Just when I thought I had decided the D70S

[2150-bye]

I have read these forums for a few months and have learned alot about what I knew zip about and for that I thank all that contributed to these forums.

I have tried the digicams and was un-happy and then saw the magic that a D70 produced and was ready to jump on board and now I see there is a D50 and D70S about to enter the field of view . Now for the whole affair to begin anew . I know one thing for sure my new camera will have a "D" in it somewhere (20D,D50,D70 or D70S).

I did get my printer so far, I chose the Canon i9900.

[Rhys]

I have read these forums for a few months and have learned alot about what I knew zip about and for that I thank all that contributed to these forums.

I have tried the digicams and was un-happy and then saw the magic that a D70 produced and was ready to jump on board and now I see there is a D50 and D70S about to enter the field of view . Now for the whole affair to begin anew . I know one thing for sure my new camera will have a "D" in it somewhere (20D,D50,D70 or D70S).

I did get my printer so far, I chose the Canon i9900.

I'm looking with more interest at the Olympus system.

[D70FAN]

I have read these forums for a few months and have learned alot about what I knew zip about and for that I thank all that contributed to these forums.

I have tried the digicams and was un-happy and then saw the magic that a D70 produced and was ready to jump on board and now I see there is a D50 and D70S about to enter the field of view . Now for the whole affair to begin anew . I know one thing for sure my new camera will have a "D" in it somewhere (20D,D50,D70 or D70S).

I did get my printer so far, I chose the Canon i9900.

You have chosen wisely. But stop the Olympus nonsense.

[Norm in Fujino]

I'm looking with more interest at the Olympus system.

Ah, choosing a DSLR can be as hard or as simple as you want it to be. If you're only going by the consensus of the majority of professionals, then it's a no-brainer to go with Canon or Nikon. But professionals have needs that I don't have.
My two-bits of wisdom on the subject :
Check out the Oly four-thirds forums and websites as well as those dedicated to Canon and Nikon to see as many perspectives as possible. And be sure to actually handle all the cameras sufficiently to get at least a general idea of how they feel in the hand, how their viewfinder suits your own vision and sense of seeing. Don't be excessively swayed by the machine tests for resolution. Most of the tests produce results within a whisker of each other, and at the sizes most ordinary mortals print out, aren't significant (your mileage may vary, obviously).
The biggest "downer" to the Oly system at this point is the well-known issue of high-ISO noise. Oly seems to believe you should shoot at ISO 100-400, and at that range it can produce images second to none. But if you shoot lots of sports or theatrical stage events at ISO 1600, and don't want to bother with post-process noise reduction (neatimage, noise ninja, etc.), then I'd go with a Canon rebel xt (talking about the same general price range). At this point they pretty much have the high-ISO game sewn up. Nikon of course has better high-ISO performance, too. But--there are lots of issues involved, and people can go round and round with them, as I have. Dust removal, pixel mapping, lens ranges and quality, personal ergonomic preferences, etc.

Lauri Sippu has lots of great shots made in Finland with the E-1 and E-300.

My Four Thirds is fairly new, but has links to a lot of e-system photos.

You have to take all your needs and personal shooting habits into account when making your choice. The Canons and Nikons are top cameras, no doubt about it, and it would be silly to disparage anyone who decides to go that route; it was a hard decision for me, too. But at this point I'm happy.

[Rhys]

I'm quite keen on the 4:3 system. All my existing photos are 4:3 and my PC screen is 4:3 too (although I could easily set it to be 2:3 if I wished).

I find the dust shaker is a novel idea on the e-300 that might just be useful. I'm waiting to see whether Olympus comes out with anti-shake too.

I'm not in a desperate rush although after my honeymoon in St Augustine, I might be quite interested in getting an e-300. I'll probably go for the kit lens (28 - 90) and something from 70 - 135 approx.

[cameragame06]

Seriously, other ppl may say other wise about the *ist DS, but it is a GREAT dslr if its ur first or fifth. i saw absolutely GREAT pictures taken from it. and it runs on either 4 AA batteries or cr-V3 rechargables, which is a great plus if u are on vacation for example and u run out of batteries, its obviously gonna be much easier to find AA's than some sort of lithium ion rechargable. some places have great deals on this camera too, such as: the body, 18-55 pentax lens and 70-300 quantaray lens for 899.99, or the body 18-55 pentax lens and a 70-300 pentax lens for 999.99. i would definately recomment this dslr.

