Nikon D70S Digital SLR Camera includes AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkon 18-70mm Lens [6MP, 3x Optical Zoom]

Product Description

The D70s is an evolution of the award winning D70. It inherits the image quality, high performance and user-friendliness of the D70 and introduces refinements that help photographers capture precious moments the instant they unfold. The D70s Kit includes the AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-70mm f/3.5-4.5G IF-ED lens, which has been optically designed for use with Nikon digital SLR sensors. 135 equivalent of 27-105mm zoom range.

Customer Reviews:

Excellent camera outfit.......2007-06-17

I bought my D70S on holiday in Bangkok last year, and have never regretted it for an instant. The controls - while not being exactly intuitive - are pretty easy to get used to and I soon overcame my initial "I'll never learn what all these buttons do!" reaction. The range of image sizes and compression modes is good, and the variety of exposure modes and other controls such as spot metering, spot focus, exposure compensation (even for flash) is superb.
The two best things about this camera are the lens and the exposure system. With autofocus switched on and the camera set to P (or Auto) it is virtually impossible to take a technically bad photo. All your shots will be crisp, sharp, and well exposed. Now all you have to do is get the human element write: choice of subject, viewpoint, composition etc. I have many photos taken with my D70S on my blog (read my profile for the url).

This model is now discontinued but none the worse for that, and the price is plummeting. So if you want an excellent digital SLR for bargain money, look no further.

Recommended accessories: the wireless remote control and the SB600 Speedlite flash unit. Both are brilliant.

Some thoughts on the D70s.......2006-04-29

At the time of writing (Apr 06) Amazon has the best price that I could fnd on the net (£642 for the kit).

After using Nikons in the past, the D70s doesn't seem to have the 'robust' feel of the older cameras (FM series), but is more comfortable to hold. Overall the weight of the D70 with lens is about 70gm heavier than my FM with a 28mm lens, which surprised me.

The lens feels very light compared to older lens, but the manual focussing ring did not feel very smooth (not that this will be used a lot).

On the subject of older lenses, the question sales people tended to side step is how well do they work on a D70. The answer is that they fit fine, of course, but there is no way for the camera to know the aperture set on the old lens - hence the cameras light meter will not work. Back to a hand held light meter! You can just guess the exposure, and then fine tune the result by looking at the results on the back screen or even check the histogram, but it's a bit of a pain. Makes you think about the amount of light you have - which might be no bad thing.

On to the flash. This worked well, popping up when required. But you can guarantee that you will get red eye, so you will need the red eye reduction mode.

The camera does not have a sync socket for external flash, and this is an optional extra at £20. The socket instructions include dire warnings about using a flash with the correct voltage and polarity, as otherwise the cameras electronics might be damaged.

If you decide to use a cheaper Nikon flash (or the built in flash) as a trigger for external units you might find that the results are not as expected. The camera flash will give some pre-flashes (not normaly visible) that are enough to trigger the slave units before the shutter has opened.

No storage card is supplied with the kit and I recommend a 1Gb card. (Shop around on the net).

Transfer onto my Mac was simple and the raw images were no problem for the Apple Aperture program.

The camera comes with a comprehensive manual, and it is needed as there is a lot to learn once you get away from the simple Auto modes.

I hope these notes are of use:-)

D70s - great camera.......2006-03-24

I've had this camera for about 6 months now, I bought it for general use and can honestly say that its great. I've used it for a wide range of projects, sports, night work, macro shots etc and overall it copes extremley well.

Its very easy to use, if you wish you can use Automatic mode which does a pretty good job of getting good exposures. If you are a geek like me then you will be more than happy with the selection of advanced controls on offer.

The standard kit lens, 18-70mm is extremley sharp and focuses fast.

Build quality is very good, ive dropped this camera more times than I would like to remember and there is not a scratch on it, more importantly its easy to hold and use. Before buying a d70s I tried out a Canon 350d, the poor build quality immediatley put me off, I much prefer the chunky handling of the Nikon.

Battery life is very good, i've literally lasted a week on a single battery taking 20-30 shots a day.

Make sure you buy a CF card since most digital SLRs do not come with one as standard.

Overall I think its very good value for money. Definatley would recommend it.

If your interested in seeing some pictures taken with a Nikon d70s you can see them on my website at www.wavek.com

Nikkon Have Outdone Themselves With This lens and body........2005-11-20

I love my camera and its lens. This package is such great value for money. I recently took it to a concert along with another Nikon Digital Compact camera. The photographs that I achieved with this of the artist on the stage and the band from the second row of the balcony are brilliant. The set up handled the changing coloured lights and the brilliance of the white spot light remarkably well.

Taking photographs is a joy with this. Easy to use, and looks the business as well.

Works seamlessly with Apple Mac computers and iphoto with plug in and play connect-ability. No installation necessary as iphoto recognises the camera instantly upon plugging in the USB lead supplied with the Nikon D70s set up.

All buttons and control dials are easy to reach and the display is easy to understand and follow. You will quickly learn and begin to master taking great SLR shots in manual mode with this.

If you are an enthusiast, and are keen to develop taking really cool photographs of the kids, family, friends, landscapes, shows, concerts, or basically anything, than this is the set up for you.

I can not fault the lens at all. With the D70s body, it handles moving images with ease and with the clever in built mode functions on the camera, the sport one is unique as even at fast moving speeds you are able to achieve pin point sharpness in your images.

I am partially sighted and using this camera is not complicated for me. Everything is just there at my finger tips. It was a little hard at first to read the display on top to set the ISO and other settings but once I understood what they were for, I can set them up now without having to read at all. This is so brilliant for someone with poor vision to be able to handle a camera like this.

I feel proud when I take out my camera and take photographs of my children. I never leave home without it now and are proud to be the owner of this package.

Well done Nikon :)

Want better photos? Look no further..........2005-07-29

What a fantastic piece of kit.

I bought this 2 months ago after much soul searching. Having done a ton of research, I'd been convinced this was well worth buying, but when I had a look at one in the shop I was initially disappointed by the bulky size of it and the relatively small viewfinder compared to my 35mm Nikon. I thought about it for a while and took the plunge a couple of weeks later, and I'm so glad I did.

Compared to a compact digital camera, yes this is pretty big, but the downsides end there. This camera takes your photo exactly when you want it to, no pressing the button and counting to 3 before it decides it is good and ready. With a true SLR viewfinder, there's no squinting at a little screen, you see the shot exactly as it will be and all you need to do is press the button.

If you're feeling creative you can explore the varying degrees of over-ride available, including a variety of pre-set modes for specific photo-types.

The feature I like best is the continuous shoot mode. Basically you can hold the button down and it will fire away at 3 frames per second until you get bored. They claim something like 140 shots in succession, but I don't think there is an actual limit. This can give you some super little sequences like a mini-movie and works well with action shots or with children.

I put a 1Gb card in it (doesn't need to be a high-speed card as the camera has a superb buffer memory) and I get nearly 600 good quality pictures on that. The battery life is awesome - many hundreds of shots per charge. Hunt around for cheap spare batteries to be safe, but the one you get is a truly remarkable performer.

This is my 4th digital camera. It's nice to have a tiny one to carry around for snap shots, but if the things you are photographing matter to you, you want the timing, composition and quality to be bang on. This is just an incredible camera for the price (and an excellent price it is on Amazon), the lens is very impressive and a useful range, the performance of the camera is fantastic, and the quality of the photos makes it absolutely worth trading up from those horrid little compacts so many of us have been putting up with until now. If I lost mine I'd buy another tomorrow. Just great. Love it. Totally recommend it.

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