nikon D70 any thoughts?

[SamuraiCatJB]

love? casual friendship? jealousy? hatred?

[phsv]

What kind of thoughts you looking for? I am a Canon fan so I am trying to be very unbiased and try to present the facts for what they are. *smirk*

[phsv]

But I think that the Nikon D70 from the Nikon line is a great camera for the price and the lenses that you can get in a kit. The old D100 might feel more solid but a lot of the technology that it has is a few years old.

A friend of mine bought his for Christmas and hasn't regretted it since. He really enjoys using the camera and feels very solid. He bought it from an online retailer at a VERY low price;

http://www.digitalliquidators.com/detail.asp?id=nkd70

I was very skeptical about it because the reviews weren't that good and I was scared that he was going to get ripped off. But nope, he got the new camera w/ USA warranty and the lenses he had ordered.

Hope that helps.

[SamuraiCatJB]

I have read all the reviews... I own a Nikon 5400 personal camera now... I am wanting more options... lenses... I almost made the jump to SLR last year at tax time and talked myself out of it....

I do landsapes, sunsets, wildlife, autumn colors, snow... general nature photography... I enter a few, but never won better than honorable mention at state fairs.

I do it more for my fun than for prizes. :)

[the_iceman]

The D70 was really brought out to compete with the Rebel Digital. They are very similar cameras. A friend from work has one and brought it in the other day. Nice feel and ease of operation of the camera (from my very limited playing around with it). Very similar to the Rebel.

Nice thing with the D70 .... (even though it doesn't say so)... it can use the WA technology in the memory cards.... can get like 6.3 or 6.5mb/sec write with it.

That is according to my friend who has one :)

[SamuraiCatJB]

I've been looking at the comparisons between the D70 and Canon EOS 300D all evening... As much as I would like the 20D mentioned elsewhere, I can't convince myself to put that much money in a camera for hobbiest like myself. I can recognize I am hitting the limits of the SLR like single combo lenses... where I want to do something different and can't.

The low-end SLRs I can justify to myself, I can add lenses over time, and keep them should I upgrade in 2-3 years. My last camera was 2 years ago.

[Gizmo]

I have read all the reviews... I own a Nikon 5400 personal camera now... I am wanting more options... lenses... I almost made the jump to SLR last year at tax time and talked myself out of it....

I do landsapes, sunsets, wildlife, autumn colors, snow... general nature photography... I enter a few, but never won better than honorable mention at state fairs.

I do it more for my fun than for prizes. :)Hey, SamCat:
You have never owned an SLR before? You obviously have the "eye" for photography. ;) Why limit yourself to a single fixed lens (besides the "money" factor)? Seriously, the D70 will open a whole new world of artistic expression than you could ever imagine.

I say "Go for it!" :)

[SamuraiCatJB]

I have borrowed 35mm cameras... my brother's, my ex's (then wife), my grandfather's. I repeated over and over again that I wasn't smart enough to know how to use an SLR camera.... repeated it until I believed it. I still don't have enough free money to toss all of it on a bigger camera. I could actually afford a D2X, but it would take every penny I have and have coming in the next 2 months... none left for lenses. But the D70 I can afford the lenses and the camera, and not break the bank. If I pass the limits of the D70, I can convince myself to move up again.

I can't look at a scene and say that is f.x and exposure y. but I can look at it and say, I think that would look good on this depth of scene focus on that, adjust default settings up or down, etc. I do that now. I learned rapidly what the 5400 did on auto, and what I wanted and immeadiately started over/under exposing, bracketing shots, changing f settings for depth of scene etc.

I will be honest, I am an artist not a photographer. :) I can see and setup the scene, I just have to learn the camera. :)

[phsv]

Well, between the 300D and the D70, the D70 would be up there hands down since it might be good enough to compete against canon's 20D.

[Gizmo]

SamCat,

If you haven't already, you need to check out this site:

http://www.kenrockwell.com/

This guy is an amaizing photographer and his site is full of good information. He is a Nikon user and has several excellent hands-on reviews.

[SamuraiCatJB]

thanks!! yes, I like his site. :)
Sorry to disappoint you, but 6MP and 8MP look the same because they are only 15% different, which is invisible in real photos. It would take something around 24MP to look significantly improved from 6MP. I have a whole page devoted to the megapixel myth here. The D70 makes images 3,008 pixels wide and the 20D makes them 3,504 pixels wide, big deal. No one can see the tiny difference. It takes a doubling of linear resolution, or a quadrupling of the total pixels (MP), to make a significant difference, and only then if you're printing above 11 x 14."

I would disagree there... but then, I am in the computer imagery business, so I see my pixels. I generally see on order of 150 to 200 pixels wide in improvement. In other words I see differences in the half-megapixel range. I do know that is unusual though and try to break the megapixel myth for anyone who asks me.

I am a perfectionist in anything I create, flaws I see in others work I can accept, in my own I am constantly learning to be better -- I never give myself a break. :)

and no, I won't get caught in analysis paralysis. We're talking final stages now, I'm asking for folks final thoughts before I upgrade to high end in current single shot personal cameras, or finally jump to SLR as I threatened to last year.

[SamuraiCatJB]

well, that an my current camera noise at ISO 400 is about equivalent to the noise at ISO 1600... that is my biggest draw to SLR. :) Staying where I am at can only push it up to ISO 800, but pushing that noise to ISO 1600 for my photos means I can actually use ISO 400 and 800 without cringing . :)