camerapapi Loc: Miami, Fl.

I have nothing against old gear. I used a D70S and after a few years I donated the camera to a local church. It served me well.
I believe it is a 7 Mp camera, enough for 13x19 enlargements if you ever go that big. Noise performance at the time was not spectacular for most cameras. Its AF is good even for wildlife photography but the buffer only accepts about 12 images if I remember that. The camera is light and it yields beautiful first generation Nikon colors.
If you are comfortable with it no need to get something else.

StaneeRae Loc: Lincroft, NJ USA

I have a D70, and in the past year I've shot a cousin's small court house wedding as well as a family party with it. I also have a D50 that was converted to infrared.

As a previous post mentioned, cheap consumer labs may not give you the best prints. I've used a local Costco with good results (I tell them to turn off auto correct & print as is).

Maybe 20 years ago, I was at a photography convention where a pro lab had beautiful sample 20x36 prints ... all from early Pro digital cameras (3 mp). The lab rep said their software interpolates & optimizes your images before printing.

chasgroh Loc: Buena Park, CA

...love mine, too (although now an infrared conversion) and put out some good stuff with it. My advice is get your feet re-wetted for a bit, then see if you can move up a notch or two. It's the menus; the D70s is just another planet than, say, the D300...with *that* camera you've got a menu that will take you through even the modern Nikon iterations. My next camera after the D70s was the D300 and it was, and is, a world of difference with better tools all-around...still have my D300, too, and it is also set up for infrared.

Larwbuck Loc: Seattle, Washington

The D70 is my backup camera now that I have a D750. It is a great camera and I still use it on occasion, it's DX rather than FX so crops are a little tighter than FX and megapixels are a little less but will shoot with FX len's. Might as well use it and enjoy it and upgrade if you get into it and want to expand capabilities. Have fun.

Tom Umlauf

I have upgraded to a D700 a few year's ago and have sold my D70..., but I still have hard copy photos from that camera and they will still make an impression today of it's quality. Happy memories!

dcampbell52 Loc: Clearwater Fl

Amazingly, a 4 or 5 years ago when I was working for Nikon, I had a call from a D70s user wanting help with their camera. It turned out that they were developers working for Epcot and, since Disney wouldn't provide a camera for them to photograph displays and ideas, one of the worker "donated" their Nikon D70s. I was shocked because Nikon is a serious partner/provider at Disney and I thought it interesting that a large company like Disney would have employees provide their "own tools". This was a time when the D7000 was being phased out by the D7100 and the D600, D800 and other high end full frame cameras were "the industry standard" for companies using Nikons commercially.

ChaplainPlato Loc: Florida

Greetings, I still own the D70s. It is a great and hearty camera. I've carried it in the woods and on ships when I was a captain. It makes great images. I've used it to take Graduation portraits for the Florida Academy of Ayurveda and to make images of products for AMAZON and other websites. Get to know it and it will set you up to have no fear when you upgrade. Or you can just continue to use it as it will use all lenses. I have had mine since new and have had a blast with it.

Coal powered electric plant Riverview Fl

(Download)

Fort Desoto Park, Pinellas Co, Florida

(Download)

In the Mangroves, south end of Tampa Bay

(Download)

Cycle Athlete, Ft Desoto

(Download)

Flies and Flowers

(Download)

Osprey

(Download)

USF Campus, St Pete Fl

(Download)

RTCreed Loc: Forest Park, IL

My D 70S was my first digital camera and I've taken it all over the world with great success. I upgraded to a D 7000 when that was discontinued, but you can't go wrong with them. I'm still using original Nikon F, F2 and F4 for film (B&W) but the digital is the first camera I reach for.

Bill_de Loc: US

A D70 (not the S) with a 70-200 was my original kayaking camera. Just like Timex used to say, it took a lickin' and kept on tickin'.

I would say look no further than what you show in your photo until/unless you get to a point that it doesn't do what you want.

--

TucsonCoyote Loc: Tucson AZ

Nice pics there ChaplainPlato, however, are you sure your picture labelled "Coal powered electric plant Riverview Fl" is correct.....because that sure looks like a Nuke Unit to me !

jdmarks64

After a couple of early Coolpix cameras, I bought my first true DSLR: the D70S -- a major step up. Five years later I moved up to a D300S -- another great camera (the D70S went to my son who is still using it). Last year I moved up to the D500 -- a truly wonderful DSLR (my daughter "inherited" the D300S). The D70S==>D300S==>D500 progression was very smooth and straightforward. It was a good way to advance my skills in step with Nikon's technological advances. If my first DSLR was the D500, I'd be hopelessly overwhelmed with its many powerful features.

Gene51 Loc: Yonkers, NY, now in LSD (LowerSlowerDelaware)

This is off topic, but since you and another poster mentioned a maximum print size of 13x19, I thought I'd address that with some facts. You can certainly go much bigger, if you understand that bigger prints involve greater viewing distances, and greater viewing distance involves a diminished ability to see fine detail. I sold dozens of 40x60 prints taken with that camera. The camera produces a 2000x3000 image. A 40x60 print only needs 32 ppi, or 1280x1920 to give the appearance of sharpness when viewed at 9 ft. At a 100 ppi, which is what you would get if you used an uncropped image from a D70S, you have way more than you need to produce a sharp looking print.

I have found this site and it's calculators and charts to be immensely helpful.

http://www.photokaboom.com/photography/learn/printing/resolution/1_which_resolution_print_size_viewing_distance.htm

Leon S Loc: Minnesota

Hi Gene. I think your comment really does fit the post. So many people think that just because you don't shoot at least 24 mp you can't get a quality print. However many of us did professional work with the D70 and our customers were quite happy with the results. Yes I now have a D810 shooting 36 mp, but I also still have and use my D700 shooting 12 mp and even crop to print pictures from those 12 mp. We have given mostly previously owned equipment like the D70, D100, D200s, D50, Fuji s2, Olympus 10, and various point and shoots to our family members, and all of them are still in service to the recipients. So you are totally on point and correct in that a D70s can still do the job.

DPERDELWITZ

Google Earth shows that building at the coal powered plant. Fooled me too.

ChaplainPlato Loc: Florida

Yeah, it's the one in Riverview Florida on the east banks of Tampa Bay. The nuke on the west coast is at Crystal River, but it has been retired due to design stupidity. When it came time to renew the fuel the access to the reactor was not large enough to get anything out or in. DUKE has decided to keep the fuel rods in place for the next 60 years, yet there is a surcharge on our bills related to the cost of generating energy with nuke.

From the northwest of this electrical plant, the massive piles of coal can be captured with a 200mm. A big fat lens would do much better. There is an approach and mooring for coal ships and barges to the west. The lift cranes are also visible.

In 2000 the voters of Florida approved a 36' natural gas pipeline to run from Louisianna and Alabama along the 200' depth line offshore to come into Port Manatee in Tampa Bay. The idea was to convert the coal plants to gas. Some converted, many have not. Here the big deal about coal is no air quality, it is what the heavy metals do to the consumable fish. The Everglades has crazy mercury levels in the water and so the fish, the Gulf of Mexico is also affected as are all the backwater estuaries; which are nurseries for a high percentage of the game fish we eat.

Riverview/Manatee Power Plant view from St. Petersburg

(Download)