Ask me if I shoot Nikon or Canon and the casual answer you will here, "I don't ask what brand of underwear you wear, so why should I care what brand of camera you use?"

D700 (FULL FIGURED FX)                                              D600  (just FX and skinny) 

beat up, but not broken                                                     hmm...                                   

For the story of why I use Nikon and my evolution through camera bodies and FULL FIGURED FX...

 READ ON??? CLICK READ MORE!!!

That being said, roughly three years ago when I decided I would try my hand at buying a real camera, the mom and pop store owner sold me a Nikon D70.  And that my friends is why I shoot Nikon.  Since that time I have gone through several gorgeous Nikons, each feeling a little better than the previous and giving me a little extra edge to produce beautiful images.  When deciding I would get a little more serious about photography I upgraded to the D300 which was a significant upgrade from the D70 in feel, features and quality.  The D300 was where I cut my teeth:  I learned to light with that camera, I honed my skills in Adobe land in Photoshop and Lightroom and I landed my first magazine cover.  I knew I was on the right track when I saw my photo on the cover of a magazine while walking past the book store at the mall. I was elated.

The D300 was short lived; while on one of my globe trotting adventures, I left her on the seat of the bus while I went to pee.  I came back and she was gone.  I went into shock because I was out of the country and had no camera;  I cut my trip short and booked the first flight back to the US so I could purchase a new camera.  At that time I didn't know what a full-frame camera was; but I had heard from somewhere that I needed a full-frame.  And that is exactly what I bought, a gorgeous Nikon D700 (exactly two years ago.)

D300 shot

I had heard rumors of a D800 coming out in the near distant future, but I didn't care. I needed a camera because I was on a roll and no time to waste sittin' around for the next this or the better that. The D700... She's big and round like a full figured woman; and she never lets me down. I've dropped her from a second story building, she's been completely submerged in water twice and she still performs like butttttter! I love her.   Smaller than Nikon's flagship D2 but has the same sensor, she's full frame (I like to say full figured) and is magical in the high ISO/low light conditions.

Shortly after the purchase, I had my first commercial shoot with her and the light was so low.  I was getting motion blur and took the plunge into High ISO Land.   I bumped to 3200  (the D300 looked scary after ISO 800) and I was worried sick that there would be too much noise and the clients would never hire me again.  No problem, high ISO sings like a bird!  My confidence went through the roof with that baby.  So, what's the point of this long rant and rave?  rumor has it that Nikon is introducing a Full Frame baby sister, the D600.  Basically the D600 is a full frame trapped in the skinny body of the D7000.   I'll say it right now and settle this matter before I give you all the rumored specifications:   full figured feels just right and skinny don't do the trick in photo world.   Now, that is my opinion.  I own the D7000 as well;   I use the D7000 for video and on occasion I'll break her skinny butt out on a pro-shoot when I have forgotten to charge batteries on the D700.

D700  -  ISO 3200  - man, I'll never forget that day...

Bottom line, the skinny little body feels wimpy and even sounds wimpy.  I'm not sure what the shutter will sound like on the new D600, but if it's the same wimpy shutter trapped in the D7000 then I'll tell you right now that it's a disappointment.  When you here the shutter coming out Big Mama, you know there some real guts behind that shot.  The D700 feels solid and sounds magical, hand me a D7000 when you click you hear, "beeepppp..." Man, it's a sad moment for my ears.  

Okay enough of my blabbering about my love affair with Big Mama D700. Here's the skinny on the skinny D600:

(remember that this info is simply rumors that have been leaked and can be found on nikonrumors.com)

24.7 Megapixels   (D700 12.1 Megapixels)

3.2" LCD

Video:  Full HD w/30p, 25p, and 24p  (D700 has no video)

No GPS

ISO 100-6400  (25,600 HI)

Auto Face Detection   (not on the D700)

5 fps  (same as D700)

1/250 sync speed

to be released this summer

$1,500 price tag   (used D700 start at $1,700 on Amazon)

My thoughts:  If you are on a budget and ready to step up and play with the big boys, get a used D700.   If you have the dough, can afford to buy a crap load more memory, and have a computer that can handle 24.7 megapixel files buy a D800.   12.1 Megapixels does find by me in the pro-world. 

If the D600 feels and sounds anything like the D7000, run and hide!  Grab yourself a used D7000 if you absolutely need video.  A great inexpensive camera that feels and performs great is the D300!

Feel, sound, and performance of the D700 shines in my book.   Don't go wimpy or skinny.