Reading mode: Light Dark

D70s: what a surprise

Go to last post
I'd be careful with that: D40 is a different machine for some important things.
It has a far better LCD, but worse autofocus (if I recall) and especially:

a) one wheel only (two is incredibly useful when you fiddle, which happens often . Can't imagine going back to menus to fix exposures or flash modes...)

b) no inbody motor: I'm using a 50 1.4 (got it incredibly cheap) and a 70-210 F4-5.6 (which is an incredible F4 till 135!!!). Those lenses are very, very cheap secondhand, and high quality, and you need a motor for them. Otherwise you're stuck to expensive AF-S lenses.

c) size: I love D70-80-90 size. D40 won't fit in my hand (might fit better in yours though).

As to D90 vs D70, ok, the lcd is awful on the latter.

But it makes me chimp a lot less! I shoot more, and live happy nevertheless. And the lcd of D90 cheats on me: at high isos, it is not reliable, noise is greatly masqueraded there, I get far worse results on screen usually...

As to noise... MY opinion is this:

love D70 grain. It's there, visible (not chroma though), and it doesn't bother me.

D90 makes something I HATE even at iso 800: detail vanishes, while my eye is cheated in believing everything is perfect. As soon as I concentrate on detail, I get fuzziness. Try a macro, and you'll see what I mean: in real world, gestalt makes for lost detail and we believe we see, but in macro, no detail means just blurriness.

D90 gave me irrepleaceable shots at my sister's wedding, iso3200 and lots of quality, but I don't zoom those files, they look incredibly fake to me.

D70 is worse, no doubt, but grain is real, and while I'd take D90 any day if in need of iso 2000+, below it I'm appreciating D70's grain and native sharpness.
Just me, but I'm hooked :-)

Funny though, no one salvaging the poor D80 in this thread :-)

Never used one... but used the same CCD on a D200, and while noise was an issue, iso 100-200 was breathtaking!

Happy shooting everyone!
Lory

--

'The human race is a race of cowards. And I'm not only marching in that procession, but carrying a banner.'
Mark Twain
 
azoele said:
Funny though, no one salvaging the poor D80 in this thread :-)
Click to expand...
The D80 is the bargain of the later cams - compact D50 type body with the sharper than D90 10Mp sensor (equalling D90 print size), most of a D200 in there and honest with its noise like the older cams in RAW - good balance between noise and detail at high ISOs instead of the plastique you get with the 12Mp Nikons - it loses nothing really to the 90 unless gimmicks and OTT LCD resolution is important toi you ..

Noise isn't an issue really, OK its not D50 clean in RAW at 100% but the detail is retained at least. up to ISO800 it outprints the 6Mp cams, up to 400 by a big margin, at 1600 the D50/40/70S take it .. Nice to have a D50 (or 70S) and a D80 as a cheap combo.

--
Please ignore the Typos, I'm the world's worst Typist

 
having seen images the D70 can achieve in good hands. The D40 remains a favourite and that's a 6mp cam too.

It's a valuable lesson for those who contantly upgrade in the search of more functions and more mps when for many photographers they are simply not needed.

Lizzie
 
I accidentally upgraded my D70 to a D40. I bought the D40 just for its small size. I quickly found out how much better the images straight from the camera were. I very quickly traded the old D70 for another D40 and still have both and use them regularly.
 
AdamT said:
Adam-T said:
Funny though, no one salvaging the poor D80 in this thread :-)
Click to expand...
The D80 is the bargain of the later cams - compact D50 type body with
the sharper than D90 10Mp sensor (equalling D90 print size), most of
a D200 in there and honest with its noise like the older cams in RAW
  • good balance between noise and detail at high ISOs instead of the
plastique you get with the 12Mp Nikons - it loses nothing really to
the 90 unless gimmicks and OTT LCD resolution is important toi you ..
Noise isn't an issue really, OK its not D50 clean in RAW at 100% but
the detail is retained at least. up to ISO800 it outprints the 6Mp
cams, up to 400 by a big margin, at 1600 the D50/40/70S take it ..
Nice to have a D50 (or 70S) and a D80 as a cheap combo.

