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Nikon D70s

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By Aimee Baldridge
Apr 22, 2005

With the D70s, Nikon makes some incremental improvements to its popular consumer digital SLR, the D70. Although it retains the 6-megapixel resolution of its predecessor, the Nikon D70s is better equipped to compete with the new consumer dSLR heavyweight on the block, Canon's 8-megapixel EOS 350D. It also takes on Olympus' E-300 and Pentax's *ist DS.

Upside: The original D70 remains an excellent camera that got high marks from us. Nikon has updated it with a larger 2-inch LCD and an improved menu system, as well as more custom settings, a remote control, and compatibility with the PictBridge direct-printing standard. Nikon also claims performance improvements in its autofocus system as well as its continuous-shooting speeds. With a high-speed CompactFlash card, you can capture a burst of 144 JPEG images at a rate that Nikon clocks at 3fps.

Downside: This is not a major upgrade, and the D70s's resolution isn't the highest in its class. Advanced photographers will have to purchase Nikon's Capture 4.0 raw-file processing software separately, although the company does include PictureProject, a more mainstream image-editing, -organizing, and -sharing program.

Outlook: The D70s will be available in May 2005 in packages that Nikon is dubbing the Outfit and the Set. The US$1,200 Outfit includes the camera body, a rechargeable battery and charger, the PictureProject software, and Nikon's new AF-S DX Nikkor 18 to 70mm F3.5 to F4.5G IF-ED lens. The Set gives you everything but the lens for US$900.