Nikon D70s Digital SLR Review

By : www.basic-digital-photography.com

Have you been searching the market for a good professional SLR camera? If so, then the Nikon D70s could be right up your alley.
The successor to the hugely popular Nikon D70 camera, the Nikon D70s has a very impressive feature set.


With a maximum resolution of 6.1 megapixels and a 3.8x optical zoom, the Nikon D70s is a great digital camera that will prove to be suitable in many photographic environments.

The Nikon D70s struck me as I wrote this review - the fact that it has a very fast start-up speed, taking just 0.2 seconds to power up and is has minimal shutter release time lag and is very responsive. That being said, some of the quirks of this digital camera are that it is basically an improved version of the D70 and might not be worth the upgrade and has a very high price tag.

Let's now jump right into the review and check out the features of the Nikon D70s.

Design and Construction
In terms of design and construction, the Nikon D70s is sturdy and well-built. It It measures 5.5" by 4.4" by 3.1" (WHD) and weighs only 1.0 pound. Best of all, it looks like a professional SLR , given its black color and sturdy and big body size. All in all, the Nikon D70s is one beautiful digital camera.

Optics and Resolution
The optical system of the Nikon D70s has obviously been carefully thought out to enable one to take great photos. The digital camera comes with a 6.1 megapixel resolution and a 3.8x optical zoom. It also features an impressive ISO range of 200 to 1600, along with a shutter speed range of 30 - 1/8000 sec. Of course, the Nikon D70s allows you to attach a wide range of Nikkor lenses so you can take any kind of photo that suits your fancy.

Compared to the D70, one visible area of improvement was in the strength and coverage of the built-in Speedlight flash. In my tets shots, the D70s took flash shots that improved exposure by about one-half stop over the D70's. At 70 mm, the Nikkor lens's widest zoom setting, the image displayed more even illumination.

User Controls
Ok, now let's look at the user controls for the Nikon D70s. This digital camera has manual controls to allow one to better control the exposure settings. There are comprehensive focusing options available if you’re more adventurous and want to play around with advanced manual camera options. The Nikon D70s also does not come with a movie mode - so if you want to record videos, then you have to look elsewhere.

When handling the Nikon D70s, I was impressed by its 2.0 inch LCD screen. Colors on the LCD were vivid and bright, so I could easily see the pictures I took without having to strain my eyes.

Menus are displayed better, too—now set against black instead of blue in the D70. The D70s, like the D70, has some on-board help screens on the LCD, but they're only for the custom menus. It would have been nice to have them active throughout the various functions.

Battery Life
The Nikon D70s makes use of proprietary lithium batteries. The advertised battery life is more or less sufficient for a full day's shooting. If a long battery life is very important for you, you can always pack along some extras - buy them at your local camera store.

Storage and Transfer
The Nikon D70s allows your pictures to be stored in CompactFlash Type I/II memory cards cards. These days, its pretty standard practice to have at least a 128MB memory card in your digital camera (or even a 512MB card). You can also easily transfer the pictures from the camera to the PC via the USB 2.0 interface. In writing this review, I managed to transfer about a hundred photos in a very short time.

Shortcomings
There are some quirks I noticed in the Nikon D70s. What are these quirks? Well, for one thing, this digital camera is basically an improved version of the D70 and might not be worth the upgrade. That's not a problem if you're buying a brand new digital SLR though. Also, the Nikon D70s has a very high price tag - which will be very limiting for some consumers. On the whole, though, the Nikon D70s is still a pretty good camera which I highly recommend.

Conclusion
I do hope this review of the Nikon D70s has been of help to you. If you’re looking for a decent professional SLR camera to take shots with, then the Nikon D70s might be tough to beat. Of course, do your own research first before shelling out your cash. Happy shopping!