ive read a coupld of reviews for a d1 and was wondering if their are any drawbacks besides the 2.7 megapixel? Im basically going to be use it to learn and i would rather save the money over a d70(my other option) for glass.
I have had a D1 for quite a long time now. I have done some motorcycle shots of guys doing wheelies and other assorted stunts. The auto-focus handles beautifully, especially considering the bikes are doing anywhere from 30 to 60 mph. A couple of things to keep in mind: internal jpg are in NTSC instead of sRGB (I personally shoot in RAW mode with the D1); battery life is much shorter than the newer cameras, so plan on getting a few; they are getting older and unlike film cameras they tend to become disposable as the cost of repairs exceed the worth of the camera; it is only approx 2.7mp. The great thing about it is that it shoots at about 5 frames per second, it is built fairly solid and makes you look like a professional, even if you aren't.
Mine has a couple of bugs in it, like the internal battery is shot, and sometimes I get an error on the first shot of the day. Other than that is shoots like a champ. Others have complained that the TTL doesn't work very well. I get satisfactory results with the SB800, but I don't shoot much flash without studio strobes. Hope this helps.
I had a D1 too for a limited amount of time. I ended up getting rid of mine due to a number of factors of which low light noise is horrid at 800 ISO. Do not use the D1 over ISO 400 if you want decent results.
Otherwise, this camera is an excellent performer. Battery life sucks, due to the power draw the D1 has. The 2.7mp RAW file is excellent. As indicated, you need to convert the colour space to match you workflow. This camera does very well in fair light. And would make an excellent camera for outdoor sports.
I would however recommend highly that you think about picking up a used D2h like I did. The D2h is a much better camera in many respects: Noise is less at ISO 800 - almost gives the feeling of film grain. Battery last 10x times or more longer. 8fps! Need I say more - designed for fast action captue. And all the bells and whistles of all of the pro nikon bodies. Big viewfinder of course. And huge LCD screen making it easier to review images.
