Ryan Tsang

I feel like someone who just discovered the power of DVD!
I never knew a digicam could be this much fun! I have been shooting Nikon 35mm for several years and was waiting for the right moment to add digital to my repertoire. It's tough to argue that the Canon EOS-300D and the Nikon D70 are going to open the floodgates for digital SLRs.

Question for all digital users, esp Nikon:

What imaging software are you using? I don't plan to get Photoshop CS because of sheer complexity and cost. I'd like a program to handle Nikon's NEF format well and give me an enthusiast/serious amateur level of control and image processing.

What are some differences between the makes of CompactFlash cards? Other than speed, is there another reason to pay the premium for names such as Lexar and Sandisk?

Don Black

Checkout the forums at dpreview.com. More of a photography focus. Most of your questions have been convered in the past. Just search their archives. Congrats on the purchase! It's a great camera for sure.

Tom Meyer

If you're not going w/ Photoshop, you can purchase Nikon Capture for $100 after trying it out for 30 days.

Fast CF cards are important w/ the D70 because they're needed to keep up w/ its large cache and fast buffering. I have 2 512 SanDisk Ultra II cards and am very happy. I shoot all NEF and can still get very good burst throughput. With JPEG, it's pretty much continuous. I got mine for ~$80 each at Amazon during a sale w/ rebate so check around. They are kinda of sparse right now but you could find them I'm sure. The SanDisk Extreme is also a good choice.

Check out http://www.robgalbraith.com/bins/mul...e.asp?cid=6007 for tons of great info.

Have fun ! (though now you'll be jonesing for lenses ! )

Max Leung

The Sandisk Ultra 2 and Extreme cards are the fastest CF cards out there right now.

And I heard that even the standard Sandisk cards are getting a large speed boost too, as they use the same core as the Ultra2/Extreme. However, stores may still be stocking the older snail-slow standard versions.

My understanding is that the packaging for the upgraded standard Sandisk cards is very slightly different from the old ones.

Mahatma Gandhi, as you know, walked barefoot most of the time, which produced an impressive set of calluses on his feet. He also ate very little, which made him rather frail and with his odd diet, he suffered from bad breath. This made him...a super-callused fragile mystic hexed by halitosis.

Gameshow host: "Is taking Viagra kosher during Passover dinner?"
Whoopee Goldberg: "Not if it leads to pork."
Kermit the Frog: "Hey, that's my line!"

Michael Harris

I recently bought a D-70 the day before I left for a trip to Germany. Wonderful camera. I gave it a "test drive" while taking off from Washington National Airport and was able to fire off a ton of shots of the various DC landmarks, including the WWII Memorial dedication and they almost all came out great. I still have a lot of learning to do since this is my first digital camera but I think I'll not be disappointed.

Time to retire my two Canon A-1s.

Max Leung

Wow Michael...the police didn't stop you from taking photos of the monuments?

I've been hearing a few stories of photographers being told they can't take pictures of landmarks and such. If they spot you with a tripod, that is.

Mahatma Gandhi, as you know, walked barefoot most of the time, which produced an impressive set of calluses on his feet. He also ate very little, which made him rather frail and with his odd diet, he suffered from bad breath. This made him...a super-callused fragile mystic hexed by halitosis.

Gameshow host: "Is taking Viagra kosher during Passover dinner?"
Whoopee Goldberg: "Not if it leads to pork."
Kermit the Frog: "Hey, that's my line!"

Michael Harris

I took them from the airplane as we were taking off. The most valuable seats, when flying out of National, are the window seats on the right side of the plane since most flights take off going up the Potomac thus giving the best view of the sites. Most of the pictures came out very nice and the faulty ones were caused by the less then optical quality of the aircraft windows.

I have read in the Washington Post about a reporter who took pictures of various things around the monuments to see what kind of reaction he would get from the Park Police. There appears to be no rhyme or reason on what you can and can't do. I do plan on taking my D-70 out at night with my tripod to test out its low-light capability since the monuments are illuminated and are officially open until midnight.