Should I get D800, D7000 or wait for a possible D600/D400?

Have you considered the D700? Its an amazing camera, incredible quality at high ISO, fast and responsive, great focusing, huge viewfinder, plus you don't have to deal with 36MP files you get from the D800 :)  

Hey Isabel,

I'm in the same situation (almost, since I have a D90 instead of 5100). I have been wanting to upgrade to D7000 for a while until I came across the D800 beast and that messed all my plans up :) Now I want the D800 (but it's more of a want than a need, since like yourself, I'm not a full time photographer and more of a hobbyist). Although money is not an issue, I will most likely go with the D7000 after all. You should do too and here's why:

1. If money is an issue, then definitely go with D7000 and invest in some nice lenses. Although it's an DX, it's one of the best DSLR cameras, not only from Nikon, but period. I do agree with some of the comments about the full frame advantage and never going back and blah blah blah, but the difference wouldn't be that different for your purposes, which is an event here and event there. It should be more than enough to shoot your sister's wedding with the right glass.

2. If money is not an issue, still go with the D7000, enjoy its superb quality with decent lenses, and wait for the rumored D600. At that point you can either sell your D7000 (it's still a hot product and keeps its value pretty well) or keep it as a backup, especially if you ever think of shooting video - it'll make a great backup!

3. Although D800 is a great camera so far, it's still new, and it has some white balance issues and lots of noise at higher ISOs for video (even though you don't use for video, you may  decide later). So do yourself a favor, save those $2K and get yourself a nice D7000.

I have a D5000, D90 and a D7000.  This weekend I tried a D800, it is a great camera but I prefer the D7000, I found taht the processor is some kind of slow when saving photo in RAW or Tifff format probably due to the 36.2mp.  

D7000 is a less expensive camera and the quality is really great; most of my prints are 12"x18" and 24"x36", the quality is superb and you will save approx. $2000 so you will be able to buy good lens.  The D7000 is a DX camera but I suggest that you buy the 2 following fx lens, 24-70mm/f2.8 and 70-200mm/f2.8.  In a few year you will probably change your camera but you will keep those 2 great lens. 

By the way my next back-up camera for my D7000 will be another D7000...

Whether you upgrade to D800 or wait for D600, you will most likely be looking at upgrading your lenses to FX lenses unless you already have them.  You will need to factor in the cost of lens upgrade as well.   D600 and D400 are nothing but rumors at this time.  Unless you are willing to wait however long it takes to see what comes down Nikon's Product pipeline, I recommend D800.

Three frequently used lenses for wedding may include (if sticking with Nikon) 24-70mm f/2.8 ($1,800), 70-200mm f/2.8 VRII ($2,400), and 85mm f/1.4 ($1,400). As you can see, quite an investment in addition to the cost of full frame DSLR body likes of  D800 or rumored D600.  There are quality 3rd party lenses at less cost as an alternative.

I have owned and used D5000 and D90; while they are great cameras, D800 is in a whole different league in terms of build and image quality.  Some detractors say D800 is not optimized for weddings and has too high of mp sensor but everyone that I know who has one does not thinks so and speaks very highly of D800.  I too have a D800 and it is by far the best camera that I have ever used.

If you can afford it, why not use the best tool available for your work?

I would go with either the D7000 or the D800. The D600 does not have a sync port so if you want to do weddings and would possibly use studio lighting you loose the ability to have an integrated port. You could always get a hot-shoe adapter for this.

I own a D7000, D90, D300s and D80 now.

www.exclusivephotoworks.com

There is always going to be a new product coming out, I would go with the Nikon D800, it is one of the best cameras on the market right now. 

The right step up for you is definitely a full-frame. I would wait for the D600, though. I'm sure this camera will fit somewhere in the middle of Nikon's range of full-frame camera, it will also have some new features that the others will not have.

Also, the prices of the other cameras in their range of cameras might come down with the release of the D600. If you're ready to spend the money, though, go for the D800 and you're pretty much certain to be satisfied (plus the giddy feeling I got when I unboxed mine).

What lenses have you got? That might also be a factor in why you aren't satisfied with your shots.

Low light capability of the D7000 is a great step up from the D5000 without a major investment.  The D800 would be overkill.  Learn from the D7000 now, and worry about full frame later.

For me, everything that I have researched, even professionally, I think that megapixels are not important, but the picture quality. And for good quality just know that it takes a good lens. Then depends on the money you can pay for a machine, I spared the machine and opt for a good lens and a good flash, this is my opinion. And the D7000 for me was my choice for my wallet. For a professional opinion that only a professional photographer, to advise you, but good glass good pictures.

