one of the best cameras ever .took a lot of pictures and they came out great

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.

Have been a die hard Nikon fan for over 20 years. Purchased my first DSLR 8 months ago, the D70. Has been great except for just this week. Whether with the stock 18-70mm lens or my 28-200AF-D-VR lens, the AF will "hunt" whenever I am trying to focus on either a red/pink flower or green leaves. Yet, the AF will snap instantly into focus on anything else! Best Nikon dealer around was stumped. Neither pressing the reset nor the DOF buttons helped. This all occured right after I tried using the AE/AF lock button. Currently in for the dreaded estimate. Manual focus works fine, but why buy a DSLR if you have to end up using MF almost always.

I posted my review two weeks ago.

I paid $200 + SH to Nikon by credit online for the repairing.

Now I got my D70 back. To my surprise, In the bill Nikon actually waved the cost and even the SH fee. Since I couldn't change my review. To be fair to Nikon, I think I should give a balanced rating for D70.

Summary:
I bought my D70 in April 2004. It had worked fine until Feb. 2006 when warranty expired. I got only 8000 photos then. Exporsure never lock on any mode, numbers in LCD and viewfinder display jump around wildly. Got memory card access green light blinks and nothing functions twice. Viewfiner display aternates between dim and bright. Give wrong flash indication even under bright sunlight.
Nikon claims they provide free service for some failure for D70 even warranty expires. But they said it does not cover my because they cannot reproduce the same problem exactly even it fails with the same component. Have to paid $200 + SH for repair.
Very disappointed. should switch to Canon earlier not waiting for a low quality NIkon DSLR.

Strengths:
When it works the image quality is fine at normal setting. Battery life is good. speed is acceptable. light weight.

Weaknesses:
Bad quality.
expensive, need pay extra $ for raw file editor software capture. need extra $200 for repair after < 2 years.
No cable release.
plastic feel.
Easy to fall off LCD cover.
Not full frame make my wide lens not very wide
200 ISO is not low enough. Noisy at higher ISO.

i bought the D 70 planning to throw it away after two years. i owned a D100, and actually liked the way the D-70 handled and shot a lot better...

i was not going to spend big money for a DSLR that
was gooing to be replaced with a better one every 18 months...we've all done that. enough is enough!

my problem is Nikon Service. NS is almost if not the slowest, and most expensive of any camera support in the world. they are so backed up that you cannot get a human on the phone to get a status check. the problems that nikonn is having are so extreme they cannot keep parts in stock.

why does the: american photographers association not put out a bulletin notifying prospective buyers of the simple fact that nikon is not at home on service for the D70. i think i know why-the APA is only interested in touting the most
expensive nikons for nikon, and that my friend is a very cozy relationship with very little real critiques of their, nikons, products and service.

i will never buy another nikon product! if they can't get the small ones right- the bigger more
complicated camers will have bigger problems.

This was my first DSLR. Having had the Nikon 8008 and the 5700 I was confident that this would be a great camera. I purchased it on 5/21/2005. On 11/21/05 I sent it for repair when I noticed a thin red line, almost like a laser, across the bottom of the picture. After 6 weeks I got it back. Then, in February,I went to turn it on and it was completely dead. Tried 3 charged batteries and the AC Adaptor, but it was deader than dead. It's been 3 weeks and I still haven't gotten it back. Note: I was told when the 1st repair was done that Nikon had replaced the entire inside of the camera. Maybe they should have left it alone.

I got my D70 December 2004. In February of 2006 while using it, it stopped responding. I took the battery out and tried a fresh one.Then it would not come on again. I have babied it and used it only slightly more than I would say is average. I called Nikon who advised sending it to a repair facility under warrenty. I received an estimate for $222. I am now corresponding with Nikon to get the problem repaired under warrenty. I have no confidence in the camera now and am worried that it may happen again.

After 18 months of owing this camera, I learn a new vocabulary BGLOD :(

Nikon has tarnished its own name.

If you shoot RAW and process the images manually in Photoshop, the image quality is fantastic. But the D70 fails the test for out of the camera jpgs.

Internal image processing is quite poor actually, but that's how most of us want our pictures. We don't want to have to piddle with the images before viewing or printing them.

