13. Drive, He Said

The 350D has the three traditional drive modes: single, continuous, and self-timer. The latter has only a single duration, 10 seconds, which limits its possible uses. The D70s has the same drive modes, but the self-timer has a choice of 2, 10, or 20-second delays. With the 2s setting, this also serves as a shutter release to help avoid movement blur, which is very practical.

The Nikon can use an MC-DC1 remote cord - a new feature not on the D70 - and the ML-L3 infrared remote release. Canon offers a choice between two infrared remotes: RC-1 and RC-5. An RS-60E3 cord remote is also usable. The 350D has a mirror lock-up function for vibration-free low-light shooting - it's a shame the Nikon doesn't have that function, even if it's only used by a minority of photographers.

The continuous shooting rate is stated as being 3 frames per second (fps) for both models. Though the same rate was specified for the D70, the D70s feels significantly more responsive. We tested the burst rate in JPEG mode and in RAW mode with a 1 GB 45X (6.75 MB/s) Transcend memory card. It would probably be possible to do better with a faster card; we don't recommend a low-end card, which will produce noticeably worse results. The difference naturally becomes an issue only once the camera's buffer memory is full; in practice that isn't at all crucial for most users.

For once, the manufacturers' promises are kept, and then some, since with both models, in maximum JPEG quality, we got close to seven shots in two seconds. That burst rate, equivalent to around 3.5 fps, was maintained for 5 seconds with the Canon and only 3 seconds with the Nikon, but the Nikon kept up a higher burst rate than the Canon after that, so that the number of frames shot in 10 seconds was about the same. Behavior was identical in RAW mode: The 350D took six shots in less than 2 seconds, but was slow and irregular beyond that point. The D70s's memory is limited to four shots taken in approximately 1 second, but it's very regular and faster than the 350D after that point.

Canon 350D in JPEG mode.

Canon 350D in RAW mode.