D50 VS D70s, Professional views needed.

[XsteelWolf]

Greetings,

Can any professional recommend which DSLR is better?What will be the exact difference in them?

Beside,I got a deal of D70s for 1625,comes with standard kit.Anyone got a lower price than that?

Thanks and regards,
XsteelWolf

[TMC]

check out Dpreview.com

but basically the difference is like driving bmw 300 and the 500 series. there`s no better DSLR, just which DSLR can do more.

[wrx_sti_22b]

Originally Posted by XsteelWolf Greetings, Beside,I got a deal of D70s for 1625,comes with standard kit.Anyone got a lower price than that?

That is a good price. I was quoted $1360 for the body only.

[snowspeeder]

If u have the budget, go for D70s. Cheaper prices does not mean better reliability. Most important is a trustworthy shop with good customer service. I don't mind paying a few dollars more for that.

[jumbocrab]

The D50 uses SD whereas D70 uses CF. To me, this is very important because if you want to upgrade to better DSLR later, the SD card will not be too useful since the majority of the better DSLRs uses CF.

[whkoh]

Hmm, the D50 looks good at higher ISOs. Minimal noise. See the sample pics at http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/forum.asp?forum=1034

[mpenza]

D70s would perform similarly at higher ISOs.

[nightpiper]

its like F55 vs F80. one has less features & controls. however if u put in a roll of Velvia & mount the AFS 17-35mm lens, both will give u top grade image quality juz like a F6 wud.

[thoa_rs]

The biggest difference to me would be the lack of a front dial for changing apperture, would feel a bit awkward for old time Nikon users. Other than that its not really much of a difference from the D70s.

[espn]

SD card is daunting to me too. Since most of us have invested tons on CF cards.

And I do agree with thoa_rs, the lacking dial is very inconvenient for most SLR users. I can live without vertical grip, but lack of 1 dial (either side) is going to be hell when you do manual metering.

[billpepsi]

Other big drawback of D50 is, its top side status panel doesn't have backlight, try doing night photography with this cam, and you would start pulling your hairs out.

http://www.dpreview.com/articles/nikond50/page3.asp

[benleez]

Apart from those mentioned above...
1. Exposure metering in D70s also has more options, in that you can select 6, 8, 10, 12mm diameters for centre-weighted metering as compared to D50's fixed 3.5mm.
2. Viewer in D70s also has on-demand gridlines, D50 does not (helpful if you're the anal-technical type who always insists on the 2/3 rule)
3. 3fps in D70s compared to D50's 2.5fps, although over 30secs, D50 actually takes more shots.
4. D50 has Hi-Speed USB2.0 whereas D70s is only Full-Speed USDB2.0
5. Apparently, the kit lens for D50 focuses faster (AF-A) than D70s' kit lens
6. D70s has built-in SB Commander mode, D50 does not.
7. D50 is lighter, hehe.

But ulitmately, I think as mentioned, in the end I went for D70s and not wait for D50 because of D50's lack of backlight in the top panel and lack of the sub-command dial.
(Actually real reason is I can't wait any longer liao! Fingers itching too badly to take photos )

[mpenza]

actually, if the price difference is not much to the person buying, go for the D70s. if the few hundred dollars saving is a big deal, go for the D50 unless you have particular issues with the camera.

[wrx_sti_22b]

I find is the main thing is the D50 uses SD card. See if that is an issue with you.

[tao]

am i right to say that D50's 3D matrix metering is more updated and thus better? read that it is based on the same metering engine as D2X.

[billpepsi]

Get the D70s. Next time if you intend to upgrade or change to other brands, at least you can still recycle your CF cards; another point to consider.

[binbeto]

Abt the SD card, what if the future of all DSLR(maybe only Nikon) will be using SD card?

Advantage of SD over CF to a layman like me are
1. Size
2. Won't bend the pin
3. Lesser power consumption?

Just some points to ponder.

[billpepsi]

Originally Posted by binbeto Abt the SD card, what if the future of all DSLR(maybe only Nikon) will be using SD card? Advantage of SD over CF to a layman like me are 1. Size 2. Won't bend the pin 3. Lesser power consumption? Just some points to ponder.

Yes, technically it is possible. But, if I'm a Canon/Pentax/Minolta user, I may consider boycotting Nikon DSLR, b'cos these CF cards aren't cheap, and many users here own more than one piece. Can't see the point of spending new SD cards again, unless there is something very special about Nikon products that other brands don't offer.

But if all DSLRs switch to SD card, then that is a different story.

[benleez]

Originally Posted by tao am i right to say that D50's 3D matrix metering is more updated and thus better? read that it is based on the same metering engine as D2X.

Supposedly that's true, but I guess the confirmation can only be made when the production D50 is out and some tests are done on it. But then again, these are easily upgraded via firmware upgrades (ok, maybe not that easily... need to wait for Nikon to develop )

Originally Posted by jeffhiew But if all DSLRs switch to SD card, then that is a different story.

Possible, but unlikely lah. If someone comes up with another format which is much faster and smaller, then there might be a mass migration to this format. But switching from one existing format to another existing format is highly unlikely.

On that note though, I find that if you are gonna be a new DSLR user, with no existing CF cards, you'll likely have some consumer DC with existing SD cards, so it might save you some money to go with D50. Furthermore, most laptops come with SD card slots nowadays, so that facilitates the transfers.

[johnyu]

Originally Posted by espn SD card is daunting to me too. Since most of us have invested tons on CF cards.

From a professional point of view (i.e. someone who gets paid by using the camera), my two biggest issues against D50 are:

- SD card, as jumbocrab and epsn have mentioned. When you need to upgrade or multiple bodies, it's a pain.

- D50 can't do command mode to drive other CLS remote flashes without fitting a flash on it. This is important if you do studio shots with multiple SB600 or SB800.