D70 the 300D Killer?

Is Nikon's D70 equivalent to a 10D but at a 300D price?

Hot off the presses:

http://www.dpreview.co​m/articles/nikond70/

It has a few superior specs,. but essentially they are the same class.

The Drebel remains more affordable.

And as allwyas,. Nikon will release (remember it ISN'T released YET) it's D70 many months after the DRebel has time to establish itself.

I think the two Cameras are as close as the D60 Vs. D100 Vs. 10D are...

Really,. you'd be kind of nuts to give up any established collection of lenses to switch from one to the other.

So the competition with the low priced models is "who gets the first time SLR buyer" ?

Well,. with the DRebels lead time,. it certainly has an advvantage there.

By Chritmas 2004... who knows?

Well, from what I read in the review it looks like a DRebel killer. As someone who is currently using a Canon G3 and wanting to step up to a DSLR I will definately have to give it a look. I'm waiting until Canon releases its linup for this year. Hopefully they will have something to compete with the D70. I want to go with Canon. But having no lenses and basically starting from scratch I'm going to have to go with whoever offers the best bang for the buck.

CDS, I had not planned on getting it, since I am pretty much invested in the Canon system.

But for people looking for their first dSLR, this might be a problem for Canon. Of course, Canon is not to sit still, so we'll be awaiting their response to this.

Well, this might make me unwelcome around here, but as a G3 owner looking to go DSLR, the D70 sure does look like it'll rival even the 10D, except for build quality perhaps. I would disagree that it's merely in same class as D-Rebel. If look at the Nikon SLR forum at dpreview, you'll find that even most existing Nikon DSLR owners feel that the D70 is better than the D100 (on paper). Of course, some of that is coming from the flash system upgrade (from D-TTL to i-TTL), which I guess was worse than Canon's E-TTL.

On paper, the D70 does look like it can beat the 10D by a very small margin and would certainly be comfy being compared as same class. Of course, that's just on paper for now, and Canon's not sitting still.

Actually, this makes me wonder if Canon won't cut the price on the 10D to be closer to the D70 and drop the D-Rebel lower also. Whatever the case, things should look quite interesting when I buy come spring.

_Man_

I hope so. I want to see a lower priced DSLR with better features.

Oh yes!!! This will be very interesting..........

In terms of lenses, Canon has a wider range of selection (I think).

I am a Canonite though........The fact that I have a G3 w/ the same battery and external flash as the 10D/DRebel makes that direction more logical.

I guess we'll have to see when the reviews starts rolling in!!!

I'm hoping that the 10D will drop to about 1,200 USD........or even lower!!!

Finally glad to see some competition in the lower DSLR range, as this is always a plus to consumers.

Ro1

I too am a "Canonite", as is my entire family. I don't just look at the body itself, but I overheard a conversation at Calumet where one person was telling the other about the size of Canon compared to Nikon. He said that Canon was so large, it pretty much overshadows Nikon's R&D. If Nikon has something around the corner, you must KNOW that Canon's will certainly have a reply.

It's almost like comparing BMW's to Benz's. I happen to be a fan of Canon, but I certainly wouldn't argue w/ Nikon's quality.

I think the problem lies more in those who think a better camera will actually make them better photographers, just like a fancy typewriter makes a better writer

kafene.

That's untrue for the near future until/unless Canon announces more lenses at the wide end. It's debatable who has the best quality lenses at a given range as well as exact pricing on such, but Canon itself does not offer much at the wide end so far. That combined w/ the slightly higher crop factor of the 300D/10D is something to remember when comparing Canon vs Nikon at the entry level.

I'm in the same boat, but those things are too minor to sway me if the D70 is for real. Well, I guess a serious price drop from Canon could change that. For external flash, I could always sell off the 420ex on eBay although it's unclear how much the new Nikon SB600 flash will cost. FYI, that flash might turn out to be better than 420ex too since it seems to offer manual controls.

Yep. Will have to see.

Verily so.

_Man_

Well, hard to compare since Canon competes in more markets than Nikon. Nikon doesn't do video nor printing for instance. Still, I don't doubt Canon's bigger (and probably a step ahead in general) given how it's been dominating across the board so far. There were rumors that Nikon might give up on the low end (ie. non-DSLR compacts), and if so, that's probably a good thing for DSLR users since Nikon could then focus more on their DSLR tech.

I think the problem lies more in those who think a better camera will actually make them better photographers, just like a fancy typewriter makes a better writer

Heh heh, well, I won't argue there.

