My wallet is now lighter...

[Seb]

I finally made the move last friday as I have bought the Nikon D70 body and the Tamron AF 28-75 F/2.8 XR Di lense!!

Actually, I am still waiting for the body as it was back order (I will pick it thursday night) but I have been shooting a little with the new lense on my F65. For what it's worth, the autofocus seems just as fast (if not slightly faster) than the autofocus of the Nikkor G type kit lense (the mediocre at best lense as said Sebastian) that comes with the F65 and F80 but AF isnt an issue for me anyways. I am curious to see the results on film. The only thing that I can say at that point is how unbalanced the F65 feels with the Tamron as that lense isnt exactly light. The Tamron is perfectly balanced with the D70 as I have experienced in store. I have also been pleasantly surprised with the fit and finish of the body. It seems barely lesser than the D100 body to me.

Next week end should be especially enjoyable!

later all

Seb

[frannymac]

I'm looking at the same camera and would love to hear what you think of it!

Have great time with it...

Do you think it may be possibe to estimate for me how large it may be possible to go with the D70 images?

Thanks

Fran

[paulnj]

the lens is driven by the camera bodies focus motor.... the D70 should focus the lens faster!

and do the test (closed down 1 stop/2stop/and wide open) with the "kit" lens and the tamron on the D70...YOU WILL SEE A DIFFERENCE IN IMAGE QUALITY

[Seb]

To Frannymac,

Rest assured that I will give some feedback on the camera to everybody here when I will have played enough with it to be decently accustomed to it. When you say "how large" I assume that you are reffering to enlarged prints from a lab. I can't say when I will have my first print mades with the D70 but I will share my impressions here as well.

To Paulnj,

Wow, you make me feel stupid right now!! lol I have always assumed that the autofocus motor was directly part of the lense and not built in the camera body. Actually this make me wonder why so many people claim that Canon lenses have the fastest AF over any other brand at that point in time. Since the motor is in the camera my understanding is that any third party lenses for a Canon should autofocus just as fast...

I sure expect the Tamron to clearly outperform the G type Nikkor lense which is why I have choosen that very lense at the first place. I am curious to directly compare both of them though.

Best regards to both of you guy's

Seb

[Sebastian]

To Frannymac,

Rest assured that I will give some feedback on the camera to everybody here when I will have played enough with it to be decently accustomed to it. When you say "how large" I assume that you are reffering to enlarged prints from a lab. I can't say when I will have my first print mades with the D70 but I will share my impressions here as well.

To Paulnj,

Wow, you make me feel stupid right now!! lol I have always assumed that the autofocus motor was directly part of the lense and not built in the camera body. Actually this make me wonder why so many people claim that Canon lenses have the fastest AF over any other brand at that point in time. Since the motor is in the camera my understanding is that any third party lenses for a Canon should autofocus just as fast...

I sure expect the Tamron to clearly outperform the G type Nikkor lense which is why I have choosen that very lense at the first place. I am curious to directly compare both of them though.

Best regards to both of you guy's

Seb

ALL Canons have motors in the lenses, the USM ring-type motors are really fast, the regular DC motors are no faster than the Nikons.

Nikon has AF-S, their own version of USM which is similar in performance to USM, the motor is inside the lens. Nikon's regular lenses are driven by the body, no motor in the lens.

[Seb]

Thanks a lot Sebastian, you just cleared it for me. Now this explain the tremendous price difference betwen 3 different 200mm Nikkor lenses I was lurking at last summer.

regards

the other Seb

[Seb]

I couldn't take any more wait yesterday so I have just quit the job slightly earlier than usual and picked the D70 that was waiting for me at the store.

Now, to pondarate my initial enthusiasm and get things straigth, I have to specify that the D70 doesnt simply feel slightly lesser than the D100. The fact that the outer body is plastic clearly show up (not as good looking as a Nikon D100, a Canon 10D or the Pentax D *ist for instance). The good new is that while the D70 cannot exactly be called a semi pro grade camera, it is way closer from a semi pro DSLR than a simple consumer grade camera (no offense to any Digital Rebel owners here but the D70 clearly take the lead). The camera feel decently beefy despite it's plastic built and all the controls have a solid feel to them.

