Hey everybody, I'm new here. Nice site.
My question is with Nikon to buy the D50 or the D70. I currently shoot with a N90s which I love but am ready to slide into the digital world. I'm not getting rid of the N90s, just adding a digital to my collection. My knowelge of digital is very limited and thats why I'm here. The D70 isnt much more expensive so I cant imagine it having many more extras. I wanted to hold one of these cameras in my hand so I went to Circuit City and Best Buy. They only carried the D50 which both stores were sold out of. My first thought was that it seemed very light ( which I guess isnt a bad thing). I also noticed that there was no place to connect a sync cord. I have a set of lights Speedatron (sp?) I'm not a pro but do know enough to be dangerous. ;) I guess a hot shoe adapter would work there. Now one thing I notice about the too was the memory card, the D50 uses the sd card I thinnk and the D70 uses a compact flash card. Which is better?
I would probably shoot in the raw format as opposed to jpeg ( please excuse me if I sound like I dont know what I'm talking about, but I dont :) ) With a 1 gig card of either type , how many shots could I fit on it with raw or jpeg? Which card cost more? Is there any thing about the D70 that makes it that much better than the D50? I notice the D70 has twice the shutter speed as the D50, but I'm not try to stop rain drops.
I would use this camera for outdoor portraits (I know they could only enlarge to about 16x20 but thats fine with me.) No sports! I would Also do a little studio work with the strobes. As well as some VR 360 stuff for a online realestate site. There you have it.

Which camera should I buy.
By the way I've been away from photography for about 8 years and man have things changed. :confused: Well not completely away but away enough to be kinda lost right now.

Thanks for your time and any advice would be apreciated.

Glenn

Q1. My question is with Nikon to buy the D50 or the D70. I currently shoot with a N90s which I love but am ready to slide into the digital world. The D70 isnt much more expensive so I cant imagine it having many more extras... Is there any thing about the D70 that makes it that much better than the D50? I notice the D70 has twice the shutter speed as the D50, but I'm not try to stop rain drops.
..
Q2. They only carried the D50 which both stores were sold out of. My first thought was that it seemed very light ( which I guess isnt a bad thing).

Q3. I also noticed that there was no place to connect a sync cord. I have a set of lights Speedatron (sp?) I'm not a pro but do know enough to be dangerous. ;) I guess a hot shoe adapter would work there.

Q4. The D50 uses the sd card I thinnk and the D70 uses a compact flash card. Which is better?

Q5. I would probably shoot in the raw format as opposed to jpeg ( please excuse me if I sound like I dont know what I'm talking about, but I dont :) ) With a 1 gig card of either type , how many shots could I fit on it with raw or jpeg? Which card cost more?



A1. The D50 is a slightly simplified D70/D70s. I don't think there's any difference in the shutter speed. The major differences are:

- Build-in flash can't pilot remote flashes using Nikon's advanced i-TTL system
- SD card instead of CompactFlash card
- Simplified 450 pixel exposure meter (instead of 1005 pixel).

I found I quickly switched over to digital for most things. The only thing I'm frustrated with is the small viewfinder in the D70. I'm now waiting for the D200 to become available. If I were you I would be comparing the D70s with the D200, it looks like the D200 is the natural successor to my F100.

A2. Actually the D50 is quite heavy compared with competitors cameras like the Rebel XT

A3. Yes a hot shoe works. Personally I use a remote slave triggered by the built-on flash on my D70 at 1/8 power. (I seem to remember that the D200 has a PC cord outlet but I can't confirm that).

A4. The SD card is more recent and smaller. You find it in most of the point-and-shoots and entry-level DSLR's. All the other DSLR's use Compact Flash.

A5. On a 1GB card in a 6Mpix camera you can get about 340 fine JPG's or about 150 Nikon RAW's. Personally I only shoot RAW. A JPG is like a slide, once the camera has done it you lose quality if you want to go back and correct something. With RAW you have the image as it came from the sensor and in the right editor you can modify all sorts of parameters without losing quality.

Charles

Hello GAR...I may not be the right person to answer this, but I too am looking at purchasing a new camera. From reading your description above, it sounds like you are an experienced photographer. I am currently using a Coolpix 8400 which is a p/s. As reviews moderator, I have read many reviews about the two cameras you are interested in and either one will be a good purchase for you. One comment I have read is that the D70s has a couple of items, (not sure what they are) that the D50 doesn't have, and the reviewers couldn't see paying the extra. However, these people are all shopping price.
I have included links to reviews for the D50, D70, D70s, and the D200. I included the D200 since I think with your experience, it would be your best buy. It has most of the features of the top level DSLR's at a fraction of the cost. At about $1500, it will give you everything you need and then some.
But regardless of you choice, I think you'll be happy with all of these cameras.
Ken


http://www.photographyreview.com/cat/cameras/digital-cameras/digital-slrs/nikon/PRD_337992_3127crx.aspx

http://www.photographyreview.com/cat/cameras/digital-cameras/digital-slrs/nikon/PRD_292619_3127crx.aspx

http://www.photographyreview.com/cat/cameras/digital-cameras/digital-slrs/nikon/PRD_337488_3127crx.aspx

http://www.photographyreview.com/cat/cameras/digital-cameras/digital-slrs/nikon/PRD_345533_3127crx.aspx

Hey everybody, I'm new here. Nice site.
My question is with Nikon to buy the D50 or the D70. I currently shoot with a N90s which I love but am ready to slide into the digital world. I'm not getting rid of the N90s, just adding a digital to my collection.

clip...

I would probably shoot in the raw format as opposed to jpeg ( please excuse me if I sound like I dont know what I'm talking about, but I dont :) ) With a 1 gig card of either type , how many shots could I fit on it with raw or jpeg? Which card cost more? Is there any thing about the D70 that makes it that much better than the D50? I notice the D70 has twice the shutter speed as the D50, but I'm not try to stop rain drops.
I would use this camera for outdoor portraits (I know they could only enlarge to about 16x20 but thats fine with me.) No sports! I would Also do a little studio work with the strobes. As well as some VR 360 stuff for a online realestate site. There you have it.

Which camera should I buy.
By the way I've been away from photography for about 8 years and man have things changed. :confused: Well not completely away but away enough to be kinda lost right now.

Thanks for your time and any advice would be apreciated.

Glenn

All you Nikon lenses will work on either cameras, but only the AF lenses will function out of manual mode. The pre AF lenses will be full manual with a external light meter, unless you buy the professional D1 or D2 bodies. The D70 kit comes with a very nice lense but the D50 kit comes with a smaller range zoom.

Purchase the best camera body or kit that you can afford. I have a D70 and I'm very happy with it after a step learning curve FM-10 to Olympus C-3030 easy change over, C-3030 to D70 harder.

As to the Memory Card. The cost is the same per gig. The SD card is smaller but it's not too small. Just purchase a 7 in 1 card reader, and DO NOT forget to purchase a spare battery. The batteries will run for ever but one shot their good the next the battery is dead. :confused:

GRF

Thanks guys, after a day of concidering, I'm leaning towards the D70s. I have'nt orded it yet but B and H so far has the best price for a kit. Keep on offering advice though. I might order later tonight. Depends on how many beers I have consumed, thats alot of money but I want something I can shoot semiprofessionaly.