Should I or shouldn't i?

vixenta · May 6, 2005

Well, the time has come for me to venture into the possibility of buying a brand new camera, and the possibilites are endless, i've been given alot of thumbs up towards the Nikon D70, and i got to admit it just looks like "the daddy" of all cameras! And yes i admit i occasionally go into the camera store i pass on the way to town and stare at it in pondering thought.
How many of you guys have a D70? Is it easy to use? and what made it stand out for you when you bought it?

Big Mike · May 6, 2005

They have a new D70s...something else to think about.

ferny · May 7, 2005

dum dum doo day

http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=20656&highlight=nikons

Now I'll leave the thread as I know nothing about the D70.

K_Duffer · May 9, 2005

I just got a d70, and it's great. It's a great time to get one because it's at rock bottom prices thanks to the annoucement of the d70s and the d50. Plus there is a $100 rebate going on right now. As I understand it, the only real difference between the d70 and the d70's are (1) bigger LCD on d70s, (2) cable release option on d70s, and (3) wider pop-up flash coverage on the d70s. The rest of the changes can be made to the d70 via firmware update. Those 3 "improvements" were not that important to me so I decided to go with the d70.

The other post linked by ferny talk more about the differences between the d70 and the d50.

I've been shooting a Nikon film SLR for years and have a lot of nice lenses for it, so it was a no brainer choice for me. Besides the lenses, I'm used to the Nikon controls and so I find it quite comfortable and easy to use.

hobbes28 · May 10, 2005

We have the D70 over here too. I think it's a wonderful camera and couldn't even start to tell you the things that made me buy it over the others. One thing I can say is that it's gotten a huge Canon fan to think about switching systems....

Alison · May 10, 2005

I've used both the D70 and the 10D. I've also tried out the Digital Rebel in the stores. The Nikon features that won me over is the fact that once you trun the switch to ON, it's on, no warm up time. That and the battery life is fantastic. Image quality wise I don't see a difference between the Canon and Nikon so it's more a matter of which feels better in your hands and which has the features that you like. Aubrey (Hobbes) and I were just talking about how the auto focus switch for lenses in on the Nikon body itself vs. being on the lens and that's a nice feature too, harder to accidentally hit it that way. Good luck with your decision!

amoki · May 11, 2005

It's pretty pointless to have a debate over Nikon and Canon cameras. You have to decide which you want, and the budget allotment.

If you decide to go for Canon, don't settle for anything below a 20D, and even for some this is an overstatement. The 300D can found at a price as low as USD697.75 from digitalfotoclub, and the 350D is not worth the $300 USD IMO... just a faster D!G!C II image processor, faster start-up time (why do you need to shut down your camera at the first place any way when you're going for a photo-shoot?), faster card buffer (matters a little when you're using Write-acceleration cards, but you definitely will buy a card reader when you discover how bothersome connecting your camera to the CPU can be) and some very minor improvements. The software bundle with the 350D isn't worth any praise either... with a 300D I at least have Elements 2.0 bundled, with 350D Arcsoft (which I already have from my sis's Canon A70). The $300 (or $350 if you include the software bundle) is better off invested in somewhere else, perhaps Photoshop 7 or Element 3.0 or even lense with faster aperture or IS/USM functions if you think Elements 2.0 is enough for you.

Nikon D70 outperforms everything below Canon 20D (maybe even slightly better off than 20D, but it's better if you hear it from the experts), but if you compare the price, the price difference between a D70 and a 300D is nearly a whooping USD500. (BH sells it for USD 1160 I think.) While this makes no difference if you have already quite a huge sum of money prepared for this expensive hobby (heh heh), it makes a lot of difference if you are buying one on a tight budget (like me).

If the D70 sounds like a good choice for you, you might want to start researching on the D70s. Why? The newest firmware for the D70s gives the camera the functionality of the D70. (according to www.photo.co.nz), to add that D70 has just been discontinued. IF you insist on a D70, try buying one from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia if you can. From what I know the camera stores there are trying to clear the D70 with price drops. Then again, if you've got lots of money, buy locally - save yourself shipping hassles and warranty issues. (Not sure how much, but heard that the price was very competitive with the Canon cameras)

Just my opinion, as I was in your shoes nearly 2 months ago.

EDIT - You're British? Then might as well settle for the Nikon D70s. British pounds has such a high exchange value, that the price difference between a D70s and the Canon cameras is nearly insignificant. Unless, like I've said, you're buying on a strict budget and have other plans in your budget, say, for a camera printer.

Big Mike - It's the D70s. I have a friend in Malaysia whose company is the local Nikon dealer. One of the feature of a D70s is a larger LCD screen if I'm not wrong.