I've been on the hunt for a digital SLR, and (being on a fixed budget) I'm forced to find a setup for under $1,500. Inevitably, the Nikon D70S caught my eye as having the most bang for the buck, beating the Canon EOS300 (Rebel) in most consumer and professional reviews that I read. I was wondering how many people on this site use a D70, and what your overall opinion of the camera is. Any shortcomings/bugs you ran into? The two main problems with the D70 I've heard of is the presence of moire/maze artifacts on some images, and also the lack of ISO100 mode that the EOS Rebel has. Would I be better off saving my pennies and splurging on a Nikon D200, or can I expect to be happy with a D70? I'm using a Fuji S7000 right now, so I'm sure either way I'm taking a big step up. Any advise is much appreciated.

i have a D70 and i love it. I would definitly recommend it. I havne't noticed the artifacts you have mentioned, but maybe im not picky enough. ISO 200 has always seemed to do the trick for me. In my oppinion the most important thing are the higher isos because you can ussually just have a little bit of a slower shutter or smaller apature to make up for it. The d200 is definitly awesome from what i have seen, but i personally don't mind that i don't have it. If you want to look thourgh my gallery most of the newer stuff in there was taken with it. If you have any questions lets hear em.

unless you dont mind stripes on your images and following Nikons advice to squint at your photos to get rid of them, you may want to consider avoiding the D200 :-) The D70s and rebel xt both get good right ups. you might want to try a try before you buy rental on the cams to see which you prefer before you splurge your cash :-)

judging by Kristof's post on this page - there are also some good deals to be had on the outgoing EOS20D as well so you may want to add that to your shortlist.

Don't listen to this canon junkie :P.

junkie? moi? that was positively impartial by my usual standards! :-)

seriously though - the try before you by thing may be a good idea as there is little to choose between the rivals these days.

this is true. They are very very close. One of the things i like the most about my camera is the two dials that allow me to do almost everything without opening the menu. The image quaility is almost taken for granted once you get up there with slrs.

I appreciate all the input. I've been doing research all day (and not getting a damned thing done at work) haha. The EOS 20D looks like an amazing camera too, so I'm pretty much deadlocked. One thing I like about the EOS 20D is that its 8 MP instead of the D70's 6MP... and it has ISO 100. However, the image quality is awesome on the D70 (as you can see from Milo's photos)... and the Canon is 600 bucks more than the Nikon package. Arrrrgghhh!! Too many variables :p I think I need one of each.

a solution with no draw backs. aside from the massive financial implications. obviously.

lol...

I have a Canon Rebel XT, and have found it to be spectacular. It's not got all the features of a 20D, but it's still 8 MP, and I think a very good deal for only being $900. Get a 30D instead of 20D though if you're going up to that range.

And again, Nikons are still great, I've used a few. I'm just personally more used to Canon.

Don't forget about the most important thing to attach to the SLR. The one and only expensive lens, can cost more than the camera its self. I used a Nikon D50, kinda grainy because it was only a 6mp, but still an SLR. the 20D-30D have higher ISOs, up to 3200.

Canon 20/30D
Price range $1,000 - $1,500
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ISO Speed Range: Basic Zone: automatically set by the camera; Creative Zone: equivalent to ISO 100-1,600 (in 1/3-stop increments, ISO speed can be expanded to ISO 100-3,200)

Nikon D70
------------------
Sensitivity: 200 to 1600 (ISO equivalent) in steps of 1 EV
only a 6.1mp
only $899.00 with just the Body no lens

Just a note on megapixels. I have never thuoght to myself i wish i had more. Once you are up around 5 even i think it becomes more a matter of what your camera does with the image. You look at some of the 7 mp cameras out there and i would choose mine hands down before them because it is an slr and im not printing things bigger then 8x10s (which works perfectly, and i could probably go larger still).

If you are looking at a 20D and you want to see some examples check out mayne's gallery. He is probably alittle more talented then i am, but he uses a 20D as far as i know, so it would be a decent comparision. There are also a number of other members of this site that use both of the cameras. d_spin_9 and i believe samater also have D70s. Im sure there are others who use the 20D, im just not sure who.

I use my aunts 20D, but I might get the 30D or 5D.

I have 20D's and a Rebel XT but I also have some shots in my gallery taken with a Fuji S7000 - i really loved that camera - it's interpolated 12mp recording mode was particularly impressive and its a testament to its abilities that its still very much at the fore front of Fuji's product line even after all these years.

wow 12mp. same as the 5D 12.8mp
well just about.
Anyways was there something wrong with the fuji s7k?

its not true 12MP - its just more of Fuji's sensor trickery but it seams to work well for a fake out :-) nothing wrong with it all as a camera - I just changed it because I fancied my chances in the big bad world of full blown SLR photography and my bank balance has been regretting it ever since :-)

The S7000 has treated me pretty well - Actually, all of the photos in my gallery were taken with it. There are a couple of issues with the camera (mainly the fact that the camera over-processes images, leading to excessive noise for which there's no firmware fix), but overall it was a great camera... otherwise I don't imagine I'd have used it for the past two years.

