donna frankland (uk) Posted July 6, 2006 Report Share Posted July 6, 2006 does anyone have any experience of the nikon d50 and d70 cameras? i am going to treat myself soon and am going to get a nikon (i think) the difference between the 2 seems to be about ?150 (i think), is the d70 really that much better? or should i get the d50 and use the spare to get a different lens? i've seen the d50 on offer with the standard lens plus a telephoto (?) lens for around ?550. but i dont want to skimp and buy the d50 if i'm going to wish i bought the d70 later. i'm not going to be able to afford to change my mind in 3 months time so i want to make sure! does anyone have one they want to sell me i would really appreciate any advice! thanks guys! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoloRiver Posted July 6, 2006 Report Share Posted July 6, 2006 I have the D70s. For most purposes the D50 is fine. It lacks some features the D70s has (which honestly, I have probably never used) and takes a different kind of memory card (SD instead of CF). I opted for the D70s because I had an equipment budget to buy the camera. If I had to pay out of pocket I may have gone for the D50 because the savings is substantial. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BustopherJones Posted July 6, 2006 Report Share Posted July 6, 2006 Keeping in mind that all of the technical manuals I possess end with the suffix "For Dummies", I did extensive research before finally choosing my first digital camera. I wanted one that had "point and shoot" capability, while at the same time providing flexibility to become more sophisticated as I became familiar with the device. I also wanted one that had extensive battery life. I finally settled on the Kodak Z730, and have been very pleased with the camera. But then again, that is a matter of personal preference... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
donna frankland (uk) Posted July 6, 2006 Author Report Share Posted July 6, 2006 melanie, is it the d50 that takes the sd card? if it is you might have just swung it for me as i already have sd memory cards for my finepix jobbie, if i have to go buy a new memory card that would probably be another ?50 or so ontop of the extra for the d70. looks like i could save enough to buy a couple more collies if i stick with the d50 (joke, i promise!). bustopherjones, thanks i will go take a peek at the kodak, i dont know why i just thought new camera? nikon! see, now you've made me make another decision! librans are no good at decisions, by the time i have decided which to get, digital cameras will be obsolete! also begs the question on what to do with my old slr, i havent used it since getting a digital. poor thing all alone and neglected, i even robbed it of its bag to use for my digital jobby. freecycle here i come i think! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BustopherJones Posted July 6, 2006 Report Share Posted July 6, 2006 You can still get digital records with your SLR. When having the film developed, have them also create a CD of the pictures; you can then download them to your computer. I have a digital camera, but DW still relies on her 35mm; so we have files of both. (FYI, the Kodak software that comes with the Z730 will also album and manage photos downloaded from CD's.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sea4th Posted July 6, 2006 Report Share Posted July 6, 2006 I just bought a D50 a couple of days ago. I got it for a decent price. I wanted a better camera for when I go to the International this September. I was considering the Canon digital Rebel XT----it's 8 megapixels, but decided to shop around some more. I decided on the Nikon because it felt like it had more substance, more solid feeling. The Nikon D-50 is 6 megapixels. That's good enough for me---for now. I think I'll enjoy this camera. I'll be using it a lot on my trip, since photos will be my souvenirs, and I'll share the pix here. I'd like to buy a zoom lens for it before I go. I have a Canon Rebel film camera and I like it, but maybe it's the photographer, but the photos are flat -- 2 dimensional. From everything I hear, I think I'll be happy with this Nikon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeezSK Posted July 6, 2006 Report Share Posted July 6, 2006 I've had a D50 for 4 or 5 months (and probably close to 5000 pictures) now. It's amazing for the price. I don't regret the purchase one bit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoloRiver Posted July 6, 2006 Report Share Posted July 6, 2006 I think pretty much all digital pictures look relatively flat, but they're good for what they're good for. I would probably have more use for a tiny pocket digicam than I have for the D70s, not that I regret having it but if I want to take "real" pictures I use the Leica or the Rollei. The D50 takes SD cards, yes. I got a 1GB card with my D70s and it will hold almost 300 photos on JPG "fine" mode (haven't yet started shooting in RAW, don't know if I will, although I can now that I have Photoshop CS2). For me the choice of digital SLR was limited to Nikon or Canon -- I did not look at other marques. I chose a Nikon because I have had good luck with Nikon in the past and because I thought the D70s felt more substantial and better in the hand than the comparable Canon, the number of which I cannot remember. The D70s and D50 have been out for a while. It is possible that Nikon will be coming out with a replacement soon (maybe they already have) in which case the prices on D50s should drop, so you might want to research that a bit. That's one of the things I hate about digital. The things are practically obsolete six months after you get them. In the meantime, my Leica M3, which was manufactured in 1965, has practically the same value it had when new and is still a top of the line film camera. Oh well, horses for courses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KrisK Posted July 6, 2006 Report Share Posted July 6, 2006 I'm hoping to buy a Nikon sometime in near future. The reason, I have a great little Nikon SLR and a ton of lenses! I understand that I can use my Nikon lenses on the digital Nikon since they are all bayonet mounts. Right now I have a Kodak LS753 and it works just fine. Around here, film processing is outrageous and I really don't have the time nor inclination to process my own. That's why I like the idea of the digital SLR. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack & Co. Posted July 7, 2006 Report Share Posted July 7, 2006 We passed our Canon on to our son and you've gotten me very interested in the D50. This link had helpful side-by-side comparisons with the D70. http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/nikond50/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hector Posted July 7, 2006 Report Share Posted July 7, 2006 Nikon unquestionably has a first-rate reputation. Back in the 35mm film SLR days I had a Nikon and 4 lens (28, 50, 105, 200). Carrying all the lenses around and having to switch them was a pain. I welcomed the digital camera age with open arms. My current digital is the Canon S2 IS and I really like it. They are available in the USA for about $350. Ziff-Davis reviews (http://reviews-zdnet.com.com/) rates digital cameras. Their rating for the Nikon D70 is 7.6, rating for the Canon S2 is 7.7. The Nikon costs 2.5 times what the Canon costs. Canon now has the S3, the follow-on model to the S2, but I haven't tried one yet. My S2 has a 12X optical zoom and a 4X digital zoom. It takes nice .AVI movies and has a continuous shoot mode of 2.5 frames per second. It uses an SD card. I just bought a new 2GB SD card for US-$50. When taking a movie, the camera can also take still photos concurrently, a nice feature. The camera has a sound recorder feature that is nice. I sometimes like to record phone conversations, so I put the phone on speaker, turn on the camera sound recorder, and I get a .WAV file of the conversation. Anyway, you may want to take a look at this camera. It is a top seller. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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