Nikon D70S 6.1MP Digital SLR Camera (Body Only)

This review isn't as much about the camera as it is about the company I dealt with. I ordered this refurbished unit last October from an Amazon seller: GRL Recoveries; it arrived a few days later and was working fine. After using it only three times OVER THE SPAN OF SEVEN MONTHS the shutter stopped working. Since the problem didn't arise until seven months after I bought it, it was way past the warranty period (after all, it was a used product). Even though I already knew the answer, I tried to do a return through Amazon. The automated response I got was, of course, "Sorry, but the item is out of warranty, we can't help you." I was upset with that—not because of the answer, but because Amazon's return form didn't allow enough space for me to tell my story. So I figured I'd try to email the company directly. No harm in asking. I explained to them I'd only used the camera three times before it malfunctioned. An hour later I got a personal response from GRL Recoveries by a real human. He or she said they'd see what they could do and get back to me. I figured I was done ... no company is going to take my word for it and just give me another one after seven months. Especially with a used product.Only a couple hours later I got an email from the same person at GRL (I wish I'd have gotten his or her name). I copied a line from that email and am pasting it here:"I have a replacement on the way to you. Can yhou please just return the one you have after you receive this one."HOLY CR*P! I've been dealing with computers and digital cameras well over 20 years and have NEVER gotten a response like this from anyone. I was 100% sure they were going to say "Sorry, can't help you." But, not only did they give me another one, they didn't even wait to get the original one back before they sent it!The new camera arrived three days later and works perfectly. Also included were all the accessories: new battery, charger, cables and user manual. That was Saturday (this is the following Monday). During that time I've taken 2,322 shots just to test it. I didn't want to make the same mistake of waiting months to use it.I can't praise GRL Recoveries enough. And the person I dealt with was kind, courteous and prompt. Here they were taking the word of a person they've never dealt with that the item was only used three times before it went bad. And exchanged it six months out of warranty.If you're ever unsure who to buy from, go with GRL Recoveries. I doubt you'll ever find another company that will do for you what they did for me, especially on a refurbished product!Oh, about the camera ... the Nikon D70 and D70s are excellent machines that produce very high-quality image files. But they can't take great pictures. No camera can; only you can do that.

I have owned this camera for about two months now and have taken about 100 photographs (keepers) to date. Because I have been involved in photography for almost 35 years, I have developed certain prejudices. In particular, I have never been comfortable with auto exposure and even less comfortable with auto focus. In fact, the last auto focus camera I owned was a Nikon N8008s that I ultimately sold at auction because I could not adapt to using the various auto settings.However, I like this camera. Why? The D70s is a very easy camera to use and I have only had to refer to the manual to check on a couple of settings and look up some features. Honestly, set up takes only a few minutes and handling is not terribly different from a film camera. I should point out that this camera is really designed for auto focus lenses and if you choose to use your manual focus lot, you will disable many of the camera's features.Because I am both stubborn and cheap (but mostly only when it comes to spending money on myself) I am using my manual focus lenses on this camera. It is true that I do not get any internal exposure meter readings and must rely on a handheld Gossen or the sunny 16 rule (quite effective, really) for exposure determination. The LCD preview screen thus is critical for determining or adjusting exposure. I should also point out that the depth of field preview feature is also lost when using manual focus lenses. I was stunned when I could not stop my lens down and burrowed through the manual to find out what I was doing wrong--which was nothing except that I was using the wrong type of lens. While I really miss this feature, I am not sure how big a loss it really is because of the viewfinder. Others have made mention of the low magnification and tunnel like views through the finder and I can attest to this fact. I compared finder views to my trusty old FM and was just stunned by how poorly the D70 compared.Ultimately the best camera is the camera you use and the D70 has become my camera of choice. Even though I am using this camera like a vintage M series Leica--i.e., handheld meter and presetting exposure in anticipation of a photograph--I find that I can live with this level of usability. At some point I will probably buy an auto focus lens (maybe the 35 f2) and make full use of the feature set. But for now I content on using the camera the old fashioned way.

Best feature - speed. From switching on to taking a shot is almost instant, compared to other DSLRs that take a few seconds to boot before being ready to shoot (eg. Canon EOS). So you don't miss candid moments. For journalists, that's fabulous.Worst feature - color balance. I've tried so many setting alternatives and this camera consistently yields slightly under-saturated, cold (ie. slightly blueish) pictures. Same experienced by reviewers on dpreview.com. It's fixable by most photo editing software like Picasa or Photoshop, but is annoying.Overall, better than most of its peers but I expected a more finished, tuned package.

I bought the D70S body and 18-135 mm lens separately. This is roughly $200 cheaper than the D80 18-135 mm kit. I am very happy with the D70S. Well built, solid construction. Do take advantage of the manual modes - extensive metering and focusing options allow great flexibility in taking photos in difficult situations. Camera is very quick on power up and shooting.A friend who recently purchased a Canon XTi with the 18-55 mm kit lens felt the D70s and 18-135 combo was a better buy after had a chance to try my Nikon out.Pluses:- Solid construction.- Quick.- The D70S and 18-135mm make a great package for less then the D80.Minuses:- Convoluted manual.- Only 6 megapixel. Only an issue if you print enlargements or blow-up images a lot. Otherwise pictures look great on a monitor and the file sizes are reasonable.

Had to return this item. Although it was listed as being in good condition, it wasn't. I checked a couple of functions and they didn't work. I tried the flash and it didn't work.