I was pleasantly wrong on my comment that there is only a pre-view of
the D70. dpreview.com now has the full review posted:
Conclusion - Pros
Excellent resolution and sharpness, seems better than EOS 300D / EOS
10D
Neutral color balance, 'Nikon like' (tuned towards skin tones)
Good clean sharpening algorithm leaves almost no 'halo' artifacts
Low noise even at high sensitivities, more monochromatic (film like)
Excellent image parameter control; sharpening, tone, color mode,
saturation and hue
Custom curves allows user definable tone response
Superb Nikon Matrix metering
Very fast camera operation, virtually no startup, minimal usage delays
Excellent continuous shooting, great throughput and 'Smart buffering'
Very fast CF write performance
Body design, finish and build quality
More logical control layout, faster settings access than D100
Lighter weight than D100, considerably lighter than EOS 10D
Help pages on custom function menus
Viewfinder gridlines (surprisingly useful)
More manual control and more customizable than Canon EOS 300D
RAW mode provides the 'digital negative'
Image comment attachment
Multiple color space support (sRGB, Adobe RGB)
Orientation sensor for automatic image rotation
Fully Nikkor lens compatible (plus new DX lenses)
High resolution 134,000 pixel LCD monitor
High capacity Lithium-Ion batteries, included CR2 battery carrier
Superb value for money, better still than the EOS 300D (Digital Rebel)
Conclusion - Cons
Moiré / maze artifact pattern visible in certain images at the limit
of resolution
Bug which incorrectly tags images as Adobe RGB (we expect a firmware
fix)
Vignetting / lens shading on the AF-S DX 18-70mm lens at 18 mm, F3.5
Still a very average automatic white balance performance, we expected
more
No Kelvin white balance selection in-camera
Can't match the EOS 300D's silky smooth ISO 100 (low noise)
ISO sensitivity not displayed on viewfinder status bar while being
changed
PictureProject feels like a step backwards, I recommend sticking with
Nikon View
USB connection labeled as USB 2 but only supports USB 1.1 transfer
speeds
Some reported quality control problems with early cameras (we did not
experience this)
No vertical grip (portrait grip / battery pack) available
It's a pity RAW+JPEG only captures a Basic quality JPEG
Overall conclusion
Shortly after Canon announced the EOS 300D (Digital Rebel) and it made
its way into reviewers hands it was fairly clear that Canon were
offering a formidable package at an excellent price which would be the
mark for affordable digital SLR's of the future, with image quality
almost identical to the EOS 10D and a sub-$1000 price it caused a
significant ripple in the market. Now however it's clear that Nikon
were well aware of this and had the D70 up their sleeve, a camera
which is a significant step ahead of the EOS 300D in terms of build
quality and feature set and a match, and in some instances better from
an image quality point of view.
Nikon have achieved three major improvements with the D70 (compared to
the competition / the D100): (1) They have improved the performance of
the camera, with its instant on availability, very fast shutter
release, superb continuous shooting and image processing speed and
smart use of its buffer. (2) They have maintained build quality while
still delivering a smaller and lighter camera, the D70 doesn't feel
much less well built than the D100 but is lighter, it certainly feels
much more like $1000 worth of camera than the EOS 300D could. (3) They
have improved image sharpness and detail, while we could niggle about
moiré the compromise between artifacts and sharpness is worth it, in
many instances the D70 delivering more detail than our previous
benchmark, the EOS 300D / EOS 10D CMOS sensor.
There's not much more for me to add other than I am very pleased to
see Nikon stepping up with a quality camera which doesn't compromise
on build quality, feature set or image quality and yet offers superb
value for money. There's no risk involved in the D70's slightly higher
price compared to the EOS 300D (Digital Rebel), it's absolutely worth
it.
Highly Recommended
So which one should I buy? A question I get asked several times a day,
and I wouldn't like to say. In a new addition to my reviews (after the
amount of feedback I normally get) I've added a link to a specific
forum in which you can discuss the review or ask me specific questions
which I've not answered in these pages.
On Wed, 07 Apr 2004 22:32:56 -0400, JM Lobert
<art_no-spamos_@jurgenlobert.net> wrote:
>On Sun, 4 Apr 2004 11:47:20 -0300, "kb"
><> wrote:
>
>>What would be the main differences between these? Looks like the nikon
>>shoots at 3fps, has same resolution, costs a little less. What is the D70
>>body made of?
>>Thanks!
>
>Go to one of the review places such as this one:
>
>http://www.dpreview.com
>
>The D70 has only a pre-view (no final testing yet, because it just
>came out) but it gives you all the specs. You can compare that to the
>D10 or - if you wish - I can send you my home-made Excel file with
>that comparison in it.
>
>Biggest differences: alloy body 10D, Field of view crop is 1.6 (10D)
>vs 1.5 (D70), which makes a little difference at the wide-angle end;
>ISO 3200 on 10D (1600 D70), but the high ISOs are not very useful due
>to noise (unless you're operating it in the Arctic); exposure 1/8000
>vs 1/4000 (D70); 10D has some more capacity for RAW continuous
>shooting, but D70 is better at lower resolution files; D70 self-timer
>is 2-20 s vs 10 s fixed on D10; D70 viewfinder is very small with
>limited diopter adjustment, which is a significant drawback if you're
>wearing glasses; D70 has USB 2, 10D only 1.1; D70 weight is 590 g vs
>10D at 790 !! (alloy body!).
>
>So, all in all, they're pretty similar, the 10D is a tad more
>professional, but in terms of specs they don't give much. I had looked
>into buying a 10D for months and ended up ordering a D70 even though
>it's on back-order everywhere and in-depth tests have not been posted
>anywhere yet. (important if you want it yesterday). Read a lot of user
>comments, though, and all but a very few are very happy with the D70.
>
>I recommend that you go to a store and make sure you got your hands on
>both, then decide. The bulky weight of the D10 was the major turn-off
>that made me decide to go with the D70, which is nicer in my hands. It
>also has less and easier controls. And: the D70 is $1300 with a nice
>18-70 mm lens, made for this camera, about the same price as the 10D,
>body only....
>
> J
>
> JP
>
>(remove second underscore to email)
JP
(remove second underscore to email)
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