I’ve decided to send back the Sony a900 to rethink my position, and went out this morning to buy a Nikon D700 to be the 1st test subject. While the a900 offers everything that I value, I can’t help but be a critic of Sony in their DSLR development. With 6 recent DSLR releases in the entry and consumer level tier, Sony attempts to appeal to absolute beginners and their Cyber-Shot digicam userbase. While perhaps this is justified to secure buyers into the Alpha system, it frustrates the veterans to the system, the people who have invested thousands of dollars in lenses and bodies, and the Minolta users. In a nutshell, Sony isn’t keeping their older members from jumping ship, releasing nothing of value to the semi/professional market since the a900. Sony is a new kid on the DSLR block, who is beginning to get market shares and userbase, but lacking needed support for their system.

While Nikon does not offer some of the things I value in my style of photography, the company is highly mature in understanding the needs and wants of its users. Some of the D700′s features are overkill for my purposes,  some are severely lacking, like the small, 95% OVF, the lack of stabilized lenses, and the low megapixel sensor. I realize I can’t have everything, which is precisely why I’m going to take my time in moving to full frame; to see what works best for me.

The D700 will be tested tomorrow when I cover an award ceremony, and I’m looking forward to the famed ISO performance and the 51 point AF tracking. Below is some additional eye-candy.

Funny thing is that I’ve already scratched the LCD cover :( and as for contender number 2, Canon 5D Mark2 is waiting.