hi, im planning to purchase my first digital SLR on my 17th birthday which is coming up on jan. 21st. the two main cameras that i am looking at is the nikon D70 an the canon digital rebel. when i was comparing the two the other day, and i noticed that for the same price of a D70 with the lens that it comes with, i could buy a digital rebel body + a $400-$500 lens from canon. im just wondering, what option would you recommend?

thanks!

hi, im planning to purchase my first digital SLR on my 17th birthday which is coming up on jan. 21st. the two main cameras that i am looking at is the nikon D70 an the canon digital rebel. when i was comparing the two the other day, and i noticed that for the same price of a D70 with the lens that it comes with, i could buy a digital rebel body + a $400-$500 lens from canon. im just wondering, what option would you recommend?

thanks!
You need to ask yourself a couple of questions. Whose lens system do you want to buy into, and does the camera body you're looking at fill the needs you have.
The D70 body is more capable than the rebel, but you have room to get better glass buying the cheaper rebel body. Both Nikon and Canon have excellent lenses in their lineup, and regardless of which way you go, you'll eventually be adding more lenses to your lineup. It's just a choice between better camera body now and add better glass later, or live with a more limited camera now but have better glass to start off with. Sooner or later you'll be upgrading the camera body as well, probably sooner than you think, but the glass you'll keep from body to body.
Happy Holidays :)

thinking about it, i would love to have a better body now. i was looking at a comparsion between the two, and the D70 seems to have the clear advantage over the digital rebel when it comes to the body.

i was wondering, how is the lens that comes with the D70? if i do decide to get the D70, that probably means that i wont be buying another glass for a couple of months.

thinking about it, i would love to have a better body now. i was looking at a comparsion between the two, and the D70 seems to have the clear advantage over the digital rebel when it comes to the body.

i was wondering, how is the lens that comes with the D70? if i do decide to get the D70, that probably means that i wont be buying another glass for a couple of months.

Most lenses that are packaged as part of a kit are barely adequate. Good for snaps in a pinch but limited when you want to get serious with your photography. There are exceptions to every generalization, which reminds me, "All generalities are false, never be dogmatic"-per Leslie Hancock on photo.net.
It might help to know what lens is packaged with the D70, then the Nikon Samurai on this site could give you their points of view.

heres a link to what i had in mind. im guesing the lens is AF-S DX 18-70 Lens Kit

http://www.buydig.com/shop/product.aspx?sku=E1NKD701870

heres a link to what i had in mind. im guesing the lens is AF-S DX 18-70 Lens Kit

http://www.buydig.com/shop/product.aspx?sku=E1NKD701870

Well, the reviews on this site for this lens seem pretty good. You could certainly do worse (like the Tamron 28-80 piece of junk like I had for my EOS cameras-still have one-I'll probably donate it to local goodwill rather than dupe some poor schmuck into actually paying good money for it), and by most accounts the lens seems to be a good value.

yea, i trust that website. i had a friend of mine that bought a digital camcorder from that same site and spent about 3k. no problems with his transaction, so i feel good knowing about that personal experience. how does the deal itself look?

yea, i trust that website. i had a friend of mine that bought a digital camcorder from that same site and spent about 3k. no problems with his transaction, so i feel good knowing about that personal experience. how does the deal itself look?
B&H PhotoVideo has the same outfit for 1299, not including the $100 rebate=$1199.
I'd trust B&H over anybody, even Adorama. And they're a sponsor for this site. ;)
Here's a link.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=productlist&A=details&Q=&sku=315813&is=REG

thanks for the tip. now if only i could figure out a little more on the lens that the camera comes with...