Canon Digital Rebel & Nikon D70 Camera's

[Cush]

I've been using a Nikon Coolpix 4500 for the past year and a half and I'm looking at moving up to an entry level dSLR. I've been looking at the Canon Digital Rebel as well an the Nikon D70.

Does anyone here have either of the two?

I do like the D70, but it is a tad more expensive and the lenses seem to cost more than those I can use for the Canon. Are there less expensive alternatives for the D70?


thanks :-)

[Az_lefty]

1. I've been considering this too

was looking at a Nikon coolpix 4500 but thought again about making the jump to dSLR. My friend has a Canon dSLR and loves it (not sure of the model).

[HamstersFromHell]

2. Go for the D70, but be patient...

I'm a lifetime Nikon user (over 30 years now), so I may be a bit biased, but IMHO the Nikon is the better camera, as well as the better "system". Pro level Nikons just rarely break.

Better system? In a word...those lenses. No other lens maker owns their own glass plant, insuring superior quality of product. Both the Nikon and the Canon are great digital cameras, but I'd give Nikon the edge for the optics...not only quality, but a much wider variety.

The D70 is still selling for retail almost everywhere only because Nikon is selling them as fast as they can make them. (Notice no one can get you a "body only" and everyone is selling a "package" with a lens, etc.? Not enough production to devote to selling body only right now as sales of the package are doing so well.) Nikon announced last month they were upping production from 70,000 units a month to 95,000 a month, with production over 100,000 a month by 2005. Once production overcomes demand, the prices will start to fall like they already have with the Canon.

If you want "the best", be prepared to pay if you want it now...obviously a lot of others are doing the same thing. I'm holding off a bit for prices to drop, but I already have the lenses covered from my 35mm Nikons (N80, N6006, N2020, F3HP).

Just my $0.02 (adjusted for inflation)

Hammies!

[DS1]

3. If the Rebel is anywhere close to the D10

It's an amazing piece of electronics.

[exJW]

4. The rebel is not just close to the 10D....

In terms of picture quality, it's the exact same thing. The differences are minor, a few functions turned off or reduced (and some guy has a web page telling you how to hack the rebel and turn them all on). The 10D has a much sturdier body however.

How important is a sturdy body? I always figured (even as a pro, but one who doesn't shoot in physically demanding situations) that you aren't supposed to drop a camera anyway, so does it make sense to pay thousands more for a heavy duty body? Admittedly, in the past, pro bodies offered more differences than just the heavier construction. Well, last week, I rented bikes in Paris, and my Canon 10d came bouncing out of the basket of my girlfriends bike when she took a spill. It was scratched, but working fine.... so at least in this case, maybe it's worth the difference.

The d-70 is a great deal... the speed of it is awesome for a camera that price. The battery longevity of the Canons (cmos chips, radically more efficient) is probably something you'd really *feel* more though, as few amatures need to shoot as fast as the d70 shoots. (and any slr is going to feel like heaven on earth compared to the coolpix)

Picture quality, well, the Canon's are amazing, but honestly, you won't see a quantifiable difference between two 6 megapixel semi-pro cameras in terms of picture quality. A difference yes, but it will be subjective and in any case, changeable (in the processing of your images in the electronic form).

At the current prices, you just really can't go wrong either way. I personally think Canon took the lead in modern pro cameras when autofocus came along, and I think they have kept the lead.... but it took me until the canon d30 digital to make the switch from Nikon to Canon. Once you decide on a brand, it's hard to ever switch again unless you have plenty of money.

[Deja Q]

8. If Canon knows of this hack, you can bet they will overcome it in a new

firmware version. Any attempt to use the hack would render the camera irreparable. (oh, the flash ROM chip can be re-burned but they won't do it for free. They will do it for around $1000 though...)

[electricmonk]

5. I would go with the Nikon

Like hamstersfromhell I've been using Nikon's for ages and Minoltas before them, wish they would come out with a dSLR too.

Check out this website they give incredibly detailed reviews of all the digital cameras out there with lots of sample photos. I wouldn't dream of buying a camera without going through their reviews first. Digital Camera Resource

[Cush]

6. love dcresource

that and dpreview.com

[Deja Q]

7. Stay with film! (here's why)

That "6 megapixels" is in 2:3 ratio format, identical to a 4x6. Point'n'shoot digital cameras have a 1.33/1 ratio (8x10). Net loss is 1MP if you're printing on 8x10 paper, because the extra MP is all tacked on to the length of the image.

At that resolution, you'll NOT get a decent 12x17 blow-up. It won't be nearly as defined as a 13x19 film print. The results are acceptable, albeit from a distance. Looking up close will instantly reveal the shortcomings of consumer-priced digital cameras.

Some companies won't even accept 11MP images. This is because no CCD can match the Dmax range that film does. Film is visibly superior in terms of shadow detail.

100ISO film is ~13MP. 200ISO is ~10MP.

If you want to go digital, go for the NIkon. Especially if you do effects shots, leaving the shutter open for numerous seconds. The Canon's sensor has a habit of creating stuck pixels (lit a certain color) and that's very annoying.

D-SLR camera sensors also need to be manually cleaned. If you're not mechanically adept, this could be an expensive chore.

The Digital Rebel, at $999 for the kid, on the surface, seems reasonable. Except they locked out many features a proper SLR would have. It's little better than a P'n'S digital camera, apart from having a larger sensor.

SOemday they'll get digital technology both affordable and with high resolution and with as great color and shadow depth as film. But it's not today and even the $8000 11MP cameras can't always compare.

[MercutioATC]

9. You can't lose with either Canon or Nikon. I use a Canon D30 and love it.

Just band gig pics, but it's representative of what a 3.25mp digital can do shooting in JPEG mode (about 1mp per pic):

http://slantzero.com/pictures.htm

Everything except the bottom two gigs and the "Sly Fox" gig are done with the D30 - JPEG mode, absolutely no post-processing (except cropping).

Canon does have a wider selection of lenses and more of the stabilized lenses than Nikon (nice for shooting long or in low light).

I have some wildlife shots from Costa Rica that'd knock your socks off (not online yet).