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Nikon D40 vs Nikon D70s vs Canon 350d?

I have been looking at digicam ultra zooms for the last couple of years, thinking I would grab one. But there was always something that wasn't perfect about them. Kept thinking maybe I'd want to be able to manually adjust this or that, not being to plug in external flash, or add a lens to do something different.

Hence, I thought I should have a look at getting a dslr. Up until recently, the price of dslr bodies with kit lens has been more than I wanted to pay

As for the budget, the price of the Nikon D40 got my interest Or a second hand D70s or 350d. Looking at a budget of $1000 tops for a
body and kit lens. I would look at getting a macro lens and longer zoom down the road.

My primary interest would be taking photographs of the inhabitants of my marine aquarium, primarily macro shots. I can also see myself taking photographs of critters while freediving in some of Melbourne's underwater reefs. Also interested in photographing landscapes.

FWIW, my father has a Nikon F5 and a couple of lens, so I could probably try them if I bought a Nikon and begged hard enough

Anyone suggest which one of the D40, D70s, or 350D would be best and for what reasons?


Mark

markjd wrote:Nikon D40 vs Nikon D70s vs Canon 350d?

My primary interest would be taking photographs of the inhabitants of my marine aquarium, primarily macro shots.
Anyone suggest which one of the D40, D70s, or 350D would be best and for what reasons?

haha another person with a marine aquarium
with my first shoot this weekend the guy that was helping me had a 350D rebal XT blah blah...the older model anyway... as i see the improvement from that to my 400D is huge! the screen on his is like 1.8inch wheres mine is like 2.8 i think...tis getting late.... but this was a REAL drag for reviewing images..... being that a 400D is beyond ur budget i would say a D70s 2nd hand, there are sum good deals to be had and so i believe they are a great cam as ALOT of ppl here have them! so based on this i say go the D70....i am uber noob so be aware i may be talking crap im just basing this on my experience so far with my 400d compared to its older self there are many more comparisons ... try ... http://www.dpreview.com ...dam hope i got that right...really tired

Out of this lot, the D70 is the best IMO. Most solid build, nicest ergonomics. Has 2 command dials, DOF preview button, ability to command wireless flashes...

IMO, the 350 just isn't comfortable for me to hold, and the D40 has too many restrictions vis a vis auto focus capability with non AF-S lenses...

Try THIS LINK for a side-by-side look at the features (thanks to dpreview )

If you can find a D70s in decent shape, it'd be the best option. But as always, the advice is to get out there, hold each one in your hand and have a play.

markjd wrote:FWIW, my father has a Nikon F5 and a couple of lens, so I could probably try them if I bought a Nikon and begged hard enough

D70s!

Why? Because you may have access to some good glass, and the D70s is the only one that the glass is likely to work on.

You could get one for $600-900 in great condition.

Don't even think about a D40 or 350D, go D70s or a D50 (Preferably D70s). Remember though, an underwater case for any of the above is $1000+ so i would stick to taking photos through the glass not freediving for now.

Welcome the D70 Users forum... oh wait... we're now called "DSLR Users"

You ask 90% of members here, who had or still have a D70 and will say that this camera will work perfectly in any casual situations. Mount a better quality lens on it, it will simply shine on you.

Be more aware that the D70 is a generation older in the image processing algorithms. That means, the results straight out of the camera will not be stunning as other cameras, but if you know your way around to tweak things, you will get as stunning results as other more advanced cameras.

With you starting budget, you are to choose from a 2nd hand D70 or a brand new D50 which is a handicapped version of the D70. Cheap and useful enough for most of the photo enthusiastic.

Considering this, you may want to go into a camera store and try out both bodies, the D50 is smaller in size to the D70, needless to say the miniature size of a D40 compared to a D70.

Enough said, do not trust anyone, go by yourself, feel the camera pick the one that you fall in love first. I'm sure one will kick you into the love and lust trap under first sight

Once again, welcome to the DSLR world and first step into the most expensive hobby in the planet

The 350D is also a nice camera, and shouldn't necessarily be discounted out of hand. And as a Canon user I'd have to say it's a better choice than those weird Nikon cameras...

It's not the top of the line EOS body (I regard the 30D and 5D as excellent bodies) but its image quality is excellent and although its user interface is a bit handicapped compared to the 20D/30D/5D series, I've used one since early 2006 as an extra body and even managed to get lots of action shots with it last week. I have quite large hands and although it's smaller than the other cameras it's not uncomfortable to use. The 400D is a bit nicer to use (the 2.5" LCD and the R/G/B histograms are significant features) but essentially it's very similar.
The basic 18-55mm kit lens is VERY basic, but does produce surprisingly good images. 350D & 18-55mm will definitely fit within your budget.

Yi-P wrote:Once again, welcome to the DSLR world and first step into the most expensive hobby in the planet

I'm sure we can each set different records for how much we spend, but there are other expensive hobbies out there also. People don't blink too much about spending $50,000 on a car...

Thanks to all for your welcome and replies.

I didn't realise this was previously the d70users forum. That would explain a general bias to the Nikons I understand the Canon vs Nikon debate is verging on religious fervour. I am leaning more towards the Nikon side at this stage myself, given that I might have access to some decent lenses. But if a good deal for the 350d comes along, that could sway me.

