Nikon D70S

If it ain't broke, don't fix it, right? We gave the Nikon D70 five stars when we reviewed it over a year ago. Since then, it has been one of PCMag.com's most popular products. It's no surprise, then, that Nikon hasn't tweaked the formula much with its follow-up, the Nikon D70s, which is essentially the same camera with a slightly larger LCD. What is surprising is the timing.

In the next couple of months, Nikon will release another consumer-level digital SLR, the 6.1-megapixel Nikon D50, which, according to Nikon, will list at $899.95 and will include a new 18- to 55-mm f/3.5-5.6 G ED Zoom-Nikkor DX lens. That's an incredibly low price for a digital SLR; in fact, it's $100 lower than the high-end point-and-shoot Coolpix 8800 that Nikon introduced just last year. Given the upcoming fanfare about the D50, Nikon's release of an updated D70 at this time is a bit puzzling. Why release it now and at the exact same price as the D70 ($1,199.95 list with an 18- to 70-mm lens, or $899.95 for the body alone)? But the D70s is here, so we took a look to see what's new and different about this updated D-SLR.

For the most part, we found little difference in the D70s's appearance or, for that matter, in our test results. The 2-inch LCD is larger than the D70's 1.8-inch screen, but it's hardly a perceptible difference. Nikon claims to have improved the autofocus as well, although we didn't see much of a change.

The D70s comes with a new higher-capacity battery and a slightly improved, more readable menu structure. Here, Nikon certainly beats the harder-to-read menus found on the Canon Rebel and Rebel XT.

Otherwise, you'll basically find the same features as those on the Nikon D70: a 6.1MP CCD, 200-to-1,600 ISO range, compatibility with many of Nikon's Nikkor lenses and other lenses fitting Nikon's F mount, seven scene modes including Auto, and the ability to shoot in Nikon's RAW mode (called "NEF").

One area where we did notice visible improvement was in the strength and coverage of the built-in Speedlight flash. In testing, the D70s took flash shots that improved exposure by about one-half stop over the D70's, and, at 70 mm, the Nikkor lens's widest zoom setting, the image displayed more even illumination.

Menus are displayed better, too—now set against black instead of blue. The D70s, like the D70, has some on-board help screens on the LCD, but they're only for the custom menus. It would have been nice to have them active throughout the various functions.

We love the D70s' feel and design as much as we did the D70's, and for those with larger hands, these two models may be preferable to the lighter Canon Rebel XT. The Rebel XT, however, ups the capacity ante to 8MP, which gives you the ability to print very large images, still besting the 6.1MP Nikons. The Canon kit (lens and body) is also cheaper than the D70s kit, although the Nikon lens is longer.

In the end, the price of upgrading from a D70 to a D70s probably isn't money well spent. The real question is if you're in the market for a new Nikon D-SLR, should you wait for the D50? Stay tuned for our review to find out.

See the cameras mentioned here in our side-by-side comparison table, and see their benchmark test results.