9.20.2005

Nikon D70s digital camera:



Although it doesn't have the same classic good looks and rugged style of the Leica Digilux, I 've began to think the Nikon D70s might be the more useful camera. A wise friend told me a few months ago that the Leica images weren't suitable for big enlargements, which is what first turned me away from it. And then I found myself explaining to the kid the other night why he really wouldn't want a Leica to use for the photography class he's taking during his first year of high school.
The D70s has 6.1 effective megapixels that yield 3,008 x 2,000-pixel images that can be blown up fairly large. Plus, it can shoot a rapid 3 frames per second (which seems like it could be useful for something). And it has a maximum shutter speed of 1/8000 second.
I'm tossing the Leica off my list (of course I still reserve the right to covet a film Leica).

3 comments:

Bill Norris said...

I just got a digital rebel on e-bay, with lens, 512mb card, battery grip and software for about $650. I couldn't touch the Nikon with similar accesories for that money.

Do you have Nikon lenses already? Because the Canon's are better in low light (bigger ISO range). I do like the build of the Nikon's more, but if I was going to spend more than $800, I'd get the 20D, assuming you don't already have a collection of Nikon glass.

If you get the older rebel, you can dowload a software hack that opens up locked features and turns it into a 10D (with ISO up to 3200, mirror lock up and others) and it shoots 4 fps in the burst mode. I wish I was able to get the black body (the silver is ick), and that the focus screen was better--manual focus is near impossible, but all in all I'm having a ton of fun and have almost stopped cursing at photoshop as I try to learn the program.

Wes said...

What a good buy you got but I agree about the silver bodies. I like the more vintage-look myself.
I do have about 6 Nikon lenses (and I used to have a bunch of Canon glass until we were robbed in Vancouver), which is why it seemed to make sense to get the D70s. However, I just checked last night and since most of my lenses are old (inherited from the father-in-law) they don't synch with the D70s mount. Now I'll have to check out the Canon.

Bill Norris said...

I was talking to a woman with the D70s the other day and she was moaning about something to do with coverting RAW files as well. It's apparently not a problem with the first generation D70.