d50 or d70?

i was thinking about getting a d70 but just saw the d50 which is newer and has nearly all the same specs as the d70.

I was wondering if i should buy the d50 over the d70? i would proberly be getting an ikelite housing so housings wouldnt be a problem.

I was just wondering why some many people have the d70 and there isnt much talk about the newer d50?

Check the availability of housings for the D50 before you buy one.

Paul C

I believe Ikelite and Sea & Sea are the main ones supporting the D50. This together with the fact that the D50 is newer may explain why it is less discussed on the forum.

The only negative thing that has been mentioned for undewrwater use of the D50 over the D70 is the lack of a seperate aperture contol wheel. This may compromise the handling too much for some.

The D50 Sea & Sea housing is so much smaller and more appealing that their D70. I'm not sure if the Ikelite differences would be as marked though

Would have thaught that Ike will have used the same shell as the D70 offering.

The single control wheel would annoy me FWIW.

Paul C

the sea and sea housing looks good and isnt too expensive, the d50 with a housing would be about 800g lighter than the d70 which would help alot becuase i would be using it while freediving.

if the only real problem is the single control dial i think i could live with that and the weight difference would make up a bit for it.

I made a similar post before, (you can do a search for D50 on this forum and see the different opinions...), but at the end I bought the D50, and this is why:

1) The D50 is newer, technical speaking is better than D70 and have the same technical advantage that D70s (except for the control issue)

2) MONEY IS AN ISSUE, and D50 is cheaper, so you save money for the lens, and for a second body.

3) The control issue actually is not an issue if you are not a photographer used to the have the 2 controls (as my self), and this is the excuse of 99% of the photographer who tell you that go for the D70s.

4) Is a really, really good camera.

5) As for the housing, go Ikelite (I assuming money is an issue), so If you going to expend 3000$ on an alloy housing, is a fool decision to go with D50, instead get D200.

6) The main difference between D70s and D50 is not the camera, is the photographer.

So this is my humble newbie opinion, and my two cents on this issue.

An interesting factor to consider is that a new D50 and a second hand D70 cost about the same.

I was looking at both recently as a land camera. And prefered the feel and look of the D50 (as long as you don't get a silver one!).

The control issue is an important one. Not having easy and quick control over aperture and shutter speed is a major downside.

When you add in the system costs. Lenses, ports, housings, strobes etc. The cost saving between a D50 and a D70s is not much.

Alex

Hi,

The D50 only takes SD media cards which are lower capacity then compact flash (which the D70 uses) for the same cost. Also, many of the portable storage units only have a compact flash slot... I guess you could use some kind of adapter, but...

In any case, I've seen the Sea and Sea housing at the Boston Searovers show and it's absolutely tiny.

Cheers

James

Both cameras will give you great results. The photographer is much more important than the tools.

Still I would go for the D70. The cost difference isn't much and the D70 gives you several features not on the D50.

1) The dual control wheels really is the most intuitive way to lay out a camera. These are the two controls you will probably change most. The way I and many other photographers use an SLR in Manual mode you will want to change these two independantly. Its a pain to have to hold down buttons to do this simple thing.

2) The D50 has no DOF button which, if you are a beginner is a real eye opener to the effects you will see with different apertures at different focal lengths and distances.

3) There is no bracket button which I use frequently (not UW) when I want to maximize the quality of a particular shot. Continious shooting speed is slower (again not UW) but its nice to be able to go faster.

4) The top shutter speed is 1/4000 instead of 1/8000 on the D70. Again you probably won't need this underwater with strobes (that won't discharge this fast, or in iTTL sync this fast) but I use 1/8000 all the time in bright sun when I want wider apertures.

5) There are no gridlines in the viewfinder. I find this useful for composing.

Overall I think the lower on the fewatures list you go the more likely that you will grow out of the camera. If I were buying today I'd save my money and go for the D200. As it was in 2004 I chose the D70 and am very happy with it.

i might look around for a second hand d70 and get a ike housing, that sounds like the best way to go, i dont think i would be able to afford a d200

i might look around for a second hand d70 and get a ike housing, that sounds like the best way to go, i dont think i would be able to afford a d200

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As other here wrote you, The D70 is probably a better option and there are few sets here in the classified sections for sale.