1. The camera underexposes. Ok I can understand that. Compensate +0.7 ev or load a custom curve.

2. Hue shifts. I hate this !! This camera is incapable of capturing deep blue skies in jpgs. They always turn greenish. (adjust cyan in hue/saturation in photoshop)

3. Saturation. Is inconsistent, reds clip before all others.

4. White balance. average. Auto -2 works in a lot of cases but screws up quite easily. The only foolproof WB is a custom/measure. But then you loose the color of ambient light.

5. Sharpening. It barely sharpens, but if you set it to +2, the images make me want to vomit. The radius it chooses to sharpen at +2 is too wide and all edges get a halo around them. Sharpening in PS with radius = 0.8 gets me the best results.

6. Color. OK, but there are hue shifts in cyan and purple.

——————————

Bottom line. Great hardware, the ccd captures good raw information (not as in RAW file format) but the internal image processing capabilites weakens the camera. Maybe Nikon ought to hire Adobe engineers for that. The Canons I hear ( no personal experience) give better out of the box jpgs. I should compare just to see.

This camera was my first Digital SLR, and I have used it a lot over the past year, but in saying that I would of expected it to last longer! I own my own studio and I have been producing lovely photographs of good quality, then about 2 months ago the shutter would stick, it would record the picture just taken and to un stick it I had to press the shutter release again... This caused me great concern, and I've been continuing to use it, then the other day it just stick and I couldn't get it un stuck un till I took the battery out.

I was happy with my D70 until I had the Green light problem & the camera is totally dead. I bought the camera in the U.S. and live in South America. Now I don't know where to get the camera repaired. I've always been a Nikon fan (owed F5, F90, N90s, FM2, etc)but this is horrible. I cannot beleive that Nikon sells cameras with this flaw !!

A fine camera until I had an accident with a tripod. My insurance company collected it and sent it to Nikon who took nearly a month to assess the damage [about £250] and report back. Then they did not have one of the parts. The camera is now repaired but I await delivery nine weeks later. This is a good object lesson in that reviews should not just consider the camera but how good the manufacturer's support is after you have spent a lot of money. I will think very carefully before buying another Nikon. Are there others out there with similar stories?

i've owned the d70 for 10 months. i own 3 other nikon cameras
and would always stay with nikon. i have 2 digitals, a 3100 & 5700,
and now my d70. excellent camera in all respects, except the image quality... when i first purchased the d70 i thought that pics
didn't seem real clear. my brother has a d70 also, so we took some
pics together and the results seemed o.k...
the more i use the d70 i'm finding real clarity problems. softness, blur, crazy color blotches...
i recently purchased an epson r 1800 printer, and when i started
printing large pics i'm finding bad quality in my opinion.
my 3100 takes clearer shots as far as focus and crispness,
i don't know what is going on. i've been talking to a nikon tech
on-line and sending pics to him, he says everything looks great
and i shouldn't be using aperature priority, instead use shutter
priority. i take mostly landscapes, so if i use shutter priority it's
kind of hard to get any depth of field, anyway after reading these
reviews i'm thinking i'm not getting these awesome perfect pics
like most people are saying. i use a tripod always, my remote
usually and i'm having some real soft to bad pics. don't know what to do...

Since I owned Nikon equipment I couldn't wait for the D70 to be released. The first one I bought didn't work properly so the dealer gave me another one. Such things happen so I attributed it to bad luck. However, a year later my 2nd D70 failed on the day I was supposed to start a photo workshop...not good. The camera did get repaired and now works flawlessly. Apparently Nikon did have problems with the electronics and is willing to repair D70 units that are out of warranty.

The camera works great and takes great pictures. The caveat is that I am leery about buying more Nikon equipment.

On a side note, since the town where I took the workshop only had a Canon dealer, I forked out the money for a Rebel XT. I have been extremely happy with the Rebel and the provided software.

I have had my camera about 8 months and the shutter stuck shut this week. I took it the the camera shop where I purchased it and they told me it will cost $250.00 to repair and take 8-10 weeks. I think I'll pass. Nikon used to have very high quality cameras and lenses, however, I'm not impressed with this one. I paid about $900.00 for it so that works out to $112.50 a month. I am no longer a loyal Nikon fan and will try another brand for my next purchase.

