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• Nikon D70 Digital SLR Camera Kit w/ 18-70mm Lens

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• Overall Rating
  4 Star Review

  Reviewed by: iampest

  Updated:05-13-05

  Duration of ownership:2 Weeks

  Strengths: Small, great pictures, many features for size of camera, good flash, 2" lcd screen, great movie mode.

  Weaknesses: Minimal manaul settings (normal for camera this small.

  Overall Evaluation: This is the best camera that I have owned. I'm upgrading from a Canon a95 5.0 mp camera and this takes far better pictures hands down. The camera is small, but not too small. It has a nice solid feel to it because the majority of the body is metal. I absolutely love this camera! It is so compact yet it has a lot of features. 9 scene modes makes shooting portrait, indoors, beach, snow, foliage, etc. scenes so much easier. The SD500 also has a neat movie mode that can shoot up to 60 fps, but you may need a "high speed" sd memory card for that. If you're considering getting this camera, don't hesitate as you will not be disappointed!

• Overall Rating
  4 Star Review

  Reviewed by: maddogmerrick

  Updated:03-29-05

  Duration of ownership:1 Months

  Strengths: Battery lasts forever; Fast focussing; Easy to use and well designed; Great for focussing in low light.

  Weaknesses: My lack of skill

  Overall Evaluation: I previously owned the Sony 828 and was convinced that the crap photos I took was due to the camera. I read all the reviews and decided to trade it in for the D70 because all the reviews say how much better a DSLR is when compared to my Sony 828. The photographs taken by me using the D70 are still crap and do not come out any better than they did on my Sony 828. The lens on my Sony 828 was really flexible (28-200mm) and came in a nice tidy package. I think I have wasted my money switching from the Sony 828 to the Nikon D70. Don't get me wrong, I am sure the Nikon D70 is a fine camera in capable hands. However, for someone like me, there is no point getting a DSLR. I actually think I would have been better off sticking to my old Canon S50.

• Overall Rating
  5 Star Review

  Reviewed by: pk640

  Updated:02-25-05

  Duration of ownership:6 Months

  Strengths: Incredible Start-up speed, Burst speed is blazing, Battery-Life is outstanding, Manual control offers many options, and looks like what it is - a real camera. For the price - exceptional camera.

  Weaknesses: Steep learning curb on manual controls if new to DSLR - this is true of all DSLRs though. Possible problems with moire (but not usually noticeable, even printed)

  Overall Evaluation: I have owned this camera now for 6 months. I use it internationally on mission efforts in places where there is practically no civilization. First off, this camera is fairly rugged - even though it is made of polycarbonate (most "pro" cameras are metallic). If you don't have a problem with dropping cameras all the time, this won't be a problem for you. The camera body is light enough to endure, without being so light that you can't hold it good and steady.The fact that it is a DSLR gives you (practically) unlimited lens options. I currently have 3 that I use, the packaged 18-70, a 70-300 telephoto, and a 50mm / 1.8 aperture. The ability to switch lenses of course multiplies the camera's usefulness as Nikon already has a long line of great lenses (even if a few of them aren't compatible with this camera).The RAW ability is nice to have, although it can be annoying if you don't already have Photoshop (you'll have to purchase NikonCapture in that case... should have been packaged with the product in my opinion). Nevertheless, the JPG quality is outstanding - better than any point-and-click you are going to find.I print many of these images out at 24"x36" - even at this size they look great.Basically, if you are serious about photography (amateur or career), don't have a ton of $$ to throw down ($2,000+), want great flexibility and a camera that will teach you how to take control of your photographs, you should consider this camera.The camera's only real weakness could possibly be the person who holds it.

• Overall Rating
  5 Star Review

  Reviewed by: lkaven

  Updated:02-09-05

  Duration of ownership:9 Months

  Strengths: Overall functionality, speed, ease of use, image quality

  Weaknesses: Smallish viewfinder, No ISO reading in viewfinder, lossy RAW file format

  Overall Evaluation: This camera is suitable in image quality for professional work. Do not use the automatic settings and don't shoot JPEGs, but learn how to get the most from RAW images. The Nikon will set exposure down a little bit to avoid blowing highlights, but this is with the assumption that you "develop" your images routinely with a "digital darkroom" and use capable capture software. The PC World reviewer really is wrong to downgrade the image quality rating. It produces stunning images, even at 1600 ISO. There is no way this camera rates behind all of those point and shoot models. This magazine obviously does not understand photography very well.

• Overall Rating
  5 Star Review

  Reviewed by: dhofmann

  Updated:01-06-05

  Duration of ownership:

  Strengths: quick responds and fast, battery life is 1000+ photo, very good light meter, very good price/feature ratio, lens is extremely good quality, handling and controls are very well done, flash exposure!