--
Please ignore the Typos, I'm the world's worst Typist

Click to expand...
I think you're not in line with the general opinion and various camera tests on the net with regard to noise on the D70/D50/D40 vs. D90. Apparently D90 is a bit soft per pixel (strong AA-filter), but from what I've seen it still delivers more detail/less noise at high ISO's, even at 100% per pixel view. Personally, I rather don't go past ISO 800 on ny D70. I'm strongly considering going for a D90 myself, not only for better high ISO, but more importantly higher DR (+ better viewfinder and some more).

------- Eirik ----------
n
[]O]

Visit my gallery at http://eirikbs.smugmug.com/
 
To be honest, I haven't found a big difference between D90 and 70 when it comes to viewfinder.

As to dynamic range (if you can live with the "plasticky" high iso), D90 is the clear winner. Its files have enormeous, but I mean enormous latitute for recover... I'd dare say well over 1 full stop of highlights, and it withstands shadow opening up to iso 800 without giving you much trouble, actually giving a total of almost 2 full combined stops extra. And with a heavy sharpening and low iso, its results are quite striking too (but it takes lots of sharpen to get them there).
You'll love it!

Just, don't rely on the LCD too much. As detailed as it is (and it helps achieve focus in live view perfectly when manual focusing), the review images come from internal jpegs, which exhibit quite a different tune from the Raw you'll be dealing with. At best, you can check enough reliably (well, sort of) tough focusing (like with 1.8/1.4 lenses). Sure, blows D70 out of the water for this :-)

Lory

P.s.

The other sideeffect, of course, is that my MacBook Pro 2.2Ghz, with 4gb of Ram, doesn't love 12mpixels raw, and lives more comfortably with 6! :-)

--

'The human race is a race of cowards. And I'm not only marching in that procession, but carrying a banner.'
Mark Twain
 
ebsilon said:
ISO's, even at 100% per pixel view. Personally, I rather don't go
past ISO 800 on ny D70
Click to expand...
Can't remember what the original D70 was like at 1600, it may have had noisy amps but the D50 and D40 are so good at ISO1600 in RAW with C1 at least that you can leave the cam on Auto ISO all the time and forget about it, even push a stop or two and retain large prints .. DR is very good in RAW but the 10Mp and 12Mp sensors are better for highlight recovery - the D50 is better for shadows than highlights

If the D90 had the AA filter and AF of the D300, I'd probably own one now but with the soft AA and CAM1000 - no thanks, I'd stick with the cheap D50 and D80 as kickabout Nikons, the D90's Gimmicks don't impress me much (I wish they'd used the money for useful stuff like- Er, D300 AF and a weaker AA filter) , if I want Video, I'll use the shirt pocket sized TZ5 with its 10X stabilized wide zoom.

--
Please ignore the Typos, I'm the world's worst Typist

 
I love my camera. Got it new in 2007!!!!!! how about them apples, huh?

--
Nikon D70s
Nikon 18-70mm f/3.5-4.5G AF-S DX
Nikon 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G AF-S VR
Nikon 50mm f/1.8 AF
Tamron SP 90mm f/2.8 Di Macro
Sigma 10-20mm f/4-5.6 EX DC HSM
Nikon SB-600
Manfrotto 190XDB / 486RC2 Ballhead
 
I'm a happy D40 owner, but all things considered, I think the best DSLR I ever owned was the D70. (I've also owned the D200 and Canon 30D). The latest DSLRs have bigger brighter viewfinders, lovely screens on the back etc, but I don't think they take better pictures, especially in raw. The D70's images were very rich and natural and no amount of twiddling with settings has got me anywhere near that look. One of the reasons I haven't bothered "upgrading" my D40 to the D90 is I haven't liked the pictures I've seen - they seem cartoonish and plasticky - lacking subtlety.

I recognise this is purely subjective, but in terms of quality of pictures, I'd place the DSLRs I've owned in this order:

D70
D40
D200
Canon 30D

Judging by pictures I've seen from the D300, I think I would get on well with it, but it's overpriced considering its age, so I will hold on and continue enjoying my D40.

http://liquoricepontoon.zenfolio.com/p672642468
 
They'll both do fine in good lighting conditions (base ISO).

