Rating: 
Summary: Just Two Words: "Holy 11x7, Pic Man!"
Review: First, I'm at the bottom of the barrel among my "expertise" when it comes to REAL cameras. Almost all of my total experience is with cheaper digital cameras (well, I owned a Kodak 110, once) ranging from the Casio DC10 to a Fujifilm S602Zoom (which has all but been abandoned by Fuijfilm!!!).So, with that thought in mind: WHAT A CAMERA! Details galore. Color that's amazing. Point-and-shoot never looked so great! And that's with just two days of "outta the box" settings. For those of us who don't know the difference between an SLR and a Space Shuttle, this camera is both a savior and a potential demon. It's taken me three hours of flippin' through the manuals for both the camera and the SB800 flash I bought, just to figure-out how to make the flash a remote slave. One (experienced?) reviewer says "it'll take you fifteen minutes to figure-out the settings." Well, yeah... if you're experienced. For me, it's taken three days just to feel comfortable enough to test a few of the billions of possible settings. This ain't no slam; just be warned that you've got four years of college ahead of you if you want to approach the full capabilities of this camera. The nice thing is, your pictures will look GREAT, Fabulous, Astounding and Sensational without knowing a lot, and you'll have an enormous amount of future improvements as you master more of the features and art! One serious warning: the dude at the camera store (yes, I pay more, but they're the professionals who are there when you have questions, and SOMEONE has to support them!) informed me that Nikon has decided that their newer cameras will NOT work with other brands of flashes, and even with Nikon's OLDER flashes! Like some cell phones that fry a third-party batteries, Nikon has decided they've had enough of "the competition" being attached to their cameras. He says he's considering buying a D70, but the fact that many of his non-CPU-driven lenses will either not work at all, or reduce the built-in functionallity found in the camera. Check it out before you buy, if you have lenses and flashes laying around you'd like to use! Best money on a camera I've ever spent. And in all likelyhood, the LAST camera I ever buy! Thank, you Nikon!!!
Rating:
Summary: Just Two Words: "Holy 11x7, Pic Man!"
Review: First, I'm at the bottom of the barrel among my "expertise" when it comes to REAL cameras. Almost all of my total experience is with cheaper digital cameras (well, I owned a Kodak 110, once) ranging from the Casio DC10 to a Fujifilm S602Zoom (which has all but been abandoned by Fuijfilm!!!). So, with that thought in mind: WHAT A CAMERA! Details galore. Color that's amazing. Point-and-shoot never looked so great! And that's with just two days of "outta the box" settings. For those of us who don't know the difference between an SLR and a Space Shuttle, this camera is both a savior and a potential demon. It's taken me three hours of flippin' through the manuals for both the camera and the SB800 flash I bought, just to figure-out how to make the flash a remote slave. One (experienced?) reviewer says "it'll take you fifteen minutes to figure-out the settings." Well, yeah... if you're experienced. For me, it's taken three days just to feel comfortable enough to test a few of the billions of possible settings. This ain't no slam; just be warned that you've got four years of college ahead of you if you want to approach the full capabilities of this camera. The nice thing is, your pictures will look GREAT, Fabulous, Astounding and Sensational without knowing a lot, and you'll have an enormous amount of future improvements as you master more of the features and art! One serious warning: the dude at the camera store (yes, I pay more, but they're the professionals who are there when you have questions, and SOMEONE has to support them!) informed me that Nikon has decided that their newer cameras will NOT work with other brands of flashes, and even with Nikon's OLDER flashes! Like some cell phones that fry a third-party batteries, Nikon has decided they've had enough of "the competition" being attached to their cameras. He says he's considering buying a D70, but the fact that many of his non-CPU-driven lenses will either not work at all, or reduce the built-in functionallity found in the camera. Check it out before you buy, if you have lenses and flashes laying around you'd like to use! Best money on a camera I've ever spent. And in all likelyhood, the LAST camera I ever buy! Thank, you Nikon!!!
Rating:
Summary: You can't go wrong with this camera
Review: I am not a professional photographer, but I learned to shoot with a 35mm Nikon n70. I made the transition to digital with an S1, and recently purchased a D70 kit (including the new AF lens). It is tremendous. The auto mode produces nice picturesif you want point and shoot functionality, and for long time Nikon SLR users, you will take 15 mintues to figure out where everything is, because it's all where you'd expect Nikon to put it. Highly recomeded!