  Weaknesses: backward compatibility with old Nikon gear is limited, change AF mode only in menu, only manual exposure with old lenses

  Overall Evaluation: After having owned 3 professional Nikon cameras and at least 5 other digital cameras I was surprised how well the D70 performs and almost every aspect. There is never a lag or wait for the camera and 3 frames per second is fast enough for 98% of my photos. Haveing a 1/500 flash sync time is incredible and a big advantage to use fill flash in daylight. The image quality is better than I expected. I made really large prints and never had any issues with resolution or quality. I compared it to 8 mp cameras and the difference is really minimal. People who I showed prints from 8 and 6 mp coulnd't tell the difference. The preferences were mostly based on color/contrast and other factors. Exposure both ambient and flash are always very good resulting in beautiful skin tones. The camera has different "curve settings" for various situations and on top of that you can create your own profile curve and uploadit into the camera for a very personal look & feel of the photos. The jpg compression is done so well that even in normal mode it is hard to find any signs of artifacts if at all. This means you can get a lot of images on your card. The AF has three basic setups that all work extremely well. I take photos of my kids playing and running around and the AF does an excelent job keeping them in focus. I thought the kit lens would be a cheap add on to sell the camera. I did testshots to compare it to my other lenses and it turned out that the 18-70 is surpassing almost all my other lenses (all Nikon) in quality. I never expected that and made me rethink my other lenses. I bought two extra batteries just to be save and after almost one year I realized that it was a waste of money. The camera takes 1000 photos with one battery. Even with flash it won#t drop down too much. The menue system is simple and the most imprtant controlls I need to change often are all acessibel directly through buttons or the dail. Only changing the AF mode is hidden in the menu which bothers me sometimes. The viewfinder is a little small but I can see the whole screen even with my glasses on. There is very little negative I can say abouth thsi camera. I sometimes miss a protrait orientation shutter release or would like to have at least any kind of metering with my old Nikkor lenses. At 1600 ASA at very low light there is some visible noise. The LCD does not work an a monitor to be used instead the viewfinder. All dSLR have that limitation, though. Looking at photos is quick but the amount you can zoom in is limited. Those are all minor things but frankly I'm really very happy with the camera the way it is and it fits exactly my needs. Some samples can bee seen here: http://www.usefilm.com/photographer/76216.html

• Overall Rating
  5 Star Review

  Reviewed by: aktrout

  Updated:12-16-04

  Duration of ownership:5 Months

  Strengths: Easy to use. Excellent photographs. Very reliable. I used it for three weeks in SE Asia and it rained every day. It never missed a beat. Battery life is excellent.

  Weaknesses: The lens hood that comes with it sometimes casts a shadow in the bottom middle of the photograph when used a wide angle and with flash.I also had trouble with a Lexar memory card.

  Overall Evaluation: I am a serious, though amateur Nikon photographer. I love this camera. I have two Nikon film SLR's that I will not be using.Don't use the Nikon software. Use Adobe Photoshop Elements 3.0.

• Overall Rating
  5 Star Review

  Reviewed by: norton51104

  Updated:12-10-04

  Duration of ownership:20 Days

  Strengths: Great Performance / Great PhotoQuality / Good Construction

  Weaknesses: I wish it had hinged usb hatch... That's about it...

  Overall Evaluation: I am just BLOWN out of the water...Never expected this kind of performance or Quality....I had a Olympus 8080z and it took too long to focus... I am so Glad to have something of this quality. I tried the Canon EOS 10 and 20 but liked the earth-tones from this baby...

• Overall Rating
  5 Star Review

  Reviewed by: abalagoo

  Updated:12-02-04

  Duration of ownership:5 Days

  Strengths: Very nice, quite handy, it is not like Canon's Rebel which looks cheap. You may already read a lot of the strengths from some of the official reports about D70.

  Weaknesses: Still a little bit pricy

  Overall Evaluation: This one is the right one for the previous DC users begin to use the DSLR. Not that expensive, but give you lots of features and a new feeling of the digital photography world!

• Overall Rating
  5 Star Review

  Reviewed by: IDK73

  Updated:11-19-04

  Duration of ownership:10 Months

  Strengths: 1. Speed (Powering on, focusing)2. Battery life (Amazing)3. Ease of use (Surprisingly friendly for amateurs) 4. Picture quality, of course!

  Weaknesses: Maybe better out-of-the-box performance. It required a little tweaking with the settings before I got pictures I liked. Go to the forums at dpreview.com to learn about various settings.

  Overall Evaluation: PCWorld has just revealed their incompetence in reviewing digital cameras. Many photography organizations and magazines have rated the D70 as the #1 DSLR of 2004. Anyone who simply uses the auto mode to compare cameras doesnt know what they're doing. (And this is coming from an amateur!)This camera is amazing. I've taken pictures I never thought I could. I find that my skill as a photographer is increasing dramatically as the D70 challenges me to learn more about its potential. I really am an amateur (my previous camera was a Canon S400 and I still don't quite get the hang of apertures!). Even so, a few of my photos are going to published in a magazine in January!If you want a real review of the D70, go to dpreview.com. Certainly don't rely on PCWorld. Their ranking of "serious cameras" is absurd. Just be careful ... you'll find yourself buying lenses, flashes, and all kinds of expensive toys to keep up with your camera!

• Overall Rating
  5 Star Review

  Reviewed by: ROBINE

  Updated:10-14-04

  Duration of ownership:3 Months

  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

  Weaknesses: 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

  Overall Evaluation: 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 for so much control after the image is taken. I shoot sports and on the rare occasions when the meter is wrong I can correct the exposure without losing image quality. The Capture software is for a 30 day trial and costs $99 to activate. While Photoshop CS supports D70 RAW it does not have all the functions/control of Nikon Capture so plan on spending another $99 if your a power user. The new SB800 flash is truely pro in function. Wireless sync, multi-flash setups, multi-channel syncs, 5 battery option for fast recycles, very powerful. Of course it is $$$. Go for the SB-600 unless you really need high-end function. Built-in flash is really nice for fill-flash close-ups but limited range for full subject lighting. The camera has great battery life but when it goes dead it goes fast. A horizontal shutter release button would be very handy but what do you expect for $900.

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Nikon D70 Digital SLR Camera Kit w/ 18-70mm Lens

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