Except for IR or if I had to process on my ancient, slow notebook computer (I've got a newer faster one as well), I'd pick the D90 every time for it's mechanical high speed shutter, pentaprism, and wonderful rear LCD display. Imagewise, though, all the models are pretty much the same once you get to the print.

--
Equipment in my User Profile. (Includes a D70 and D90)
Personal gallery at http://almy.us/gallery
 
demarren 123 said:
Well I can say I am totaly agree with you.
Click to expand...
And that takes all of one line, fine.
demarren 123 said:
Very detaild explanation.
Click to expand...
Yes, detailed, long, and PREVIOUSLY POSTED -- please don't waste bandwidth
by copying replied-to posts (esp. slow-to-load photos): we see them once in
the original, which is adequate.

"Please trim as much of the quoted (> ) message as possible" --it's possible to
trim it all. And as the forum's most active poster (by double!), you should
show this consideration (most actively!).

thanks,
-d

ps: Super night shot of the town; a mirror of still water!!
 
lionel_UK said:
D5000 so far. From what I hear it meters like a D70 too, so maybe the
D5000 is the new D70?
Click to expand...
Without a Weak AA, twin dials, body motor, gridlines, wireless from popup etc, definately NOT - it's the new D40

--
Please ignore the Typos, I'm the world's worst Typist

 
An ambivalent take here.

On the one hand, though I do not have a D70s, with respect to colors, I have a similar experience to you: my D80 produces punchier colors than my D90 out of camera. A lot can be said about in-camera settings, etc., but ultimately, I think the CCD vs. CMOS sensor difference has a great deal to do with it. Ironically, it is the D90 that produces colors more faithfully, telling you something about how "pleasing" color is often a mater of preference more than about camera performance.

On the flip side, I've found that with post-processing, I can make the D90 as punchy as the D80 -- well, almost, and that as they say, is close enough for me. And the flexibility of Picture controls on the D90 (you can even upload them into the camera) means you can get as wild and punchy as you want.

Finally, when it comes to recovering highlights, my D90 is superb, my D80 so-so, and I'm guessing the D70s will lag both of them in terms of dynamic range.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Rule of Thirds is meant to be broken, but only 1/3 of the time.



D80/D90 photos: http://esfotoclix.com
 
just checking :-)

I've kept my D50's in the family just in case I get the urge for some 'punchy pics'. Problem is, everytime I pick one up and take a gander through that viewfinder, I find myself putting it down in a somewhat hasty manner...
eNo said:
An ambivalent take here.

On the one hand, though I do not have a D70s, with respect to colors,
I have a similar experience to you: my D80 produces punchier colors
than my D90 out of camera. A lot can be said about in-camera
settings, etc., but ultimately, I think the CCD vs. CMOS sensor
difference has a great deal to do with it. Ironically, it is the D90
that produces colors more faithfully, telling you something about how
"pleasing" color is often a mater of preference more than about
camera performance.

On the flip side, I've found that with post-processing, I can make
the D90 as punchy as the D80 -- well, almost, and that as they say,
is close enough for me. And the flexibility of Picture controls on
the D90 (you can even upload them into the camera) means you can get
as wild and punchy as you want.

Finally, when it comes to recovering highlights, my D90 is superb, my
D80 so-so, and I'm guessing the D70s will lag both of them in terms
of dynamic range.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Rule of Thirds is meant to be broken, but only 1/3 of the time.



D80/D90 photos: http://esfotoclix.com
Click to expand...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Keyboard shortcuts

f
Forum
m
My threads
Mobile site
About
Editorial content
Cameras & Lenses
Community
All content, design, and layout are Copyright © 1998–2025 Digital Photography Review All Rights Reserved.
Reproduction in whole or part in any form or medium without specific written permission is prohibited.
When you use DPReview links to buy products, the site may earn a commission.
©GPS Media - Guides, Products, Services.
Back
Top