Camera choice !

Davemm

Davemm

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Dave
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Having a dilemma tonight currently have access to a nikon d40 and also a cannon 400 d, both have kit lenses and also a 55-200 to go with them
However I got offerd a niko d70 for what seems a very good price, what I'm not sure is if it would be better than either of the ones that I can use already.

The nikon d70 also has the kit lens wih it which I believe is a 18-70 so with that being the case would it be worth buying the camera for lens as well which I could use on my d40 ?

Any help would be much appreciated as I'm still learning and don't want to miss out on a deal but don't want to spend £100 if its not going to benefit me.

I'm doing quite a bit of night photography at he minute so I don't know if that would make one of the cameras better ?
 
Firstly both the Nikons are 6 megapixel sensors and the Canon is 10 megapixels and is at least a generation newer than the Nikons,however although an older model the D70 is rated as one of the best DSLR's of its and later eras.
Having owned a 400D I can confirm that it is an excellent camera and should do all that a beginner would want
 
But of the d70 was only £70 for the body and lens would it be a step up over the d40 ?

The cannon is dads and I can use it although not all the time which is why I can't make my mind up.
 
This is my thinking, and if nothing else the lens has to be better than the 18-55 I have to use when wanting a larger field of view.
Do you know if a d70 can be used with a wired remote ?
 
Paul_H said:
I have a D70, unfortunately you cannot use a wired remote with it, but you can use the infra red remote ;)

They are a very good camera to start off with :cool:
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Thanks, that's a shame did you get the kit lens with yours ?
 
If you can find a D70s instead, then you'll have wired remote. Plus other stuff...

I found one with the 18-70 lens, less than 1700 shots, mint condition, nice bag too... all for less than £200.

Perfect training camera! Especially if you're looking to get a D300s/D700/D800 later ... it's like a mini model of the D300s :D


And can only praise the 18-70 lens!

I used both for a little year, while saving for the D300s, and sold it for same price...
 
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Davemm said:
But of the d70 was only £70 for the body and lens would it be a step up over the d40 ?

The cannon is dads and I can use it although not all the time which is why I can't make my mind up.
Click to expand...

The lens alone is worth £70 whether you put it on the d40 or d70.

Thanks,
Rick
 
Also, in the future the D70 will easily sell for about £75 on its own with no lens.
They are also superb candidates for infrared conversions so people will always buy them.
 
To echo what's been said above, the D70 and 18-70 are a great combination. Other than the screen being tiny by todays standards, I can't fault it really. I used mine for 4 years regularly in all kinds of conditions with only one hiccup, and a simple battery replacement resolved that. It's pretty robust to, Mine fell put of a rucksack onto a rock and the only damage was a light scratch which you have to know where it is to see it.

In terms of it being 'only' 6mp, I regularly print A3 size images from D70 files with no problems whatsoever. The only reason I replaced mine was to buy a D700 as I needed better high ISO for low light work, however, the D70 does still get used occasionally.
 
Thank you for all the replies and help so far, hes going to hopefully drop it off at work and let me borrow it over the weekend to see what i think. just hope that it has the right lens with it and hes not changed it for something else.

Also whats the easiest way to find a shutter count on the body, and whats deemed a reasonable amount ?
 
Have had a quick play with the camera, it has got just over 1000 on the shutter count. The camera it's self it like new no marks on it at all, all buttons seem to operate well.

The lens with it I don't think is what it came with as it has a nikor 28-80 which wasn't the one that I was hoping for.
Is it worth buying as a backup or 2nd camera ?
 
Take it, man! It's brand new! :thumbs:


You'll need wider soon! :D But luckily the 18-70 is very cheap...
 
The D70 resets file numbering to 0001 after 10000 shots, so if you're going off that to give the shutter actuations, then I'd be sceptical. The 28-80 was the cheaper of the kit lens options on the D70 (it's what mine came with) and wasn't a bad lens, surprisingly shary, just not very wide.
 
Not to forget, the D70/s is also capable of ridiculous flash sync speeds. I've had 1/500s out of mine and I believe it's capable of being used at much higher speeds thanks to the hybrid shutter design. They're a popular choice with Strobist blog readers :)
 
Even still if its 11,000 its still not a high number i guess, although i didnt go off the file count i went of the same area of the exif data as my d40 which has just over 5,000.. A good friend ended up having it as a cheap introduction hes just going to find a slightly better lens when he has chance although seems very keen and happy with it so far.
 
viewfromthenorth said:
The D70 resets file numbering to 0001 after 10000 shots...
Click to expand...
Yes, but filecount has nothing to do with that. You can still read correct numbers of actuations in EXIF. :thumbs:

Davemm said:
Even still if its 11,000 its still not a high number i guess...
Click to expand...
Shutter is rated to 100.000 click...

Just for fun, but somewhere in the archives, I have a repair manual. Will upload later.
 
I will get a picture from the camera and check it again but I'm sure I read the right field of text.

Do you know if it's the same sensor as what is used in a d40 body ?
 
thank you for that, will keep me quite for a while at work :)
 
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