 Nikon D70: Nikon's answer to the Canon Digital Rebel/300D arrived on the market early last year (2004). It's now locked into a price battle with the Canon models but, having had one in my hands, it feels a cut above the rest in terms of build quality and handling. In terms of speed, it outperforms the D100 Nikon camera (which is now obsolete), taking just 3.5 secs to write a JPG file to memory card and 4 secs to write a RAW file.
Design-wise, the D70 is reminiscent of the F series of film cameras and navigation through the camera's functions is via a simplified range of buttons which do make it easy to use. The mode dial is still there with its large symbols and offers Manual, Shutter, Aperture and Program modes, along with Scene modes. The camera contains a large buffer which lets you keep shooting, regardless of the write time for image files.
The minimum ISO speed on this Nikon camera is 200 rather than 100 though. Like most, if not all, digital SLRs these days, the camera cannot take a cable release and you need to get a remote control in order to fire the shutter remotely (necessary if you're doing long exposures to avoid camera shake). Autofocus is reasonable for the money and gives quick selection of the 5 focus points. Battery life is very good and, of course, the camera will accept the majority of Nikon lenses, going back as far as 1959.
Specs: 6.1 Megapixels; Nikon F lens mount; uses Compact Flash type I or II and Microdrives; JPG and RAW image formats; increase to focal length: 1.5x; Metering: 3D matrix, center-weighted and spot; Exposure modes: Program (also has has subject-based modes), Aperture-Priority, Shutter Priority and Manual; Shutter speeds: 30 sec - 1/8000 sec + Bulb; ISO Speeds: 200 - 1600; Exposure compensation; integral flash with up to 1/500 sec sync speed; depth of field preview; Can shoot 3 frames per second.
Rating: 91/100
RRP: $1299/€1000/£700
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