I've had one for over a year now, bought one of the first ones that I could find. I've been a photog freak for a few years now
. My only suggestion would be this, don't assume that because you have a nice camera that you're going to get good pictures. While programs, routines and auto settings can get you pretty far there's no subsitute for experience and learning the right way to use a camera. I shot film for about 5 years before I went digital, often getting only 1 or 2 useable prints from a roll of film. Not cheap, but it taught me a lot. Digital cameras are great tools for this type of learning as they allow you to shoot without the worry that you have to develop ever picture you take, however you can be lulled into complacancy and just shoot and shoot and shoot without really thinking about what you're doing. I still get trapped in this from time to time and generally miss the shot that I wanted to get.
Another key componant with DSLRs is that you ususally need to develop some skills using an image inhancement program. If you used to, and like, the punchy and extremely colorful pictures that point and shoot cameras produce you're likely to be disappointed initially with the D70, or any Nikon DSLR for that matter. Nikon seems to pride themselves on accurate color rendering and detail while Canon tends to produce more of what the average consumer looks for in an image. That's not to say that one is better than the other, they both make fantastic cameras. It just so happens I have always had Nikon gear so that's what I've stuck with. The D70 comes with a program called Nikon Capture (I'm pretty sure anyway) that allows you to pretty easily manipulate the captured image and tailor it to your liking. I use a combination of this software along with Adobe Photoshop and a few others to work my images depending on the level I'm trying to get them to. This step in digital photography is usually handled in camera with P&S cameras so you just need to know what you're getting yourself into with more advanced equipment. This also isn't to say that the D70's images don't look good straight out of the camera, they do, but they can be made to look better
.
Enough about those topics, on to the camera itself.
I've shot around 3000 pictures with my D70 over the past year without fault. The kit lens is an absolute bargin in Nikon terms. The only other walkaround lens I'd consider is the 24-120VR lens, but it's not supposed to be as sharp as the kit lens and doesn't have the wide angle capabilties. The only move I make in the Nikon line would be up to something like the D2X, which unless I want a divorce isn't going to happen.
If you want an extremely in-depth review of the D70 I suggest looking at the following link:
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/nikond70/.
Feel free to ask more detailed questions if you've got them, I could go on and on about digital photography.
Finally, here's one of my favorite D70 shots, it's a house that I did the structural design on.
Some of the jpeg artifacts are due to online resizing. For the original pic go here -
http://www.pbase.com/n_maher/image/42206744
Hope that helps,
Nate