The Nikon D70s, introduced in early 2005, is 6.1MP DSLR and essentially an update of the D70, adding a larger LCD screen 2″ instead of 1.8”. The D70s also comes with the newer EN-EL3a battery with slightly higher capacity.
Reviews
Same as D70, which is excellent. Sorry, no surprises. This is great, since I love how my D70 operates.
In terms of features, the D70s has plenty. Full manual controls? Check. White balance fine-tuning? Yep. Bracketing of all types? That’s here too. Some things like white balance controls aren’t quite as nice as what Canon is doing these days, but most people will be satisfied with what the D70s offers. The playback mode doesn’t do anything fancy but the important features are all there and everything is responsive.
Seeing that Nikon already had a very good DSLR in the D70, it is interesting to see that they still managed to improve the camera with a number of welcome features. Among these is the new 1500mAh battery with a capacity of up to 2500 images per charge. Flash angle coverage has been improved to cover lenses up to 18mm and a comfortable rubber eye cup is now supplied as standard.
With the introduction of the D70s, Nikon has refined its most popular dSLR. There is no increase in resolution or responsiveness, usually hallmarks of new models, over the D70 we reviewed in 2004, but you’ll find several improvements that add to its appeal, including a larger 2-inch LCD monitor, a higher capacity battery, faster image recording, improved autofocus system and the ability to attach a remote shutter release; while not revolutionary, Nikon’s efforts have made an already good camera even better.
With its dead-simple “green zone” operation and host of helpful scene modes, the D70S is also a very approachable camera for novice users. This is an important consideration, given how well a d-SLR matches the needs of typical family shooting, an application where less-sophisticated users really need the things that d-SLRs do so well. (Fast shutter response, good high-ISO performance.)
The Nikon D70s is fully packed with intelligent software and with the knowledge that this model got the intelligence of the Nikon D2X camera….
Versatile drive mode; excellent dynamic range, noise levels, and color rendition; full feature set with lots of customization options; responsive operation; solid battery life.
If you’ve handled a D100, you can pick up a D70 or D70s and start shooting. A few subtle twists will show up (and I’ll get to those), but Nikon didn’t bother to try to fix things that weren’t broken. Better still, they did fix things that were broken.
The Nikon D70s offers a wealth of features, fast and accurate operation and solid build quality at a price point that would have been difficult to believe only a couple of years ago. Negative points are few – it “only” has 6 megapixels (although this is more of a marketing thing than anything else), the Multi Selector arrow-pad is spongy and unresponsive, and the shutter release mechanism is on the noisy side.
Where to Buy
First off, consider going to your local camera store (and I don’t necessarily mean Wolf Camera at the mall). By going to your local camera store, you’re supporting your community and you just might build a lasting relationship with people you can rely on when you need some help or answers. If you’re buying online, I recommend sticking with Amazon, B&H Photo or Adorama. These three vendors are reliable, trustworthy and generally have the best (legitimate) prices. Additionally, purchasing your camera through these links helps support this site.
[tags]nikon, d70s, review, dslr, digital camera[/tags]