Analog -> Digital Nilon

Hi,
I'm a proud owner of a N90 camera with many options and AF lenses.
I'd like to know if is there any ways to change the analog body to a
digital one and keep all its old assessories (filters, lenses,
autotriggers, etc..). If so, which digital Nikon camera would you
suggest I should move to?
TIA
Emilio

 

The D70 should work with your old lenses (it accepts AF, AF-S and DX)
and give you quality that will definitely ease the transition from film
to digital. The controls are nearly identical to a film camera, so
shooting is a snap. At $999 for the body, it's a steal.

You can get a full review and some sample shots at dpreview.com

 

Check Nikon's web site and check out the models they have. I
recently got myself a Nikon D70 (I own an N80, with three lenses
and a couple of filters). Very nice camera, and not too expensive
(it goes around 1000 US$ the body only -- which I guess is convenient
for you if you already have good lenses)

BTW, what do you call "autotrigger"?? One inconvenience of the
Nikon D70 is that you can not do long-exposure (more than 30 sec)
without the remote shutter -- the wire shutter (I'm sure there
must be a name for that, I don't remember it now) does not fit
in the shutter button of the D70 (arrrrghhh!!! :-( ). If you
are referring to the shutter, then no, you're out of luck on
that detail. (well, no big deal -- the remote shutter is just
15 or 20 bucks)

For the rest, yes, you get to keep and take advantage of all
your lenses and filters. One "red flag", though: the Nikon
Digital SLR's have a 1.5X focal distance factor that makes
your lenses have an effective focal length larger than the
actual focal length of the lens. For instance, if you have
a 50mm lens, on a D70 that lens would be equivalent to a
75mm lens (i.e., it will have an angular coverage equal to
the angular coverage that a 75mm lens would have on your N90
or any other Nikon film camera).

This is more or less good news for the telephoto end of the
lenses (all of a sudden, your 300mm f/4 lens turns into a
450mm f/4 !!!). But it is *really bad* news for the wide-
angle end: your fantastic (and very expensive) 14mm lens
becomes a pedestrian 21mm lens!! :-(

Again, you may want to check Nikon's web site to see if the
other, higher-end models, maybe better suited for you.

HTH,

Carlos
--

 

How does the D100 fare?

 

From what I've heard, the D70 outperforms it.

The body is metal instead of plastic, so that is one advantage
of the D100 over the D70.

But apparently, the D70 is better with respect to noise in
long-exposures and for high ISO settings -- reportedly, the
grain-noise of the D70 is one-step better than the D100:
shooting with the D70 at ISO-320 is equivalent to shooting
with the D100 at ISO-200 in terms of grain noise.

Also, the D70 has a flash-sync of 1/500 !!! Pretty nice
if you ask me! (I think the D100 has 1/125... Maybe it
is 1/180? I don't remember -- but I do remember that the
D70 kicks the D100's behind in the flash speed)

So, apparently, the D70 is a much better deal -- better
price/quality ratio, and even better quality in many
(most?) important aspects.

(I keep using "apparently", and "reportedly" because I do
not own a D100, so I can not tell anything from first-hand
experience -- I'm writing this based on reviews I've seen
and from what I've read in this newsgroup over the past
couple of months)

Carlos
--

 

While not strictly a Nikon, the Fuji FinePix S2 Pro (And the recently
released S20) are based on the N80 body. I love my S2 and it has worked out
great with my collection of Nikon lenses.

There is also the very high-end Kodak D14n 14MP which is based on the same
body.

Tim

 

Can flash guns used on a Nikon film SLR also be used on the D70? In
particular I'm thinking of the Vivitar 850 Nikon dedicated flash.

Peter.

 

Actually, they're both polycarbonate over a metal frame.