Get the D800. It will be a leap rather than a step, but only if you can afford the lenses to go with it. 

You presumably don't shoot fully automatic/use scene modes and frame your shots with Live View using the handy flip screen? Then you'll love the huge bright viewfinder in the D800. You eyes will strain less and you won't make your wrinkles deeper. 

There is no D600 or D400 and you may find yourself waiting a long time, much like many D300s owners have been for the last few years. Why not wait for the D500 instead. D600, if the rumours are right, is probably a good one but price not low enough from D800 and spec is only known by the Gods of Nikon, and Ken Rockwell.

From D5000 to D7000 you will get better functionality, including importantly better ISO performance, but you are still limited by that crop sensor. Aside from what people might think, lots of money earning photographers (or call them all 'pro') have and use crop sensor cameras. They have their benefits, but probably not for weddings. I recommend covering your camera with gaffer tape btw - added protection and also eliminates camera gear sniffers poking around. 

With the D800 you won't be left wanting. Buy it and enjoy it. Get fast lenses (f/2.8 or faster - 50mm prime for a start) and you'll be able to get shallower depth of field at the same perspective for better looking portraits/subject isolation. Great for what you're doing. If you're lazy or unlucky, you can also crop the hell out of that 36MP raw file and no one will ever know you messed up. Mega pixels don't matter when you print, but they absolutely do when you crop, and everyone does now and again; they just don't talk about it as it's embarrasing. I didn't say that, btw.

Why shouldn't you get the D800? If you can't afford top end fast lenses. Don't opt for third party lenses, get Nikon. If you can't afford the D800 body and lenses, and don't have the lenses, get a D7000 and get the glass. Your lens is probably as if not more important. Shooting at f/5.6 instead of f/2.8 is a 2 stop difference: at the same shutter speed the f/2.8 can shoot at a very workable ISO400, the f/5.6 would need to be at about ISO1600. If my maths is right. If it's really dark those 2 stops make a huge difference in quality at high ISOs. If you're sensible, you'll have at least one SB-7/8/900 at least. Your lens, if you get a pro lens, will last much much longer than the camera.

Have you tried a pro lens and compared it to e.g. slow amateur lens? A D800 without the proper pro lens would be like buying a Ferrari and putting a lawnmower engine in it: criminal.

Just like you, I am looking for a camera to do indoor events like parties, weddings, etc... I'm not sure what your budget is but I don't want to spend a fortune... I know professional photographers that work multiple weddings each weekend using the d7000!... why should I spend twice as much for a camera when Pro's are getting beautiful shots with the d7000?... you can get a d7000 for under $1000 now!... It is good in low light and should be all YOU ever need!... I would have bought it already but heard that the d400 (another dx camera) might be coming out in the Fall... they are saying that it might be only $500 more than the d7000 but with more features... for all I know, it may never be coming out and I'm just wasting time... because of price, I will be staying dx.... more choices and lower prices for lenses... it's a no brainer for me... it sound like you are looking for the same thing out of a camera... if someone knows what the differences will be between the d7000 and the rumored d400, let us know! But if I needed a camera today instead of waiting, I would not hesitate buying the d7000 and neither should you.

D800 VS D600

* new rumurs say that D600 will have 51 AF

so with D800 u will get a better autofocus*, more detail,

and with D600 u will get higher FPS, probably better low light performance 4.9 vs 5.9 pixel size,

and rest is the same both will have and have weather seling, 2 card slots, 100 % viewfinder

plus it is less expensive so u can buy better lens

more than enough camera .

Many of my professional friends use the 7000 because it has 2 sdhc memory slots.

This is important when you are shooting professionally in that you have one card recording jpegs and the other is recording raw.

My buddy was shooting an expensive wedding and he had 2 64GB Sandisk Extreme class 10 memory cards and halfway through the wedding, he got a memory card error.

It turned out that the card failed and it was only used 2 times before that successfully with no problems.

The card that failed was the one recording the jpegs and he was able to finish the wedding by dropping another sdhc card into the slot. He still had all of the shots in raw on the second card and it saved the day (and the $$$)

If you are after portrait shooting , I recommend the D600 ! It has lower noise at high ISO , better image quality , a balanced dynamic range and packs a pretty big amount of megapixels ! The fact that it's favored over D7000 at indoors and portraits much like the D800 , is because it's pretty handy in such conditions .. And as far as I know wedding pictures and portraits shows much detail , which in order you need a quite big pack of focus points to extract the full potential of the image's quality at all areas :)

Whilst the D7000 is an absolute dream (and I suggest you get one as a second body), if you're looking to go pro you should at least move up to full-frame.

