I recently made a fundamental change in my whole photography mindset and switched from primarily using a zoom lens to using a fast prime lens. As I posted before, moving to a 35mm f/1.8 lens on my Nikon D7000 really did the trick of getting me better shallow depth of field; however, the move has resulted in some unexpected consequences which really had nothing to do with depth of field.
The change forced me to start thinking about cropping as a post-process. With the zoom lens, I rarely did any cropping of my photos since I framed my shots in camera. The problem I started to run into was that my D7000’s 16.2 megapixels had become too limiting in how much cropping I could do and still maintain a reasonable resolution.
Moreover, on a recent trip to New York City, I also found myself getting very frustrated with the D7000 autofocusing on the wrong things when I was taking a quick shot, particularly with people in it.
It didn’t take long to realize that I needed to upgrade. If I wanted to stick with the DX format, the natural successor to my D7000, the D7200 seemed to be a good choice and if I wanted to move up to a FX format full frame camera, the D750 seemed to be the one to get. The D750’s maximum image size is a massive 6,016 x 4,016 (the D7200 is about the same) compared to the D7000’s maximum of 4,928 x 3,264 which is a LOT more pixels! Size wise, the D750 is just a little larger than the D7200 and considerably smaller than the bulkier higher-end full frames like the D810 and D4S. Since this was a long-term purchase, I wasn’t too concerned about the difference in price between the two cameras.
Of course, to consider an FX format camera meant I also had to think about the lenses I owned. Fortunately, I was not too invested in DX lenses owning just an 18-200mm VR and the 35mm, so moving to a full frame camera, like the D750, was palatable. I also own a 50mm f/1.4, but since it’s an FX lens it would work great on either camera. (Yeah yeah, I know they are all F mounts, but no one recommends using a DX lens on an FX camera.)
Since both cameras offer 24MP–though the D7000 does it with a cropped sensor–I still needed a tie breaker and the D750’s superior autofocus, particularly the face detection feature did just that. Obviously, the full frame D750 brings a whole lot more to the table which only served to tip the scale even further and cement my decision. (Of course, subconciously, I was probably just looking for a reasonable excuse to go with the D750 ;-)
The official D750 kit bundle came with a (yawn) 24-120mm lens, so initially I was thinking of just getting the body since I already had the 50mm; however, the D750 was on sale for $300 less and there was a bundle deal with an additional $250 off a 28-300mm VR lens which made the D750 even more appealing.
I’m really excited about getting a truly high-end camera and I’m looking forward to the built-in WiFi and, yes, the better shallow depth of field that a full frame camera offers. I know a lot of people kinda dismiss the D750’s articulated LCD screen, but I use the one on my Sony RX100II all the time and love it. I see no reason I won’t use it a lot on the D750 as well.
It sure will be nice to not to have to convert the DX lens focal length to FX anymore–something I never got used to–, but I might miss the longer effective reach of the DX format. The 28-300mm should suffice when needed and, at least on short end, 28mm will actually be wide angled! LOL.
Look for more posts on the D750 in the future and obviously some photos.