Rating:
Summary: Amazes the most professional of photographers.
Review: I got frustrated taking pictures and not being able see what I was getting in the viewfinder. And I was even more frustrated with the shutter lag. There was no choice. I had to move up to an SLR. I read everything, and spoke to top commercial and news photographers about what to get. They naturally, chose top of the line Canons and Nikons. When the D70 came out, I tried it and fell in love with it. You flick a switch and it's on. Hit the shutter and you have an instant picture. Of course the quality is supurb, but what makes it a joy is that it's easier to use than a prosumer digital camera. I started off with the kit lens and within two weeks moved up to the Vibration-Reduction 24-120 lens. It's slower than the kit lens, but the vibration reduction compensates for it. News photographers have told me that the D-70 works as well as their top of the line Nikons, but they wouldn't use one because it isn't built to take the beating they give their cameras. Once you get the camera, you won't be able to put it down. It makes me wonder what Nikon will come out with next.
Rating:
Summary: Want a digital SLR? This is the one to get!
Review: I have a Nikon D100 and love it. But if I were in the market today, the D70 would be the one I selected. At $999 (body only) this is absolutely an outrageous bargain, and Nikon has plainly positioned this camera price/feature-wise to dominate the market. This camera and others like it herald the death of film. This camera will produce breathtakingly good images and you don't have to pay to develop them before you view them. Just take your CF card and attach it to a reader and you can review the pictures on your personal computer. Then select the ones you want and print them yourself (good printers are pretty cheap these days) or submit them on-line to any number of professional printing houses who will mail you wonderful prints in a day or two. And you can process the images with any of several superb (and inexpensive) programs giving you a "digital darkroom" capability that far exceeds what an expensive and messy film darkroom could achieve with film. The digital darkroom is a reality! The D70 has all of the features that a serious amateur (and even a pro, IMHO) will want. First the basics: this camera will use all of the Nikon D and G autofocus lenses. Put in a 512MB CF card and it will take 51 RAW pix or several hundred JPEG pix, depending on your setting. These 6 Megapixel pictures are indistinguishable from film for essentially all purposes. What's not to like? The D70 has improved Through-The-Lens metering, and improved buffering. This means that your images will likely be perfectly exposed each time. It also means that you can take many pictures in rapid sequence, and the camera will be able to keep up with you. Although the D70 is positioned slightly below the D100, in reality Nikon chose to improve these features somewhat over the D100! The D70 is not a "crippled" D100 the way the Canon Digital Rebel is a crippled Canon 10D (Canon's fine competing product to the D100). Although the D100 has some features that the D70 lacks, the D70 shows that Nikon has learned from the comments and requests of D100 owners by providing a bigger and faster buffer allowing users to take pictures in rapid-fire sequence. Although the D70 is somewhat lighter than the D100, it is solidly built, and I like the heft and feel of the camera--it does not feel flimsy. It is light but solid. The menus are intelligently set out, and after an hour or so, most users will no longer need the manual. The D70 is a winner, and the only problem that prospective buyers will have with it is finding one.
Rating:
Summary: Destined to become a Nikon Legend
Review: I have been a Nikon user for over 20 years, and owned at least six different bodies and lots of lenses. My all time favorite is the FM2N. Why Nikon? It's the lenses! Nikon seems to understand this is the main selling point of their system. SO they have never changed the F lens mount. You can use older manual focus AI and AIS lenses on the D70. The bad news: The meter won't work. However on a digital SLR, the LCD confirmation mitigates this since you can check your exposures. You could also use a handheld light light meter. More good news: depth of field preview works with AI and AIS lenses! So I've been having a great time using my manual lenses on the D70. This camera is really a winner and costs no more than some of the ridiculous "prosumer" digicams out there. It's far more versatile. It's easy to use-if you've used another digicam or even a recent Nikon 35mm SLR. The fact that I've been able to figure out most settings necessary without even cracking the manual is impressive.
