Canon 300D vs Nikon D70 (major problems?)

[pn.md]

I'm new to the game of Digital SLR. But I did take 2 couses in college many years ago with manual SLR and photodeveloping. I've owned almost every upgrade of the Digital Elph series from the beginning. And I LOVE Canon. They have always been reliable and fun to use.

I would like to graduate to Digital SLR. Like many I've been looking at the Canon 300D because it has "burst down the door to the $1000 digital SLR price barrier" - as quoted by one magazine.

Well, I've been reading alot about the elusive new Nikon D70. Boy, there is current flurry of dissension among their ranks.

This from a Nikon website forum:
"I am just writing to let you know that the new D70 users in Spain, Hong Kong, China, South Korea and Japan have found a problem with the colour reproduction of the D70, especially evident when taken at shutter speeds of 1/2000 or more (D70 supports up to 1/8000).


The problem is that the pictures display a very clearly uneven distribution of colours - the left of the picture is greenish, and the right of the picture is reddish.


It has been reported that an official enquiry has been directed to Nikon's Japan HQ by the HK-Nikon, and sales of D70 in Seville, Spain has been halted temporarily as a safety measure.


The largest digital SLR internet community in South Korea,http://www.slrclub.com, has had in excess of 300 postings just today only (20-Mar-04) of users confirming that their newly purchased D70 indeed does have this problem that many users described as outrageous and appalling. The users have already given this strange phenomenon a name within 24 hours of the problem being identified: namely, 'the traffic lights effect'.

A large number of users reportedly have contacted their vendors demanding refunds, and equally large number are hoping that firmware upgrades will fix the problem, with still a large number expressing their disappointment at Nikon in which they gave their 100% trust and bought the camera even before it was officially released.


Below is the link to the picture that apparently started it all, by a user in China who took a picture of flowers on a tree with the sky as the backdrop, and found that the sky was greenish on one side and reddish on the other."


Links to discussion:

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/re...essage=8072167

http://www.pbase.com/davexl/d70_moire

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/re...essage=8057839

Well, I thought my dilemma (albeit fun dilemma ) was going to be deciding between Canon 300D vs D70.
Now it's 300D vs D70 with potential "major problems."

I am on this board because I'm leaning torwards the 300D because of my previous pleasant Canon experiences. Yes, I have read posts about these 2 cameras already on the board. But I just wanted to get some fresh opinions in light of the supposed "major problems" with new D70."

http://www.cameraunion.net/showpictu...1079360076.jpg

[pn.md]

BTW- I can just go down the street to the local Compusa and get a 300D for $999 with lens. Or get on the net and hunt down the scarce few vendors and order a D70 for $1249 (Macmall, Ecost says "in stock.")

[pn.md]

Any truth to this statement from:

http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/d70.htm#vsRebel

"The reason I'm so gung-ho about the D70 over the pretty similar Rebel is because the D70 is so much easier to set and use in the field, which is paramount in my ability to get great images right when I shoot them. This and the far superior flash sync make the choice obvious."

PS- I'm still leaning torwards the 300D due to my previous wonderful relationship with Canon Elphs...
I just like the way Canon executes their software and linkage with computer. BTW-no USB 2.0? Why not?

[ecobo]

Man, just get the 300D. Canon is the best - low noise (even at ISO400), great number of lenses and accessories etc.

[CoolToolGuy]

The guy I deal with at my local camera shop has said many times that you should always stay away from the early production of Nikon cameras. Apparently, there were major issues with the D100 in the beginning, and all of them were returned to Nikon for repair. This is hearsay, I have no personal knowledge of this. But considering how fast Nikon had to respond to the Drebel, and the sleazy marketing tactic they used - announcing it just before Christmas to try and stave off the hoards from rushing for the Drebel, I wouldn't be surprised to find out that the camera wasn't really ready when they had to ramp up production.

Meanwhile, I'm still pretty happy with my Drebel - how 'bout y'all

Have Fun
Rick

[KennyG]

Conclusion from the UK's number one photography magazine regarding the D70 vs the 300D -

"The autofocus can't match the speed and consistency of the Canon system in low contrast conditions though, and even at the lowest ISO 200 setting noise is more noticeable."

It also looks as though the D70 has the sharpening and saturation turned up as per the 300D to suit those migrating from P&S, indicating the 300D user is its target market, not the 10D.

Oh, regarding USB-2 - who downloads direct from a camera when card readers are so much better and save having to find a place to park the camera? Not an issue worth worrying about.

[Cadwell]

Buying into any product early in it's production run is always risky.

If there isn't much to choose between the specifications and features then it's best to choose the established product. If the new product is substantially better in terms of specs. and features then it may be worthwhile taking the risk.

[dpanicc1]

Here's my two cents: I started with film years ago--even developed my share of B&W and dabbled in color. Then after a long lapse, I bought a Kodak DC-40 digital, then Olympus, then Nikon's 5700 then Nikon's D100 with a few lenses, and I am now converged on Canon and will probably remain loyal for years' to come.

Color reproduction and accuracy is excellent with Canon products. The reason I dumped Nikon products was due to color reproduction. The same lot of photos would vary such that I spent all day post-processing; I had enough.

