For College: D2X or D70s? Please Help

Hi, I'm studying advertising photography at Rochester Institute of

Tech. and i am required to have a DSLR for my 2nd quarter of school.

I'm questioning as to whether i should take the plunge and dish out

for the D2X or stay conservative and go with the D70s. I definately

plan on seriously persuing advertising photography adter college

(thats why i'm studying it) and i dont know if the d70s can give me

the kind of advertising photography quality that i can get with the

d2x. I'm using a 1.5ghz powerbook with 2gb of memory. I'm also

wondering if the d2x files will realy slow my workflow since they are

soo big and i'm not running dual 2.5 g5s or anything that powerful.

Please give me your advice. Also my lenses i would get for either

camera would be the 17-55 f2.8,70-200 2.8 and the 60mm macro 2.8.

Thanks soo much for the help.

Erm, Iv just finished doing photography at college where we were required to have an "SLR" and could occasionaly if we didnt already have one borrow a digicam... and now you need a D2x?!? Get the D70 and upgrade when its no longer good enough.

My advice used to be "buy the very best you can afford". That's why I tapped out my savings and bought an F2 back in 1973. The good news is that I still use the camera and it works perfectly. Now for the bad news, if it had been a DSLR it would have been obsolete by 1976. That's why I think that you should get the D70s for now. Whatever you buy today will be obsolete in another 3 or 4 years and you would be better served by not spending a lot now on a camera that you'll end up "throwing away". Put your money into lenses, tripod, lights, and other items that won't go obsolete.

 

Once your finished with school, you'll be earning a living with your camera(s) and you'll be able to defray a lot of the cost for new gear with tax deductions. You may also find that a Medium Format DSLR, like the new Mamiya ZD, is more appropriate for advertizing photography. Which means that the D2x won't just be obsolete, it will also not be the best choice.

 

As for the quality that the D70s can produce, it'll surprize you a lot. I find my D70 is capable of giving me 11x17 inch prints of a quality that approaches what I can get with my Medium Format film gear. In comparison to the terrible films that are so common today (I really miss Extar 25) it trounces anything you can do with 35mm film unless your willing to commit to the hassle that shooting K64, or similar slide films, require. Bottomline, the D70 is a very capable camera and should do well for this stage in your education.

Hi Paul,

 

My opinion is to go with the D70 at this point, based on a few considerations. First, obviously, is price. If you change major, the most you lose with a D70 is $800; with the D2X you'll lose a few thousand in value over the next few years. Second, if you get to the point down the road that big files are a must, the hardware will be cheaper then. Get the D2X only if you need the high resolution right now. Even looking ahead one or two years is probably not justified given how quickly things evolve and prices drop.

 

Finally, I bet people successfully took this class one or two years back, when 8MP was a "monster" file size. If it was possible to take this class without a D2X or 1DsMkII, then, it's probably still possible to do so now.

 

Good luck,

 

Kevin

Hi Paul.....

 

I'm also studying photography, although at a lowly state university..... the only mandatory requirements were a basic SLR. Over the last two years, the curriculum has slowly shifted to digital, but even then the school provides digital cameras to those students who do not have their own...... in other words they are allowed to borrow them to meet an assignment, and must return them after a specified amount of days.

 

My question to you would be, how many years will you be in school? Your purchase of a D2X sounds wonderful, but in 4 years if that is how long your studies will take you, your camera will be obsolete, and you will then be longing for the latest and greatest......

 

There is a huge price difference between the D70 and the D2X.... and for myself, I am currently using/own a D70 and shooting with it professionally doing portraits of children, infants, and pregnancy. I will not go out and spend thousands of dollars on a camera until I begin making enough of a profit to justify the expense.....

 

But that is just my take on things..... something to think about?

Get the D70! If you get a D2X you almost have to get the top of the line Nikon lenses (which are expensive) to utilize and maximize the 12MP. Learn on the D70 and get a better camera later.

I doubt that you will be shooting anything major that will require you the performance of the D2X. If you are thinking "hey...might as well get something nice so I don't have to get it later." Well, that might work with film cameras but not digital. Cause by the time you get out and start shooting professionally, your D2x will be old news. 5K to do homework assignments just doesn't sound to be the right choice. But it's your money. I would go with the D70 and with the money left over, pick up a medium format camera or 4x5. Film camera is truely the only way to learn photography, even in this digital age.

Paul:

 

I'm a Nikon guy - consider a canon 20D

 

Best of luck with school

I am a Nikon guy also. If you are starting fresh, buy the Canon 20D.

I am a Nikon guy as well. Here is the deal though. The Olympus E-1 produces images with less noise at ISO 100 than the D70. You can get the olympus with a lense at ebay for around 1200 and will give better looking images than the Nikon D70. Now, a lot of people would probably disagree with me but that is because they have not used the Olympus E-1. Now, this investment will also have to be considered becase you will be investing in a lens and if you change cameras when you graduate then you will probably be selling your olympus lenses to change to Nikon or Canon. As for file size you will be able to edit those images of the Nikon D2x with yout powerbook so that wont't limit you.

