR is good enough for photography today. Over to you, Jakub.

The Nikon D700 is one of the legendary DSLRs that are still being used, loved and even reviewed, long after its release. Like the Canon EOS 5D DSLR or the mirrorless Fujifilm X-Pro 1, the Nikon D700 has gained a cult following. 

The Nikon D700 is praised for its mythical film-like image quality, organic-looking noise and robust build. It’s a pleasure to use, while still delivering great photos. Whenever I hear a lot of hype around a camera, I’m always a little suspicious. So, after hearing about the D700 over and over again, I just had to check it out myself.

Join me on a journey to find ‘the truth’ about the Nikon D700, with an in-depth video and full write-up and test images. We used the Nikon D700 with the 35mm f/1.8G ED, 50mm f/1.4G and 85mm f/1.4G primes and the 24-70mm f/2.8E ED VR zoom.

Key Specs

The Nikon D700 was Nikon’s first affordable, full-frame camera with—at the time—great low-light performance. It was a stripped-down version of the bulky professional Nikon D3, but still intended for serious use.

Pros

• Great image quality when shooting in well-lit conditions

• Monochromatic, ‘filmic’ noise

• Robust build quality

• Built-in flash

Cons

• Bulky compared to modern mirrorless cameras

• Autofocus performance feels dated

• 12 megapixels doesn’t leave room for cropping in post

Sensor

There are many legends about the D700’s sensor. Some claim it was one-of-a-kind, with a special color filter array. I didn’t find any sources supporting that theory. However, according to my research, it was the last full-frame sensor designed by Nikon and manufactured by Panasonic—called Matsushita until 2008—before Nikon switched to using Sony sensors. So, there might still be something unique about it.

If you’re planning on using the Nikon D700 today, you’ll know it only has a 12-megapixel sensor. That doesn’t seem like a lot compared to modern cameras, but remember that some modern cameras—like the 2020 Sony A7S III—have 12-megapixel sensors, too.

Is 12 megapixels enough?

Do you think 12 megapixels isn’t enough for serious use? Well, I did a little experiment. I took two photos of the same scene: one with the Nikon D700 and another with the Nikon Z7 II, a 45-megapixel mirrorless camera from 2020. Then, I printed both photos at 30 by 20 inches (75cm x 50cm).

From a regular viewing distance of around a meter, they’re practically indistinguishable. It was only when I inspected them really closely that I noticed less detail on the D700 photo. Not bad for a camera from 2008! If I looked at them from a meter or further away and didn’t know which photo came from which camera, I wouldn’t be able to tell the difference.

Then, I did another experiment. I upscaled the D700 photo using the ‘Super Resolution’ feature in Adobe Lightroom Classic and printed it again at 30 by 20 inches. Now, the D700 and the Z7 II photo were almost identical in terms of resolution, even when looked at from a few centimeters away. 

In any case, these days, both images would end up like this:

Additional features

The Nikon D700 offers some surprisingly advanced photography features. It has a decent 51-point autofocus system and can take 14-bit RAW photos.

I really liked using the D700’s custom picture control profiles. You can use one of the ready-made profiles, or modify one to your taste using the free ‘Nikon Picture Control Editor’ website. While it’s not exclusive to D700, the feature does give us plenty of advanced controls. You can achieve ready-to-use JPEGs, which is particularly useful if you don’t enjoy editing your RAW files.

Another useful feature is the D700’s Live View, which allows you to punch in to check the focus. This is really handy, especially when you’re using older, manual lenses.

Body design & usability

A colleague, Andy Unwin, recently told me: “I once hammered a nail into a wall with a D700. I loved that camera.”

Nikon D700 is also praised for its body design. It is a rather bulky camera weighing around 1kg with the EN-EL3e battery inside. If you usually use smaller mirrorless cameras, the D700’s body will feel pretty heavy.

However, the D700’s construction has many advantages. The camera fits comfortably in your hand and has a nice, big optical viewfinder. The body itself has a physical button for almost anything you need. Once you have the D700 ready to go, you rarely have to go into the menus. 

The D700’s direct competitor in the field of legendary cameras, the Canon EOS 5D has a much simpler body with fewer buttons. But it won’t give you such a ‘tactile’ experience. And one final advantage of the D700 is its battery life. Like on many other DSLRs, the D700’s EN-EL3e battery lasts for a long time—it doesn’t need to power a high-resolution LCD screen. But, if you’re planning on using Live View, you might as well get a few batteries just in case.

