Nikon D70s SLR Digital Camera Kit w/ 18-70mm Lens (6.1MP, 3008x2000, 4x Opt)

Nikon D70s

D70s SLR Digital Camera Kit w/ 18-70mm Lens (6.1MP, 3008x2000, 4x Opt) Review, by Richard Baguley August 1, 2005

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• Reviewed by: low1947

  Strengths: Feels jus like my Nikon 6006--easy to use--I can use my lens that I already owned

  Weaknesses: None

  Overall: This camera is great, it is easy to pick up and start using right away. The menu is easy to step thru and understand. Pictures were great and the 18 to 70 lens worked great if you only have one lens.

• Reviewed by: MORE4MY$

  Strengths: Gets you shooting quickly, overall manual is easy to understand, intuitive settings (but read the manual first)

  Weaknesses: Just a bit overwhelming with all that you have to learn; it would be nice if Nikon included a cable release.

  Overall: I'm an advanced amateur photographere. Lots of experience with 35mm and large format cameras. I decided to take the plunge into digital during the Christmas holidays because one of the online stores reduced the price of the kit to $1025. Special holiday incentives from the store (Circuit City). I was looking at both the D70s and the Canon 20D. The Canon was several hundred dollars more expensive than the D70. What eventually eliminated the Canon for me was that it was hard to see the menu options that are listed on the monitor: the test was smaller than the D70s. And if the Canon was hard to read in the store with the store's even fluorescent lighting, I knew that I was going to have problems reading it in the field. So even though the Canon might have a better reputation, I went with the Nikon. Yes, the Nikon seems heavier than the Canon. But the "extra" weight seems to me to make the camera seem steadier. Again, I've never owed a point and shooter or another digital camera. Yes the body is made of plastic but that didn't bother me. I just have to make sure that I don't drop it. "Assembling" the camera was a breeze. Nikon did a great job of creating a quick start poster that tells you everything you need to do to get shooting (in point and shoot mode). I think that I was up and shooting within 30 minutes (and I'm a slow reader) -- of course that's after you've charged the battery. Getting additional information about using the camera (where you take control of the camera) was clearly written in the in-depth manual. A word of warning: glance over the first few pages of the manual where they list every part of the camera. When I tried to get through this section, I was overwhelmed by all of the parts. Go directly to the section where it starts talking about shooting with the camera (more or less a repeat of the quick start poster). Don't even try to learn the parts in those first few pages. The manual is clearly written so following along and learning to use the camera is a breeze (especially if you've owned an SLR before). There's nothing too complicated and if you read carefully, you won't get frustrated (I skimmed one section and decided that my camera wasn't working right; reading the section over a bit more carefully, I realized that I had to get out of automatic mode or out of RAW image capture to follow the instructions in the manual). One problem with the manual is that it has all of these icons that they use to cross reference different sections of the manul. These icons are annoying and take up space unnecessarily. But the writing is clear and concise. The engineering of the camera makes accessing different features easy. Somebody was really thinking when they designed it. The menus are easy to read and use. It feels like an old friend once you get through the manual and learn about all of the features. It really is intuitive. I shot a christening with the camera. Nothing could have been easier. I left it on point and shoot mode and got some good images. A friend performed an experiment comparing the results of an image shot with a D70s and Canon 20D. Other than the Canon feeling a little bit bluer, I couldn't tell any difference between the images both of which were blown up to 13" by 19".

• Reviewed by: whirled

  Strengths: Easy to use with preset settings for beginners and manual settings for pros. Excellent image quality and good battery life.

  Weaknesses: Casing feels like a very cheap plastic. This goes for almost all digital SLRs, but would be nice if it came with a starter memory card, too.

  Overall: This is an excellent camera that really is good for beginners through pros. I was a bit leary of that at first because it seemed too broad of a scope to cover, but the preset settings allow a beginner to explore with different lighting and speeds. For example, there's a preset for night portrait, which allows for detail image in low lighting for beginners who don't know what shutter speed or amperture to set it at. After playing around with that for a while, beginners can try certain manual settings.This camera can really take pictures in all situations. Great for family gatherings, weddings, portraits, sports shoots, vacationing. It might be a bit heavy and big if you want a good digital for everyday point & shoot. But I wanted something to explore my creativity, so I went with this camera.The prices on this camera are very decent for its abilities. Canon Rebels are a bit cheaper, but the lens quality doesn't seem as good as Nikon.Overall, this is a great camera and I'd buy it again. If you're looking for a camera you can "grow" with, this is it.

• Reviewed by: akak1997

  Strengths: Fast Start up, Solid Build Quality, Greate User Interface

  Weaknesses: ISO 200 still has noise under low light? 6 mega pixel, kinda heavy.

  Overall: This is my first dSLR, I've a Cybershot P5 before. It is very different upgrading from a P&S to a dSLR. Whenever I want to take a picture with my P&S, it takes forever to start up, I've missed a lot of photo opportunity because of that. I spent a month researching the Canon Rebel XT and the Nikon D70S, and the features and image quality are pretty much evenly matched. The reason why I choose the D70S is mainly because of how it feel in my hands. It's a perfect fit. The Rebel XT is just too small for me and it feels like it's poorly built. I got the d70s with the 18-70mm lens kit, the image under good lighting was awesome, sharp + great color. But in low light situation, the picture wasn't as good, however, that might because of my skill level (beginner). the user interface is very nice, it has all the buttons and dials to let me access settings directly. Battery life is Great! amazing compare to my P&S. I've shot close to 200 photos with flash, I still didn't have to recharge my battery yet! This camera is kinda heavy, but it might not be a bad thing, at least it's not a big problem for me.

• Reviewed by: frank914

  Strengths: handles well.even if you are new to digital camera this the camera for you even my wife can use it

  Weaknesses: none that i can see

  Overall: well worth the money.many lens for this camera.looks great also.you well have people telling you what a great looking camera you have and that you look like a pro with it