 

But then again, like everybody says, if you plan to stay with nikon, then buy the D70 since. The d2x will be considered a very "old camera" when you graduate and you will be looking for an upgrade most likely.

Does it have to be nikon? I was also going to suggest olympus. Olympus is going to make a DSLR in conjunction with panasonic in 2006. Olympus lenses appear to be fairly good investments when compared to nikon. Also adapters are available for the E-1/E-300 to use any, yes ANY, brand of 35mm manual focus lenses on thier digital bodies with full metering and infinity zoom at a 2x crop factor. Also does it have to be 6MP? If you are turning in assignments that are not critical to your portfolio you might be able to get by with a fuji S1 pro. They cost half what a d70 does used.

You're going to school AND you can afford a D2X? Yikes! What's your secret?!?

 

As cool as the D2X is, wouldn't the D70s will have everything you need until you:

 

(a) are working and can write the D2X off as a business investment

(b) are working in advertising and are somehow earning enough money to spend a packet on whatever you want

© win the lottery

 

Save the money and use it to buy some accessories such as extra lenses, hot-shoe etc...

What about the D50?

When I went to college, I changed my major 4 times.

 

I think you should take a lesson from something you don't learn in school. The difference between WANTS and NEEDS. There is lot you need to know before you can justify spending $5000 compared to $1000 ( or less). It sounds you you are quite well to do or got a great family support to work yourself to the bone to be able to even think about what to get. Then again, I think this might be a troll but I am giving you the benefit of a doubt.

 

Learn what you need and then get what you NEED when the time is right. $5000 IS A lot OF MONEY for a working pro, let alone a college student.

For what it matters... I meant to say "hot-shoe sync adapter", not just "hot-shoe".

 

Because I just know how much you all care...

I'm also a Nikon guy. Stick with Nikon.

 

D70s would be my choice going away. Great lens picks!

Unless sheer speed - frames per second, autofocusing - is critical to the type of photography you expect to be doing in school, you're better off buying the best lenses you can afford and a more affordable body.

 

In fact, I'd consider buying a pair of D50, D70 or D70s bodies. Not having to change lenses when you're in the middle of a busy shoot can be more advantageous than camera speed.

 

I've handled the D50 a couple of times and would consider it a good backup to my D2H, assuming it's fully compatible with Nikon's CLS flash system (I haven't finished studying the promo brochure).

 

But I'd also have to consider the cost:benefit ratio between the D50 and D70s or D70. For one thing, I don't know whether the D50 is available yet as a body only. I don't need another kit quality lens since I already have the 18-70 DX.

 

And on the other hand (isn't there always another hand?)...

 

...the D2X is such a significant improvement over every dSLR based on the 35mm paradigm other, perhaps, than the much more expensive Canon 1Ds Mark II. It's likely to be satisfactory for many years to come. If you need anything better for a particular job you'll probably be renting or leasing it because it'll be too expensive to purchase.

 

The advantage to buying the D2X now is that you might be talented and lucky enough to get paying work while you're in school. It can happen. My brother was a radio DJ and station manager for a large regional station (not the university station) while he was a communications major in college. So if it's in your budget it might be worth having the best available equipment. At roughly $3,000 less than the 1Ds Mark II, you can buy some pretty good lenses for the price of the Canon alone.

<i><blockquote> The Olympus E-1 produces images with less noise at ISO 100 than

the D70.

</blockquote> </i><p>

 

Could that have something to do with the fact that the D70 doesn't do ISO 100? <p>

 

Paul, if you don't already have those lenses, you might want to look at other systems.

The D2X allows you to take shots focused on any part of the frame without recomposition as it has a real finder and manual focusing is possible even on moving subjects. The D70 viewfinder is like some kind of semitransparent vax had been spread on the focusing screen.

 

If I were studying photography, I would want to see what I shoot. That means either a film SLR or a D2X style DSLR, or both. In fact, I'd pick an F100, but if you have to do digital capture, then invest in the better camera. And since few practical printing applications can oust the D2X image quality (unless you go for gallery prints), you have nothing to worry about in terms of lost investment. Unless you drop it in a pond and don't have insurance.

Man, would all your classmates hate you if you walked in with a D2X. Seems like total

overkill for your needs. It would be like a ceramics student buying a kiln for his/her

dorm room.

Dude, don't listen to anyone here-- they're all green-eyed-envy of you! Get a D2x. You could then suck big time at school, and still get all the girls.

I like Ron's assesment - true - may be best to get an Argus C3 Brick & a 3k scanner!

Buy the D70s use the money you saved to buy some really good lenses. Also buy a used K1000 and a decent scanner.

***Get a D2x. You could then suck big time at school, and still get all the girls.***

 

 

thats pretty funny. He is a *photographer* after all. We rate up there with IT professionals and Walmart workers when it comes to girls . ):

The ONLY valid reason to get a D70 over a D2X is financial. If you can financially justify a D2X, that's what you should get.

 

Is it overkill for school? Maybe. Until you are assigned to shoot a fast moving sport, that is... Try doing that with a D70 and its MultiCAM 900 module.

 

Your list of lenses sounds like a good start.