Semi-Pro advice needed - Nikon D70?

TheNewsGuy(Mike) wrote:
My friend is an architect who designs and remodels interiors,does
additions and designs furniture. He photographs his projects for his
portfolio and professional purposes. He also has an artistic bent and
photgraphs for pleasure and displays many of his excellent landscape,
still life, and portrait shots.

Presently he has a Nikon film camera (model unknown, but a good one)
with a collection of Nikon lenses.

His wife would like to get him a digital camera for upcoming birthday
(and before a 6 week trip to the west coast). His brother, a
professional photographer, warned her about getting the Nikon digital
because the present lenses will be 1.5 x focal length on the D70. So
his 28mm becomes 42 mm etc. (and he uses 28mm a lot).

I was going to bring this question up as soon as you said he was an
architect. However it is not a deal killer. What it means is he can use
all his current lenses and will need a new shorter focal length wide angle
lens. He will want something at least 20 mm and likely shorter. I have a
10mm-22mm zoom for my Canon 20D and love it. I believe Nikon makes lenses
in the range he will want and third party supplies are doing likewise.

I would say go with the Nikon, it is a good camera and he will likely
enjoy the fact that is functions much like what he currently is using.


He recommended she consider the Olympus E300. I was concerned with
the www.dpreview.com that said image quality was not the best. I know
that would be important to him.

This is a good camera, but I doubt if he is going to really love it. It
is not the one I would chose for him, based on what you have told us.


I also think his Nikon flash will be compatible with the D70. (I don't
know the Flash unit model, other than it is Nikon).

Maybe maybe not. That one will need to be checked.


Any advice or information would be appreciated.

Thanks




--
Joseph Meehan

26 + 6 = 1 It's Irish Math

Maybe gthe D70 with the 18-70mm kit lens.
This will give 27-105mm equivalent. He will also be able to use his existing
Nikkor lenses.
The 18-70mm is excellent value and a good lens on the D70 - not as good as
the prime Nikkor wide angles but a lot cheaper...

Alternatively there are...

12-24mm f2.8 DX

12-24mm f4 DX http://www.bythom.com/1224lens.htm

17-55mm f2.8 DX http://www.bythom.com/1755lens.htm

18-35mm f3.5-4.5D http://www.bythom.com/1835lens.htm

So even with the 1.5x crop factor you can get to 18mm

Guy

TheNewsGuy(Mike) wrote:
My friend is an architect who designs and remodels interiors,does
additions and designs furniture. He photographs his projects for his
portfolio and professional purposes. He also has an artistic bent and
photgraphs for pleasure and displays many of his excellent landscape,
still life, and portrait shots.

Presently he has a Nikon film camera (model unknown, but a good one)
with a collection of Nikon lenses.

His wife would like to get him a digital camera for upcoming birthday
(and before a 6 week trip to the west coast). His brother, a
professional photographer, warned her about getting the Nikon digital
because the present lenses will be 1.5 x focal length on the D70. So
his 28mm becomes 42 mm etc. (and he uses 28mm a lot).

He recommended she consider the Olympus E300. I was concerned with
the www.dpreview.com that said image quality was not the best. I know
that would be important to him.

I also think his Nikon flash will be compatible with the D70. (I don't
know the Flash unit model, other than it is Nikon).

Any advice or information would be appreciated.

Thanks












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In article , TheNewsGuy(Mike)
wrote:

His wife would like to get him a digital camera for upcoming birthday
(and before a 6 week trip to the west coast). His brother, a
professional photographer, warned her about getting the Nikon digital
because the present lenses will be 1.5 x focal length on the D70. So
his 28mm becomes 42 mm etc. (and he uses 28mm a lot).

He recommended she consider the Olympus E300. I was concerned with
the www.dpreview.com that said image quality was not the best. I know
that would be important to him.

I also think his Nikon flash will be compatible with the D70. (I don't
know the Flash unit model, other than it is Nikon).