I checked out the d40 in store yesterday. It is a small and light camera compared to some other dslr's I saw in store. I did like the 2.5" lcd on the back. I had the sales person take a macro shot of my hand just to see how it turned out. On preview of the image on the smallish lcd, we were able to zoom in to see more of my hairy knuckles than I would want. Also tried continuous shooting mode. After working out the flash should be turned off inside for that to work, it went smoothly. I didn't play around with it too much, as I have nfi how to work my way through the menus of these new fangled cameras

I will try out both the d70s and 350d in store in the next week or so.


Mark

The 400D has come down a lot in price latley, i think if you want to go Canon you can get one for around around $1000. Might be worth having a look instead of the 350D...

You might be hard pushed to find a D70s in a store now, as they have been superseded by the D80 by nearly six months now.

The important thing to remember with the D40 is that it will only autofocus with AFS lenses and even though your father has the F5 he may not have AFS lenses that will work on the D40. You need to look at his lenses and look for the AFS logo in the lens specs. It would help if you listed the lens types and specs here and then we could give more advice. Also which type of memory cards you now have - Cf or SD

Personally - I would go the D70s over the D40.

The camera bodies themselves will be well obscelete before the lenses

Can we say about the D70s:

1) Larger body
2) Support for pretty much all previous Nikon lenses
3) DOF preview
4) 2 command dials (not sure what this means )
5) Ability to command wireless flashes

About the D40:

1) Larger LCD
2) Smaller body
3) Only supports the newer AFS lenses

That's some technical stuff that is different between them. How about quality of the images between the two of them using the standard kit lens? Does the D70s take better photos than the D40? Is one camera easier to use than the other?

I will ask my father what lenses he has sometime this week.


Mark

Well, the D70s can use MOST previous lenses. Lenses prior to 1977 (or non-ai lenses) won't physically fit, but can be modified to do so. They will not meter. AI manual lenses (post 1977) will fit, but won't meter (they will meter on a D200 or D2X).

The two command dials are mega-useful in manual mode because one will control shutter speed, the other will control the aperture. With the D40/50, the single command dial controls shutter speed, and you have to hold down a button and turn the wheel to control aperture.

I believe they use the exact same sensor (?), so image quality won't be any different. The D70s kit lens is MUCH better than the D40 kit lens.

Suffice to say that in good lighting and shooting conditions, IMO there is very little difference in final image quality between any camera/lens combination.

The better bodies and lenses will allow you to get the shot when the conditions are tough, and generally make life easier for you (by having functions assigned to buttons rather than through menus, etc etc)

losfp wrote:Well, the D70s can use MOST previous lenses. Lenses prior to 1977 (or non-ai lenses) won't physically fit, but can be modified to do so. They will not meter. AI manual lenses (post 1977) will fit, but won't meter (they will meter on a D200 or D2X).

The two command dials are mega-useful in manual mode because one will control shutter speed, the other will control the aperture. With the D40/50, the single command dial controls shutter speed, and you have to hold down a button and turn the wheel to control aperture.

I believe they use the exact same sensor (?), so image quality won't be any different. The D70s kit lens is MUCH better than the D40 kit lens.

Suffice to say that in good lighting and shooting conditions, IMO there is very little difference in final image quality between any camera/lens combination.

The better bodies and lenses will allow you to get the shot when the conditions are tough, and generally make life easier for you (by having functions assigned to buttons rather than through menus, etc etc)

I can see that the extra command dial would be useful for manual mode.

The difference between the standard kit lens I didn't know about. I would probably be using the standard kit lens for a while.

I can see that the D70s has some extra features. But I take your point about the image quality being the same between the D40 and D70s with same sensor.

It's still too early for me to decide which one to get. Trying to weigh up whether I will use the extra features of the D70s.

Thanks for your help.


Mark

Just got some info about my father's Nikon lenses. He only has the one telephoto lens after a break in a few years back:

AF-I Teleconverter TC-20E
AF-S Nikkor 300mm 1:2.8D

Will this setup work ok with the D40?


Mark

Well, if it is actually the AF-s 300 mm f/2.8G VR IF-ED, then yes. This one -> http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/30028vr.htm

If it is the AF-I 300 mm f/2.8D ED-IF, then also yes. This one -> http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/30028afi.htm

If it is the Nikon AF 300mm f2.8 IF-ED, then NO (will fit, will take photos, but won't autofocus). This one -> http://dirtcheapcameras.com.au/store/pr ... roduct=114

Any of the 300/2.8 lenses are likely to be brilliant.

Dont think the D40 will work too well on the back of it...
http://www.imagepower.de/IMAGES/imgEQUIPMENT/AFS300.htm

Even with a 80-200 the D40 is not compatible, but I could resist taking this pic...


If your father is interested in selling the AFS300/2.8 please PM me

Thanks, guys.

I had a quick look at the lens tonight. Looking at that first link you posted, I don't think it's new enough to have the VR. But it definitely has AF-S on the lense. Probably a pre VR AF-S version?

I don't think my father wants to sell the lense any time soon. He loves taking his telephoto bird photos


Mark