I'm seriously considering the Canon EOS 20D instead of the Nikon D70, but I haven't decided on what lenses I need. I found a good ebay package deal with a 4 gig microdrive card, cam body, tripods, bags, filters, etc... along with an 18-55mm Canon lens and an EF 75-300mm Canon telephoto, but I'd really like more of a "walk around" lense like an EF-S 17-85mm.... those buggers are 500 bucks though by themselves... I can't justify spending 2 grand on a package with all 3. Does anyone think I'll be ill-equipped if I just get the 18-55mm and the 75-300mm? :p The package without the 17-85mm lens is $1,550, rather than $2,050 with it. Booooo.

Well, I don't know how good the 75-300mm is, but a lot depends on the actual quality of the lens as to what you should buy. lenses are really more important than the body if you ask me, because all of these bodies are good bodies, but not all lenses are good. the 18-55mm that comes with the camera is quite decent, i know that much. you should do research on the lenses though before you decide what camera you want.

If I were just starting out with a DSLR, the 30D would be my choice. The lone feature of the 30D over the 20D is spot metering...that would be the kicker for me if not hard up. If I were a miser, the 20D or even the 10D would become my choice. Lenses- you get what you pay for, Bodies you don't! Those two lenses cover a nice range. If you are interested in wildlife, you will find yourself wishing for a longer focal length than 300mm. You will not go wrong with either Nikon or Canon;-)

I have a D70 and certainly have no complaints. Unless you are a pro (and even then I still think it might be a good choice) I can't imagine you would need anything with higher specs... I don't plan to replace it for a long time. The main reason I decided to get the D70 over the Rebel was that I read the lens that came with the Nikon package was of a higher standard than the one with the Canon; but from everything I've read and heard I think you would be quite happy with either. In the end it will just be up to you to decide which one "feels" right.

I have the 350d and am very happy with it, i also got the package containing the 18 - 55 and 75 - 300, the focal length range is fine and i dont often wish i had a longer lens or find myself needing the 55 - 75 range, but the sharpness and focusing times of the two arent all that great, my suggestion would be to buy a cheaper body (eg. the 350d vs 20d or 30d) and a good quality lens. im saving for the canon l-series 85mm f1.2 ( should only take me about a year on my current salary :-( )i was considering the D70 but from what ive heard canon is ment to make better quality (if overly priced) lenses. hope this helps.

Thanks for the info Issac - I've kind of been thinking the same thing. A lot of the Canon 75-300 mm III series lenses that come packaged with cameras on ebay aren't even USM lenses... they use some kinda junky DC motor instead. There is a 75-300mm USM lense, but it's of course more expensive. I kinda fell in love with the EOS 30D body, so I might wait for that to come out (hopefully won't be too long). I figured spot metering is too important to ignore with the 20D. I will, however, do some more research on my lenses. I'm finding that part to be even harder than picking out a good body, especially a newcomer to digital SLR's such as myself. I think ideally a EF-S 17-85mm lense, some sort of broad range telephoto, and a macro lense would be ideal for my purposes. The feedback and ideas I've been getting in this discussion board are great - lots of considerations have been brought up that I wouldn't have though of myself. Appreciated!

Not that canon isn't a good choice, and the 30D is a nicer camera then the D70, but i believe the D70 also has spot metering at the cheaper price. But if you have the money for the 30D it probably is nicer.

I have a D70s and do not have one complaint with it, its sensor replicates a peice of 35mm film. yes lenses are expensive but im always so happy when i buy another one lol. Nikons are more rugged then canons i dont care what anyone says. Im not bashing the Canon they are very nice cameras and if i were to buy i highend DSLR i would consider switching, but in the lower end DSLR i think Nikon has them beat.

here are a couple of examples
http://www.caedes.net/Zephir.cgi?lib=Caedes::Infopage&image=Jeffo-1130699708.jpg
http://www.caedes.net/Zephir.cgi?lib=Caedes::Infopage&image=Jeffo-1128652452.jpg
http://www.caedes.net/Zephir.cgi?lib=Caedes::Infopage&image=Jeffo-1125766155.jpg

I picked thoes three out of all of my pics to show you because they were all done with the 18-70mm lens that comes with the camera (assuming you buy the normal package)

any questions about it just PM me