I *very* surprised to read some reviews where people had complaints about focus and image quality. Now granted I have the D70s, but nothing indicates any of the enhancements of the S model had anything whatsoever to do with image quality over the D70. The photographs are nothing short of stunning! Even tasks as simple as taking photos of my dog on normal quality (vs fine quality) are amazingly clear, accurate and in crystal clear focus right down to little specs of dander on my black labs coat, the finest details of his nose leather, and tiny beads of moisture where he had previously liked his lips. Stunning details I had not even noticed with the naked eye. Focus problems? Not even close! The only problems some folks may have is without a little Photoshop touching up it may be near impossible to hide even the slightest of blemishes or imperfections from the superior focus of this camera.

I owned a D70 for a year and a half now. I must say that the specs for this camera are great, but, when I got my D70 it had backfocus problems and it has been serviced 4 times and I'm still not completely satisfied. I paid $1540 for it and I never expected it to have such a flaw. Don't they test them before they deliver? Wel to make the matter worse, a couple of days ago the camera refused to switch on and went off completely. I have read other peoples reviews and forums stating that there are a lot out there with the same problem. The call it BGLOD, meaning blinking green light of death that implies that the only thing that works is the green light that blinks next to the CF compartment, if you have a CF card in the camera. I am seriously considering switching to Canon, eventhough I have 4 lenses to match my Nikons. I dont think I will be wasting any more money on Nikon. I'll go for something that I know has better customer support but most importantly, has quality tested products.

I returned this camera after only 4 weeks. ALL the photos I took with the telephoto (no matter how I adjusted the camera) were blurry and had horrible camera shake problems. Unless you are willing to fork out $1600 for an image stabilized lens, forget about this camera. I went back to my Sony Mavica CD-1000 which took better photos.

Guys, this is the right time to BUY your first digital SLR! The prices are so fantastic I got a D70 AND a Canon 350d!!! Best of both worlds! Naturally, I use the D70 for serious stuff and the 350d is for my children.....

I have read a number of "professional" reviews on the D-70. Some of the reviewers claim that picture quality was not what they expected or is lacking. Their reviews are like the horse and buggy driver who said "The car just doesn't have the road feel I'm used to." Too many of these "pro's" just don't yet understand how to shoot or use a digital camera. They are wallowing in the back waters of film. The D-70 has an amazing ability to use custom curves to cure nearly all ills...and all is done in software internal to the camera. The results are nothing less than fantastic.
I too have shot 20+ yrs of film, from 35mm to med format. The learning curve of a decent DSLR is a tad steep; yet worth undertaking. One can not expect to just pick up a DSLR and expect amazing results. It's not a point & shoot. The Nikon D-70 shoots fast, is inexpensive, has great color rendition when used properly.
I've had this camera nearly 3 mos now and shot more than 1,000 frames w/o problems. The kit lens leaves a little to be desired..buy the body only and get a good piece of fast glass for this superb performer in the sub $1,000 class.

I owned the D70 until this last July 2005 when I sold it and bought the Canon 350D (Digital Rebel XT). Comparing them is probably a matter of preference, but my summary is spend the extra $100 and get the 350D. The 350D is small, but I have small hands, fits me fine. D70 gets awfully heavy during traipses through the woods (I don't use the neck strap). D70 has no mirror lockup - until you use it, you don't know what you're missing! I always wondered what was wrong with me that I could not get a nice clear shot straight out of the D70. But with the 350D, it's like I can't miss! The 8-mpixel over the D70's 6mpixel is very noticeable, pictures have so much more clarity and detail. However, the D70's kit lens is better than the 350D's kit lens, especially the manual focus ring. The D70 has real problems with deep colors, especially red and purple (pictures of roses turn out muddy). You really have to know your graphics to make it nice (contrast, hue, saturation adjustments are de rigeour with the D70). One final reason why I went Canon (and am not looking back) is that Nikon, with the D50 and beyond, is encrypting the white balance in their RAW files. Yes you can get around this, but for me this meant Nikon was not on my (the consumer) side.

