BEST EVER NIKON

Over more than 40 years, I have owned and used a lot of SLR cameras. This D70 is without question the best I have ever owned, including Canons, and other Nikons, both SLR and range-finder 35's.

Why? It is easy, (not simple, but easy) to use.

While it has some frustrating qualities, (like not shooting when you are trying to capture one key shot), it's products are superb. We download to a PC, then edit using Adobe and often upload to a second PC or storage CD or chip. We make prints that are as large as 13X19 on an HP 9650 inkjet printer and get excellent prints.

If there are weaknesses to this camera, they lie in its complexity and interfaces with the user.

The manual is detailed to the point of annoyance and often, just figuring out how to get a particular action takes too long. Typically, I suspect the camera was designed and programed by the same electronic geeks who did your and my VCR. This is not a critical failing and everyday use improves the facility.

Would we switch back to another camera? NO. Not until the next Nikon comes along that proves better than the D70.