Hmm, so it's gonna essentially be a D70s with a 10.2MP sensor, slightly better noise reduction at high ISO, possibly slighty better AF, and a better hisogram. Fps won't go up, it won't have a vertical grip, and it won't feel more "serious" because that would encroach on D200 territory.
I purchased the D200 thinking it would be a significant upgrade from the D70s, but found the images to be almost identical. Yeah the D200 is a higher resolution but the sharpness when you zoom in really isn't very superior. The sensor is almost identical and the resulting images are almost equally sharp. Resolution makes the picture bigger at 100% zoom, not noticably clearer. Yes there is a slight difference side by side with identical photos, but do a blind test on an 18x24 print of different photos and you'll find it very hard to tell the difference. They both look good.
It's like comparing a 10MP compact digital to a 6MP DSLR. The 6MP DSLR wipes the floor with it because of the size of the sensor and sharpness of the image. The D70s and it's so called replacement will have an almost identical sensor. Resolution means very little.
I ended up sending my D200 back because I couldn't justify it. Plus it's an unforgiving dog comapred to the D70s. Infact the ONLY noticable difference in picture quality between the D70s and D200 was that the noise on high ISO settings was a bit better. But the few times I ever want to use ISO1600 arn't worth £1200 to me.
Can't get excited about something that is gonna sit below the D200 in the food chain, so it won't even have the build quality advantage. It's gonna be a D70 to D70s upgrade again. A damn good camera, but not worth an upgrade.
5D for noise free, 10D for noisy. But anyway, I think people need to realise that noise isn't bad.