The flash syncs at 1/500! This makes for some really creative fill flash outdoors or in the studio. All necessary settings are within easy reach, and no stupid five click deep menus for stuff like ISO. All the important stuff like ISO, Metering pattern, Exposure modes, White Balance, etc. have a dedicated button right on the body. No fumbling to change stuff while shooting. Shutterlag is virtually non-existent. It's almost as good as my FM2N. But face it, if you want zero shutter lag then get a manual 35mm camera! However with the D70, you will not notice it. The Lens-the kit lens is a 18-70mm (27 to 105mm). It's pretty good, and the color has that gorgeous Nikon hue. It's bright for a zoom. A lot of people are criticizing this lens unjustly. It does have a lot of barrel distortion on the wide end, but for landscapes you'd never know. It's got a very good wide angle range for a digital lens. It's a great value, and way better than any junk Sigma puts out. ViewFinder-Some have slammed the viewfinder. It does take a little getting used to, like looking down a long dark corridor at first. But it's just as bright as any AF SLR once you get used to it. I think Nikon designed it this way to get people used to the CCD aspect ratio. It's kind of like watching a DVD in letterbox format. Good news: the viewfinder has a diopter for eyeglass wearers. Picture Quality-This is where the rubber meets the road. At all ISO settings, the images are superb. Colors are saturated and lifelike, with the "Nikon Pop". They remind me of a good ISO 100 slide film like Kodak E100G, or Fujichrome Velvia 100. Best of all, the grain is very low, even ISO 1600 is not bad when printed to 8 x10. This is a huge advance over my older Canon G2 digital. Like I said, think ISO 100 slide film. This is destined to be one of Nikon's legends, like the N8008, N90, FM2N, etc. You get a lot of value for your money, much more than the Canon Digital Rebel. A lot of pros are buying D70s for backup, and the Press Photographers Association of Japan just picked the D70 as new camera of the year! What else could you ask for? This is a top drawer camera with a great lens.
Rating:
Summary: It was worth the wait. This is THE one!
Review: I have been holding out for a few years now to get a digital SLR because what I saw before this was simply not worth my money. I have to say I am glad I waited. Hats off to all those who were involved in designing and making of this camera. (Whoever they are would have gotten a big bonus if I were the boss ;-) I got this camera for a trip coming up. I wasn't sure if it would be worthwhile to sink the money into a camera before a major trip. I was also concerned about whether or not I’d have enough time to learn to use the camera. So I got it just to see and I have been in love with it ever since. I now have had the camera for 3 days now and it is definitely not going back! There are so many great things about this camera but here is some of what excites me:
1) Picture quality - I have taken test shots under different lighting conditions and most of them came out great without any special setting outside of the usual aperture and shutter changes. This camera makes me look good. 2) The lens - It is sharp and it has a zoom range that is useful for most daily shootings.
3) The button layouts and menus are intuitive.
4) Love the instant gratification and the fact that I can see the mistakes I made so that I can make instance correction by taking another shot......great for learning
5) The camera is smaller and lighter than my regular SLR and has an on camera flash. All of these features are all very convenient for traveling.
6) I can charge the battery independent from the camera so that I don't need to worry about losing the camera in a hostel somewhere ;-)
7) I can get good pictures in low light conditions that I couldn’t get decent shots for using my regular SLR even with 800 ISO film.
8) Last but not least.....the camera feels solid and feels like a regular SLR I am confident that I will get better pictures on this trip particularly because of #4.....no one will even have a chance to see those bad shots, ha.
Rating:
Summary: Nikon D70
Review: I really like this camera. The best thing about it is the speed, which operates as fast as you can press buttons. The picture quality is wonderful and the size and handling are exemplary. The only negative I could say is that it is Nikon's least expensive DSLR and feels that way. Not exactly "cheap" feeling, but more like "well made in Thailand" rather than "well made in Japan". The best way to sum up this camera is that if offers all the speed, flexibility, customization, and picture quality of cameras costing 2 or 3 times more, but wraps it in a package that feels like a budget camera. The plus side of this though is that you don't feel so bad traveling around with it, being paranoid about it getting stolen, damaged, etc. - it's not a huge cost to replace it compared to more expensive cameras that offer the same performance and picture quality. I used the money I saved on the body to buy quality Nikon lenses and am exrtemely pleased with the quality of pictures I'm getting. I would buy it again in a second.
(...)
Rating:
Summary: Wow! The D-70's amazing!
