Nikon User Thread

Took some pics for my girlfriends brother who proposed this evening.

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Hey guys, I'm looking to purchase either a D70s or a D80 and I've been researching for a short while. Is there a huge difference between the features of these 2 cameras? How much of a difference is there between the 6.2 and 10 MP? I don't really plan on printing on an 8x10 anytime soon, but who knows. I might wind up doing a few headshots for people...

I'm using this page for the comparison:
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/nikond80/

The main difference is price. I've seen the D70s for about 650 on eBay and the D80 is about 400 more than that. Would it make more sense to go with the D70s and get 2 lenses (the 18 - 70 and 55 - 200 Nikkor ones)?

Thanks!
 
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$650 on ebay new? I wonder what they're going for used... I gotta' tell ya'... that if you can scrape the cash up for the D80 then I'd go that route. I may sell my D70s or I might keep it and add the D80... but any way you look at it I'm drooling for a D80... big time.

Here's a shot from my D70s from yesterday... in ISO 1600... using a 70-210mm manual lens that I got from Jeremy... I'm at 210mm, f5.6, and something like 1/5000 shooting handheld (hence the speed and ISO)... just playing around.

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No, not new. "Like new condition"... but with the 2 lenses.

If you've got a D70 and are drooling for the D80, then that right there speaks volumes.

Thanks for the advice.
 
Personally I disagree with Matt.

The benefits of the D80 are pretty clear: larger LCD, 10MP, lower noise & SD cards.

The benefits of the D70s are pretty clear also: BETTER METERING than D80, 6MP, and CF.

Both cameras offer the commander mode, which is awesome for Nikon flashes.

Ultimately it sort of depends. D70s can be had pretty cheap which saves a lot of money for lenses but if your only deciding factor is the MP count then look at the D2Hs, it is a 4MP camera.

It just all depends, I like the D70s.

But more than this... it doesn't stop. I have 2 D200's and I want a D2Hs.

I'm not saying to buy the D80 or the D70s... I'm saying to think about the larger file size (4MP is more than enough for massive prints) and decide from there.
 
Yeah... it was tempting to tell you how great the 70s is... then sell you mine... then get the 80 ;-)

Here's the deal as I see it... you will be cropping WAY more then you think you will. WAY MORE... there is no limit to the megapixel resolution that I would find handy.

A fast zoom is expensive as heck... but a 50mm 1.8 is dirt cheap... by adding 2/3 more pixels to the image you get a free 2/3 jump in lens length... at ANY SPEED. So even if you get the cute little $99 50mm 1.8 you can still get closer to stuff after the fact... and if you get the 85mm 1.8 or some range of 2.8... then you get the bonus there also.

The other factor... is grain. I'm not particularly bothered by grain as much as many are... that may be because recently I bought a 9600dpi film scanner... I was SO excited to see how great all my old photos were... and you know what I found? The film grain on your old pics is WAY WAY worse then the digital grain in any modern digital SLR... but... BUT... as I said, I'd prefer not to have it. Grain is not a factor in really ANY modern digital SLR at low ISO... but at max ISO it IS a factor (see my pic above).

So with the D80 you get 2/3 more pixels... unless you crop this may prove to be near meaningless, but mark my words... you WILL end up cropping. It's free safety margins to get the pictures that you want. In the shot above I didn't frame it like that... I shot it safe and then cropped down. Then add the fact that the D80 is also better at high ISO grain... for me those two reasons ALONE would make me go that route.

Finally... the 2.5" preview LCD would be a welcome addition whether you're shooting under pressure or just doing snapshots. The whole value in digital SLR is in "free pictures" once the cam and card are paid for... and then you can freely dump the tossers right after you take 'em.

If I were to say one thing positive about the two cams in comparison... it's that the D70s is physically very robust... it looks and feels like a tank. All four of my fingers rest on the grip versus the "pinky curl" that you'll be doing with a d50 or d80.

Aside from that... I can't give you any reason to get the d70s over the d80... I had a d50 first, and I like the d70s more... but had I realized the d80 would come out 1 MONTH after I bought the d70s I sure would have waited.
 
Wait wait wait... Just because we were just having this conversation...

Dude, brotha...

I know that you know this, but maybe some people reading this after the descruction of the planet don't know this, a 50mm lens doesn't change to any other focal length just because you crop.

Yes, you will have more information to crop if you have a larger sensor

-BUT-

That larger sensor can out resolve your glass. The larger your sensor the more flaws you can see.


Ultimately it doesn't matter. There are people who are using the D1 and still getting great use out of them (not many people, and they all work for newspapers) but still...

D80 is newer, D70s, older...

If it was me, honestly, I would pick up the D70s save money and get more quality glass.
 
Just for a little background info, I'm not a photographer at all, but I need to learn how to use a camera for possible work. I do want to be a good photographer but I've just never had a chance to get into it.

My main uses will be for compositing with video, and I know that pixel count isn't an issue there. I may have other professional uses for a camera as well. I would love to take it up as a serious hobby and who knows what else.

Jeremy Ordan said:
Personally I disagree with Matt.

The benefits of the D80 are pretty clear: larger LCD, 10MP, lower noise & SD cards.

The benefits of the D70s are pretty clear also: BETTER METERING than D80, 6MP, and CF.
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Would the metering system be a deciding factor for you? In what situations would it make the most difference?

Both cameras offer the commander mode, which is awesome for Nikon flashes.

Ultimately it sort of depends. D70s can be had pretty cheap which saves a lot of money for lenses but if your only deciding factor is the MP count then look at the D2Hs, it is a 4MP camera.
Click to expand...
I just looked at the D2Hs... I'm trying to wipe up the drool as I type... :)

It just all depends, I like the D70s.