The D600 is definitely a decent camera, and will give you an extra $1k to sink into a 70-200mm f/2.8 (or whatever you want, but that would be my suggestion)

If money is no obstacle, then absolutely, D800.

Be aware though, a D600 + a 70-200mm will be a more noticable improvement than a D800 with your 55-200mm kit lens, or whatever came with your D5000.

Source: I've owned the D5000, D7000, and D800

Hi Isabel, i recently upgraded from a D3000 to the D600 + some great FX glass.  And let me tell you, the D600 is impressive in every way (minus the lack of aperture control in video mode).  Great noise performance at high ISO, which was a biggie for me.  And i've customized all my controls to fit my needs.  

The reason i'd suggest the D600 over the D7000 is because, having been a DX shooter for several years, the 100% viewfinder and full-frame goodness of this camera were a breath of fresh air.  

Now, thats not to say that the D7000 will under-perform by any means, but having used both, i can honestly say that the D600 is easily the better of the two.  For just over $3000, i got the D600 and the 24-120 f/4 lens.  I already own the 50mm f/1.8 D, and am saving up for some more great glass.  

At the end of the day though, you have to try out all these cameras and see which of the 3 you like best.  In my opinion, skip the D800 unless you plan on doing high-end commercial photography where you NEED all 36 of those megapixels to make billboard-sized images.  

It`s clearly the second best after D800, but with all those megapixels you will nee a lot of hard disks. The D600 are equally good in image quality but if you have to cover  big walls with commercial images, go for the d800. If you are a commercial shooter you will propably afford mega big hard disks anyway

Hi! I have a Nikon D5000 and I just ordered a D7000 as an upgrade. I chose that one because it has a great overall quality, light performance, video, weather sealing, etc.

P.S. I'm keeping my D5000 too :P

if money is not the problem.. go to D800.. it's awesome.. ;) king of low light..

i totally agree with Hershal Patel, you totally need an FX camera but i think the D800 is too much for your needs. Wait for the D600 ;)

Nikon D 5100 has everything you need in a camera. Has flip-out screen , more and more. To me its the ultimate camera. 

In-camera HDR (Combines multiple exposures)

Great image quality

Movie continuous focus  (Makes it easy to get in-focus movies)

Supports Raw

 Good price for all this !!

To make a leap from the D5000 I recommend the D7000 as it has scene mode / subject matter that the D800 does not have, unless you want to always shoot in manual mode.

Either full-frame or D5100, D7000 is neither new, nor full-frame for its cost

From your condition, likely you are better off with Full-Frame cameras, not D7000 or other APS-C cameras (including D400).. and how big are you gonna print your final result !? If it's really big and it's an important factor, then go with Nikon D800 without question. If you don't need that big and not in hurry, consider Nikon D600 has to offer.. But if you want the camera right now, D700 is wonderful camera for you..

D800 is a pro level, more of a 'Studio'-ish model. D7000 is an allrounder, especially in features and low noise ISO performance.

Unless she is going to be making high-quality LARGE display prints (on the order of 20x30 inches) the D7000 is a sophisticated, good-handling AFFORDABLE body.  The pro shooters know the best investment is in quality lenses.  Buy the body, then look into some pro Nikon or Zeiss glass.

The D600 is the best price for performance value. Almost the same features and functions of the D800 for about $900 less. That $900 is enough to buy a nice lens. The D7000 is really not good enough for professional work as it is not a full frame.

Cheap and better camera D7000. Good.

The D7000 will not make you happy, it won't be noticably better than your D5000. The D600 is the best performance for the price. Full frame quality, high resolution, full HD video, solid build and weather sealing, but at quite a bit lower price than the D800. Don't even consider the D700 it's way too old.

just wait for this and compare it to the others

Hey Isabel....Nikon D800 is an obvious choice.Considering your sister's wedding is coming up,you need the best.

Anything else would be un-civilized.

100% you need a full frame camera. When a photographer working with crop it looks strange. He is either crazy or very poor.

D800 is not the best choose because of noise so if it isn't critical I would recommend you to wait for a while for D600. I'm also expecting for this camera to buy it.

And this about Prof lens! You cannot make a good pictures without good optics. It is the same important as a good camera.