Nikon D50 vs D70

[robert]

I'm looking at replacing my film cameras and buying a D200 and one of the above as a backup/lightweight hiking body. Has anyone got a quick synopsis of which is better and why or even a preference? I'm trying to justify the extra money for the D70 but am just not seeing it. Any help is appreciated.

If anyone's interested in a really clean F5 and/or an F3HP with accesories let me know too. I might keep the F3 for some situations (and since it's not worth much anymore) but haven't decided yet- even though I can't remember the last time I used it.

 

[gjackson]

I just got a D70, so I went through some of the same decision making process. I was looking at a D70 vs a D50 and there are several reasons why I chose the D70. The user interface is better in the D70 IMO. The D50 requires much more use of menus to change settings, while the D70 uses the 2 clickwheels and displays changes in the field of view, making changes and fine adjustments quicker and easier to make. The D70 has more features, but you can see the Nikon website for details on those. Also, when buying a kit and taking the lens into consideration, the D70 came out to only ~$70 above the D50. Made it an easy decision for me.

Good luck!

cheers

 

[DaveInDenver]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but:

-The D200 uses the CF cards, right? The D50 I think uses SD and the D70 CF.

-Also the D70 has a DOF, the D50 does not (this would be key to me).

-Manual mode is tougher to use in the D50.

Otherwise I'd be hard pressed to see a big difference. If I was buying one body, it would be the D70 over the D50, but as a backup I think the only issue is the CF/SD card maybe.

 

[robert]

Thanks for the input. I hit a couple of websites today looking at them. One said that the RGB sensor is considerably smaller (420 vs. 1005) but other than that and the SD vs CF cards they looked pretty similar- supposedly the CCD is the same according to two reviewers. I use DOF preview on the F5 but not all that often so I can live without it. I'm leaning towards the D50 with it's lower price so that I can pick up the D200 sooner (gotta sell the F5 first)- limited funds right now. Desicions, decisions....

 

[Life_in_4Lo]

I have both D50, D70 also a Canon Dig Rebel.

The D50 is for my g/f and it takes great pics. You can't go wrong with either.

 

[oly884]

I've had a D70 for a year and a half now and have loved every moment of it. The D50 is for the more "newby" DSLR user. If you know how to use a SLR camera, then the D70 will please you more.

 

[robert]

Well I broke down and bought the D70s today. I saw Curcuit City had them in their Sunday sales flyer for a decent price with a free SanDsik Ultra II 512MB card and a free Epson printer so I broke out the Mastercard. I don't really need another printer but it was free so what the heck. I saw where B&H has them for about the same price with a SanDisk III but I went for the instant gratification.

So far it seems pretty nice although the 18-70mm lens doesn't have a seperate aperature ajustment and there is a little rattle to it- is this normal? I read a couple of reviews where they said the lens was worth it for the package deal so I got it. I'm kind of wondering if I shouldn't have passed and just gotten the body and then spent the money on the Nikon 18-200mm VR lens. Hmmm, that would have been a much more compact option for carrying in the truck and hiking- that doesn't mean I'd get rid of the 80-200 f2.8 but that lens does get heavy. Desicions, desicions...

I've been in the backyard shooting pictures of squirrels- you'd think since I feed them every day they'd have the decency to not run away.

 

[oly884]

Well I broke down and bought the D70s today. I saw Curcuit City had them in their Sunday sales flyer for a decent price with a free SanDsik Ultra II 512MB card and a free Epson printer so I broke out the Mastercard. I don't really need another printer but it was free so what the heck. I saw where B&H has them for about the same price with a SanDisk III but I went for the instant gratification.

So far it seems pretty nice although the 18-70mm lens doesn't have a seperate aperature ajustment and there is a little rattle to it- is this normal? I read a couple of reviews where they said the lens was worth it for the package deal so I got it. I'm kind of wondering if I shouldn't have passed and just gotten the body and then spent the money on the Nikon 18-200mm VR lens. Hmmm, that would have been a much more compact option for carrying in the truck and hiking- that doesn't mean I'd get rid of the 80-200 f2.8 but that lens does get heavy. Desicions, desicions...

I've been in the backyard shooting pictures of squirrels- you'd think since I feed them every day they'd have the decency to not run away.

The no aperature ring on the lens doesn't matter on the D70.

If you do put another lens that does have an aperture ring on it, set it to the highest aperature (ie. f22) and lock it. The camera will not function unless the aperature is the highest/smallest diameter.

For a great forum go to http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/forum.asp?forum=1034

 

[robert]

Yeah, I figured out the aperature adjustment with a little fiddling around- I ought to read the Magic Lantern book I picked up too. I'm just used to being able to adjust it on the lens when shooting in aperature preferred mode.

This is my first digital SLR so it's kind of new territory; my other digitals are point and shoots (Pentax Optio WR I bought to carry on the kayak and an Olympus C5050 I bought a few years ago). Over the years I've owned a handful of 35mm SLRs including an F3HP, F4, N70, N90 and an F5- still got the F3 and the F5. It's going to take a bit more playing around before I sell the F5. The F3 is definitely going on the block though- I'll list it in the sale forum when I get everything togther for it.

Incidentally, I checked out your gallery- nice work and I liked the lightning shots. I've burned a few rolls of film myself trying to capture it but never really liked my results- I even thought about buying one of those expensive Lightning Triggers at one point.

 

[oly884]

Yeah, I figured out the aperature adjustment with a little fiddling around- I ought to read the Magic Lantern book I picked up too. I'm just used to being able to adjust it on the lens when shooting in aperature preferred mode.

This is my first digital SLR so it's kind of new territory; my other digitals are point and shoots (Pentax Optio WR I bought to carry on the kayak and an Olympus C5050 I bought a few years ago). Over the years I've owned a handful of 35mm SLRs including an F3HP, F4, N70, N90 and an F5- still got the F3 and the F5. It's going to take a bit more playing around before I sell the F5. The F3 is definitely going on the block though- I'll list it in the sale forum when I get everything togther for it.

Incidentally, I checked out your gallery- nice work and I liked the lightning shots. I've burned a few rolls of film myself trying to capture it but never really liked my results- I even thought about buying one of those expensive Lightning Triggers at one point.

Thanks!

Hey, I've got an E-book on the D-70, if you're interested, send me a PM.

 

[Life_in_4Lo]

congrats on the camera, have fun!

the rattling isn't normal. mine doesn't make any noise