By far most reviews on this site are very positive, but I noticed there are 2 negative reviews of the D70. In both cases I suspect the users had bad experiences due to misuse or due to not following directions. Perhaps they used a memory card that is not recommended by Nikon. Or perhaps they are not following simple instructions from the manual. I have had only positive results with the D70. What do you get a camera for? The bottom line is to get quality photos and that's exactly what the D70 delivers. Until I got the D70, I had been using a Fujifilm digital and got fairly good photos most of the time. When I got the D70 and began to send photos to friends via online albums I began to get e-mail comments about the amazing improvement in the photo quality. I did not solicit the comments and those sending the comments did not know that I had purchased a new camera. I have shot photos with SLR film cameras and with various types of digital cameras and I rate the D70 as the best in every way. It is very easy to learn to use. It is easy to compensate for low lighting through exposure compensation or by increasing the ISO. The camera is ready for use the instant it is turned on — no waiting for warm-up. The battery life is amazingly long. The shot-to-shot time is lightening quick (even when using a flash). Because it is Nikon, there are hundreds of lenses for the camera (all available at low cost on Internet sites) But, most important of all is the consistently outstanding photo quality. The photos I have taken with the D70 are always in very sharp focus with great clarity and detail and the colors are always rich and vibrant. Flesh tones are true to life. Eye color in people is always rich and accurate (without the red eye problem). If you are thinking of buying a digital SLR, take a recommendation from a longtime journalist and photographer and get the Nikon D70.

For about 3 years now, I have been using a Olympus Camedia 4 mega pixel camera. This camera takes great "point and shoot" shots, but also lets you override the auto settings such as shutter speed, focus, aperture, etc. I really missed using my 35mm film camera however. So, last month I took my digital and my Minolta 35mm film camera on vacation. After a week of shooting pictures, I decided to buy a digital SLR. I did some research and decided on the Nikon D-70. I have got to say, I am impressed with the camera's capabilities, but where the rubber meets the road (picture quality) I am not. I have tried tweaking the settings such as increasing sharpness, saturation, etc, but I can not get a picture out of the camera that comes close to my $300 Olympus point and shoot. The pictures seem to be week, washed out and bland looking. As I said, this is quite a disappointment.

I am a full time professional magazine and commercial photographer I shoot for Arizona Highways Magazine and many other fine publications I am also a university photography instructor. I have owned 3,8008's 2,N-90's an F65 an F100 and an F4. the D-70 is a very easy to use camera with some wonderful features. I spent 11 years packing my other Nikon cameras on mule back th ru out Monument Valley and the Southwest and I never had a problem. My other Nikon cameras always performed flawlessly and everytime in any condition from 120 degree heat to snow drifts higher than the truck. I have taken them with me around the world from the sea of Japan to the west coast of Ireland and the British Isles, Mexico and Canada. I have been a staunch advocate for Nikon products in my workshops, my magazine work and my commercial work. Until now. The D-70 I bought basically fried itself in just over a year. And this camera didn't bounce around in a saddle bag on the south end of a north bound horse for three months, over 135 miles per week in 4 week intervals. This D-70 was babied, protected kept out of the heat, wind, rain and sleet. 1 year and two months later it just squeaked and shut off right in the middle of a shoot. Luckily My F-100 was on hand to finish the job. It took Nikon over two weeks to tell me what was wrong and that it would cost $289.00 to repair it. I paid $1000.00 up front to get delivery in 4 weeks. One year later I can buy a new one for under $800.00 This is not the Nikon company I know and love. Is Nikon now building disposable cameras? Obviously they aren't going to hold there trade in value. And once they are repaired would anyone buy one? So what should a professor do? I'm going shopping for Canon Fuji or Kodak. when a brand doesn't deliver you've got to assume the worst. Save your money and buy a film camera and a slide scanner.

This camera replaced an early model "Professional" Digital camera, that costs over $2000.00. The N70s is so fast to focus, makes great photos, and is so easy o use. I have make a lot of photos with it, and have not found a downside to it. I love the NIkon D70s camera.

