Nikon D70 - buy or wait?
 

I'm in the market for a new digital camera now and the Nikon D70 looks and feels like a good winner, I wanted to know though if anyone has any info or suggestions to wait or consider before I plop down a good bit for this guy.

Onecall has it on sale right now for only $1000 with the lens kit that comes with it, and all the reviews say great things. A camera though is very dependent on the person behind it, and I've used this and admit it's damn nice.


I'm replacing my Olympus D-5050 with what I buy as my main camera.

Been looking at it a lot.

I also check out Ebay daily. I'm goin gover to Canada in March and with the £/$ exchange rate it works out about £300 savings for me to buy it from the US.

Check out this guy's prices:
http://search.stores.ebay.com/ws/sea...+Camera&sofp=0

I'm waiting on a decent price for a D70 with 2 nikon lenses.


I've also compared it to a Canon 20D and although the canon has a higher fps rate for continuous shooting, I don't need more than 3fps for shooting snowboarding, which is what I want it for. My mates aren't pros so more than 3 is wasted on them.

The 20D looks great, and I think an update to the Rebel is coming out also. What I'm also concerned about is who's lens line do I want to enslave myself too.

If you buy nikon lens, you sorta gotta stay with it.

That's the exactly the question you need to answer for yourself.

The Canon vs. Nikon debate has been raging since the dawn of photography (well since Canon jumped into the fray), and right now I think Canon is clearly in the lead, because of their superior auto-focusing technology, especially with Digital. This has not always been the case, and the tide will likely shift again as each of them one up each other. They always have and always will.

Do you currently have a 35mm outfit you would be complimenting? That would be an important factor in your decision. Me I'm pretty deep in Nikon glass so I'd personally go with a Nikon digital SLR...if I even went SLR digital-wise.

Something to examine closely is do you really need the weight, bulk and cost of an SLR. Are you producing billboards? Need the fps speeds, or the lense flexibility? Or will most of your prints be in the 8.5x11 range? I have an old 3.2 mp Camedia that I have had great success with producing posters and prints of that size (36"x36") with a plotter.

Some of these PHD (push here dummy) prosumer all in one, automatic digitals are absolutely remarkable.

If you just freaking "want one" that's fine too...but make sure your making a sound decision when you elect to go in that direction.

I have always found the reviews and forums available at dpreview.com to be very helpful. The forum is filled with skilled and knowledgable amatuer and professional photogs, and the reviews are extremely detailed. Additionally these folks are usually right on top of upcoming equipment releases.

Good Luck,

-bear

This article helped me make a good choice.

http://www.kenrockwell.com/tech/20dd70.htm

thanks for the great replies guys, actually I love the camera the thing is I'm not knowing enough for the market trend to decide if I should get this camera now for $1000, or wait say like 1 month to get a better camera for a lower price.

I'm decided on the camera, but is $1000 a good deal for it?

And now we enter the waiting game portion of the thread! Ah my friend, there is an inverse relationship with the waiting game. Here's what will happen: the price will drop to a range you believe is "just right". A few days before this occurs, you will notice that there is a newer, cooler model...for just a bit more than the new price of the old unit. In limbo, you'll vacillate between the newer model and the older model until one day you get hit by a car and find out you had not taken the time to just get the one you originally wanted.

Look, I know I'm being sarcastic here, but just do one thing: if this is something you're thinking about a lot, just go get it. Enjoy it now instead of later. Life can change in the blink of an eye, and maybe you'll want a photo of it as it goes by.

Remember, the bulk of your money will got to good glass.

You can always replace the body later on. Just insure it and have it 'stolen' a year from now.

(Hint: re stole - pls set sarcasm to 'stun')

I bought a Nikon D100 about a year and a half ago (the D70's older brother) and am very satsified with it. From what I can tell, it is very much the same camera. It even survived a tumbling roll down the grand tetons while attached to me (another story), and all it sustained was a bit of grit in the zoom rings of the lens, and a broken UV filter (that's what they are there for, right?).

At any rate, while the Nikon CCD chips may not be the quality of the Canon's, this camera will not disappoint you. My lens of choice is the 24-120mm vibration reduction. Awesome lens/camera duo.

Just remember, with most DSLR's you don't get the true focal length of the lens. Usually a 1.5x conversion is used (i.e. 100mm lens = 150mm operational)

I was concerned about the nikon having an iso rating of 200~1600 while the 20d had a 100~3200. Comments on that?

hey, konichiwaneko, the 200-1600 iso thing threw me for a bit as well. If you are not currently invested in a line of glass, i would humbly suggest the rebel Xt that is about to come out. 8.0 mp, fine line of canon glass, no lens worries as nikon bodies only work completely with certain lenses, although that is not an issue if you are just buying new glass.

The canon iso100 is supremely smooth, but noise at 200 on the nikon or canon is going to be almost nil in prints and only even barely noticeable if you are staring at a shadow at full size on a large monitor.

the nikon is faster than the original 300d, but the 350 seems to trump both in terms of speed and usability. Mirror lockup, fec, 100-1600, .2s startup, 400+ pics on a battery charge, 8mp, 5 shots in raw mode, 15 or so in jpg consecutive at 3fps.

not to sound like a canon ad, but the new 350d is a nice setup with an 18-55 lens for $1000. i will give it up to nikon for providing a better feeling lens as part of the kit, but quality seems to be about the same in terms of resolution/contrast/sharpness

well we talked about it paq, and last night for those who don't know I ended up getting a 20d from Dell for $1450 after shipping. (with lens)

next week judging the finances, I'll try to pick up a 550ex flash, and maybe the 18-55 IS lens. I'm thinking about getting two 420ex flashes and using them as slaves though

If it matters to you, Nikons have better macro mode for shooting very close to objects. The pictures are much cleaner and clearer.

This is an easy decision if you have glass for a particular system (Lenses). Both the D70 and now the new Rebel XT are excellent cameras. I actually bought the D70 last summer and have no regrets. I personally like the feel of the D70 as compared to the Rebel (though I haven't looked at the new XT version yet). I didn't have any investment in glass, so it was more of a toss up for me.

http://www.dpreview.com/ is a fantastic site, and I highly recommend you look at Phil's reviews for both systems. For someone who is a little partial for Nikon, check out http://www.bythom.com (he e-publishes a guide for the D70 which is really a must read for any D70 owner)

My best suggestion is to go try it out. Most likely the decision will be made apparent then. Its such a huge difference between DSLRs and digicams (and investment wise) that its important to be happy with the lines of lenses offered to you. Camera bodys will come and go, but a good lens should last a VERY long time (lifetime sounded way to cliche)

Mark

just out of curiosity, how did you get the 20d with a lense for 1450? i check the dell site today and they had it for 1499, body only. But at ecost.com they have it for 1469 for the kit.....

ah it doesn't matter, in a year, when the bills are paid, i'll be buying it from one of you guys off of ebay for 500. Gotta love technology. I say if you see some tech item, hold off for a year or so and its half price. Have you asked your dad if he still has that Beta VCR machine he bought in 1984 for 1200 bucks???
Over the years...patience is the most i've learned to invest in. I've been using a olympus camedia for 4 years now...2.1 megapixel.

just my 2 cents.
mrb

Dell has periodic deals at 15~25% off and I got the camera on one of those days.

I'll probably keep this camera for 3~4 years, it's the lens system that I will be investing in, and the camera itself is amazing. Barring mechanical problems or a giant leap in tech, I can't really warrent spending more on another body over spending the next few thousands on the lens system.