Al186221
Active member
Hi Everyone,
I've been a casual amateur photographer since about 1981 and have owned Pentax film cameras since i bought the ME Super in 1981. Over the last couple of years I've found myself becoming more interested in photography as a serious hobby due to the devlopment and falling prices of digital cameras. So late last March I bought Nikon's D70 with the kit lens. (First person to have one in Columbia, MO too!) I really wanted to buy a Pentax digital SLR, but the initial prices for the *istD were just to high to justify for me. The D70 has been terrific--with one major exception: for no apparent reason it begins to flash an "F--" message and the camera locks up completely. This message is supposed to mean that the camera cannot detect a CPU lens, but this happens with both the kit lens and the Nikon 50mm F1.8. Although the camera always seems to return to normal by the next day, this is obviously unacceptable performance, so I made a warranty claim through the camera store in Columbia where I bought it, and it spent all of August (exactly four weeks) at Nikon's service center. Unfortuntely, they failed to fix the problem, for about 10 days after I got the camera back, the flashing "F--" returned and locked the camera. At this point I asked for a new camera body from the store where I bought it, and they agreed that I should have one. However, Nikon balked, and said it should be sent back to their service center again. Having little bargaining power in this situation, I agreed, and that's where it is along with both the kit lens and 50mm F1.8 Nikon lens (the problem happens with both lenses as well as with my Sigma 55-200). It has been back at their service center for two weeks now, and I am sure it will be there for at least another two weeks.
I know there probably isn't a dry eye in the house at this point (!), but my problems with the D70 have gotten me thinking about a different digital SLR. The D70 is, by my standards, a large (volume) and heavy camera, especially with the kit lense attached. And I've taken it with me on two trips so far this year, once to Oregon and a second time to England and France. What has struck me is how much doing so leads to me focus on photography throughout the trips, and this seems to put things a bit out of balance. I want to see and experience places, not just photograph them. So my thinking is that what I want for traveling is a small digital SLR which I take with me and with it I would take but a single lens, probably a wide-angle to short telephoto one given the type of photography I do. (I'verethought getting a prosumer model like the Olympus 8080, but I've decided not to got that route, mainly because of the image quality issue, including the ability to use higher ISO settings with a digital SLR because the larger sensors on digital SLRs handle noise much better.)
This seems to leave me with two options: the new Olympus E-300 (Evolt) or the Pentax *istDS. The Pentax is the smaller of the two in both volume (mainly about an inch narrower) and weight, and it may end up being the less expensive of the two cameras. Olympus hasn't released its pricing yet, but Amazon, PC and Mac Mall have the Pentax body for $900, and the body + kit lens (the new 18-55) for $1,000. I wish the Pentax prices were about $100 less, but they still seem doable. The Olympus seems like a potentially very good camera, but I do own some Pentax glass (a 100-300 zoom and the old 50mm 2.0 prime lens that I bought with the ME Super. I do like the idea of the AA or CV-3 batteries as the power source since they, especially the double A's, are available everywhere, and on a trip, especially out of the country, I could spend my time thinking about other things than keeping my proprietary batteries charged. The only thing I really don't like about the *istDS is the shift to SD storage media (I've got a lot of compact flash cards). Fortunately, the prices on both Compact Flash and SD media seem to be in free fall right now (SD looks to be about 10-15% more expensive, at least in my shopping area), so that wouldn't be a major factor.
Anyway, I'm writing just to see if any of you who frequent this forum would be willing to comment on this situation, and the idea of downsizing my camera gear for major travel (to use a materially smaller SLR and lens). I would certainly welcome your thoughts. By the way, the problem with the D70 is apparently very rare but not unique to me. If you check the D70 forum and search for it, you will find a few short threads about it, but so far only something like 5-10 people seem to have experienced it. Too bad. It's a great camera; I just had the bad luck to get a lemon.
--
Al
I've been a casual amateur photographer since about 1981 and have owned Pentax film cameras since i bought the ME Super in 1981. Over the last couple of years I've found myself becoming more interested in photography as a serious hobby due to the devlopment and falling prices of digital cameras. So late last March I bought Nikon's D70 with the kit lens. (First person to have one in Columbia, MO too!) I really wanted to buy a Pentax digital SLR, but the initial prices for the *istD were just to high to justify for me. The D70 has been terrific--with one major exception: for no apparent reason it begins to flash an "F--" message and the camera locks up completely. This message is supposed to mean that the camera cannot detect a CPU lens, but this happens with both the kit lens and the Nikon 50mm F1.8. Although the camera always seems to return to normal by the next day, this is obviously unacceptable performance, so I made a warranty claim through the camera store in Columbia where I bought it, and it spent all of August (exactly four weeks) at Nikon's service center. Unfortuntely, they failed to fix the problem, for about 10 days after I got the camera back, the flashing "F--" returned and locked the camera. At this point I asked for a new camera body from the store where I bought it, and they agreed that I should have one. However, Nikon balked, and said it should be sent back to their service center again. Having little bargaining power in this situation, I agreed, and that's where it is along with both the kit lens and 50mm F1.8 Nikon lens (the problem happens with both lenses as well as with my Sigma 55-200). It has been back at their service center for two weeks now, and I am sure it will be there for at least another two weeks.
I know there probably isn't a dry eye in the house at this point (!), but my problems with the D70 have gotten me thinking about a different digital SLR. The D70 is, by my standards, a large (volume) and heavy camera, especially with the kit lense attached. And I've taken it with me on two trips so far this year, once to Oregon and a second time to England and France. What has struck me is how much doing so leads to me focus on photography throughout the trips, and this seems to put things a bit out of balance. I want to see and experience places, not just photograph them. So my thinking is that what I want for traveling is a small digital SLR which I take with me and with it I would take but a single lens, probably a wide-angle to short telephoto one given the type of photography I do. (I'verethought getting a prosumer model like the Olympus 8080, but I've decided not to got that route, mainly because of the image quality issue, including the ability to use higher ISO settings with a digital SLR because the larger sensors on digital SLRs handle noise much better.)
This seems to leave me with two options: the new Olympus E-300 (Evolt) or the Pentax *istDS. The Pentax is the smaller of the two in both volume (mainly about an inch narrower) and weight, and it may end up being the less expensive of the two cameras. Olympus hasn't released its pricing yet, but Amazon, PC and Mac Mall have the Pentax body for $900, and the body + kit lens (the new 18-55) for $1,000. I wish the Pentax prices were about $100 less, but they still seem doable. The Olympus seems like a potentially very good camera, but I do own some Pentax glass (a 100-300 zoom and the old 50mm 2.0 prime lens that I bought with the ME Super. I do like the idea of the AA or CV-3 batteries as the power source since they, especially the double A's, are available everywhere, and on a trip, especially out of the country, I could spend my time thinking about other things than keeping my proprietary batteries charged. The only thing I really don't like about the *istDS is the shift to SD storage media (I've got a lot of compact flash cards). Fortunately, the prices on both Compact Flash and SD media seem to be in free fall right now (SD looks to be about 10-15% more expensive, at least in my shopping area), so that wouldn't be a major factor.
Anyway, I'm writing just to see if any of you who frequent this forum would be willing to comment on this situation, and the idea of downsizing my camera gear for major travel (to use a materially smaller SLR and lens). I would certainly welcome your thoughts. By the way, the problem with the D70 is apparently very rare but not unique to me. If you check the D70 forum and search for it, you will find a few short threads about it, but so far only something like 5-10 people seem to have experienced it. Too bad. It's a great camera; I just had the bad luck to get a lemon.
--
Al
But, I shall be taking