[Jeff Perry]

Douglas, I for one agree completely with Mr. Pickles. The D70 is a fine camera and produces very nice images in JPGs. It does shoot RAW files (called NEF by Nikon) but there is certainly no rush to shoot in RAW format when you should be focusing on learning the ins and outs of the camera.

I don't recall you mentioning what lens you were going to use. So much of the quality of the photographs is shared by both the camera and the lens. Get a nice lens that suits your most important purpose.

As for post processing, you will find that most (all?) images will need some amount of tweaking, even as little as cropping and sharpening for output to a printer. Photoshop 7 (although not the latest release/version) is a workhorse, and will do everything you will likely ever need. Try to take some time and learn its basic functions. You may find, in the long run that a program like Lightroom or a "friendlier" version of Photoshop called Elements will suit you better.

But most of all, enjoy the D70, and welcome to the world of DSLRs. I think you will be pleased.

Jeff