NIkon 6mp Camera's D100, D50, D70, D70s & D40

Having a hard time with a few friends about Nikon's 6 mp Cameras ...

I have the D40 which I bought used for a program on Infrared Imaging I was working on ... the cost was very low and fit the program perfectly ...

I said that the D40 was the best of the group: D100, D50, D40, D70 & D70s ...
while never owning or using the other cameras...

A friend who has the D70 said that the D100 was the best of the group and if he could afford it at the time he would have gotten the D100... the same is said for a third friend who never owned a Nikon in his life... he said that the the D100 and the D70 was better then the D40 any day...

Neither one of us knows enough about these Nikon models to really voice an opinion ... so I toss it up to you guys .. which of the five 6mp dslr cameras Nikon made D100, D50, D70, D70s & the D40 is the best of the group.?

No money is on the line .. just bragging rights and maybe a beer or two.
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PJB

Toss up between the D100 and D70s..I own both and prefer the D70s for its image quality and shutter type (better flash sync). But the D100 is a small tank compared to all models metioned and has best AF.
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I have owned all 3 at some point ,and would say the D70 was the best from my point of view ,my reasons were the price being conciderably lower than the D100 ,the ergonomics, wieght/size .I think the D70 was biult really well for a lower grade (not pro) Camera .

I dont count the D70s as that much different ,the upgradered S version differed in having a slightly larger lcd screen 2" instead of 1.82" (same pixel count) it used a newer slightly higher capacity battery , and the flash had a slightly increased angle . the menus were updated with some software tweaks ,but this was mirrored and offered in the D70 firmware too .

the D100 is obviousely biult better ,and had pro controls and features , and I should choose that one ,but all in all the D70 gave me picture quality ,and because of the eronomics etc was a pleasure to use .

the D40 with its 2.5" 230,000dot lcd monitor ,should be better ,being much later and technology was leaping ahead , but its small and light, not a good thing ,especially if you intend using longer heavier lenses . biuld felt poor .and overall picture quality was no better than its 6mp ancestors.
you will find others choosing differently of course .

these days ,I am back to the Pro format bodies ,as i cannot live without Nikons excellent external control layout . going into menus for settings you need to change on the fly is unacceptable for me now .

It really depends on the meaning of the word 'best."

The D100 was the highest end camera of the lot. The D70 and then the D70S was a later version and had slightly better quality images in some instances. The D50 probably would'nt get many votes because it was not any better in image quality then a D70S and it left off features to save money.

The D40, while having fewer bells and whistles probably had the best image quality of the 6mp series.

So for ruggedness and features, the D100. For pure mage quality, the D40. Some people may feel otherwise becuse they liked their other model camera.

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Keep it coming guys ... I can taste the cold beer
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PJB

Well I still shoot with a D50, so my vote is for that I think the D40 is very good but is short on a few features. I do like having the in body focus motor on the D50, allows me to autofocus a wider variety of lenses. 1/500 with flash is nice too. I think IQ would be more or less the same on all these cameras. Take your pick.

I also have a D50, for 4+ years. My resistance to upgrade has many factors:

1. I mostly shoot ISO400 and under, so D50 gives me sufficient IQ. Whenever I was in a low light situation, as long as I had a tripod or put the camera on a firm surface, D50's 6mp still delivered great silky images.

2. The newer DSLR with better low light capabilities would not necessarily help me in the IQ department because once getting into ISO800+, the noise still shows up, but more tolerable than D50's.

3. My better choice for upgrade would be getting faster lens(es) and/or newer lenses with VR. Regarding lenses, as long as they are in good quality, their prices do not depreciate much...:> ((

So in the end, my own personal experience is that unless I can overcome my hurdle getting faster/VR lenses, theres' little need for me to upgrade the body which is still working wonders:













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HLL7575

I own the D40 and the D100. The D40 gave much more bang for the buck, it was $350.00 w/18-55. The D100 was 1,400.00 and $300.00 more for the vertical grip. The D100 photo's are just average, and I wouldn't tell anyone that I have the D100. I just say I have 2 D700's a D300 & a D40. I just leave the D100 out (as most do). I have a D200 I bought for parts & I think even that's better than the D100 ..Photojoe55

Would any of these give better IQ than a D700 in DX mode? My context is daylight (low ISO), telephoto work (aero, 'birding') - I really would prefer not to have to lug a 300mm, and I have reservations about the 70-300mm family at over 200mm and in high contrast situations.

All opinions welcome!

David H

I would consider selling my D100 W/vertical grip-battery pack an all, but the D40 is small, compact and cheap. That one I will keep! Maybe I'll box up the D100 and put it in the classifieds. .... photojoe55

With the D100 you have the option to choose between compressed and uncompressed raw. But from what I've read, basically many users shot uncompressed because that went faster for the D100 and it also have a small buffer. Compressed raw took longer because the camera had to try and compress and write the raws.

The same went for my Nikon D1H though it have a larger buffer.

Anyway, the D100 have one edge over the other Nikons - Pixelmapping which the user can perform without sending it in for service.

http://www.mathiaspohl.de/dx/remove-dead-pixels-nikon/ that software works only with the D100. See the last comment on that page. I uploaded that Q00500 software some days ago so that user not would have to wait for him to email. Took rather some days before he finally sent it to me at the time when I requested.

