Nikon D70 Outfit Digital Camera

The D70 is not for the Beginner Camera

By Yahoo! Shopping User  Jun 21, 2005 | 43 out of 52 found this Nikon D70 Outfit review helpful

Pros: The Camera Takes Great Pictures with excellent sharpness and it has tons of features. Ability to change lenses.

Cons: Unless all of your settings are set perfect on the camera, the photo is usually to dark or light, is out of focus, or did not focus on the right object, and or the white balance is not the right tint. HEAVY. The camera is a great price if your photos improve with the camera but it is a little pricy if you are purchasing a point and shoot camera.

The D70 is an incredible camera. However, it can be very overwhelming for an amateur photographer. Nikon thought of everything when they designed the D70. It has a very quick shutter response and has every feature you could want with the exception of... no movie mode whick can be found on most non-SLR cameras today. The camera requires a lot of fine tuning with 10 different modes and an additional autofocus mode. I was not impressed with the autofocus so I am consistantly adjusting the shutter speed and aperature. I also have to flip between my 70-300mm zoom lens and my 18-70mm zoom lens. The D70 is a lot more like a film SLR than a typical digital camera today. With the exception that you can view your photos right after you take them the D70 is a plain SLR. Their is no live view on the LCD screen so you are stuck looking through the viewfinder. One thing nice about the viewfinder though is the spot metering. Most digital cameras automaticaly focus on the closest object. I say object because the object the camera chooses to focus on is not always the subject. The D70 allows you to choose the object you want to focus on and where you want the subject to be. So you can have a person standing to the side of the picture and it will still focus on the person. Some of the features that are really nice about the camera is the automatic rotation. I take a lot of photos sideways and Nikon programed the camera so that it automatically rotates the photo to the right or left. I know some people who bought the D70 just because they wanted more zoom and megapixels. That is not a good reason! The D70 as I said before is a professional camera and should be considered if you would like to have more control over your pictures such as having the ability to change your shutter speed or white balance. This camera is also quite heavy. It is not the type of camera that you can leave in your pocket. It is the kind of camera where you sit down and take the lens and camera out of the bag and screw the lens on. I also recomend putting on a UV lens filter to protect the lens. If you are ready for a camera like this, it is an incredible camera. It takes awhile to get used to but it is a great camera for the price. One thing I noticed though is to not expect to pay $1,200 and be done. Expect to buy another lens besides the 18-70mm and need to buy a bigger compact flash card, possibly a Nikon Speedlight(to take pictures with flash at higher shutter speeds), a camera case, and possibly the optional infrared remote control. Other filters to change the amount of light and color also are fun once you get the basic accessories as well. The biggest change you will notice when you buy the D70 is the shutter response though. I have had a Sony DSC-F707 for the past 4 years and it is really hard to switch back and forth with my Nikon because it takes so much longer to take the picture on the Sony. (The Sony is much lighter though and you don't need to switch lens and adjust everything!) The Nikon D70 has an excellent picture quality. When shopping for lenses, make sure you either buy a Nikkor or a Sigma lens. It is ok to buy used lens but some lenses like Quantray are just junk. Also, make sure the lenses are Nikon compatible. Cannon lenses do not work on Nikon. If you buy this camera just be patient and eventually you will get the hang of it. Good luck! Read more Less