Is the D70 right for me?

Lerch

Hello all,
This is my first post to this site. I'm in the market for a new camera. My current camera is a Toshiba 3.2mp that I've been using for a year and a half and I've been happy with it. I'm really into bird watching and observing nature in general. I would love to have a camera with some zoom to it so I can get up close and personal with the subject. Is the D70 out of my league? I'm more than willing to take classes on photography if I have to. I'm tired of taking pictures of a Bald Eagle and having to tell people "You see that speck in the sky? That's a Bald Eagle." I love to take pictures of just about anything. I'm fairly competent at figuring out and understanding how things work. If you think the D70 is too much camera for me can you suggest something that would be good for a novice?
Thanks,
Lerch

HarveyMushman

I just bought a D70 a few days ago and am still learning how to make the most of it. I've a lot to learn, but I enjoy the process. There's no question the camera is far more capable than I at this time. That's one of the reasons I bought it.

I have the D70 Outfit, which includes a Nikkor 18-70 zoom lens. 70mm isn't much of a telephoto. You'd have to buy an additional lens to gain a substantial magnifying effect. There are plenty of quality point-n-shoot cameras that offer longer zoom lenses. Canon's Powershot S1 IS is one example, with a fast (f2.8-3.1) zoom lens that extends to nearly 400mm. It has Canon's Image Stabilizing technology too. Price is about $500, I think.

I don't know what your budget is, but you don't have to spend $1,000-plus to obtain a big zoom lens. I don't know what your skill level is either. The D70 has all the usual auto and program modes usually offered by the point-n-shoot cameras, but it also allows you to control everything manually or semi-manually, which you'll come to appreciate as you learn more and want to have greater control of your images.

DewrGleision

Well, Ill join you in that first post sense! Im new here, but not to MBs in general...

Im also pretty new to photography; though, as with everything I pick up and obsesse over, I learn a lot in a very short amount of time, and have been doing so with my photography teacher (Im homeschooled, so I only see him once a week for like 15 minutes).
I think I might be getting a Canon 10D or 300D (is it ok if I call it a 300D? I know thats what its called in Europe--not here--but it easier than Digital Rebel every time!) for my gradutation present (less than 5 days till graduation! W0oT!), and I thought I ask if Im too much of a noob to have such an awesome peice of equipment.
Ive been shooting a regular Minolta film SLR from the 80's for a while now, and Ive pretty much gotten the hang of stuff like f-stop settings for different conditions, shutter speeds versus film speeds (still a little sketchy on that...), and am working on flash settings and mathing flash to my exposure and speed settings... Ill post some of my best pics for you guys to ruthlessly mock and tear down later !

So what do ya say? AM I worthy, or a loser noob who should shut up and go away?
Thanks for any imput in advance!

wxwax

Yeah, what Tim said. You're really talking about buying a long lens, which is getting into some $$$,$$$. The camera body becomes the cheapest part of the equation.

But if you have the dough, and you really enjoy the hobby, it's worth it, IMHO. You can save some money by buying used lenses, as I did. If you're interested, I'll link you to a post I made for Harv with links to forums with active buy/trade areas.

One thing - by itself, the extra gear won't make you a better shooter, as I'm sure you know.

DewrGleision

Also, I need to learn more about the different dimensions involved in lenses and their relevance...
As far as I can recall, isnt 18-70mm really really wide? Like you can see everything in a room in focus? Like waaayyy toooo wide?
Dunno, just wondering...

HarveyMushman

DewrGleision wrote:

Also, I need to learn more about the different dimensions involved in lenses and their relevance...
As far as I can recall, isnt 18-70mm really really wide? Like you can see everything in a room in focus? Like waaayyy toooo wide?
Dunno, just wondering...

Although I'm not sure there is such a thing as "too wide" the 18mm on the D70 is not really 18mm. The image sensor on this camera, as on most dSLRs, is not quite as big as a frame of 35mm film. As a result your images are essentially cropped the moment you take them, giving a zoom effect. Therefore, you'll find spec sheets and camera reviews using 35mm equivalency to describe digicam lenses. On the D70 the "magnification" factor is 1.5, so that 18-70 lens functions as a 27-105 lens.

damonff

Hey Lerch

The Sony 828 is great and takes you to 200mm, a good bit of zoom. If money's no object, get a Nikon D1X with lenses. On EBAY the other day I saw a D1X with 3 lenses: regular; macro; and a zoom that went to 300mm. Total price around $3,500...a great deal but out of my range.

wxwax

Dewr, a 10D or 300D would make a great present! If it's the 300D, it might come with a medium zoom lens already.

If you like shooting nature, and have a limited budget, you might consider the Canon 75-300 Image Stablized lens. It's less than $500, and gives you the flexibility to shoot at "normal" zooms and also do your nature thing at more extreme zooms. It gives a lot of performance for a comparatively low price. It's not Canon's sharpest lens, but sounds perfectly adequate for all but the most demanding users.

