quick, high tech camera
a complete body with flash
best used for fast action
slow for manual adjustments

expensive CR123
slow operation when battery weak

As a Nikon body it is not great, but still the best economical one for both AF and manual lenses. I still use my 75-150 manual focus portrait lens with excellent results with electronic rangefinding. Even though the Vari-programs are for novices, I use hyperfocal function as an f8 aperature priority and the portrait function to get wide open aperatures without messing with the aperature ring on the lens. The body is sturdy- I have used it many times while being rained on and routinely crawl around on sand and dirt while having it on hand. The battery choice is terrible- lithiums are expensive, but I am making a homemade AA battery pack to compensate for this. If you leave the body on by accident even for a few hours- start looking for a new pair of batteries. I don't know how many times having a TTL flash is useful. Also the body takes scratches very well. How does it compare to the N80?- Well, I wanted that camera when it came out, but realize now that it wouldn't affect my photography any differently. I am, though, much more conscious of keeping the horizon horizontal, even though I don't have 'gridlines' in my viewfinder (hey, it's not the camera, but the photographer- albeit a sloppy photographer). Having too many functions makes me lazy. The shutter is quieter that most AF slrs and most manual ones too. The N70 should do the job- if it can't, your assignments must be more critical than mine. Very good value right now.

Similar Products Used:

None

Extremely easy to use with a very logical UI.
Fast, accurate matrix metering.
Fantastic flash options that are only available on other camera bodies with an expensive databack.
Meters with manual focus lenses!
QR - makes the N70 easy to setup and use when you need to work quickly.

DOF and ME which have work arounds that really work!

An often criticized camera that deserves a fair shake. The N70 is an affordable, easy to use Nikon that's loaded with features for both the novice and the advanced ametuer.

Customer Service

I've only used Nikon's customer service on one occasion for a non warranty repair when a third party flash shorted out my N90. Nikon repaired the N90 and returned it to me in like new condition. I can't say the same about the flash (Sunpak) by the way.

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Nikkormat FT3, EM, FG, N2000, F4s, N6006, N90 and the N70. I currently own all of these bodies with the exception of the N90.

Menu buttons fine, clear, not too heavy, built in flash, easy to use for casual photographer.

Hand grip not perfect for a man with a big hand.

A good camera for beginers and casual photographer. Not too axpensive too

Customer Service

Goed

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Canon EOS 50E.

Not many

Grip stinks, eats batteries like there's no tomorrow, flash is weak as hell. How the hell are you supposed to use the dumb controls - complicated. Slow, clunky, too small for big hands.

I wouldn't suggest this camera. Go with a good Canon EOS instead. They're much better cameras, for a lot less. Don't let the Nikon description fool you - it's not a good camera. I sold it six weeks after buying it.

Similar Products Used:

EOS IV, Most EOS models, Nikon N90 (Didn't like that either)

Easy to load/unload. Comfortable to hold. The Vari-Program controls are a nice feature that come in handy. Quiet.

Mediocre flash. Bad interface/too much going on, there are so many features to this camera I don't have the patience to bother to learn them, I'd need the manual with me constantly to even remember what it can do. Difficult to accurately focus quickly manually.

Overall the N70 is ok, but I am disappointed with it. I thought perhaps when I first had it that I needed a period of time to get used to it, but it has been 2 years now and the photos still aren't what I think they should be. The Pentax ME Super I had in highschool kicks this camera's butt. I think the focus is bad and the auto-focus is fair but the button is very very sensitive and fires off the shot too easily while focusing. The interface is a horror, the control panel is not terribly logical.

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Yashica 230 AF

Easy to use. Good UI. Great pictures.

Battery hungry. The flash is not the best. More geared toward the shoot and click.

This is a great camera for the beginner to the intermediate. The UI is simple to use and very helpful. The pictures are great. This camera is geared more towards to the point and click. For the ones who want to work mostly on manual focus, there are better models.

Customer Service

The camera has not broken down yet.

Similar Products Used:

Olympus and Cannon.

Good handling camera. Quiet mirror.
Logical controls.
Fast auto focus
Adequate built in flash.
A lot of features for a relatively inexpensive SLR.

