19. Lens Availability: Plenty To Choose From

If these two lenses don't appeal to you, either because your needs are more specialized or your ambitions are higher, both the Canon and Nikon lines offer many choices - provided, of course, that your wallet is fat enough. As a basic lens, you can stress low light capability and go with the very fine 17-55mm f/2.8 from Nikon, a trans-standard professional zoom. Canon doesn't offer an equivalent and you'll have to choose, depending on your priorities, between the 16-35 f/2.8 (with limited maximum focal length), the 17-40mm f/4 (which lacks a little in brightness but offers a good features/price ratio), and the 24-70mm f/2.8L, high in quality but without a real wide angle. Among the interesting alternatives, for the Canon and for the Nikon, is the Sigma 2.8/18-50, which offers good brightness and compact size at a fairly affordable price. For the Canon, if brightness is not a priority for you, the EF-S 4-5.6/17-85 IS is a very attractive choice that includes image stabilization.

Finally, for amateurs who want to be able to "do it all" with a single lens, high-zoom-ratio glass is available from independent manufacturers like Sigma and Tamron. The typical model is an 18-200mm f/3.5-6.3, which is the 35mm film equivalent of approximately 28-300 mm. The quality is decent, but the brightness is low at the longest focal lengths. Still, for a traveler who doesn't want to be weighed down, it's not a bad solution.

While Canon's lens mount has undergone at least one radical change, Nikon's has been mechanically identical since the Nikon F of the 1960s! That means you can mount some fairly venerable lenses on the D70s. Only a few very specific lenses are unusable. In general, lenses with a microprocessor are fully usable. Older and non auto-focus ones (necessarily without microprocessor) are usable but don't allow metering. For very specific lenses that's not a major obstacle, as you can always take a test shot and/or meter using another lens. So, for example, you can use an old 500 mm mirror lens and have the equivalent of a 750 mm at an unbeatable price...

The 500 mm Tamron SP 8/500 mirror lens mounted on the D70s. Very compact for its focal length - and that's with the retractable hood extended!

The same location as our test images, shot with the 500 mm Tamron (not reframed). Equivalent focal length: 750 mm... handheld!

Detail at 100%. Not bad, eh?

Power

Both models ship with a lithium ion battery that's good for several hundred shots before needing a recharge. We didn't attempt to count the number of shots possible with each camera, because the number is too dependent on numerous parameters - power consumption varies significantly depending on whether or not you use the built-in flash, the file format chosen, what lens is mounted on the camera, and the user's style of shooting. We'll just say that in general it's simply not a problem, though serious users will want to invest in an additional battery to be sure of not having to worry about how many pictures they can shoot before the battery runs down.

Of course, a universal (100 - 240 V) charger is supplied with both the Canon and with the Nikon. AC adapters are available, and the D70s can use CR2 lithium batteries with an adapter, available as an option. For safeguarding the date and other permanent data, Canon uses a CR2016 lithium battery, while Nikon has stayed with its solution of an internal super capacitor that's automatically recharged when the camera is under power.