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Wednesday, April 20, 2005 2:17 PM PT Posted by Melissa Perenson
Nikon's New Digital SLRs and Lenses
After weeks of rumor on the Web, Nikon today formally announced its latest entries in the consumer digital SLR space. The new Nikon D50 and Nikon D70s, both due out in June, will be replacing the D70, which was released a year ago.The two cameras each have enough differentiation to make them appropriate for their own niche. Both are 6.1-megapixels, and both sport a 2-inch LCD, an updated menu interface, and improved battery life. But that's where the similarities end.
At $899, the D50 (below) is priced to sell to folks looking to step up from a point-and-shoot into the digital SLR realm. With that audience in mind, the D50 only supports Secure Digital cards, today's media of choice for many compact point-and-shoots. Nikon says the use of SD enabled it to make the camera itself smaller and lighter than the D70/D70s.
Other differences: The D50 ships with the AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-55mm zoom lens (below) (as opposed to the wider-ranged 18-70mm zoom that ships with the current D70 and the new D70s); lacks the plastic LCD cover that ships with the D70/D70s models; has a slower shutter speed than the D70/D70s; features user alerts inside the viewfinder (for example, to warn you when you don't have media in the camera); has a less sophisticated metering system than the D70s; and it shoots only 2.5 frames per second (as opposed to the D70s's 3 frames per second).
By contrast, the D70s (below), at $1199, is poised to tempt photography enthusiasts and even some professionals. The D70s will replace the existing D70, and features a handful of tweaks, both physical (larger LCD) and internal (improved auto-focusing).
As a D70 user myself, I was pleased to hear that some of these new features won't be entirely lost to those of us who already invested a month's rent into the D70 a year ago. Nikon plans to issue a firmware update for the D70 that will update the menus and improve the auto-focusing, among other things.
I was pleased to hear that Nikon is also releasing in June two new DX-class lenses, the 18-55mm and the 55-200mm. Unfortunately, neither of these lenses addresses the gaping hole in Nikon's lens offerings: a true 18-200mm in a single lens. Given how sensitive a digital SLR is to dust, personally, I'd rather have a single lens that spans the complete range than risk getting dust on my CCD again.
What would you like to see for your next digital SLR?
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How about something similar to Lumix (DMZ - FZ 20 - which I now use - instead of my Nikon Photomic - having transition to digital) by Panasonic (12 times - optical zoom) which uses a Leica lens with similar capabilities?? I am looking for something along this line.
I own a D70 and I like it very much, but I firmly believe the 6-meg D70s will be no match to Canon's 8-meg Digital Rebel XT as most enthusiasts and amateurs mainly look for "megapixels" in their new cameras. I wonder why Nikon bothered. The market will probably Nikon's marketing strategists wrong.
In comparison, Digital Rebel XT is lighter, $200 cheaper and has 2 extra megapixels. The only mentionable advantage D70s has is its slightly wider lens.
I am a user of D70 and a photographer for quite a while. I found the camera almost as good as a manual SLR. However, I would love to see some more megapixels put in to the picture. It would help getting larger prints such as commercial large posters. As far as lens changes are concerned, I have no problems with available lenses.
Its only Morons and deadbeats that look for Megapixels. There is no big difference in output between an 8Mp and a 6MP. Keeping the size of the sensor the same, the 8Mp actually introduces more noise since the pixel cells have to be smaller. The Nikon has a better lens and Im sure the D50 is priced the same as the Canon XT. The XT is built like a toy.
i have to agree with chris as far as megapixels go, a lot of pros use the nikon d1x with less than 6 megapixels, see moose petersons articles, and enlarge to 16x20 with no problem. and yes, the more megapixels jammed into the same sensor size the more noise and purple fringing
PC World needs to get some photographers' input before publishing a review. No serious shooter would bother with an 18-200 mm lens. First, the quality just isn't going to be as good as more moderate zooms, especially at the wide end; and second, such a lens would be dreadfully slow (high f/ number) at the long end, rendering it useless except in very bright light. You'll find serious photographers slapping wide angle primes (no zoom at all) on their cameras; super zooms are strictly for amateurs who aren't picky about photo quality. That might be a big market, but a camera reviewer should know better than to cater to it (even if Nikon might be might wiser to do so, as it would by slapping in more megapixels, however negligibly that might improve the actual images).
Your points, Peter, about the tradeoffs with an 18-200mm zoom are dead-on. However, in photography, many of the choices you make represent a trade-off. For example, I have used a slow 70-210 for a decade, and I've learned to adapt and compensate for its inadequacies.
In saying I want to see an 18-200mm zoom, I personally have one goal in mind: I want to avoid changing lenses on the fly. I've found that changing lenses while on a street corner (or at a basebal game) is a surefire way of getting dust on the camera's CCD. For many circumstances, some shooters, including myself, might find a lens like an 18-200mm will do the trick, tradeoffs and all. But for now, Nikon's closest offering is the 28-200mm; and with the crop on Nikon's digital SLR's, that means you completely lose the wide angle.
It's a news story, not a review, you moron.
I would have urchased a D70 today, except for the fact that I have small ands and the width of the D70 (and I assume the D70s) is just to wide ! Does anyone else have that problem ? I'll stay with my Nikon film SLR systems until some manufacturer addresses that issue.
I also don't understand the comments about pixels - the best digital SLRs are over 12 - sounds like rationalization to me....
The D70s per review is a pretty good camera, I will however stick with my Nikon Photomic until I am able to have extra-money, then probably I might go for something less expensive. Cannot afford this yet. I would like a lense that go from 28mm to 500mm with the resolution of a micro-nikkor. Is this asking too much?
I would like to see - a Nikon D50 with lens equivalent to 28mm to 200mm. I heard - one is nearing production. As soon as one comes out, I would like to have my hands on one.