I haven't found any

No camera is perfect. Each camera is going to have characteristics that will make the camera either too simple or too complex. Manual focus cameras were a necessity because autofocus is a relatively new feature to a camera. Some people tout the Leica M6 because of its simplicity and the control is always with the photographer. People tout the Nikon F5 because if its many features that give the photographer a lot of versatility.
As you will see both cameras have excellent reputations for having opposite features.
I have owned the Nikon N70 for the last year. I chose this camera after much deliberating. First of all I am committed to Nikon beacuse of the investment I have with their lenses both in the manual system and the autofocus system.
I was hesitant to purchase the N70 because of the reported difficulty in getting to know the camera because of the fan shaped control system and how difficult it was to get to know it.
It is true that it takes a while to get to know the system but that is because the camera is so versatile. I have found this fan shaped control system to be very logical and after using the Nikon N80 for a short period of time I found it to be actually easier and more logical than the N80.
I believe the N70 is the most underrated camera on the market. It certanily has been the most maligned.
I have found the N70 to take exellent exposures, have fast auto focus, easy to handle (better than the N80), and to be dependable.
For my use which is casual photography and the demand on the camera is certainly quite less than a professional the N70 satisfies all of my needs.
I would highly reccommend the camera to any beginner or advanced amateur, heck maybe even to include as a backup camera for a professional. For the price, for a professional it is practically disposable.

P.S.
The N70 also will meter AI lenses which the N80 will not. Therefore you don't have to throw out your old manual lenses you cherish so much for their quality optics.

Customer Service

Have not needed any to date

Similar Products Used:

Pentax Spotmatic, Nikon FE2, Nikon FE, Leica M6,Several point and shoot cameras, Nikon N80

Easy to use in fully automatic mode, visual interface, high speed film advance for sports photography. Good quick autofocus. Many auto modes for specific situations, work well. Spot focusing which is not available on all similarly priced cameras. Some people criticize the on camera flash. That is a fair criticism, but I don't think that should concern anyone. No, it is not good for much more than point and shoot situations, but neither are the on board flashes of other similar cameras. Also, anyone who expects to do significant flash photography MUST invest in a decent flash unit that swivels and can be used either handle mounted, bounced or with some kind of diffusion. I even diffuse the fill flash on one of my external flash units. This is the only way to effectively reduce red-eye and shadows. If you are a beginner, be warned--on camera flashes are pretty useless except in emergencies anyway. They are too close to the lens and are too weak to shoot more than about 30 feet for most lighting conditions.

Some of the advanced features are not intuitive. Have to refer back to the manual occassionally. No depth of field preview and the remote triggers for the camera are relatively expensive.

I love my N70. Yes, it took a while to learn, but I enjoy it greatly now. For 99% of what I do (sports, portraits, nature) I never use the manual. It is only in difficult situations that I need to review functions. I'm not sure I would recomment the camera for a beginner unless he/she was going to get serious about photography. There are a lot of features on the camera that are just not necessary for someone just trying to take nice pictures and the interface can be frustrating if you don't already know a little bit about photography and what you want to do.

Customer Service

N/A

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This is my first autofocus and first Nikon. I had a Canon AE-1 for years, but chose to switch to Nikon. The N70 seemed to have more features than similarly priced Canons, especially the fast film advance that was important to me. My next choice would have been a Pentax.

Best all around "all auto-function" camera for the lazy guy like me, who doesnt know a lot about photography but wants the BEST photographs!
The vari-program is EXCELLENT.

None as far as I am concerned, you need to study the commands is all, takes a while but worth it, since there are so many functions available.

This is THE ONE to get if you are like me and new to this hobby with a lot to learn about photography. What better camera would you buy when you go to Alaska, I was able to get the best photographs with ease and they look a like a pro took them and I am just a beginner. I ended getting dozens of my photo's enlarged to 8 x 10 size and scatter them on the walls of my house.
If you are looking for a Camera that 'does it all' for you, this is the one to get. I love my N70.

Customer Service

Never needed it.

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Basically cheap insta-matic type cameras from $50 up to a $100 and they take lousy photo's.

Qualidade de construção Nikon
Flash fantástico !!!
Qualidade da fotometria
Foco preciso

Design !!!
Praticidade dos comandos
Display confuso

Trata-se de uma máquina muito competente, com um bom foco automática, sem chegar ao nível das Canon.
O Flash é o melhor que já utilizai.
Como defeitos apontaria a irracionalidade dos comando e, frise-se, no meu ponto de vista, a qualidade inferior das fotos conseguidas com as lentes Nikon, em comparação com as conseguidas pelas lentes Minolta.

Customer Service

nenhum

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Pentax PZ 70
Minolta 5 sxi
Canon Elan IIe
Canon EOS 300
Olympus OM1
Nokon N 60
Fuji Film Fotonex 4000 APS