Nikon D70 6.1 Megapixel Digital SLR Camera Body with Lens Kit - 18 mm - 70 mm - PC PhotoMag

I purchased this digital SLR...

Strengths: this camera has so many strengths its hard to list them all...instant startup, 6.1mp, shoots extremely fast (up to three pictures a second), handles very well, focuses quickly, INCREDIBLE battery life

Weakness: it would be nice to have 8mp

I purchased this digital SLR camera because i was getting more serious about my hobby and wanted to be able to do some professional quality work. It's definately an expensive camera ($1300) but considering what you get for the money it has been more than worth it for me. Taking pictures with this camera is sooo quick and easy (faster and just better than canon digital rebel), it takes no time at...
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By rhino30349 - Sep 28, 2004

I recently traded my beloved Nikon...

Strengths: Ability to use my old AF Nikkor lenses. QUICK startup and focus. Long battery life. Handles like my N8008s. Excellent 18/70mm lens.

Weakness: My SB24 flash won't work in TTL mode. No way for the moment to take really w-i-d-e angle photos. My 20mm becomes a 30mm.

I recently traded my beloved Nikon FA, MD-15 motor and 5 AIS Nikkor lenses toward my D-70. My 60 year-old eyes just couldn't handle manual focus any longer. I'm delighted that ALL my AF Nikkors for my N8008s work flawlessly with the D-70, even the independent brands and the 1.4x teleconverter. My 180mm F2.8 and 105mm macro are my favorites, I love fast, long lenses. Being able to use all my...
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By HolyOley - Aug 25, 2004

I am a pro-shooter and this is my...

Strengths: No delay at power on, easy to use, excellent full color metering, battery life is great, i-TTL flash is excellent, menu system allows great control over functions, fits hand well

Weakness: some buttons a little small, Picture Project software is for amatures- Nikon Capture should be included in $, Menus not too easy to navigate in a hurry, not 8 MPixel, no PC socket

I am a pro-shooter and this is my first digital. I was waiting for an 8-10 MPix from Nikon but got tired of waiting. For $900 this blows the other D-SLRs away. The D70 is amazing for the price. It sports many F5 features- color meter, AF sensor, etc. Plan on using a 512MB Flash card or larger for fine JPEGs and a 1GB or larger for RAW shooting. I shoot RAW 90% because the Capture Software allows...
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By ROBINE - Oct 14, 2004

Got my D70 the 24th March from B+H...

Strengths: Good solid build feel, exceptional autofocus, good for amateur or semi-pro, backward compatible lenses

Weakness: Capture software extra cost, hand grip feels tight to the lens, default seems underexposed

Got my D70 the 24th March from B+H in New York on first day of release. D70 with the Nikon 18-70 lens and 1Gb Sandisk Extreme CF card. Total (ex tax)$1599 also paid an extra $50 for the Mack 5 year extended warranty. The camera is already sold out and on 4 week back order 1 day later! 1 hours charge had the battery to maximum and started shooting. Keeping to the large and fine quality JPEG's...
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Got my D70 the 24th March from B+H in New York on first day of release. D70 with the Nikon 18-70 lens and 1Gb Sandisk Extreme CF card. Total (ex tax)$1599 also paid an extra $50 for the Mack 5 year extended warranty. The camera is already sold out and on 4 week back order 1 day later!

1 hours charge had the battery to maximum and started shooting.

Keeping to the large and fine quality JPEG's right now, waiting to get comfortable with the camera before moving into RAW format and spending another great wedge of cash for Photoshop or it's like......H'mmm wonder if GIMP can handle this.

The Picture Project software that comes with the camera is lightweight but OK and I really would expect Nikon to include the Capture 4 software package with the camera not as an additional $100 charge.

Camera build quality is all I expect from Nikon and I have already started to play with using some of my older Nikon 35mm film lens with no glaring problems as yet.

I recommend that you invest in either the Sandisk Ultra II or Extreme compact flash cards if you want to get the best out of the improvements in image process and store. I ran off multiple shots with the Extreme card and with a generic CF card and the difference is very noticeable. With the Extreme card I can get a consistent and uninterrupted burst of 10 or more shots at a consistent and uninterrupted 3 fps. With the generic, quick burst of 2-3 then grinds verrrrrry slowly. Functional but disappointing.