How does the Nikon D700 perform today?

Nowadays, one of the Nikon D700's main selling points is its legendary colour rendition, which some people call ‘colour science’.

The Nikon D700 is often compared to the Canon EOS 5D, called ‘the 5D Classic’, which is three years older. We’ve already compared the D700 vs the 5D Mark II, but I decided to compare the D700 against the original Canon EOS 5D — and not the 5D Mark II — as both the D700 and 5D have gained a cult following and are praised for their ‘filmic’ image qualities. 

Compared to the D700, the original 5D was a much more ‘prosumer'-oriented body. It is lighter and has fewer physical controls. But even today, plenty of photographers still love it for its output.

Above, we have the test scene shot on a Nikon D700, a Canon EOS 5D Classic and a 2018 Sony A7 III,  which I added as a benchmark. All of the photos are unedited JPEGs, straight from the camera, taken with the same settings. Can you spot any differences?

Colors 

To my eye, the Nikon D700 seems to have slightly lifted shadows, stronger contrast and less sharpness compared to both the Canon EOS 5D and Sony A7 III. The D700 gives its photos a bit of a ‘velvety’, soft look. Its blues are blue, while on the Canon EOS 5D they are more leaning towards cyan. The D700’s rendering of brown, purple and blues also looks brighter.

The colorful stacked gaffer tape in the test scene is a good example of the differences between the cameras. On the Canon EOS 5D and Sony A7 III, there is a more pronounced gradation from bright to darker parts of the tape. On the Nikon D700, it looks like the tape—especially the top and bottom pieces—is almost glowing.

It seems that the D700’s default contrast curve is quite steep, which results in quite pleasing-looking images. However, this curve does come at the cost of losing some dynamic range and a higher risk of clipped highlights. It reminds me of how I adjust my images in the edit—the so-called ‘S-curve’—and the D700 seems to be applying it by default!

Let’s have a look at the high ISO performance:

ISO performance

We’ve cropped into the test scene, taken on each camera at ISO 1600 in JPEG. Unsurprisingly, the image is the cleanest on the Sony A7 III. 

Although, in RAW, they’re quite similar in terms of the amount of noise. The Canon EOS 5D has the most prominent—and the worst-looking—noise at ISO 1600 in JPEG. Again, the difference is less obvious in RAW. But, still, Canon’s noise is the strongest and most digital-looking.

In JPEG at ISO 3200, the Canon EOS 5D has a lot of color noise with artifacts and discoloration in underexposed transition areas. When looking at the same photo taken in RAW, the EOS 5D has the most luma noise with fireflies in the darkest areas. These flaws are absent from the Nikon D700’s photo.

I think there’s some truth in the claim that the Nikon D700 has pleasing-looking, organic noise (or grain). It appears that it applies a stronger reduction to chroma (color) noise while leaving more luminance noise untouched. Therefore, the noise looks monochromatic, ‘organic’ and less distracting, even at higher ISOs.

And the final comparison: over- and under-exposure:

Exposure

The Nikon D700 handles both underexposure and overexposure really well. Underexposed by three stops, the test scene shows some grain—taken at ISO 200—but it’s nothing terrible and still looks pleasing. When I compared it to the Canon EOS 5D, it showed much, much more noise when underexposed. I was really impressed by how well the D700 performs in terms of image quality, even today.

More Nikon D700 Sample Images

Is the Nikon D700 worth buying today?

While I was looking at the top digital cameras for film-like photography, people told me I should try the Nikon D700. I didn’t do it back then, but after testing it thoroughly now, I know it is a strong contender. 

Even today, the Nikon D700 is still a very capable, full-frame DSLR with a robust body and an optical viewfinder. The camera switches on almost instantly, ready to use. It will also give you beautiful photos with great colors straight out of the camera and pleasant-looking grain.

Another plus, the 12 megapixels sensor from a D700 renders the photos much softer and ‘organic’ looking than modern high-resolution sensors. So, you don’t have to use the latest and sharpest lenses with the D700—even the older Nikon lenses from decades ago will do a great job on a Nikon D700.

When it comes to advanced features, like autofocus or high ISO performance, the D700 won’t compete with modern mirrorless bodies. But if you don’t need those features and won’t use them, then why should you pay extra for them? Instead, just get yourself a trusty DSLR—like the Nikon D700—and have fun.