D70 or Digital Rebel for PICTURE QUALITY ?

[netspots]

Hi,

Like many others, I'm trying to decide between the Canon Digital Rebel and the Nikon D70. I understand that the D70 seems to be a better camera overall since it has many more features than the Canon -- but which one has better PICTURE QUALITY?

Let's say that I did NOT tweak the camera settings. And let's say I did NOT do any tweaking in Photoshop. If both cameras were just taken out of the box, put on AUTO and shot the same picture, which camera would produce the better picture?

I've seen comments like "the Canon produces silky smooth photos at ISO 100 that the D70 can't match" and "the Nikon D70 pictures tend to be slightly bluish or yellowish." Is this true? Has anyone here actually used both of these cameras?

I'm obviously no pro, so I don't own any prior lenses. I'm just a guy that wants to take some quality shots of my 20 month old son. Why spend this much on a camera if I'm not a pro? I'm sick and tired of the frustration from missing all the best shots with my current digital camera due to a nasty delay. I want a more expensive camera that will eliminate the delay AND provide excellent picture quality.

I know that both cameras will end up with great pictures if the proper tweaking is done. But which camera has the best picture quality right out of the box, *without* having to do any pre or post tweaking?

Honest answers would be greatly appreciated. Thanks very much...

 

[Big Mike]

Welcome to the forum.

I don't own either of those cameras but here is my two cents anyway

You would probably have a hard time telling the difference between the two. I'm sure there are people who can tell the difference but those are probably people who spend all their time fussing over that kind of stuff.

A bigger factor in the quality of the image is the lens. So you might get a more definitive comparison if you looked at the kit lens that comes with either camera. Probably very similar as well.

You would probably find that if you put a prime lens on either camera it would give better quality than either camera with the kit lens.

On thing you might want to look at it start up time. I believe the D Reb is about two seconds. I don't know about the D70. If that is a major issue for you, maybe the more expensive 20D is worth a look. It's start up time is 0.2 seconds which is effectively instant.

Also, while either camera will produce nice images "out of the box"...the ability to manipulate digital images is one of the advantages of owning a digital camera. You would be wise to consider which camera gives you the most freedom when editing the image file.

 

[voodoocat]

If you're looking for a camera that is going to give you the best results using the auto modes, go with the drebel. Quality wise the cameras are nearly identical. Yes when you view a shot with ISO100 on the canon at 100% on your monitor it is going to show less noise. But when you have the photos printed, you wouldn't be able to tell a difference.

I prefer the way I can customize the D70 and some of the other features. Like a faster flash synch (which can actually go up to 1/4000 with a non nikon flash), faster write speed, larger buffer, custom curves, etc.

 

[voodoocat]

On thing you might want to look at it start up time. I believe the D Reb is about two seconds. I don't know about the D70. If that is a major issue for you, maybe the more expensive 20D is worth a look. It's start up time is 0.2 seconds which is effectively instant.

There is basically no startup time... I've never been able to beat the startup time by pressing the shutter immediately following powerup.

 

[Bokeh]

A bigger factor in the quality of the image is the lens. So you might get a more definitive comparison if you looked at the kit lens that comes with either camera. Probably very similar as well..

Good words indeed imho... the way I see it, much like ford and chevy, canon and nikon go back and forth over the years and sometimes one is on top, sometimes the other is. From what I can tell, Canon is on top right now. We should mention the rebel is cheaper. The main thing I see about the d70 is it's a wee bit faster. The startup time never bothered me that much, but I did notice it a bit.

And about lenses, the way I understand it, Canon currently makes the best lenses (IS, L series etc.) Also if you notice what pros are using at events, or if you visit forums, such as this one, fred mirands etc., it seems most of the pros seem to be using Canon at the moment. Not all, but an obvious majority.

$.02

 

[netspots]

If you're looking for a camera that is going to give you the best results using the auto modes, go with the drebel.

Hmmm... when you say "the best results" what do you mean exactly?

The best picture quality? or something else?

Thanks!