_Man_

Has the D70 got the magnesium shell/stainless frame construction of the 10D?
If it is polycarbonate construction then the nearest in the Canon range is the 300D - and I believe that the D70 is more expensive that the 300D ('standard' zoom alone is 3 times the price) - so where does the D70 compete directly with either the 10D or the 300D?

Canon have their vision of what the range/feature set is at a particular price and Nikon have their own - simple really. For Nikon fans there are Nikons and for Canon fans Canons; if you work as a photographer and are given the equipment you use what is provided, if you are a Pro. and buy your own and have a Canon system then you don't lightly make the change on the basis of one body or lens coming onto the market.
It is only amateurs who have the luxary of trading across systems at a whim.

Paul,

Nobody is suggesting that people w/ a lot already invested in Canon lenses and/or the 10D should jump ship. It would be rather silly to do that w/ very few exceptions.

And I already pointed out that the D70 probably has weaker build quality although plastic is much stronger than it used to be. Unless you intend to throw your camera around a lot, there may be essentially no difference there at all -- and even if you do (for whatever reason), there's no guarantee that even the 10D will survive. Well, I'd agree that the 10D's metal body will look more impressive even if it's not really significantly stronger.

As for competing w/ 300D, well, I'd agree there's no competition there since the D70 kills the 300D period (on paper anyway). More expensive? Unless Canon slashes prices or re-enable a bunch of features, the roughly 10-15% price diff shouldn't stop any potential buyer from considering the D70, instead of 300D. It may still lead some to choose the 300D for the small savings, but it should not preclude the D70 from consideration. And then, some may stick w/ Canon because of existing lenses from film days (or sharing w/ an existing 10D perhaps).

Of course, again, we are only talking about the D70 on paper. The real thing come spring might just fall short of that.

_Man_

As an owner of Nikon and Canon equipment (glass and bodies), I'll just say this. Don't get lost in specs. Canon gives me beautiful color. My G2 and 10D give me sharp pictures with astounding color. I bought a Nikon D100 and returned it. Take a look at www.Nikonians.org and read about the headaches people have had getting accurate color with their D100's.
Scott

AAAYyyyyy!!!

This is a very exciting time for people thinking of upgrading to a DSLR for the first time. I think Nikon just set the bar higher in terms of features/price. This brings me back to the days of deciding if I should go for Mac or Windows..........Its almost like choosing a religion (okay not quite).........But it is a big decision I think, almost like getting married to a company for better or worst.

I am just hoping that Canon answers to this challenge with the upcoming PMA. For the moment, that D70 just replaced all my itching for the 300D. People are saying that this camera almost is on par and in some regards better than the current D100 (Nikons answer to the 10D). The kit lens is also said to be a much better quality than that compared to the one from the Rebel. All in all, this camera is the BOMB!!!

Now here 2 things that will take me back to Canon's court.

1. If they lower the price of the 10D (body) matching that of the D70.
2. If they introduce a new DSLR in the same range/features/price of the D70 this Febuary.

Otherwise, I'll be a Nikonian for shur.........

I think you really can't go wrong though, as both Nikon and Canon are reputable companies in the industry. And you can't really tell the difference between the two.........or can you??

Ro1

scottbergerphoto wrote:
As an owner of Nikon and Canon equipment (glass and bodies), I'll just say this. Don't get lost in specs. Canon gives me beautiful color. My G2 and 10D give me sharp pictures with astounding color. I bought a Nikon D100 and returned it. Take a look at www.Nikonians.org and read about the headaches people have had getting accurate color with their D100's.
Scott

Scott,

I have heard a little about this over in DPReview's Nikon forum, but have seen very few who actually find any real issues w/ "accurate" color on D100. Personally, I think there's no such thing as truly accurate color -- it depends on who's looking and what one feels is acceptably accurate. I took a quick look at Nikonians.org's D100 forum looking for color issues from the last few weeks, and found none except the usual WB issue that's common to all digicams -- at least all at the 10D/D100 range and below. Can you point to a specific issue w/ a specific link (or the right key words to search)?

OTOH, I have heard of a 10D focusing issue in very low light situations and/or when opening lens aperture to the max. And actually, this concerns me more than a very slight color inaccuracy. Of course, much like the color issue you mentioned, this focusing issue might not be quite so real anyway. Certainly, I don't hear about it over here. And that's why I haven't actually brought it up.

_Man_