[jeisner]

^^^ so would I ;-)

- 30 years of complete lens compatibilty (still some great deals on bright high quality manual lenses on ebay)
- Good high ISO performance
- JPEG performance is better than Canon Shill reviews give it credit for! unless maybe you print to poster size, then use RAW mode
- Fantastic RAW performance
- Largest viewfinder in it class (a major point for me to get DSLR over prosumer was an optical viewfinder, so why settle with a crippled tunnel like optical viewfinder?)
- Sturdy build (full steel sub frame)
- Great Ergonomics
- 2" High resolution LCD screen to check/preview your shots
- Good quality kit lens (although Nikon and Oly do have this too)

OK thats the end of my Pentax sales pitch... ;-)

I suggest you go into a camera store and try all the cameras out, take a few shots, get a feel for the cameras. All the cameras have good picture quality in this class IMO, in which case build quality and usability are very important factors... See which ones feels best to use for YOU as your the one who has to live with it for the next X years... ;-)

[scalia]

I'm quite keen on the 4:3 system. All my existing photos are 4:3 and my PC screen is 4:3 too (although I could easily set it to be 2:3 if I wished).

I find the dust shaker is a novel idea on the e-300 that might just be useful. I'm waiting to see whether Olympus comes out with anti-shake too.

I'm not in a desperate rush although after my honeymoon in St Augustine, I might be quite interested in getting an e-300. I'll probably go for the kit lens (28 - 90) and something from 70 - 135 approx.

E-300 now available with 2 lens kit for under $900
E-300 + ZD 14-45mm + ZD 40-150mm, that'll cover 28-300mm in 35mm film equivalent

adorama, b&h, etc have this, just add to cart... like this one
pretty good price, me think.
cheers

[speaklightly]

All of the posts reflect that dSLR cameras are on the move, with more being sold every day. dSLR cameras are a wonderful creative tool. And because they are creative tools, they are subject to some very subjective evaluations, like how they feel in hand, and viewfinder style etc. Certainly there are objective issuses as well such as their use at high ISO numbers, dust accummulation, and the like.

However, at the end of the day. they are all good cameras, and the variety available seems to prove that we all have needs that may indeed be just a bit different. So I have nothing but praise for anyone who wants to step up to a higher level of personal creativity and technical excellence.

Can we now see some of the wonderful photographic output? We all love to see the creativity and the inspiration in the finished product.

Sarah Joyce

[D70FAN]

I have read these forums for a few months and have learned alot about what I knew zip about and for that I thank all that contributed to these forums.

I have tried the digicams and was un-happy and then saw the magic that a D70 produced and was ready to jump on board and now I see there is a D50 and D70S about to enter the field of view . Now for the whole affair to begin anew . I know one thing for sure my new camera will have a "D" in it somewhere (20D,D50,D70 or D70S).

I did get my printer so far, I chose the Canon i9900.

2150-bye...Interesting handle. Haven't heard that in a long time. Highway Patrol?

As a second commentary: I have had the D70 for over a year, and have gone back to try all of the competitors. At one point I had cash-in-hand for a 20D after using one for several days. I repeated the 20D experience twice and still think it is a great camera, but decided to spend the difference on an SB800 to replace my SB50 (a good decision as it turns out).

I spent 2 days with the *ist DS, and several hours with an E-1 and the same with an E-300. I have to admit that I only spent 45 minutes to an hour with the new Rebel XT.

I still have the D70. Not because I didn't like the other cameras, but because none were better. Even the 20D which is probably the best consumer dSLR on the market, is missing features that Nikon so wisely designed-in and that I use frequently.

If you hold the D70 side-by-side with any Nikon pro dSLR the similarities are striking. Nikon spent the time and effort to package that functionality, look, and feel into the D70 (and the D100).

Again, I'm not a Nikon-uber-alles kind of person (even though it may seem that way). I'm actually a bigger Canon fan, (not when it comes to some of their latest entries) but, in my opinion, you can't buy a better camera than the D70 for under $1000.