Patricio murphy wrote: >...Anyone with the right skills can. Even a 12 year old kid with a K1000, of course. >The bottom line, I may someday change my Nikon for a pro model, but at the >moment, I love this one, and will defend it ti death against those snobs >who suppose that if you're not a pro you don't count. >Keep shooting! Hoorah for Pat! I earn a half a living using an F70 and a maybe fourth hand F3 for PJ work. (In the studio I use MF, but that's a completely different story.(and the other half)) I bought the F3 5 years ago when I wanted to have a "real" slr for my study (used a K1000 before). When I turned pro I bought a back-up body (F70). The only reason i didnt go for the F50 back then was because it couldn't use it's fancy metering with the prime I had on my F3. And there was the little fact that I didn't have the money to buy the then brand new F5. Now I have the money, but my F70 serves perfectly. I never heard anyone say; "You should have used a pro body, your photo's would have been better" And if he said something like that, he would look like a fool. A body is nothing more than a dark box with a shutter and a light meter. Maybe the lightmeter of the F5 has 1000 and then some pixels and the F70 has 6 zones, but exposure is spot-on. (I also have a minolta flashmeter V (which costs as much as an F70, more even) and when I set it on incident, the F70 comes up with the same readings. DOF is something I don't need in 35 mm, but I can imagine some amateurs need it, (again, I use MF for every job I might need exact DOF)but most professionals should be able to make an estimate DOF. The only thing I really am annoyed about is the fact that there are no grips for "amateur" bodies, but that is a Nikon thing, since all other manufacturers do produce grips for their amateur bodies. And the sturdyness thing, the F70's exterior is made of out of plastic. Bottom line: 80% of the people owning an F5 (or EOS 1-n)don't need it IMHO. Buy an F70/F60 and be happy. What to do with the money you saved? Buy a lens. (pro optics have more things going for them than pro bodies) Buy some film (that can also come in handy) Or better yet... Have some fun with it (like maybe a trip around the world... (don't forget your camera, you could create the shot of your life while cruisin' around the world - and have fun.) And if you really really want to have a pro body the price of an F5, buy a Hasselblad 501c/m. (that's the cheap one...) Using it you will learn a lot about Photography and THAT's worth the money. (and it looks even more impressive then a Nikon F5) Hope I didn't bore you too much, nor was it my intent to insult anyone. Joffrey