Real instant power on !!! A friend of mine with the Canon Digital Rebel is extremely jealous. This function is probably linked to the fact that the number of shots available LCD is always on

The auto focus is exceptional ! As a cheap and cheerful test (which had some of my colleagues looking at me like I was a madman) I set my office chair in the middle of a corridor with work cubes, walls, long corridors etc all around. I sat and spun myself round and shot off a 3 second burst (10 pictures). At moderate speed (ie not vomit inducing) 8 out of the 10 where focussed, the remaining 2 were where the centre was in direct transition from one depth of field to a markedly different one.

Minor gripes.
1. Capture 4 software for manipulation of RAW is an added cost. Should be included

2. My hands are not particularily large but the right hand grip feels tight and close to the lens and can lead to cramp in the fingers if you hold whilst waiting for that perfect shot.

3. The default settings seem to underexpose by about 2/3 of a stop. I have ramped it up to compensate going to have to play more to get a good feel for this.

More may follow as I get to grips with the wide range of features

By everalm - Mar 30, 2004

This camera is FAST!!! It's a...

Strengths: FAST, FAST, FAST! See more in 'comments.'

Weakness: Auto White Balance leaves much to be desired. Preset color profiles are too extreme (dull or vivid). View finder a tad dark.

This camera is FAST!!! It's a great relief to finally be able to take a digital photo with almost no shutter lag and/or wait time to take another photo. The startup time can probably be scientifically proven to be a value greater than 0 but is 0 for real world purposes. After flipping the ‘on’ switch the camera is ready to shoot before I can press the shutter release no matter how hard I try!...
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This camera is FAST!!! It's a great relief to finally be able to take a digital photo with almost no shutter lag and/or wait time to take another photo. The startup time can probably be scientifically proven to be a value greater than 0 but is 0 for real world purposes. After flipping the ‘on’ switch the camera is ready to shoot before I can press the shutter release no matter how hard I try! Now that’s progress!!

The auto focus is quick and accurate. I have not experienced ‘Back Focus’ problems as some have described. In low light, it does have difficulty focusing on objects with little or no contrast such as the bedroom wall, but this is of no consequence.

In case you haven’t heard already from the other reviews, the battery life is absolutely legendary. I had my camera 2 weeks before it needed to be recharged. In those 2 weeks, I shot approximately 1000 photos. Many of which were with the flash or continuous focus. Continuous focus seems to be the biggest battery drainer.

My biggest concern about purchasing the D70 was the moiré problem that is in many of the sample photos I’ve seen and apparently in many of the photos of other reviewers. I can certainly say that I have not been able to produce moiré in any photo no matter how hard I try. I’ve taken photos of many complex patterns, near and far, under many lighting conditions and camera settings and still no moiré. Hooray for me, I guess.

The construction feels solid even though it is plastic. We shouldn’t be haphazardly throwing our cameras around anyway.

If you’re one of the many out there trying to decide between the Canon 300D and the Nikon D70, the choice is very simple. Ounce for ounce, dollar for dollar, the D70 offers more features than the 300D. Also, the kit lens for the 300D is a joke when compared to the 18-70 kit lens of the D70. All of that being said, if you have a bag full of Canon lenses, buy the 300D. If you have a bag full of Nikon lenses or no lenses at all, buy the D70. It’s worth the price difference.

No camera is perfect and as such, this camera does have areas that could stand some improvement.

- The Auto White Balance is virtually worthless. ‘Worthless’ might be a bit harsh but it’s rather inaccurate. Manually setting the White Balance takes care of that problem.

- The default and preset color profiles seem either too flat or too extreme. I recommend going into the custom settings and boosting the saturation +1 and sharpness +1.

-The view finder is a tad on the dark side.

These shortcomings are minor and should not really affect your buying decision.

As far as additional features for future models, should Nikon be reading, I would suggest a short cut to switch from single to continuous shooting mode and custom digi-vari programs to be able to switch from one group of custom settings to another in an instant.

By ghostrider25 - Jul 5, 2004