Everyone is different, but unless the trip is at least a couple of
months off, I'd recommend he continue to use his film equipment.

To use the D70 the way he's used to, he'd either have to buy at least
one expensive new lens (a wide) or get stuck with the bundled zoom -
which is worthless on his other camera. That might not bother him, but
I, at least, see that as a real waste.

The E300 is not a trivial purchase, is relatively unproven, and
COMPLETELY ignores his current investment in lenses.

Finally, thanks to the wonders of advancing technology (and Nikon
marketing) any existing flash would be partially compatible with the
D70 at best.

Sun unless he's willing to buy a D70, a new flash, and perhaps the
18-35mm f/3.5-4.5 Nikkor, and has some time to learn it all - I'd stay
put if I were him.

On Tue, 22 Feb 2005 14:44:12 GMT, "Joseph Meehan"
wrote:

TheNewsGuy(Mike) wrote:
My friend is an architect who designs and remodels interiors,does
additions and designs furniture. He photographs his projects for his
portfolio and professional purposes. He also has an artistic bent and
photgraphs for pleasure and displays many of his excellent landscape,
still life, and portrait shots.

Presently he has a Nikon film camera (model unknown, but a good one)
with a collection of Nikon lenses.

His wife would like to get him a digital camera for upcoming birthday
(and before a 6 week trip to the west coast). His brother, a
professional photographer, warned her about getting the Nikon digital
because the present lenses will be 1.5 x focal length on the D70. So
his 28mm becomes 42 mm etc. (and he uses 28mm a lot).

I was going to bring this question up as soon as you said he was an
architect. However it is not a deal killer. What it means is he can use
all his current lenses and will need a new shorter focal length wide angle
lens. He will want something at least 20 mm and likely shorter. I have a
10mm-22mm zoom for my Canon 20D and love it. I believe Nikon makes lenses
in the range he will want and third party supplies are doing likewise.

I would say go with the Nikon, it is a good camera and he will likely
enjoy the fact that is functions much like what he currently is using.

Yep, buy him the D70 and let him go out and choose a really wide lens
to use with it.

He's already got a lot of Nikon kit, switching systems now makes no
sense.

--
Owamanga!

His wife would like to get him a digital camera for upcoming birthday
(and before a 6 week trip to the west coast). His brother, a
professional photographer, warned her about getting the Nikon digital
because the present lenses will be 1.5 x focal length on the D70. So
his 28mm becomes 42 mm etc. (and he uses 28mm a lot).


Then he can get a new lens to cover 28mm....I have a 12-24/4 which is a
18-36mm. And I can use ALL of my existing lenses. Or get a 17mm fixed
lens which will be just about 26mm. There are some very good ones. The
Tokina pro in both the 12-24/4 and the 17/3.5 are excellent and work
great on the D70.

He recommended she consider the Olympus E300. I was concerned with
the www.dpreview.com that said image quality was not the best. I know
that would be important to him.


Why do that, then all of his Nikon gear is useless with the new camera,
and you will still need to buy new lenses for the Olympus camera.

I also think his Nikon flash will be compatible with the D70. (I don't
know the Flash unit model, other than it is Nikon).


Yes it will work. How compatible depends on which model. I have an
older SB-28 and I use it all the time with my D70...You just have to use
it in different modes. To get fully automatic flash metering, and the
best on the market, a new flash unit will probably be needed. But he
can surely use just about ANY Nikon flash in th emeantime, just not in
Auto modes.

The D70 is an awesome camera and a GREAT value. I wonder if this "pro"
photographer has ever used one...I know MANY pro shooters and some have
used my D70 and were amazed by it. They picked it up immediately. If
he likes shooting and is a Nikon guy, the D70 is the way to go.

JR

TheNewsGuy(Mike) wrote:
My friend is an architect who designs and remodels interiors,does
additions and designs furniture. He photographs his projects for his
portfolio and professional purposes. He also has an artistic bent and
photgraphs for pleasure and displays many of his excellent landscape,
still life, and portrait shots.