Being used to Nikon film SLR's, I was also pleased to notice that the complexity of the D70 is not obvious (for basic shooting that is...). Fancy functions are there in the various menus that seems quite intuitive so far but overall, the D70 operate like any Nikon film SLR.

That being said, I was pleasantly surprised to find a full copy (not simply a trial version) of Photoshop Elements 2.0 with the camera (there was no mention of that anywhere), was that a mistake or a canadian exclusivity? I cant say but I wont complain! lol

More news to come

regards

Seb

[Sebastian]

Thanks a lot Sebastian, you just cleared it for me. Now this explain the tremendous price difference betwen 3 different 200mm Nikkor lenses I was lurking at last summer.

regards

the other Seb

Seb,

You're welcome.

-Seb

[another view]

That being said, I was pleasantly surprised to find a full copy (not simply a trial version) of Photoshop Elements 2.0 with the camera (there was no mention of that anywhere), was that a mistake or a canadian exclusivity? I cant say but I wont complain!

My Fuji came with this too last summer. I think alot of Epson scanners and other digital stuff package it too. Anyway, congrads on the camera. I saw one last week and it's owner was very impressed with it. The wallet gets lighter - the camera bag gets heavier - I know the feeling well!

[Liz]

First - Congratulations! It looks like you picked a winner according to user reviews! Nice!

I wanted the Rebel from the day it was announced, and have never been disappointed. I decided then that this is THE camera for me. I still get that same excitement every time I use it. So I can only share your excitement with your new D70. Nikonians have waited a long time for this camera, and I'm happy for you!

As far as Elements2.0, it came with the Rebel also. It's a marvelous program with many options, features and I've been able to work with it with ease (which is something for some "technically challenged!").

Have fun - I'm looking forward to seeing your pics. Congratulations again!

Liz

I couldn't take any more wait yesterday so I have just quit the job slightly earlier than usual and picked the D70 that was waiting for me at the store.

Now, to pondarate my initial enthusiasm and get things straigth, I have to specify that the D70 doesnt simply feel slightly lesser than the D100. The fact that the outer body is plastic clearly show up (not as good looking as a Nikon D100, a Canon 10D or the Pentax D *ist for instance). The good new is that while the D70 cannot exactly be called a semi pro grade camera, it is way closer from a semi pro DSLR than a simple consumer grade camera (no offense to any Digital Rebel owners here but the D70 clearly take the lead). The camera feel decently beefy despite it's plastic built and all the controls have a solid feel to them.

Being used to Nikon film SLR's, I was also pleased to notice that the complexity of the D70 is not obvious (for basic shooting that is...). Fancy functions are there in the various menus that seems quite intuitive so far but overall, the D70 operate like any Nikon film SLR.

That being said, I was pleasantly surprised to find a full copy (not simply a trial version) of Photoshop Elements 2.0 with the camera (there was no mention of that anywhere), was that a mistake or a canadian exclusivity? I cant say but I wont complain! lol

More news to come

regards

Seb

[Seb]

Thanks a lot to all of you guy's for the imput.

Liz, I am sincerly pleased to know that you still feel the excitement every time you use your Digital Rebel. Then again, I don't mean to bash this camera. Canon were the first to introduce a (relatively) affordable DSLR and they earned my respect for that.

I don't have anything worthy to be posted here right now (I now have the body in my possession for 24 hours...). Preliminary snapshots taken so far (nothing artsy, not at all!!!) are promising. I should have few pics to share by the end of next week end.

regards

Seb

[Seb]

Ok, that was a lie! I found something to post... With some cropping in Photoshop (I already start to like that thing) I managed to come up with something which I think is decent.

I'll post pics in the Viewfinder.

regards

Seb

[Liz]

"Liz, I am sincerly pleased to know that you still feel the excitement every time you use your Digital Rebel. Then again, I don't mean to bash this camera. Seb"

I didn't feel you bashed the Rebel! I meant it all in a positve way. I took your post the right way....... ;)

I'm looking forward to seeing your pics..........I think you made a good choice and got a great camera! I haven't seen any images from any D70's yet.

Enjoy.

Liz