The cream of the crop!

If you are the type of person who only uses their digital camera for snap shots, this camera is NOT for you. If, however, you are the type of photographer would like to exercise complete control of your photo taking in a digital format, you'll love the D70. This is a serious piece of photo equipment. Be prepared to spend many hours experimenting with all the features and combinations of features available on it. Sure, you can just "point and shoot" in the "auto" mode if you'd like but that would be like driving a Ferrari to by milk up at the corner store.

This camera will allow you to capture shots in two formats: Jpeg and RAW. In the Jpeg format, you can select from Jpeg Basic, Jpeg Normal, Jpeg Fine, and RAW. There is a fifth format called "NEF & Jpeg". These formats will determine what type of final print you are looking to obtain. In "basic jpeg" for instance, a 512mb memory card will capture up to 525 photos. Change to RAW or "NEF/Jpg", the largest formats, and a 512mb memory card will save 44 or 41 photos respectively. Needless to say, these formats can produce photos of such quality that they could easily be blown up to mammoth sizes, well beyond even poster-size prints! The rule of thumb by owners of these cameras is that one cannot have too much data so they normally shoot all of their photos in the highest resolutions available which will allow for fantastic editing if needed. And, in RAW, you are literally working with the raw pixels and can make major changes to the photo before you actually create the photo! Editing in the RAW format is NOT like editing a normal digital photo but more like deciding how you "should" have taken the photo after you've already taken it. Trust me, it's amazingly cool. Most high-end photo editors will handle the RAW format but many require add-on modules. Check with your photo-editing program before proceeding. I use JASC Paint Shop Pro ver 9 perfectly.

This brings me back to what you should expect to add to this camera when you get over the sticker shock. You'll certainly need at least a 512mb "fast" memory card. Any less is just about worthless. A 1 GB card would be better. Shop for these cards online but understand you MUST purchase the "fastest" cards. Costco offers them as do other on-line supplier at very substantial savings against the camera shops. In addition, a second backup battery is required. My experience during the past four months of ownership have revealed that while the demand on the battery by the camera is heavy, it lasts a surprisingly very long time indeed. I can go many days between shots without worrying about running it down. A second, fully charged battery is important to have, however.

Also understand that unless you buy a "kit", you'll be purchasing everything "al-la-carte" for the most part. Be aware of the fact that on-line sellers of this camera will lure you in with a "bare-bones" body sale price but hammer you relentlessly for even the most basic of "extras" like the battery, charger, strap, covers, warrantee, etc., etc. Ultimately it might be better for you to just buy the "complete" kit which includes a basic lens and battery charger. It's tantamount to going to look at a car which is priced thousands below the competition and realizing that it doesn't comes with a steering wheel or tires. BTW, the manual that comes with the D70 is wonderful! Well laid out, complete and concise.

Finally, a word about lenses. This is a true SLR (single-lens reflex) camera. However, instead of exposing a 35mm strip of film to the subject when the mirror opens, it exposes a CCD which is an electronic chip to the subject. It takes the "AF" type (auto focus) Nikon lenses made by Nikon, Quantaray, or any other Nikon-compatible lens maker. However, there is a phenomenon called the "1.5" factor you should be aware of. I own a film Nikon SLR (N65) and lenses for that camera will work on my D70 body. (One of the big influences as to why I purchased the D70 in the first place is that I already had lenses!) However, the area that the camera exposes to the photo being taken in the film SLR (35mm) is 1.5 times LARGER than the area exposed to the subject in the digital D70. That means that if I put a "standard" 28mm film SLR lens onto my digital body, I'm going to "lose" 1.5 of the field of view. In other words it would be like placing a (28mm x 1.5 =) 42mm lens on the film camera. Obviously the field of view (how much area you see through the lens) is reduced substantially. So, to regain the exact same field of view the 28mm lens provides to the film SLR, you need to go shorter and use the 18mm lens on the digital. The 18-50mm zoom will restore the field of view (18mm x 1.5= 27mm). This new breed of SLR lenses is being marketed especially for digital cameras. They will also work on your film SLR, however. Also, the digital lenses are less light hungry than the standard SLR film auto-focus lenses. Just as an aside, that "1.5" factor work FOR you in the long lenses. Consider a 300mm zoom, for example. 300mm x 1.5= 450mm to the digital camera extending your reach quite a bit.

I could go on and on about each of the features this digital camera offers but I won't bore you with all the details. I can tell you that if you are familiar with the N65 family of Nikon film SLRs, you'll feel right at home with the D70. Virtually all of film camera controls are identical to the D70 layout. So, any experience with the film SLR will have trained you well for the D70. There is one specific feature that should be mentioned and that's the "multiple shot" feature. Because of the blinding speed this camera works at, you'll be able to literally burn through your entire memory stick by simply holding down the shutter button. This is a real stumbling block with lesser cameras. Even the "high-end" point and shoots can only do three or four continuous shots. The D70, however, rips them off at about 3 or 4 per second for as long as you want or until you run out of memory. That, my friends, is simply amazing for a digital camera! This feature works fantastic as sporting events and lots-of-motion shots (a canoe on the rapids, a runner, football plays, your dog catching a ball, etc.)

In this review, I brought to bare my 4 months living with my D70 and hit the points that I felt were most important to me. There are so many features I could mention but you'll understand when you order yours. The flash is fine but a speedlight would be better. Also you can get the remote control for it (works the film SLR too!) and it's about the size of a postage stamp. Awesome.

Buy this camera and learn to use it. There are competitors out there (Canon for example) but truly, Nikon has hit a home run with this fantastic, complicated, beautiful piece of electronics.

UPDATE: November 2007 (30 month use review)

This camera has turned out to be a tank! A tank that performs as well as any high-end SLR I've ever handled with sophistication, accuracy, and excellence but hardy enough to take the dings and bangs found in the field.

Any camera will work wonderfully under perfect circumstances. This Nikon D70, however, has survived three serious falls, one of which was hard enough to shatter the UV lens. Yet, it has not skipped a beat.

I've shot thousands of photos through it. I've added extremely long zoom lenses for low-light distance shots. I've used it in wet and very cold weather. Yet, it continues to plug along completely unaffected by its environment. No, I don't use it in direct rain but humid or damp days don't affect it.

Maintenance on this camera has been just keeping it clean of excessive dust and debris. The switches, however, have continued to operate perfectly, without one hitch or failure.

Battery life has also been simply spectacular. I own two. One is an original Nikon, the other another brand. One battery will easily last up to two weeks of even moderate use. I was amazed, actually. When it drops in power, however, I just swap the other in and charge the low one. With two batteries fully charged, you could easily fill the biggest memory chip with many photos over weeks of shooting.

Honestly I can not find a weakness in this camera after even thirty months of use. In addition, because it has the features it has, I have zero desire to "upgrade" to any other model. This camera remains as relevant to me today as the day it arrived which makes me a very happy camper, indeed. Too many times technology has literally run by older models. Not so with the D70.

Finally, while many other cameras now proclaim 8-10 megapixel capabilities, I see no reason to pursue them. At the current level this camera offers, I've successfully created huge posters of literally perfect resolution, well up into the 36" dimension. Truly this is an outstanding piece of photographic engineering that will continue to perform years into the future without any degradation.

So, I'll continue recommending the Nikon model D70 to both amateur and professional alike. If the other current models are anything close in quality to this one, they are worth every single penny. You can spend less with other brands but I doubt you can find the quality and performance provided by this excellent machine.