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Is the Nikon D70 worth $164 over the Pentax *ist DS?

yhelothar

yhelothar

Lifer
The *ist DS costs $575 and the Nikon D70 costs $739 at buydig.com
They both use the same CCD chip so the image quality should be fairly equal.
The only thing Nikon seems to have for it is the ability to use Nikkor lens.
But I heard low end Nikon lens are about the same quality as any other brand, and I need to spend upwards of $500 to get the real Nikon quality.

So is it worth the extra for the D70?
 
I've looked them up on steves-digicams.
I'm expecting the *ist to be less user friendly than the D70 as it's considerably smaller. But is it worth $164?
 
I'd go with the Nikon (or a comparable Canon 😉) over a Pentax, mainly because of the amount of lenses avaliable. If you really want to get into photography your lenses will cost you as much as the body of either of those cameras.
 
Yeap. I dropped about 4.5k on my equpiment.

Nikon D70 ($800)
Nikon D2H ($1700)
Nikon 17-55mm f/2.8 ($1350)
Nikon 85mm f/1.4 ($800)
 
the d70 is worth the extra $, mainly because it is much easier (and probably cheaper) to find and buy lenses for the d70. go to the pentax forum at dpreview.com, and you will start to notice complaints re: the availability of lenses for the Pentax dslrs.
 
I've had the chance to play with Nikon D70, the Canon Digital Rebel, the Rebel XT, and the Pentax *ist DS. Frankly, they're all good cameras. If you have any Pentax, Nikon, or Canon equipment already, you should probably stick with what you know.

Personally, the Nikon seemed a bit heavy to me compared to the Pentax and the Canon cameras. Some people attribute that to the better build quality, but it just felt like a heavier weight around my neck. The pictures look great on ALL of them, though. I went for the Rebel XT for the picture taking speed and higher resolution, but I have friends and relatives who got the Nikon and Pentax models instead. Of course, we ALL swear that our camera is the best, but none of us can really PROVE it 🙂

Just keep in this in mind... Spend the big $$$ on the lenses, not the camera bodies. All of these digital SLR's will be obsolete in 5 years, but good lenses will last for decades.
 
the camera doesn't mean sh!t in the real world, It's all in the glass and YES. I would pay more just for the nikon mount. Their old MF glass is bar none. Both cameras are fine, you should be buying glass and then focusing on a body. My advice to you.

Ex Canon man,
now Ex Nikonion. 🙁
 
Originally posted by: GOSHARKS
Those of you who say that pentax is lacking in lenses - do you realize that you Pentax's inventory of lenses made in the past ~25 years are all usuable on the *istDS? And they are all cheap, and decent quality. In fact, Luminous Landscapes says that the Pentax 50mm is the best 500mm lens ever made.
http://www.luminous-landscape.com/columns/sm-02-05-02.shtml
Click to expand...

LOL. I was recently laughing at my cousin who has the *ist when I saw that lens. It looked very awkward on a black body.
 
Saying Nikon is a more desirable camera because of the Nikon mount isn't fanboyism, it's reality.

Nikon is the only camera company I know of that has such incredible forward/backwards compatability. Canon comes close, though. I can use a 50mm lens that was purchased new with a Nikon FE in 197x and use it on my D70. Sure, I lose out on Super Ultra Matrix-3d Metering 2.0, but it's as functional on the D70 as it is on the FE. The converse is also true, I can use my ultra-sexy 70-300 f4.5 on my Nikon FE. Sure, I don't get to take advantage of some of the lens-specific features like auto-focus and macro, but the lens works.

Look at it from an economic perspective if nothing else: if Nikon's are so popular, and you can use pretty much any Nikon lens, imagine all the wonderful deals on lenses waiting for you.

EDIT: And a point of contention: There is a lot more to a digital camera than just the CCD. The stuff wrapped around the CCD is several times more important.
 
It really depends on you. If you're not planning on buying any lenses or if you shoot primarily in one of the preset modes (including aperture/shutter priority) then the Pentax is good enough. If you shoot a lot of manual then you'll appreciate the D70's ergonomics. If you plan on going for classic Nikon lenses then you'll need the backwards compatibility of the F mount. If you like current Nikon lenses then you have you answer.

Yes, the current Nikon stuff is expensive. For the really good glass (17-55, 28-70, 85/1.4, 70-200VR, etc) expect to pay $1000 to start. There are a lot of great classic AI/AIS lenses (20/2.8, 28/2, 35/1.4, 50/1.4, 85/2, 105/2.5) that are relatively cheap, though you'll be stuck using them in manual since they won't meter with anything other than the D2 series.

Personally I like Nikon. Every shot in the gallery was taken with a D70 and it serves me well. I've spent a ridiculous amount on glass (17-55/2.8, 50/1.4, 85/1.4, 180/2.8, 70-210/4) but I couldn't be happier. If your budget is tight then Canon wouldn't be a bad choice because they offer more lenses in the $500-$700 range but I'd rather go Nikon/Canon than Pentax. If you ask me, yes the D70 is worth it.
 
I just got my Pentax *ist DS today. Yeah I got it despite all the suggestions for me to get the D70.
That luminous landscape article completely convinced me.
I found out that Pentax *ist does have one of the best lens compatibilities ever.
I just bought a 135mm F/3.5 Pentax Asahi SMC lens from ebay for $37.
Planning on getting the 41mm F/1.9 limited lens also. I found many sources that agree that the Pentax Limited line of lens are some of the best in the world, if not the best autofocus lens ever made.
 
It seems to me that cameras are very personal items. See the perpetual Canon vs. Nikon debates for proof. Since you can pick up everything you need used and also sell it quite easily, I'd think that for a beginner, you should start somewhere and learn what you like. Buy something, learn what you do/don't like about it, then buy something else. Come on, you think this is the last camera you'll ever own? 😉
 
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