nikon d70s

[tomanizzle]

i have a friend who wants to sell his d70s to me and im not sure if i should get it.


it is in great condition and i can get either a 50mm lense, a 18-125mm lense and a 10.2 fisheye lense.

which lense should i get since im just starting out?

he gave me a price with the 50mm and the body of 600 is that a good price?

 

[Sideburns]

I dono...not really. Maybe 450 or 500...
Probably 500 with lens is pretty good.
It's a good camera though.

 

[jstuedle]

I'd say $500 w/50mm f/1.8 would be fair to you both is the cameras in very good condition. JMO.

 

[Mav]

I agree with the others. $600 is a bit high. The body itself is probably worth about $400 alone assuming it has the box and all accessories, and then a 50mm lens brand new is like $100.

I'd start off with the 18-135mm lens. I have one and it's great and will let you play around with a lot of different focal lengths. That's worth about $200 used, so a price of $600 for the D70s plus that lens would probably be pretty fair.

 

[el_shorty]

$600 is too high, my friend bought two new D70s bodies from Ritz Camera last March for $400 each, the cameras were on clearance.

 

[gpimages]

$500-$600 is fair depending on lens and condition of camera. Great camera.

 

[vyerous]

Obviously depending on the condition of the lens and body I would think 600 isn't too bad, especially with the endless possibilities the d70s offers. It would be a great camera to learn on and it still has the capabilities to easily produce professional grade images. Not to mention if you upgrade to off camera lighting (wireless flashes and what not), you will be able to sync at higher shutter speeds that most cameras.

Skim through these just to get an idea of what it's capable of

http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/d70s.htm
http://www.dpreview.com/news/0504/05042003nikond70s.asp
http://flickr.com/groups/26253053@N00/pool/

Personally if I were just starting out or had little to no experience especially with a DSLR vs a Point and Shoot, I would go with the 18-135mm lens because at least it has a nice range of focus and you don't need an expensive piece of glass until you know how to use your camera. The 50mm is a great lens don't get me wrong, but trust me you will have more fun with a zoom vs a prime. I would say $600 is rather fair but lowball him and see if he will come down on the price.

 

[Mav]

The 50mm is a great lens don't get me wrong, but trust me you will have more fun with a zoom vs a prime.

I think that depends on the individual more than anything. I actually like shooting with my primes more because I tend to find more interesting angles and perspectives when I shoot with them, they're sharper, contrastier, ultra small and lightweight, and with the large apertures you can get some nice effects and three-dimensional looking photos. I use mainly the 35mm f/2 and the 50mm f/1.8. Both are great little lenses.

 

[vyerous]

Oh absolutely and I'm in the same boat as you but when just starting out, at least from my experience and from others it tends to be more fun to experiment with a zoom or telephoto rather than a set prime... just my .02 though, it is up to the individual.

 

[Mike_E]

If it's in great shape and doesn't have too many shutter actuations then that and the 50mm would be fine for you (do get your friend to throw in a 2gig or 2 1gig CF cards though.

You can take a lot of great shots with the 50mm and then can make your next purchase by what you feel you need the most based on your new found experience.