Well, I still happily use two D50s so of course, they are the best! Seriously, If you took the same shot with each camera, processed them to look the same on the same monitor and printed 11x14 from each, nobody would be able to say one looked better than another. From a feature standpoint The D100 was pre iTTL so isn't cool with the current flash line up. The D70 and D70s both can be master for the CLS system while the D40 and D50 cannot. Lastly, the D40 alone in this group does not have a built in focus motor so can only AF with afs lenses. There are several other differences that may or may not be important that will go unmentioned by myself.
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Regards, Paul

Lili's Dad

IMHO the D70's are the best 6mp but with a gotcha

that gotcha is high ISO

if you have to shoot at higher ISO's then the D50 and D40 is going to be a better chioce

I have owned every one of these camera's minus the D70s
and IHMO the D70 is still the best

D100 is aged a bit but it is build better than any of the others but I think you
can get more for you money with a D70

one advantage of the D100 is I believe it is able to meter with older MF Ai and AiS lenses but I can't recall off hand it has been quite awhile since I owned it

d70 was a statement camera that nikon had to put to market to stop the bleeding
since at the time canon was the clear leader so they held nothing back and put
all the bells and whistles into the D70

1/8000 top shutter (none of the others go this high except the d1000)
1/500 sync speed
commander mode for wireless flash
AF motor in the body so not limited to just AF-S lenses
better built than all the others (minus the D100)
front and rear dials

I now own both a D40 and a D70 and I mostly keep the D70 for
daylight shooting of some sports and having up to 1/8000 helps

I like them all but for me the D40 and D70's are the best of this group

D40 due to it's better high ISO and D70 due to it's extra features and better build

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Aaron@Utah said:

one advantage of the D100 is I believe it is able to meter with older MF Ai and AiS lenses but I can't recall off hand it has been quite awhile since I owned it

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Unfortunately it don't meter with old Ai or Ais because it is based on the N/F80 body. Shame that Nikon didn't use the F100 body for the D100, because that one can meter with these old lenses. Also funny how wrong they got it with the model name.
D100 should in fact have been called D80, with its true origin in mind

I don't know if the viewfinder in the D100 even are good enough for manual focus. I just remember having mounted my fast Nikkor 35mm 1.4 on a D70 briefly in a store and tried to manual focus. The D70 are next to unusable for that thing while I've no major problem doing it with a D1H which have a better viewfinder.
Still even with the D1H it can sometimes be difficult near infinity focus

I have had the D70 and the D40.

For me the D70 was a better camera (build, exposure and colors).
The D40 was better regarding size and screen. That's all

I am still using my D70/18-200VR.....more than enough for me.....
and somethimes I'm using my panny TZ7 a nice small zoom........
Now my eyes are on P7001...just waiting for the review.....

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The D50 is much better at high ISO than the D70s. The D40 lacks many important D50 features. My vote goes to the D50.

bikinchris said:

The D50 probably would'nt get many votes because it was not any better in image quality then a D70S and it left off features to save money.

The D40, while having fewer bells and whistles probably had the best image quality of the 6mp series.

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Just a little too good for entry level. Had to be cut back to the D40 so as not to cannibalize D70 sales.
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Patrick J Burns said:

No money is on the line .. just bragging rights and maybe a beer or two.

Click to expand...

D40 is the best. It was the last out the gate, best image processing, last generation of 6MP sensors. It was as good as 6MP gets from the IQ department.

It is also the smallest and lightest. Has the biggest rear LCD. Best battery life.

No AF motor, metal body, weather seals, no second control dial, no top LCD, and, the worst negative in actual use, a no pentaprism.

However if you want that, you'd be better off getting a D200 than any of the previous generation 6MP cams. By the time the D40 came out, the D70s was old, the D70 ancient, and the D100 mummified. The D50 was always the stupid older cousin to the D40: it had an AF motor but nothing else to recommend it.

I would, and do, use a D40 to this day. I would not consider any of the other 6MP models.

I have a D70, a D50, and a Pentax K-r. I feel like I have the best of all worlds. The D70 is king, but the D50 is smaller and tweaked a little better. The K-r excels at high iso and really gives nice sharp photos. I'm guilty of leaving a rather mundane lens, the versatile 28-200G, on my D70 and I see the difference when I change to better glass such as one of my primes. I never invested in the better Nikon glass. Still this camera and lens combo can handle just about anything from macro to zoom to regular photography except wide angle. The D50 gets used a lot with one of my primes. Small package, nice sharp photos indoors and out. The Pentax benefits from newer technology and better iso. It's my newest. It was priced right with two lenses and so far has not disappointed me in an entry level camera. I am not abandoning Nikon for Pentax. Nikon just didn't give me a good choice at a good price to use my present non-DX lenses. So I wil buy one prime for the Pentax and a new DX 35 mm f1.8 for the Nikon in the near future.

Verdict: If I could only own one DSLR, the D70 wins hands down. It feels like a camera that was not compromised in any way in its time. If it takes a less than perfect photo, it is usually photographer error or lens limitation. With this camera you do have to participate and you do have to shoot in raw.

It just feels like a real camera. Sure, it has limitations. Sure, I've taken easier photos with the D50 and Pentax. But this camera challenges me to be a better photographer every time I use it.