Nikon D70 v D100

Wondering if any has any thought on whether they would choose a D70 or D100 if they were switching to digital from a Subal/F100. Either way, I plan to put it in another Subal housing since I already have ports, etc.

Thanks for any input.

Here are some D70 reviews that do some comparisons to the D100.

http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/nikond70/page20.asp

http://www.bythom.com/D70REVIEW.HTM

http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/d70.htm

To me it looks like the D70 is the winner.

The D100 will soon be, if not already is, out of production, leaving you with an expensive housing for an obsolete camera. I learned this expensive lesson with the CP5000, which I just sold for next to nothing. The D70 is a great DSLR, and will be around for a little longer, at least.

Cheers,

Hal

For those for whom price is never an issue, buying the newest and the best may be the way to go, but not all of of us are in that situation. Buying a car just before - or even just after - newer models have been released can be a practical approach to solving automotive needs, and the principle is also applicable to camera equipment.

The fact that the D100 is - or soon will be - out of production shouldn't itself put the camera and housing out of consideration for everyone. Used bodies at more reasonable prices should be available for some time to come, and prices for new and used housings may come down as well. If an older camera-and-housing combination meets the photographer's needs as well as more costly newly released cameras and housings, then the older model gear can sometimes be an optimal solution in a very expensive field.

My first underwater housing was the Subal Miniflex for the F801s, a Nikon body that had long been out of production when I bought the housing for it. The housing was much less expensive than a comparable housing for a newer camera, and I was able to purchase two bodies in excellent condition for less than the cost of a new, in production body at that time.

A top-of-the-line new model camera such as the F90 or F100 would unquestionably outperform my F801s on many counts, but only at much higher cost. I've taken photos with the F801s that I'm very happy with, and I'm sure I will take more.

I still use the F801s when my digital housing is in for servicing, as is the case right now. In fact I used it just yesterday, on some dives ( molas and mantas ) here in Bali with visiting wetpixel-ler Alex Mustard.

Frogfish

Robert, what you wrote is true but not in this case.

The D100 is more expensive even today then the D70, there is no real different in the price of the housing for those 2 cameras as I know.

Alto,

I take your point, but I would still expect the price at least on excellent-condition used D100s and their housings to move sharply down once the D100 is no longer in production.

The D100 is as good a camera as the D70. They use the same sensor, same autofocuc, etc. It doesn't write the files as fast, and has a slower flash sync but it has a bigger viewfinder and is more robust.

There are a LOT of D100 housings out there and also a LOT of dealer stock that will need to be cleaned out by dealers worried about people just like us - who will only buy the latest and greatest.

Cheers

James

The D100 is as good a camera as the D70.  They use the same sensor, same autofocuc, etc.  It doesn't write the files as fast, and has a slower flash sync but it has a bigger viewfinder and is more robust.

 

There are a LOT of D100 housings out there and also a LOT of dealer stock that will need to be cleaned out by dealers worried about people just like us - who will only buy the latest and greatest.

 

Cheers

James

The D100 has an older style 10-sensor matrix meter while the D70 uses the D1’s 1005-element color matrix meter. The D70's metering is more accurate and more able to take into account subtle issues.

Thanks everyone for your input. I actually already have a D100 which I purchased quite a long time ago before the D70 came out. Now that I was finally deciding to swith and buy the housing, I started to facilate wondering whether I should pick up a D70 before buying a housing. My brother has a D70 and aestetically it feels a little cheeper, but that may just be because it is lighter.

I guess that since digital photography is still in its infancy/adolescence compared to film, we just have to accept that any digital camera/housing will be obsolete in a couple years.

Well, given the fact that you already own the D100 its pretty much a slam dunk--house the d100.

The D70 is a better camera in many respects and because of the price differential you can still likely get a D70 new for less than you can get a D100 used or on discount. I think you will have to wait quite a while to see that trend reversed. If you were buying one or the other, I think its an easy decision to get a D70. The higher flash sync, better metering, faster continious shooting, reduced RAW file size (at a usable speed) and the newer TTL system are all incermental improvements.

As James noted, the D70 uses the same sensor as the D100 and in many respects is the same so you wouldn't be getting much by changing to the D70. You also have some more durability, a bigger viewfinder and for topside use the ability to add a vertical grip and cable release.

I do doubt that you will get much real value from the metal body though. The D70 feels very solid and is actually quite durable. I dropped my D70 last weekend from the tripod 5 feet onto a rock and it didn't even scratch it. :roll:

I didn't mention that I had the D100 already because I didn't want to bias anyone's opinion.

I wonder whether for underwater photography many of the improvements in the D70 are purely academic. The faster flash sync speed is definitely an advantage to capture sun rays reflecting in the water, but if one is shooting all manual (shutter speed, aperature, and flash) with underwater strobes, the smaller file size and faster fps seem irrelevant. I plan on picking up a pair of Inon Z220's and I don't think that they can recycle as fast as even the D100 can shoot and write to a high speed CF. I'm sure that someone will correct me if this is not the case.

Hi ckaeser,

I'm not trying to sway you one way or another, both camera's are capable of good photos. I wanted to pass along my experience with the D70 and two Inon strobes. I can fire 4 or 5 consecutive shots and the strobes re-charge and fire at what I'd call an acceptable level before noticeable light fall off. I'm shooting NEF raw.

Rand

You best buy another one because you will not be able to drop into a shop in Cairns or Grand Cayman to buy another if your D100 breaks down on a trip.

Hal