Nikon Guru's .... which camera??

My step daughter is looking for a Nikon digital camera. She is majoring in photography in school and wants to be a sports photographer when she graduates. She has her heart set on a Nikon but she's not sure which model would be best to start with. Any advice? She's looking at the D70 and higher models.

I have a D70s and I love it. I think the s model is the current model in the 70 series. I bought mine for about $600 for just the body and then got 3 lenses for $200 from a buddy of mine that had some extras. I believe the 80 will be higher pixels, and more $$. I would not waste your time whith the 50 though. If you want more info or some sample pics email me.

don't bother with the 50. go for the d200 or d70 if she's set on nikon.

D70 is about to be replaced by the D80. Look further down in this forum for the "New Nikon" post.
D200 is an expensive camera for a beginner plus with the cost of lenses is not what any parent is willing to put out.
Go cheaper with the camera body ( if you know for sure you are going to stay with the brand) and then you can spend more for lenses.

well, if she's majoring in photography she may need a more advanced camera than the d70, but thats just my opinion. I don't know how rigurous the course is.the d200 has more fps and burst capabilities which would come in handy while shooting sports, but the d70 may be all she needs.

is she in the middle of the course? or is she just starting. the d70 would be a good learner if shes just learning.

I have the D50 and I love it. It's great just setting it in sports mode and handing it over to whoever is sitting in the observers seat and telling them to start snapping photo's. I think I have sold two or three camera's for Nikon this way.

At about $600 the D50 is a great entry into digital SLR photography. It's also much lighter and more convenient for travel than the larger heavier D200 and other's. Considering that you can print photo quality prints from the resolution on 8.5x11 printers from the D50 I am really surprised when people say don't bother with the D50.

Reading the reviews between the D50 and D70 I think the D50 is the better value.

if all the shooting will be in sportsmode or the other automatic modes, then yes, the d50 would be a better value than the d70

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quote:

well, if she's majoring in photography she may need a more advanced camera than the d70,

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are you saying that the d70 is an entry level cam? from what i was told, the d70 is equivalent to the canon 20d, which is an advanced camera.

i have the d70 and it's enough camera for me. eventually, i'd like to step up to the d2, or even switch to canon and get a 1d.

d70 w/ 18-70mm

Here's an action shot from a D100 which was replaced by the D70.


BTW - Nice picture Joe as usual...

Joe-

No offense, but the D70 and the D50 are entry level cameras. That doesn't mean that you can't get fantastic images out of them. If someone is majoring in photography, though, I would recommend stepping up to the D200. A D2x is likely overkill, but a D200 would be perfect. The D70 is lacking features and some performance (autofocus tracking, buffer, etc) that would be useful to someone who wants to be a sports photographer.

No offense taken, I know the D50 is an entry level camera. But with the right glass is takes great sports pictures, which is what she is interested in taking. The key missing piece of information is what is the BUDGET? I would rather have a D50 behind some good glass than a D200 behind a bad lens. If it's in the budget then yes the D200 is probably the correct choice, followed by the D80, then the D50, in decreasing budget allowances.

Whale watching at the San Juan islands...

Maybe the D80 is the right choice regardless of budget? Read what Ken Rockwell says:

http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/d80.htm

D80 is going for $999 without a lens
Scheduled for to be out the 1st week of Sept.
The only problem is that Nikon have yet to deliver a readily supply of D200 ( release 11/2005) and 18-200mm Vr lens which they are still filling back orders from 8/2005 for the majority of the shops
I would be very surprised if anyone other than the pros would be able to have one in their possesion before 2007 by they way they have been filling their previous stock.

(Message edited by phantom5815 on August 21, 2006)

I have the 18-200mmVR lens (used to take the whale photo above). It was back-ordered through Amazon in February, the order was filled in 6 weeks. Just because they are back ordered does not mean they are unavailable.

Joe, do have the settings for that pic. If so, could you post them or email them to me. Thanks...

I've been waiting for my 18-200mm Vr since early June. I've spoken to another online store that has customer preorders backlogged from Feb.
Of course they are available for more than the going rate,(@ >$200) which I am not about to do.
I can get it off ebay grey market too.
Bottom line is that Nikon is not able to fill the demands of their most requested products..

Phantom,

I actually ordered 3 of them. One from Ritz, one from Adaroma, and Amazon. Amazon came through so I cancelled the others.

+1 on the D80 and D200. I cannot say enough good things about my D200

Good luck.

Troy

For anyone looking into Nikons, there's been a drop in prices in the past week on the DSLRs. Rumor has it that a D60 is coming out just in time for Christmas. This camera will be replacing the D50, @10 megapixels. Less options than the D80.

Availablity on the 18-200mm vr is still hit and miss ( at MSRP price), it did take me 4 mos of waiting to get mine.

(Message edited by phantom5815 on October 27, 2006)

phantom, i thought you had canon cameras? or do you have both?

Nope... strictly Nikon.

Here's a disappointing find:
Costco is carrying the Nikon D80 with 2 kit lenses
(18-55mm and 55-200mm).By the way the package sells for $1299 includes a 512mb card and a case.