D70s worth the extra money?

[maclean]

I hesitate to post this, but I dont see much discussion on the issue,

so I will post anyway. I was set on buying the D70 with 18-70 from

BuyDig.com for $985 but I dont want to be stuck with an outdated model

if the newer D70s is worth the extra money for the upgrades. Any

opinions? It seems like the D70s w/ 18-70 would be around 1199. That

comes to $300 more if you factor in the $100 rebate on the D70.

[ellis_vener_photography]

A bigger LCD is nice, improved Dynamic & Closest subject AF is <I>very</i> nice. Those

changes alone might make it worth the difference to you. Except for the larger LCD, all of

the upgrades are available to a D70 via the free irmware upgrade from Nikon.

[maclean]

"A bigger LCD is nice, improved Dynamic & Closest subject AF is very nice. Those changes alone might make it worth the difference to you. Except for the larger LCD, all of the upgrades are available to a D70 via the free irmware upgrade from Nikon."

 

I tend to use the center spot-only-focus recompose method, so I'm not sure the AF improvements would make much difference to me. It sounds like the LCD is the only difference seeing as how you can upgrade the firmware on the D70. So the firmware will upgrade the AF features?

(Thanks for the input as well Ellis)

[bwcombs]

Neil, if I were you, I'd buy the D70. Take the extra $$$ and buy CF

cards and some other accessories (remote, for example).

 

The firmware upgrade, which I have just done for my D70, in

essence puts the D70 equal to the D70s minus the LCD size.

And I have no problem with the LCD size on my D70.

 

Here is a short list of the firmware upgrade advantages:

 

5-area AF system has been improved (Dynamic area and

Closest subjct AF-area modes).

 

Changes have been made to the design of menu displays.

 

Page-size settings can now be applied from the camera with

direct printing from a PictBridge-compatible printer.

 

The number of exposures remaining, displayed in the control

panel and viewfinder, when shooting at an image-quality setting

of NEF (RAW) or NEF+JPEG Basic has been changed.

 

The default setting for camera clock has been changed from

2004.01.01 to 2005.01.01. Now you cannot set the clock back to

a date before 2004.12.31.

 

A problem that sometimes caused communication between the

camera and computer to be unexpectedly terminated when

using Nikon Capture Camera Control has been corrected.

(Windows)

 

Good luck.

[maclean]

Thanks BW, I do believe I'll get the D70 and just upgrade the firmware. That's too much of a savings.

[joseph_wisniewski]

The D70s has a connection for a wired remote control. This is such a handy thing that there are at least three companies out there refitting D70 bodies with wired remote control connectors for charges ranging from $150 to $300.

 

Aside from that, the "bigger" LCD is a 10% upgrade, from 1.8 to 2.0 inch, you'll be hard pressed to notice it.

 

And the rest, as others have pointed out, is covered by the new 2.0 firmware upgrade for the D70...

[errol young]

I just bought a 70s body today because I need backup for the wedding season. I did not buy it because of its features although I like the larger LCD. I only use the simple AF mode and the rest are updated on my D70 anyway.

 

I bought the 70s because there are not a 70 in the shop. The D50 would have forced me to buy different memory so my cost would be about the same and it is not out yet.

 

Errol

[dan_daly1]

I know I'm nit picking, but let me be a little anal. 1.8 x 1.8 = 3.24 square inches. 2.0 x 2.0 is 4.0 square inches. 4.0 - 3.24 = .76 ------ .76 / 3.24 = .234 So it 's actually about 25 percent bigger in total area which could make a significant difference, but I don't know if it's worth $300.

 

D

[mawz]

The only real upgrade is the remote support on the D70s.

[maclean]

Thanks for the input everyone, I ordered the original this morning.

[ted whitney]

Dan Daly wrote: I know I'm nit picking, but let me be a little anal. 1.8 x 1.8 = 3.24 square inches. 2.0 x 2.0 is 4.0 square inches.

 

Dan, LCD aren't square, they're rectangular, and the size measurement is made diagonally, so the area of the D70 LCD isn't 1.8 x 1.8, nor is the D70s LCD 2.0 x 2.0. Take a loot at the D70 & D70s side-by-side. The difference in LCD size is insignificant (to my eye).

 

Ted Whitney

[ShunCheung]

This topic was discussed in the Nikon Forum a number of times. Back in May, I double checked with a Nikon rep and he confirmed that the only two differences are the larger LCD and cable release. In particular, the rep confirmed that all internal components are identical. Firmware differences are eliminated if you upgrade the D70 to version 2.0.

 

In fact, the Nikon rep suggested that for most people, it doesn't make sense to spend an extra $200 on the D70s. I am sure Nikon is eager to clear the remaining D70 stock, but Neil, you clearly made the right choice.