[Matsu]

It may be a tad paranoid, but I'm beginning to have doubts about the f mount. The lenses cost $$$. I believe that samples and testing bare out Nikon has 2 of the 3 best zooms in their respective ranges. The 24-70 and 14-24, and Canon has the best 70-200. Nikon's 17-35 is probably the other good fast wide angle zoom. And of course, Canon's 24-70 and Nikon's 70-200 are both pretty good too.

But the primes? They're soo pricey, and big*, and it makes me wonder sometimes whether a full frame DSLR is the right option for sneaking up on people, some slightly smaller f/1.8-2 versions are needed, I feel, and an even smaller FX camera.

*I should qualify that. Of course they're not as big as any of the zooms, but the modern AFS lense are pretty huge compared to the old manual focus versions. WTF?

What I do know from using the crop body is this. To cover all situations, I need about 3 more stops sensitivity than the D300 gives. That sort of limits me to some vastly improved DX sensor that doesn't exist yet (though the D700 goes part way there) and f/2 or faster lenses, which do exist, but only in primes and some of those are eye-wateringly expensive. Or, an FX body, which ironically may be the most cost effective way of getting there.

Come on Nikon, give us an FE sized FX camera.

Just to illustrate the size difference between the f/1.4 and f/1.8, and why a line of slightly slower primes makes sense, especially if they cost 40% of what the 1.4 primes cost
http://www.nikonjin.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=272