In walks Canon. Maybe a tweak to exposure, saturation, contrast and sharpness, but not too often is the color off. Color is a pain to adjust when it varies from shot to shot.

Who am I to knock Nikon, right..., but, that's just my personal experience and my reality.

[mson]

Well this IS a Canon forum so...

First, the 300D is a GREAT camera! IMO the D70 has better specs on paper, however paper specs don't mean much. The Sony F828 is a good example. That being said, I think the D70 will be a great camera as well. It might have some bugs in the beginning, but I'm sure Nikon will iron those out. If you are really concerned about which one will be "better" for you, wait a few months for the professional and personal reviews to start flowing in.

The 300D is cheaper, and a lot of the "limitations" are software restrictions so Canon could release new firmware to enable some of these options. The 300D is still flying off the shelves, so I don't expect them to do much anytime soon. My recommendation, since you like Canon products go with the 300D. Take the $300-$400 USD you will save and buy a lens or some other accessory.

[pn.md]

Thanks all for the replies.

KennyG- thanks for the UK review. Very encouraging. I suspect Canon planned ahead and tweaked the 300D for inevitable Point and shoot transplants such as myself. Very smart...

dpannic1- "Color reproduction and accuracy is excellent with Canon products."-- I agree. They are just consistent. You can always expect simply good pictures. For example, I bought my little sister a positively reviewed Sony Point and shoot. I was going to go with Canon but she liked the "look" of the Sony better. Well, we took some pictures afterwards and they were unacceptable, IMO. She eventually went back and got another Sony she was happy with. But just that one little Sony experience showed me the importance of Canon's consistency.

[pn.md]

BTW- how many Canon users are also Mac users?
Seems to be a Mac community on this board.

I have a new iMac 20 inch LCD and an older Dell Dimesion PC.

[CoolToolGuy]

Consistency was one of the things that kept me going back to Kodak for film processing. They weren't necessarily the best, but they were reasonably priced and they were consistent. I knew what I was going to get. (shields up) Yes, when I needed the critical roll processed, I went to the custom lab, but most of my slides were processed by Kodak.

Have Fun
Rick

[CyberDyneSystems]

Originally Posted by pn.md

BTW- how many Canon users are also Mac users?
Seems to be a Mac community on this board.

I have a new iMac 20 inch LCD and an older Dell Dimesion PC.

We will tolerate the odd Mac user...

lol,. actually thats a good question,. I had the feeling we were more PC centric here,. but I may be reading things into it based on my own experience,. then again...

Maybe we could post a poll?

The D70 looks awesome on paper,. in fact,. it looks like it should dust the 10D. Nikon's also have a few tricks down that Canon can't seem to keep up with,. so when you add start up speed and image review speed to the D70s published specs,. it looks positively awesome.

On the other hand,. the 10D and DRebel are fantastic cameras that work. It is allways easy to have the specs on paper look batter than a cpmetitors actual camera,. and of you were to dig back to the week of the D70's announcement on this forum you'd find a lot of posts from people reaady to jump to the D70, or at least questioning how Canon will survive this new release....

But ,.. mixed in among those threads you will also find posts that have a more cautious point of view,. posts that say,. "let's see what happens when the D70 is actually released", or "will it take better pictures than a 300D?" etc...

This is the first I had heard of the D70's color troubles,. I am confident that Nikon will fix it and do well by there customers,. but in the meantime,. grab a Rebel and take some pictures

[KennyG]

Originally Posted by pn.md

BTW- how many Canon users are also Mac users?
Seems to be a Mac community on this board.

Oh heaven's to Betsy, no way, Intel through and through here.

Pair of Xeons, 4GB RAM, 4 x 15Krpm 73GB SCSI's in RAID array and 4 x 160GB external Firewire disks for archiving. Dual PSU's, big UPS and loads of USB and firewire ports. Add a tablet notebook, a spare 2.8GHz P4 desktop and that's my computing power.

[pn.md]

Well, well, I was on my way to Rite Aid to get a wireless earphone for my cell phone which I had recently lost. I decided to go to Compusa for a "better" selection instead.

Well, I get to Compusa and see the shiny digital camera section. They were actually doing a Kodak digital camera demo with official Kodak rep there and all. I waltz over and start clicking away on the 300D. Everyone with their point and shoot Kodaks, including the rep are glaring at me. They look at me with the mighty 300D in my hands vs their little point and shoot Kodaks in their hands. Jealous much? Just kidding.

I really was just "looking." Really...
But armed with knowledge and encouragement from users on THIS board, I was compelled to pull out my credit card and then it happened. Credit card was scanned and then it was over. I am now in the 300D club!

Now to go and hook it up to my new iMac. OK, I'll hook it it to the Dell P4 if necessary. But Apple's new iLife is really amazing. I have a demo Photoshop CS installed. I'm going to play with that for now. Never used it before.
Thanks ALL for the most informative posts.

Nikon D70? What's that? Nikon D70 and potential moire and color consistency problems... I'll leave that for the early adopters of the D70 to figure out. I have to go TAKE pictures with my NEW 300D and NOT worry about waiting for potential firmware upgrades if I had gone with the D70... :;