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View Full Version : I'm in a toss up of 2 choices!



msommers
07-27-2006, 04:57 PM
Well after seeing some of the pictures produced for awhile now on beyond and getting tired of all the preset functions on my Nixon P&S, I really want to get involved with SLR's. I really like taking pictures of landscape and sky shots, some close picture of wildlife, flowers etc. With all the reviews from the internet and also from fellow beyonders, I've narrowed it down to 2 choices as an INITIAL purchase (As everyone hints photography is a enjoyable money pit :D) :

1) D50 body w/ say a 70-300mm lens or 55-200mm lens

or

2)D70S w/ kit lens

The 900-1200 dollar range is my budget roughly. Both seem to be fairly simliar when compared w/ kit lenses, the D70 kit lenses is superior to the D50's kit lense however. The D50 seems to have better noise reduction though. I've been finding through reading web sources that the lenses are what makes a great photo (photographer aside) not solely on the camera itself. So with that said, let the opinions roll.

turboMiata
07-27-2006, 09:01 PM
i think you should hang on for a few weeks while nikon releases the D80. i'm sure prices will drop for the D70s after that. if you like shooting landscapes i'd recommend you go with a wide angle lens like the 18-70 that comes with the D70. 55mm is much too long for landscapes.

i'm going to give the D70s my thumbs up (backlit LCDs and DOF preview rule)!

maybe a miracle will happen and nikon will start shipping the elusive 18-200VR cuz then that would be the perfect travel lens.

msommers
07-27-2006, 11:40 PM
Thank you very much for the advice. Is this the lens you were referring to?

http://www.thecamerastore.com/ProductDetails.aspx?productID=31782

At any rate, I was leaning towards the D70s kit b/c of these photos taken by a fellow beyonder I believe:

http://www.trekearth.com/photos.php?offset=4&cat=lens&id=2191

Seeing what the potential of the camera is like was very persuasive. Another concern I had though was if I get a D50 body with even a $500, the price will still be around the same. At $500, thats a pretty decent lens, however I'm wondering if just getting the D70s kit over the D50 with a lens is still worth the extra dollars.

msommers
07-30-2006, 09:51 PM
Well I picked up a used D70 body today with a 1 gb card and a Nikkor AF 35-70mm F2.8D lens. Let the experimenting begin! All for a low price of 900 bucks.

Akagi Redsuns
07-31-2006, 07:09 PM
That's not a bad price for a D70 and a decently fast lens. A little limiting on the wide angle though.

Enjoy it! It will be miles better than any P&S.

msommers
07-31-2006, 10:58 PM
I'd be interested when Nikon would ship the 18-200VR lens. The 35-70 has it's limits but the glass is superb and very sharp. So far it's more finding out about the camera and experimenting with apeature and shutter speed so far. Nothin too too gory detail like changing WB fine tuning but it's coming along alright. Hopefully post some stuff up soon.

seer_claw
08-01-2006, 09:37 PM
I got the D70s a couple of months ago and I love it. The kit lens is actually really good and shows a good range for when you are starting out in the DSLR realm.

Good luck finding or even getting a 18-200 VR. There is a wait list of 150 people at the Camera Store, and Nikon doesn't seem to be flooding the market with them.

clem24
08-16-2006, 05:45 PM
Not sure, but I read that the 18-55 actually has less distortion than the 18-70 and possibly better colors. I actually like the 18-55 for it's sheer compactness. It's not a bad lens, but I haven't personally used it. The 18-70 does have weird distortion at 18mm. 35-70 sounds awesome for portraits, but way too limiting IMHO.

And remember you can get great pictures out of just about any cam. It's all about the photographer, not a particular camera. I've seen spectacular shots from a D50.

Akagi Redsuns
08-16-2006, 06:15 PM
Originally posted by clem24
Not sure, but I read that the 18-55 actually has less distortion than the 18-70 and possibly better colors. I actually like the 18-55 for it's sheer compactness. It's not a bad lens, but I haven't personally used it. The 18-70 does have weird distortion at 18mm. 35-70 sounds awesome for portraits, but way too limiting IMHO..........snip

I have seen the same thing at the photozone.de site, really shows on the wide angle at 18mm.

I liked the additional reach for the 70mm, but shooting wide angle shots of buildings didn't fair too well for me.

18-70mm

http://photozone.de/8Reviews/lenses/nikkor_1870_3545/18mm_distortion.png

18-55mm

http://photozone.de/8Reviews/lenses/nikkor_1855_3556/18mm_distortion.png

BerserkerCatSplat
08-16-2006, 06:17 PM
Wow, that's pretty substantial. I remember reading about the distortion, it was one of the reasons I decided against dumping my 18-55 for an 18-70.

clem24
08-17-2006, 11:31 AM
LOL I always suspected something was up. Just the way the lines were going in my shots :nut:. Any distortion figures on the 18-200 at 18?

BerserkerCatSplat
08-17-2006, 05:20 PM
Distortion on the 18-200 is +4.0 barrel at 18mm, same as the 18-55. The 18-70 is +6.0 barrel.

Akagi Redsuns
08-17-2006, 05:42 PM
Originally posted by clem24
LOL I always suspected something was up. Just the way the lines were going in my shots :nut:. Any distortion figures on the 18-200 at 18?

Looks worse than the 18-70. Too bad the 18-55 feels so cheap to hold and use though. I really enjoyed using the 18-70 over it, especially the Manual Focus Override.

http://photozone.de/8Reviews/lenses/nikkor_18200_3556vr/18mm_distortion.png

clem24
08-18-2006, 08:56 AM
The 18-200 appears to distort more, but in a more predictable manner. Maybe it's just my 18-70. But I get really weird (i.e. non-linear) distortion in the corners, especially on the left side of the lens. Wish I had a good example at 18mm. Here's an example on some non-linear pin cushion at 55.