For a different approach to the DSLR, try the Nikon Coolpix 8400. 24 -
85mm zoom built-in.

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/spec...kon_cp8400.asp

Cheers,
David

"David J Taylor"
wrote in message k...

For a different approach to the DSLR, try the Nikon Coolpix 8400. 24 -
85mm zoom built-in.

The OP's friend wants to upgrade - not downgrade. The built-in lens on a
wide-zoom ZLR can't compare optically to a nice SLR lens. The man is an
architect, and should use a lens that has as little barrel distortion as
possible. Keep in mind that his frame of comparison will be to a film SLR
with a 28mm prime lens. Don't forget about the huge difference in sensor
size between the D70 and the Coolpix 8400.

If he is willing to spend additional money on a quality superwide lens, then
the D70 would be the way to go. If not, then he should probably stick with
film.

My friend is an architect who designs and remodels interiors,does
additions and designs furniture. He photographs his projects for his
portfolio and professional purposes. He also has an artistic bent and
photgraphs for pleasure and displays many of his excellent landscape,
still life, and portrait shots.

Presently he has a Nikon film camera (model unknown, but a good one)
with a collection of Nikon lenses.

His wife would like to get him a digital camera for upcoming birthday
(and before a 6 week trip to the west coast). His brother, a
professional photographer, warned her about getting the Nikon digital
because the present lenses will be 1.5 x focal length on the D70. So
his 28mm becomes 42 mm etc. (and he uses 28mm a lot).

He recommended she consider the Olympus E300. I was concerned with
the www.dpreview.com that said image quality was not the best. I know
that would be important to him.

I also think his Nikon flash will be compatible with the D70. (I don't
know the Flash unit model, other than it is Nikon).

Any advice or information would be appreciated.

Thanks












+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+ The News Guy(Mike) - Seinfeld Lists
+ (two mirrored sites)
+ http://membres.lycos.fr/tnguym
+ http://wave.prohosting.com/tnguym NOWTHISWORKS
+ All things Seinfeld; scripts, trivia, lists,
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

"Bigguy" wrote in message
...
Maybe gthe D70 with the 18-70mm kit lens.
This will give 27-105mm equivalent. He will also be able to use his
existing
Nikkor lenses.
The 18-70mm is excellent value and a good lens on the D70 - not as good as
the prime Nikkor wide angles but a lot cheaper...

I agree. If he uses a 28mm a lot, the D70 with the kit lens will give him a
great starting point with a zoom lens that should make him happy, and he
should be able to use all, if not most, of the lenses he already has. For
architectural photography the kit lens may be all he ever needs, and many of
the "negatives" in that zoom lens can be corrected by software. And
compared to most, it is a very, very good zoom lens.

True211 wrote:
"David J Taylor"
wrote in
message k...

For a different approach to the DSLR, try the Nikon Coolpix 8400.
24 - 85mm zoom built-in.

The OP's friend wants to upgrade - not downgrade. The built-in lens
on a wide-zoom ZLR can't compare optically to a nice SLR lens. The
man is an architect, and should use a lens that has as little barrel
distortion as possible. Keep in mind that his frame of comparison
will be to a film SLR with a 28mm prime lens. Don't forget about the
huge difference in sensor size between the D70 and the Coolpix 8400.

If he is willing to spend additional money on a quality superwide
lens, then the D70 would be the way to go. If not, then he should
probably stick with film.

I wouldn't consider the Nikon 8400 a downgrade, but as a step on the way.
It would be an excellent introduction to digital while not requiring a
total change. He could take both existing kit and the 8400 and learn a
lot, without the larger investment that a D70 and quality superwide lens
would require. The small amount of distortion present in the 8400 can
easily be removed in post-processing.

As I said, it's just a suggestion - a different approach.

Cheers,
David