For another $275, you could get Canon's 1.4x extender. It goes between the lens and the camera body, and would turn a 300mm lens into a 480mm. Add to that the 1.6 magnification factor of the smaller imager in the 300D and the 10D, and you have yourself what amounts to a 768 mm lens on your current SLR. Those little dots won't be so little anymore! Even with IS, you'd want a good strong tripod to get a sharp image,.

As far as wide angle is concerned, I have a 16-35 lens which, on my camera, amounts to a 20.8 - 45.5. And that's unbelievably wide. Even though the 10D and the 300D have a greater magnification factor because they have a smaller sensor, you won't need anything wider than a 20mm lens for normal use. Even that's on the wide side, frankly.

mercphoto

Lenses and Cameras

wxwax wrote:

If you like shooting nature, and have a limited budget, you might consider the Canon 75-300 Image Stablized lens. ... It's not Canon's sharpest lens, but sounds perfectly adequate for all but the most demanding users.

For another $275, you could get Canon's 1.4x extender. It goes between the lens and the camera body, and would turn a 300mm lens into a 480mm.... Even with IS, you'd want a good strong tripod to get a sharp image,.

I have the 75-300 IS/USM lens. Its nice, its quite useful for nature and sports, though I still don't like the IS for sports photography. But I have got nature shots I couldn't get without either IS or without a 2.8 aperture. I can afford IS, cannot afford 2.8. For a zoom its rather nice in image quality.

I do not believe the 75-300 will accept the 1.4x extender though. I remember trying a friend's and it did not fit. He went the route of the 70-200mm 4.0L, with the 1.4x when he needs it. Nice combination, nicer images, more money, but he has no IS.

-- Bill

DewrGleision

Wow... Ok, I havent been able to take decent shots with anything less than a 5.6 f-stop! 2.8?! Thats waaayyyy tooo wide for my skills! Sheesh!

*mentally stumbles*

Would you guys recomend the 300D or the 10D? I know there are relatively few differences, but whats the most bang for the buck with the least tradeoffs...?

mercphoto

300D or 10D ?

DewrGleision wrote:

Wow... Ok, I havent been able to take decent shots with anything less than a 5.6 f-stop! 2.8?! Thats waaayyyy tooo wide for my skills! Sheesh!

Would you guys recomend the 300D or the 10D? I know there are relatively few differences, but whats the most bang for the buck with the least tradeoffs...?

f2.8 requires very good focus, because the depth of field is narrow. Notice that if your subject matter is rather deep (like a dog, for example) then not even a pro can get the entire dog in-focus at wide aperatures.

I bought the 300D because the price delta to the 10D. I'll put that $500 into lenses. Do you need to be able to set the white balance in-camera? (I do it post-process). Do you need a larger burst buffer? (i.e. better continuous shot mode) Do you need better control over metering modes?

I have only three gripes with my dRebel: only 4 shots in a row in continuous mode (vs. 7 in 10D), don't have full control over metering modes (vs. 10D), and does not support write-accelerated CF cards (none of the Canon's do).

Otherwise, the image quality between the two is the same. Its just the 300D is lacking a few features. I still don't know if I would have spent the extra bucks, even now. But write acceleration would be VERY NICE.

DewrGleision

Ok, not to sound like a bum or anything, but I couldnt discern this information from reading the reviews @ dpreview.com: can you use the old Zuiko lenses that one had bought for one's Olympus film SLR on the Olympus E-1, or any other Olympus dSLR for that matter? Are there adapters or something for the whole 4/3's system-thing they have now? Or is it just a crazy focal length multiplier factor-deal?

Thanks for any help in advance, and I apologize for not being able to find it myself! *winces*

pathfinder

DewrGleision wrote:

Ok, not to sound like a bum or anything, but I couldnt discern this information from reading the reviews @ dpreview.com: can you use the old Zuiko lenses that one had bought for one's Olympus film SLR on the Olympus E-1, or any other Olympus dSLR for that matter? Are there adapters or something for the whole 4/3's system-thing they have now? Or is it just a crazy focal length multiplier factor-deal?

Thanks for any help in advance, and I apologize for not being able to find it myself! *winces*

As far as I know, the old Zuiko lenses for the OM-1 OM-2 OM-4 et al do not work on any other cameras. They are not auto focus of course. I hava a bag of them too - wish they would work somewhere else.

Regarding the Olympus 4/3 system - the sensor used is smaller than the APS sized sensor used in the 10D and the Nikon D70 - I have my doubts how successful the 4/3 system will be in the marketplace. Time will tell.

Personally I would rather invest in Canon L glass or Nikon glass than a new system which may or may not be well received in the marketplace. Canon's lenses will be useful for many years, as will Nikons. I have invested in the 10D myself.