hoasjoe

Overall Rating
 4 of 5

Value Rating
 4 of 5

Used product for
1 to 3 months

Price Paid:  $499.00 from Henrys Photo Canada

Summary:
Got a 70 in Mar '07 (new out of the box) at a discount since D80 already out. Besides the ISO 100, higher mpix and memory card (SD instead of Compact Flash), have to really enlarge the pics to poster size bigger than 11x14 to see the difference. For family pics a few times a year the higher mpix not a big deal unless you're cropping regularly. Saw a poster size pic at a store. Confirmed that it was shot by a D70. The clerk said that even at 5.1 mpix you can do a good enlargement.

Someone bought a small Leica digital a few years ago. Besides paying more for the sharp lens the electronics is a piece of junk. The ISO only goes up to 200 and the multi-frame doesn't work. When you hold your finger on the button you're still getting 1 shot at a time. The man says he's getting sharp pictures. For that price I'd invest in several good lenses instead of a brand-name pice of junk.

Strengths:
Had to pay for a viewing screen with grid-lines on an old FM2. Like the on-demand grid-lines feature good for landscapes and architecture. Don't think Canon has it.

Top shutter speed of 1/8000s looks good on paper. Most people rarely shoot at this speed.

More refined than some cameras with ISO settings from 200-1600 with in between settings.

Battery: performed well with single frame shots in room temperature (as expected). In colder weather and multi-frame shooting in cold weather a bit sluggish as expected.

Weaknesses:
Nikon lenses rather pricey: Looked at the new D40 & D40X but couldn't use my older lenses and the D70 was it. The 2 standard zoom lenses that was part of the deal (if I remembered correctly) an 18-55 f3.5-5.6 or 18-70 f3.5-4. The longer one have better specs but always found Nikon lenses a bit pricey. Would have gone for a Sigma equivalent. Manufacturer always say use D-type lenses for digital bodies. Don't have a verdict for it. My old 28-70 worked fine except I do miss a few mm on the wide-angle.

On-demand grid-lines don't work as well in low-light. When you depress the shutter half way for AF, a red beam light up the grid-lines for half a second. A bit too brief for the grid-lines to be noticed in low-light or outdoor night shots. Had to press the shutter several times to notice the lines.

Have to pay a lot more to get a lens with stabilizer. The stabilizer of a Nikon & Canon lens may be helpful in some situations but the benefits may be a bit blown out of proportion. (tested a Canon 17-85 lens with IS). A better IS choice may be the Sony Alpha with stabilizer built-into the body instead of the lens to stop shake. This means you can get IS with all older Minolta Maxuum & newer Sony & Zeiss lenses for the camera.

Similar Products Used:
Tested an EOS xTi previously with an 18-70 f4-5.6 lens. Took very sharp photos (tested 8x12). However features are not as refined. Shutter speed range: 100, 200, 400, 800, 1000, 1600. Nikon give you in between settings as well. Don't think Canon gives you on-demand grid-lines (good for composition of landscapes and architecture). Also Canon uses the old battery that needed to be recharged more often.

Customer Service:
Don't have to deal with customer service yet.

photophorous

Overall Rating
 4 of 5

Value Rating
 4 of 5

Used product for
3 Months to 1 year

Price Paid:  $850.00 from Beach Camera

Summary:
This is my first digital camera, but not my first SLR. I got it with the 18-70 kit lens, and I've been very impressed with the sharpness of images. The controls are layed out well, and the grip fits my hand perfectly. It has plenty of features to give you lots of flexibility.

High ISO performance beats what I've seen from high ISO film with out a doubt. But, from what I've read the competition is even better.

As others have mentioned, the auto exposure seems to under expose fairly often...most commonly in low contrast lighting. Keep an eye on the histogram and this is no big deal. It seems strange to me, because the meter seems to do better in more difficult lighting.

Over all, I like this camera very much, although I have not made many prints yet, and no large prints. I have also not used the creative lighting control, which sounds like a great feature.

I think this camera is a great choice for a film shooter wanting to get into digital on a small budget.

Strengths:
Image quality is better than 35 mm, from what I can tell so far...assuming you don't want to make huge prints.

Autofocus is fast and accurate.

Logical control layout, with buttons for all the important features.

Grip is comfortable in my hand. (I'm a 6 ft guy)

Compatible with Nikon lenses. :)

Weaknesses:
Autoexposure under exposes in low contrast lighting.

The only other weaknesses are ones that I was aware of before I purchased this camera, and they have not surprised me. They are:

Tiny viewfinder.
No mirror lock-up.
Small LCD.

Similar Products Used:
No other digital cameras, but Nikon N75 film SLR.

Customer Service:
Not needed.