Buy 5DMKII kit now, upgrade later?

I posted a question about a week ago whether to get the 5DMKII or the D600 and the overwhelming majority suggested the D600. Took delivery of my D600 and I don't know if it was because I was just shooting inside my house at night, whether it was the lens that I was using (Tamron 28-75), or that I didn't get a chance to set it up to my liking. I wasn't blown away like I was expecting, but I'm pretty sure that I was need to get a few shots under my belt to see. But my original intention was to get the Nikon 24-120 f/4 VR eventually at a cost of $1,300 I believe. But if my findings on the Tamron not being as sharp as I want it to be, I may have to pull the trigger on the 24-120 sooner. But I thought about it, at a cost of $2,100 for the body and another $1,300 for the lens, that's $3,400.

So I'm wondering if I should just get the 5DMKII kit at $2,500 with the kit lens, add let's say a 35L 2nd hand which I see in the $900 to $1,100 range. At that point I'd have 2 L lenses and eventually when the MKIV is released in 3-4 years I can simply upgrade the body then to that or just the MKIII when it becomes either more affordable or I can swing the upgrade. Or whether I should just put more into it now and just get the MKIII with just the 24-105 lens. The difference between a $3,400 package of the D600 and the 24-120 and the $3,749 Adorama package of the 5DMKIII and the 24-105 isn't much when you think about it.

I'm still a beginner relatively, so I'm not even sure if all the advancements of the D600 will be fully utilized by me. Or if even the advancements of the 5DMKIII as when you think about it. As I stated before I don't shoot any fast moving subjects, no sports shooting, mostly take pictures of me and the wife when we go on day trips and wanted something that I can take pictures of my newborn next year. I think that any shortcomings of the MKII I can learn to live with, what I've read is that it's most low light AF and the smaller FPS, but I think I can live with that.

Any thoughts would be great.

I hope you're not expecting better results with the 5D2, because you'll be disappointed... You will get a cost savings. Your tamron should give you excellent center sharpness on the D600, so I would work with that instead of returning the system. Be careful of the thin DOF, assuming you upgraded from a crop camera.

the high resolution can also lead to pixel peeping :P

As I said elsewhere...Don't throw money at a problem without understanding the problem, because you'll likely still have the problem.

These cameras (Nikon included) today are very good but to wring out the best requires extensive knowledge from the person pushing the button. A 5DMKII is not the solution to the problem. As you have recognized ("I'm still a beginner relatively") you have a lot to learn about photography and now it is time to start learning, THEN think about upgrades.

i wouldn't get a 5d2, and i sure wouldn't get it now. price is coming down on it, if you really think it'll make you happy wait a bit. you've got a very good camera,

I don't think returning the D600 and Tamron lens to get the 5DII kit is going to solve your problem. You have the camera at this point, so I would use what you have. Read the manual and most importantly get out and shoot more. You said you're a beginner, so I would definitely get to learn about your camera as much as you can.

Along the lines of the lens, I would keep the 28-75 for now. If you find that it's limiting you in any way, then sell it and get something that more suits your needs (you mentioned the 24-120mm VR lens).

-Nick

On paper the D600 looks like the obvious choice if you ask people which to get between that or the 5d2. But paper specs never tell the whole story.
Regardless though, I doubt the problem would be the D600. It is most likely a fine camera (as are basically all DSLRs now-a-days), and agreed that throwing money at the issue won't really fix it.

TMaG82 wrote in post #15103091
I'm still a beginner relatively, so I'm not even sure if all the advancements of the D600 will be fully utilized by me.

The features on these cameras are a total mystery to a lot of us, we tend to get comfortable with the feature sets we regularly use and simply ignore the hundreds of other options. I was told by a pro 'tog several years ago that he thought he used maybe 10% of the features his camera was capable of, which means I'm probably using 5% or less?

ditch the d600 and get a rebel with the kit lens and learn photography first!