I was kind of hoping for user experiences on the D600. I'm really tempted to look into this one as the reviews are very good. It's basically the 7000 or 7100 but with a full frame sensor. It's also very similar to the D800 but 16Mp versus 24Mp and literally half the cost. I'm not sure that the extra 8Mp would make a huge difference to me so I'm really excited about the possibilities that the D600 might offer.
I'm coming off a D70s which is about 6-7 years old now, and while it's a great camera for most things, it really has a lot trouble with tank shots unless I bump up the ISO to max (which is 1600 and very grainy) or take 4 seconds per exposure which only works for corals and even then only if I turn off all water pumps and let the tank settle. And yet even then, the colour rendition is quite poor compared to many other cameras. I'm sure some of it is white balance but even with an adjusted white balance the saturation is just not there.
I'm somewhat torn because even though it's lot less than another other FX sensor model, it's still a heavy handed purchase and even if going used or refurb it pretty much nails the coffin shut for an eventual move to LED lights over tank for quite some time. I've already mentally come to terms that I'm not switching my big tank over to LED this year, I will replace the halides (a few months overdue now, been holding off because .. well I kind of thought I might switch to LED but everytime I price it out .. I just can't do it). So be that as it may, my second most profound annoyance with my tank these days is that I can't take pictures of the tank that stand in the peer group of most Canreefers who post pictures. Let's face it, I'll never be Kien and I won't try but I still wonder if I'd be happier if I could post something that doesn't 100% suck.
But then again the D7000 and D7100 would also be a huge jump from what I have, and certainly compare to the D600 with higher ISO options but are half the price again (at the cost of going with a DX sensor over an FX sensor).
Some of my lenses I've had for a while and basically date back to when I shot with a 35mm Nikon so that's why I'm still tempted to go FX because the lenses were meant for 35mm. The zoom effect is neat with the DX sensor but there are times I try shooting with one of my macro lenses and I have to stand 8 feet back otherwise all I have is one enormous fish eyeball filling the entire frame. It turns out there is such a thing as too much zoom.
Vistek offers rentals of cameras so I might just rent one for a weekend and see how it plays out and then I'll have a better idea of whether I'm ready to pull the trigger or not but in the meantime I'd still like to hear from any users about how they like it for tank shots. (Please and thank you!)
thanks all!