But more than this... it doesn't stop. I have 2 D200's and I want a D2Hs.

I'm not saying to buy the D80 or the D70s... I'm saying to think about the larger file size (4MP is more than enough for massive prints) and decide from there.
Click to expand...

MattinSTL said:
Yeah... it was tempting to tell you how great the 70s is... then sell you mine... then get the 80 ;-)
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What do you want for it? hehe

Here's the deal as I see it... you will be cropping WAY more then you think you will. WAY MORE... there is no limit to the megapixel resolution that I would find handy.
Click to expand...
Are you only using that photo on the web though? If you're not printing it out, would it make a difference, resolution wise?

A fast zoom is expensive as heck... but a 50mm 1.8 is dirt cheap... by adding 2/3 more pixels to the image you get a free 2/3 jump in lens length... at ANY SPEED. So even if you get the cute little $99 50mm 1.8 you can still get closer to stuff after the fact... and if you get the 85mm 1.8 or some range of 2.8... then you get the bonus there also.
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Oh, I'll definitely pick a few nice prime lengths, say, probably, 50, 85, and somewhere around 135? (What would be a good lens at around that range?)

The other factor... is grain. I'm not particularly bothered by grain as much as many are... that may be because recently I bought a 9600dpi film scanner... I was SO excited to see how great all my old photos were... and you know what I found? The film grain on your old pics is WAY WAY worse then the digital grain in any modern digital SLR... but... BUT... as I said, I'd prefer not to have it. Grain is not a factor in really ANY modern digital SLR at low ISO... but at max ISO it IS a factor (see my pic above).

So with the D80 you get 2/3 more pixels... unless you crop this may prove to be near meaningless, but mark my words... you WILL end up cropping. It's free safety margins to get the pictures that you want. In the shot above I didn't frame it like that... I shot it safe and then cropped down. Then add the fact that the D80 is also better at high ISO grain... for me those two reasons ALONE would make me go that route.
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Is the grain really that much more noticible?

Finally... the 2.5" preview LCD would be a welcome addition whether you're shooting under pressure or just doing snapshots. The whole value in digital SLR is in "free pictures" once the cam and card are paid for... and then you can freely dump the tossers right after you take 'em.

If I were to say one thing positive about the two cams in comparison... it's that the D70s is physically very robust... it looks and feels like a tank. All four of my fingers rest on the grip versus the "pinky curl" that you'll be doing with a d50 or d80.

Aside from that... I can't give you any reason to get the d70s over the d80... I had a d50 first, and I like the d70s more... but had I realized the d80 would come out 1 MONTH after I bought the d70s I sure would have waited.
Click to expand...
Another thing, from what I've read, is the D80 has a real shutter and the D70s isn't a real shutter (not sure exactly what they mean by that), which isn't as good as the one in the D80, hence the slower max shutter speed on the D80. The better shutter would seem to make the D80 a better choice.

I think if I were to find a D70s brand new, which might be tough to find, it probably wouldn't be that much cheaper than a D80 new. And 300 bucks definitely isn't enough of a difference for me to not chose the better camera. If it's worth 300 more (and it seems that it is), then I'm going with the D80.
 
The only thing that would make me hesitate to sell my D70s today is that I'd have to wait a while to get the D80... but I was figuring that I could get $450-$500 for a D70s that's about 7 months old... something in that range anyway. If I included glass or CF then the price would adjust accordingly.

I don't know what they mean about real shutter... but actually I have shot my cam at 1/8000 just for fun... several times now. If you shoot sports in sunlight then it's a real option even with a slower lens... that horse pic above may even be that fast... I had to adjust between 1/4000 and 1/8000 depending on cloud cover.

Grain? As I said this will be a matter of opinion... and as stated I'm not bothered by it... but I'd choose not to have it if I could. You can decide if that sentence makes sense but I think it does. I knew that Canons generally have smoother grain before I bought my cam... and in that instance there was no way I wasn't going to get the Nikon... I was a Canon guy my entire life and I always felt that there was some illusive quality that Nikon has... and I still feel that way and that's why I got the Nikon... so ultimately grain is not a deal-breaker for me (as my cam choice proves).

As for primes... I wouldn't load up on primes. I'd get the 50 1.8 just because it's DIRT cheap... but generally not having the right focal length at the right time is what costs me shots more then anything. Rather then buying multiple primes I'd try to get one fast zoom... even if it's not Nikon branded... something like a Sigma 70-200 2.8 APO would probably be a fun glass to own.

Speaking from a moderately reserved view of $$$ and glass... I think the kit lens, plus the 50 1.8, plus one fast zoom and you'd be looking good.
 
Yeah, D70s bodies are going for about 400 on ebay.

By shutter, I don't think the D70s has a blade shutter. The D80 has a 7 blade shutter, which is much better for softer out of focus areas and transitions (from what I've read). I think the D70s has some sort of mechanical covering that covers the CCD in addition to cutting the signal from the CC, but I don't know.

I'm pretty much sold on Nikon as my choice from this board (and from reading that Nikon has really nice glass.)

Thanks MattinSTL.
 
I though you post the wrong part of the image. :D

Maybe some details form the skin could be smoothed in post.

The last one is very sharp. Great work.
 
Bayne said:
D70 CC'd stamped and bordered.


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This angle is not very flattering to your model. I'm not sure why...but try to "paint her in a flattering light" I know that sounds stupid, but that picture makes her waist look like the same width as her shoulders and her butt look huge. And I'm assuming she doesn't look that way in real life.
 
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