I love photography. It’s no secret, and I love trying new things and playing around with my gear. There is a danger to “chasing gear” where gear becomes the most important thing in photography and the art of the photograph, of composition, lighting and even post production get left by the side of the road – as long as a person has cool gear.
Gear is really one of the least important things. As a camera, cell phones are horrible – when compared to DSLRs, yet there are some incredible pictures taken with the camera that comes with your phone. This proves my point. Truly the best camera is the one you have with you.
The camera that I have with me now however is the Nikon D600. I’ve come to think of it as a the full-frame version of the D90 (a camera I still own and love). It is replacing my D300s, and it’s a bit of a mixed bag on this “upgrade”. The D300s is a Corvette. It’s fast, works great, has a lot of options and is one of the best camera’s in its class – likely the best DX-format camera ever made. The build quality is outstanding. The feel of it in your hand is comforting. I do love it.
The D600 though is more of a Cadillac. It’s probably a better car, but you lose of the flash and zip of the D300s. The build quality is not as impressive – and while I’m sure it will stand up to years of use, it still feels a little on the mainstream side. It loses a lot of bracketing options, but replaces those with better dynamic range. It’s a toss-up for sure, but as soon as you start looking at image quality – there is no contest. The Nikon D600 is in a class of it’s own in that price range.
There will be more images from me shortly, but I thought I’d try and show off a few pictures that I’ve taken as test shots on this camera up to this point. I will be heading out early this week – armed with this camera to a escape in Banff, Alberta. Stay tuned.
Here’s the D600 Test Flickr set I’m working on.