Nikon F70 rocks
by oneafrikan
Last year I bought a Pentax MZ-6 and a Nikon F70 off eBay at roughly the same time. I had an old Pentax ME II Super and a Sigma 70-210 zoom lens that I used together, so I got the MZ-6 to use with the zoom lens. My intention was to try out the Pentax and the Nikon against each other to see which one I preferred.
I have to say, that after this weeken in Bath, I really do like the Nikon – it’s bigger (I have pretty large mitts so I need something that doesn’t feel like a plastic dinky toy), faster, more intuitive and now that I’ve read the manual, pretty easy to use. Added to which, in the future I can get the Nikon D70 knowing that whatever lenses I use with the F70 I can also use with the D70, which is great.
That said, I’m still going to take the Pentax for another test run to see how I feel about it – I don’t really want to get rid of it and the lens I bought with my hard earned cash.
Now, the only question is whether it’s worth getting a 35mm film and transparency scanner so that I don’t have to pay an arm and a leg each time to get film processed, developed and put onto a cd.
Oh, yes. For me the F70 is the most pleasant camera I’ve had in my hands yet. I’ve used quite a few (Nikons F401, F601, F801, F50, F65, F70, F80, D70, Canons EOS 5000, EOS 500, EOS 300, EOS 50E, EOS 350D, Minolta Dynax 500 ) but the total in-control feeling and handling of the F70 are just superb.
At the age of 19 (1996) I’ve buyed my first Nikon, an F50, after training my photographic skills for years with two Eastern-German Practicas. I had worked all summer to earn the money and was thrilled with my new camera. I had looked at the F70 but didn’t want to work all autum to pay for the few extra features. Boy, I was so wrong. Sure, the F50 gave me some of the best pictures ever, but when exchanging my F50 for a 2nd hand F70 about four years ago I was in for a big surprise. I really regretted not buying the F70 in the first place. So quick and easy to use when gotten used to. The total feeling of “being in control” of your pictures, unlike with other AF SLR’s (including the more modern ones). I’m planning on buying a D70 (or probably the newly announced D80), but will never do away my beloved F70.