I bought a D70 a few months ago and it's awesome. I really really enjoy using it. I enjoy taking pictures with it, and most of all i love the results i get with it. It's an easy camera to use. The interface is nicely done so that you can access almost all the functions you use most often in a snap.
It's a great camera. My buddy has had his for a year or so and he doesn't have a camera bag or anything; just throws it in with his books or whatever else. It's held up perfectly as far as i can tell. No problems a few scratches here and there, but the external body is very resilient.
Just for the record the Nikon crop factor is 1.5 to 1 as compared to 35mm film. The Canon crop factor on the 20d is 1.6 to 1. So basically because the image is cropped a 50mm lens will have the field of view of a 75mm lens on a 35mm cam, obviously it's a little different on the canon but pretty much the same.
I paid $860 for mine with the lens when the $200 rebate was going on. I think it's $100 now.
the kit lens is really great. It has a really really useful range for a DSLR and it's actually built very well and is pretty sharp. Also it has nikon's silent wave motor in it which makes it almost silent when it focuses and fast as well. If you were to go online and buy the lens by itself it's around 300-350 bucks.
lens recommendations: well there's 2 routes and multiple combinations.
1. Consumer grade lens'
get the kit lens (18-70mm) and then get a 70-300mm (I have the sigma APO super macro II, haven't decided if i like it or not) to complete your kit along with a nice prime. Everyone who has the 50 1.8 including myself loves it and for the money ($100) it's a steal. You could also throw in a tokina wide angle lens such as the 12-24 for $500 it's gotten great reviews. So basically this is the cheap way to go
the AF-S lens' will focus faster and have the silent wave motor in them so they'll be quieter. I was amazed at the noise my prime made when i got it, because the only lens i had before that was the kit.
DX means that the lens was specifically designed for a DSLR so it can't be used on a film cam. DX is characterized by supposedly being smaller or whatever, and also the lack of an aperture ring which is now controlled by the body.
2. Pro route. Expensive, 2 ways i see it.
A. Start with the 12-24 nikon, the 28-70 nikon, and then the 70- 200 VR. That will set you back close to $5000.
B. The 17-55dx and then the 70-200 VR. You can throw in some really nice primes like the 50mm 1.4 or the 60mm macro. I've seen the 17-55 for around $1150 or so and obviously the 70-200 is like $1400 or so after the rebate.
all the pro glass mentioned above except the 12-24 has a constant aperture of 2.8 which is great if you need it. The 12-24 is f4. Also the lens quality is superior to anything else you're going to find out there.
it really depends on the ranges that you want or need, but for me and alot of other people the kit lens 18-70 gives you a great range to shoot around with and get used to. It's a great lens and many people people will take it with them on trips and such because it has such a great range as well as being small and light.
check out dpreview.com there is alot of information on that website and you'll benefit from looking through it, but don't get caught up in comparing and contrasting to the point of exhaustion. Especially don't do it if you've already made your choice. You can get sucked into measurebating your camera to death and forget that the important part of photography is taking pictures. I got into the habit of comparing and contrasting everything to the point of being ridiculous. I finally realized what i was doing, but it's a hard habit to get out of.
anyways i would personally go for the D70s with the kit, but if the price difference between the regular d70 and d70s is too big don't worry about it. few improvements were a bigger lcd screen, menu changes and a better continuous autofocus. The d70 can be updated to include those improvements with a firmware update though (thankyou nikon!!!) except for the LCD. There are a few more updates that i've forgotten but they're relatively minor.
I didn't want to end on this but it looks like i have to. I did pick the nikon over similar canon products. Camera feel, picture quality, features for dollar spent, did the manufacturer give me more than they could have?, and ease of use were my criteria.