If you have used Nikon AF film cameras, the D70 will be a snap for you. Most of the important settings are on the body, buttons and dials. You will fall right into it. Less of a handful than the N90 group, it seems every bit as large and much easier to grip. The grip area has the same sticky feel as the N90s, so you'll have a positive feeling with it. Focus is fast and accurate. Picture quality at all ISO settings is what you expect from a serious Nikon. Build quality is really nice, even though it has a totally plastic exterior. Balance is excellent with the 18-70mm lens. Being a bit lighter, I doubt balance will be as good as the film body with a relatively big lens like the 35-70 2.8. I just can't find anything bad to say about it. The user manul is excellent, so when you do need to use the menus you'll find the book guides you through it easily. I've heard the bundled software is not so good, but I haven't used it. I bought the latest Paint Shop Pro for only $56 after rebate, and it handles the NEF files beautifully. I fooled with the camera for a day, and then I went to take a few snapshots of my grandson (very serious photography), Photo quality is just supreme. Since the D70s came out, you can get this big-boy kit for a song with the rebate, and you will not regret it. Pity those poor souls who let this narrow window of opportunity close before they can get their hands on a D70 at a steal of a price.

I am by no means a professional photographer but this camera makes it look like I am. The pictures are fantastic, even on the auto settings! I had a 35mm SLR and was hesitant to go digital, now I only wish I had done it sooner. This camera is so much easier to use and with such great auto features, I have to admit I haven't used the manual settings as much as I thought I would! I would highly recommend this camera.

I handed my d70 to my girlfriend and let her turn it on and fire the first few shots. The photos were better than any other photos I've seen from our collection of digital cameras. This is our first dslr. Very happy to have chosen the Nikon d70.

This camera is well regarded, but it is actually crippled in critical ways. The lack of mirror lockup and a mirror slap that should be measured on the Richter scale rob landscape shots of the sharpness that would make them classics. A heavy tripod and a two pound ball head do help, but do not completely solve the problem. Also, the "usb-2" interface really runs at or near usb-1 speeds. Makes down loads slow. Also, the CCD sensor is flat and clinical in its color renditions. Photoshop is mandatory to correct these problems as much as can be done digitally. The D100 would have been a much better buy.

Having professionally used Hasselblad and Nikon F series for the past 35 years also teaching Photoshop for 10 years and Photography for the past 31 years I have tried several brands of cameras.
This model is better than most. (Canon D10,Canon 350, Pentax *st and Fuji S2) The new Canon D20 is equal in quality and construction and better on the resolution.
The updated D70s adds some needed software updates and larger view screen. The original model the Bios can be updated from the Nikon web site. The quality and construction are typical Nikon level in this price range. Lens construction excellent.
Nikon is planning to up the pixel count on the next release in the D series to step ahead again.
This competition between brands is good for the consumer.

I have been agonizing on which new camera to buy as I wanted to upgrade from my Sony FD91. It made wonderful pictures but the floppy disk were just too much of a hassle. A friend bought the Nikon D70 and was singing its praises so I decided to take a look. I liked what I saw and was impressed with the reviews that it was getting. I am now a proud and very happy owner of the D70. It is easy to use and I can't be more pleased with the photos. I would highly recommend taking a look at this camera. It definitely deserves a ***** rating in my book!

I am a professional photographer since 15 years, and this is my first digital body. I love the lightness and the quietness of this camera. It works so fast, that I'm never slowed-down by the registration of the image. However, even if I am very accurate with my F100 or even my FM2 when I focus manually, I find it hard to focus with the D70. There's something with this focusing screen or the pentamirror technology that makes manual focusing harder. Otherwise this camera is simply Superb!

Well I went into the shop with my money to buy a Canon 350D and walked out with a Nikon D70...what happened ?...lets begin...

I spent ages frustrating the salesman re the Canon and played and poked with it and was almost ready to hand over my money when we looked over the D70 - wow !

OK - so its a little bigger but it FEELS more like a proper SLR re balance and quality - the 350D in comparison feels cheap and plasticy.

The 350D came with the kit lens which vs. the sigma lens the D70 came with was not as good (clear optics plus on the sigma side) however this could have been remedied.

Since purchasing the D70 I have been consistently impressed with its features and ease of use from the 'Auto everything mode' (great flash !) to the manual modes - I am now looking into astronomy and can't wait to plug this baby into the stars :)

When I become more familiar with the technical workings of the camera etc I'll re post but I can guarantee that you will love this camera for sheer quality, price, feel and features.

Having had many compact cameras both film and digital over the past decade i decided to take the plunge and get a digital SLR. After reading many reviews i got D70 and have never looked back since. It bridges all capabilities from the complete novice to the seasoned expert.