I purchased my camera just before the summer in anticipation of a trip to Venice - a photographer's paradise. Having compared the available digital SLRs it was so apparent to me that the NIKON D70S was by far superior in many respects. The size of the camera means that you can hold it without fear of it dropping or slipping out of your hand - I found other cameras too small. The feel exudes quality - there are no flimsy bits, the lens supplied (nikon) is a top quality lens - not a budget version found on the cheaper d50 or on the canon 350d. The speed of functions is stunning compared to my previous digital camera (pseudo SLR Olympus) - formatting of memeory card is done in a flash, readyness of integral flash is very fast and write speed to memory card is also very quick, even with a slow er version of the compact flash card. Image quality is the very important issue here and for someone who is used to an SLR the variation in depth of field obtained is stunning. I also appreciated the manual setting for exposure - the exposure options area full range of programs plus aperture priority, shutter priority and full manual. And the beauty is you can bracket exposures to your heart's content! What I really have appreciated (and I didn't beleive the reviews I read until I had worked with the camera myself) is that you can literally take hundreds of shots on one battery charge up, which incidentally takes a very short time. If anyone tells you that you need a back up battery, which is not cheap, resist -unless you are a pro or going to remote areas without electric power - it charges up very quickly and you can seemingly even do a partial charge if time is really that tight! I did also purchase a sigma 70-300d lens to go with the camera - speed of autofocus is fabulous in most circumstances.
Price is an issue and not every one can justify spending such an amount on one camera but if you take your photography seriously you won't go wrong here. I purchased at Jessops and got a price match deal less £50!!! And on top of that, 1 year interest free, provided I pay it all within 12 months. Look for or ask for deals wherever you buy -a local competitor lost a sale because they did not provide interset free finance.
Just one gripe to all manufacturers - memory cards are not so expensive these days yet they only seem to be included in the lower end packages. Mind you a 512mb card holds hundreds of images even at high resolution (Jpeg - not RAW) but you do need to download them so a laptop is vital on longer trips.
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Advantages: Great battery life, and still a great camera. Now even cheaper to get hold of. Disadvantages: Not as many features as later models. Sensor can get dusty, though there are tools
RossUK1 22.02.2009 (22.02.2009)
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Review of Nikon D70s
Advantages: fast, Nikon build, flexible, professional tool, lens choice, relatively cheap for DSLR. great kit lens Disadvantages: weight, not compact, won't suit all photographers, risk of dust as all DSLRs
tomstainer 05.07.2006 (05.07.2006)
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Review of Nikon D70s
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