 

[netspots]

Also, does anyone know if these statements are true?:

1. "the Canon produces silky smooth photos that the D70 can't match"

2. "the Nikon D70 pictures tend to be slightly bluish or yellowish"

Thanks again...

 

[voodoocat]

I'm talking about white balance, exposure, colors, etc... but the D70 color matrix meter is better than the meter in the drebel.

1. I already touched on this issue. Measurebators are the only ones that care about the difference between canon's iso100 and nikons iso200. You wouldn't see any difference if you compared prints.

2. This is a white balance issue. The default white balance may come out slightly blue or yellow. But you can customize each white balance setting to suit your needs. I prefer -2 on auto because it warms things up a bit. The best way is to do a custom white balance for each lighting situation you encounter. I generally use a custom white balance. There's also a product called expodisk that goes on your lens to set the white balance. It works perfectly every time and yields the best color rendition.

 

[mrsid99]

My son has a Nikon D70 and I use a Canon 10D which has the same sensor assembly as the Drebel and the bottom line is that there's no visible difference in picture quality.
It's the lenses that make all the difference.
HTH.

 

[netspots]

2. This is a white balance issue. The default white balance may come out slightly blue or yellow. But you can customize each white balance setting to suit your needs. I prefer -2 on auto because it warms things up a bit. The best way is to do a custom white balance for each lighting situation you encounter.

Okay, forgive my ignorance here (hey, I'm learning already!), but does this mean I can set it once and forget it? Or does it mean setting it each time I'm about to take pictures?

Since I obviously don't know what I'm doing, I'm not sure I'd be up to speed to manually adjust the white balance every time. If that's the case, I might be happier with the Rebel. True? or did I miss something?

If I can set it once and forget it, this (for me) is the way to go, since it would mean I *could* get the D70 and not have the greenish / blueish problems. I'm assuming this would solve that issue, correct?

I'm really sorry for the dumb questions... thanks for your help.

 

[Bokeh]

Since I obviously don't know what I'm doing, I'm not sure I'd be up to speed to manually adjust the white balance every time. If that's the case, I might be happier with the Rebel. True? or did I miss something?

.

I may be wrong here, but it seems like you're "wishful thinking" I don't think you'll ever find a camera that you can just set one time and never have to worry about white balance. They all have different "typical lighting" settings you can use like tungsen, florescent etc., but from what i can tell, those have NEVER been near as good for me as a custom white balance. Using a custom white balance is soooo much more accurate. Take a look at this shot.. this is EXACTLY what my feet look like, color tone and all, and this is even scaled way down from 8.2mpx. This was with the 20d the other day right after I got it.

 

[voodoocat]

Like bokeh said, custom white balance is going to yield the best results. That's not saying that the auto settings are that bad.... You can adjust the auto settings to shoot warmer or cooler based on your personal tastes.

 

[Bokeh]

Like bokeh said, custom white balance is going to yield the best results. That's not saying that the auto settings are that bad.... You can adjust the auto settings to shoot warmer or cooler based on your personal tastes.

But every room you shoot in may be slightly different. I shot at an event not long ago that had a combination of both florescent and tungsen. Needless to say, many shots needed post-processing. Shooting indoor in avail light is tough, at least for me. I'm getting better at it though, at least I think.

 

[netspots]

You can adjust the auto settings to shoot warmer or cooler based on your personal tastes.

Hey, I just wanna be able to permanently get rid of the blueish greenish color problem I keep reading about. If that can be done, I might as well get the D70. If it can't, I might be best off with the dRebel.

 

[voodoocat]

You can adjust the auto settings to shoot warmer or cooler based on your personal tastes.

Hey, I just wanna be able to permanently get rid of the blueish greenish color problem I keep reading about. If that can be done, I might as well get the D70. If it can't, I might be best off with the dRebel.

Once you set it, it doesn't change until you change it. You're basically taking what the camera would normally decide is the proper white balance and warming it up or cooling it. That is different from using a custom white balance, where you use a grey card or white surface to determine the white balance. That must be changed for every lighting situation.