Review: I've been using a Nikon F4 for over 12 years and had no intention of going digital until a friend loaned me his Canon 10D- what a great camera. Shortly thereafter Nikon released the D-70 enabling me to acquire a reasonably affordable digital body and to keep using all my great Nikkor glass. Although the D-70 feels like a toy compared to the F4 it takes fantastic pictures - as good or better than my best taken with Velvia at least up to 8x10 (printed using an Epson SP2200/Epson Premium Luster Paper). The D-70's easy to use and has all the feature's you'd want. I usually shoot on manual, but the D-70's "autopilot" programs are great & shooting at ISO 1600 gives nice results. "Optimizing" with PhotoShop has been infrequent. The only problem I've encountered so far is that the CR2's (not cheap) go very quickly - but the rechargeable batteries last "forever". The D-70's a no-brainer.
Rating:
Summary: FANTASTIC--You won't be dissapointed
Review: I've had this camera for three months and have shot several thousand pictures. I tried the Olympus 8MP 8080 but it was noisy except for ISO 50 like all prosumer ZSLR's. I exchanged it this beauty and after the first day never looked back.
Everything you've read is true, GREAT pictures, NO more shutter lag, battery lasts about 4x longer than compact cameras since you set up the shot from the viewfinder not the LCD which uses power. Plus the battery is powerful, 1400mAh. I now rarely use Photoshop. It's easy to use and has many, many functions including the ability to fine tune the white balance--very useful and many development options.
The lens is top notch, not like the kit lens with the Canon Rebel. To compliment this lens I picked up a Nikon 28-200. Great lens for about $300.00 that also works very well for macro shooting since it focuses up to about 15 inches. Add an extension tube and you can photograph the pollen in a flower with razor sharp results. No need to pick up a macro lens this one does it all plus it's a great lens for walking around. Don't get the Tamron 28-300 since images are soft between 200-300mm and it will depreciate faster than any Nikon lens because of the name. I also picked up a used razor sharp 70-210 f4.0-5.6 lens for only $150.00 which is much, much better than the new 80-200 or 80-300 more expensive Nikon lenses.
Pros:
Simply great shots
Ease of Use
Instant On
Super Fast
Lots of Features
Software: Nikon View browser is very good--included
Software: Nikon Capture 4--great but only a 30 day trial verison supplied
Cons:
Software: Nikon Capture-to open NEF files is $99.00, should be free
Wish the LCD was bigger but it is standard size
Light on top panel should be on-off instead of staying on for just 10 secs
Light on top could be brighter or indigo blue for easier read
Auto White balance runs a little cool/blue
White Balance Tips:
For most shots simply set the Auto White Balance at -2 or -3 setting and leave it there. This will warm the shots very nicely.
For outdoor shots on nice days use the Cloudy or Shade setting. The Daylight/Sunny setting is little cool-blue. With Cloudy the added warmth or red looks great. But you won't go wrong with Auto -3 outdoors.
Use Shade setting with a -2 or -3 setting for spectacular red sunsets.
Flash portraits use Flash setting with a -1 or -2 for warmer skin tones
If you use a warming or colored filters be careful since Auto White balance will compensate for the effect.
Shades of red get stronger by using the settings in the following order-Sunlight--Flash--Cloudy--Shade. Negative numbers in the fine adjustments add red, positive numbers add blue. So Incandescented adds blue/cool and +3 adjustment adds more blue. at the other end of the blue-red spectrum, Shade with -3 is the reddest/warmest. This is great for special effects--Incandescent on a cool snowy day adds blue and makes your shots look cold.
Software Tips for RAW/NEF files:
If you want to shoot the best quality and have the greatest freedom editing you can shoot in Nikons RAW format called NEF (Nikon Electronic Format) but you will need a RAW converter.
Nikon Capure software, 30 day trial included with camera, has the best converter and is a great editing program but limited--no layers or selection tools.
Photoshop CS and Photoshop Elements 3.0 has a RAW converter so you don't need to buy Nikon Capture but it does do a better job,particularly with White Balance.
Photoshop Elements 2.0 can be used for NEF if you load Nikon View (included) since it does include a light version of Nikon's NEF converter--crude White Balance and Exposure only.
You will not be disappointed with this great camera.
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