question about the old Nikon D700

Hello all, new guy here.

I have a question and I hope someone can help. I am considering buying a cheap but good camera and the reviews I have read about this camera are all great. It is old however. I had a 5d mark iii a while ago but had to sell due to financial issues. The only lens I had at the time was the 50 1.2L. I dont have too much money to spend right now, I am trying to keep it under 1200$ for body and lens.

Question is, would this still be a viable option especially after coming from a 5d iii? I am not brand loyal and am basically starting over so I would like a durable camera and basically an "all rounder" kind of camera. I would like to stick with full frame as well because I like the DOF and low light performance.

Thank you!

Maybe not...BUT you don't have a choice if you want full frame with a limited budget. The next step up is the D600, which can be had for under $900 to $800 if you shop around. The D600 has a smaller body and the eye cup isn't round but square. It may appear too small for a full frame body. Also, the focusing points are all clustered too closely to each others. Think of the D700 to be slightly better than the 5D classic.

I would say the D700 is more than slightly better than the original 5D. I would take the D700 up to 3200 without reservation. And it's a faster operating camera than the 5D ever hoped to be.

Thanx for the responses. One reason I dont like the d600 is the physical size of it. I have big hands and the 6d and d600 feel like, sorry to say but toys. (No disrespect). What I like about the d700 is the autofocus. When I tried it before it was responsive and fast compared with the mark iii.

For $1200, I would get a 5D II and a 28-70L or Sigma 24-70 HSM

I have used almost all of the recent Canon pro/sumer bodies (1Dx, 5D2, 5D3, 6D, 7D)

I am okay with using center AF point only (focus-recompose), so losing the focus points of the 5D3 isn't a huge deal. I don't notice a decrease in AF speed or accuracy compared to the 5D3 when I use the center point.

The 5DII isn't the fastest camera but it is fast enough not to hinder me, and is better than I expected (I downgraded from 5D 3 to 2, so I could get a 1Dx). I now use it as a secondary with a 24-70 and the 1Dx with a 120-300, and it's very happy with its role.

If you insist on Nikon, I would get a D3 instead of a D700. It's only about $200 more. I've even seen good condition ones go for under $700 as auction style ebay sales.

The 5DII is known to get banding and D700/D3 gets color splotches at high ISO. However, 5DII files are still highly useable at ISO6400 with slight ETTR.