- Average user rating: 4.0 stars out of 184 reviews Back to product review
- My rating: 0 stars
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14 out of 17 people found this review helpful
3.0 stars
"Disappointed"
Pros: Menus, ergonomics, quality of workmanship
Cons: Picture quality and metering
Summary: I owned Nikon film cameras for years. I went digital and have been using a Sony DSC-S85 4MP camera for four years. I wanted more speed and flexibility and bought the D70. The feel and layout are much like my last film camera the Nikon F100. That camera was like an extention of my brain. After 10 days I sadly returned the D70. I loved the menus and feel and the bright view finder, but I tested it side by side against my Sony with at least 100 prints and the Sony consistantly produced better images in auto with no compensation. I could get close to the same quality of images with the Nikon only after considerable manipulations and adjustments. The Nikon cosistantly seemed to under expose images and the colors produced were not true. The Auto setting was bad so I used every combination available in program mode without seeing satisfactory and predictable results. The Sony goes down to 100 ISO, and to be fair I set it at ISO 200. The best pictures were by the Sony 98% of the time. I showed the prints to laymen and photographers and got the same opinion. I was very sad to return the Nikon. It reminds me of a beautiful wife who cheats on you, but you still don't want to let her go. The Sony is slow, but with the addition of a Tiffen .075 lens, my images were wider than the 28mm setting on the Nikon. The Sony built-in flash is so powerful it has to be turned down to keep it from over powering many scenes and the $100 Sony flash I have attached can be bounced and produces consistantly brilliant and shadowless images. In addition the Sony LCD instantly displays the results of exposure and white balance adjustments so I get a good image the first time rather that having to make adjustments after I preview a finished image as was the case with the Nikon. The F100 menus were very similar so I had no problems with the D70's set-up, but could not get a superior image. I am tempted to try one of the Canon DSLRs but they just don't have the same Nikon feel. The Sony went with me to Iraq and back and almost never failed to get me a good shot. I bought a second Sony from a pawn shop. The info lithium battery seems to last forever and it tells you battery life in minutes. The Nikon battery just died unexpectantly and the charger is huge. The sony battery charger fits in my shirt pocket. I guess I'll wait for a few more generations of DSLR camers to come and go and start shopping again.Updated
At the risk of sounding like a nut, I wish to revise my previous rating of the Nikon D-70. After returning the camera, and a brief trial of the Canon Rebel XT, I repurchased the D-70, and I am extremely satisfied. My first camera was bought at Best Buy. The repurchase was made at my local full service camera shop. I also did the firmware upgrade and started shooting exclusively in raw (NEF) mode. I don?t know if my first machine was a lemon, or if the firmware made the difference, but I have outstanding shoots from San Francisco, Hawaii and in the Clinton Presidential Museum in Little Rock where no flash photography is permitted. It is difficult to take a bad shoot with the D-70. Mediocre shoots can be made exceptional with just a little touch-up in Photoshop. I did not have Photoshop when purchased the camera the first time. I also purchased the SB 600 flash, but in many situations when just a touch a fill flash is needed, the built-in flash does a good job. I use program mode most often and adjusting ISO, metering mode and / or flash settings, I can get a good shot 99.9% of the time. I hope my initial review didn?t steer anyone in the wrong direction. My salesman shook my hand when I bought the camera and said, ?Welcome back?. It?s good to be back.
- 8 replies to this review
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i was about to bash your opinion, but great comeback
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Good handling sharp results but I need to
work in the photoshop for almost every shot
and this is very dissapointing. -
I own a D70 and was concerned at the begining as you were. As time went on, I got to know the camera better and Photoshop makes a big difference. There's a firmware upgrade for the D70 that improves some of the problems and you can go to the Nikon web site for a free download. The improvement makes the D70 an even better camera. Take a look. If you're nervous about doing the free firmware upgrade, a Nikon tech will do it for a fee. There are very clear instructions on the Nikon site and it sounds like you can do it on your own.
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the D70 is for serious 'amateur photography' work, and that includes some additional effort in the 'digital dark room'. True, the D70 underexposes somewhat, but at least you don't loose the highlights, and the schadows can easily be corrected in Photoshop or something similar.
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To compare the Sony point and shoot vs.the D-70 is a joke. I suggest this user stick to point and shoot cameras.
Once you learn to use the D-70 properly, it simply outclasses the Sonys in every way possible. Learn how to optimize your color curves!
I'd like to see his Sony rival the shots I take with my 80-400mm VR lens. -
The user seemed to have a deep seated bias for his Sony point and shoot camera. If it produces images that please him then that's cool. He doesn't share with us what he was photographing and under what circumstances e.g. was he doing tests in a studio shooting mannequins or what?
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It is difficult to get out of the P&S mentality. I see you really didn't spend a whole lot of time with the D70 before you gave up on it. You really have to take the time with a true DSLR and get to know all of the functions and settings. Once you do, they will become like second nature to you and your pictures will be vibrant and beautiful, with the utmost in detail, color retention, and depth, far more than any P&S is capable of. The P&S photos look pleasing to the eye, but many times they are overexposed and have a "painted" look as detail is lost due to noise reduction and high AA filters when you compare them to a picture that is properly exposed with the correct shading and highlights.
However, if the quick pic and gratification is what you are after, you may want to stick with the P&S cameras. I hear Samsung is coming out with a nice one with a 15X zoom. Maybe this is for you! -
Hi,
I also own an F100 (and an FM2n), with several AF and MF Nikkor lenses, and a Sony S85 and just bought a D70 with the 18-70!! Talk about coincidence
But we must have cameras from different batches, because my experience differs a great deal.
First: yes, the F100 is a perfect extension to my photographic mind too, I love it and it's the absolute best camera I've ever used (and I've used quite a few, among SLRs, medium format, compacts and compact digitals). BUT, since I bought the D70 I'll never use it again, unless someone makes a really good and affordable digital back for it!
Second: The Sony is cool, but it's colours are anything but natural (typical Sony), and it's so slow I have nightmares using it since I got used to the ultra-fast and precise D70. And my Sony charger is by far the largest charger I've EVER seen! It's larger (though much lighter) than my notebook's charger!!! It's flash POWER is not great, though I find it better than most compact's flash, and indeed it doesn't seem any worse (I'm talking strictly POWER here!) than D70's built in flash. BUT, it's not great, that's why you have to underpower it (like I do), it's just because Sony flash exposure system sucks, while my D70 NEVER burns out an image taken with flash, it doens't matter how close from the subject I am.
Third: I use my D70 since day one with the 2.0 firmware set, which was already available for a few days when I bought the camera, so I don't know how it's to use the D70 with previous versions of it's firmware set(mine came with 1.2 and 1.3 firmwares), but it's so great I couldn't let it go the first day I used it. My right hand got hurt from the ultra-heavy use in just 5 hours of index and thumb fingers - I took 500 pictures in this time period! Then I went do Barcelona, Spain, for 6 days and took 2200 pictures - I got NONE out of focus, underexposed or overexposed. I repeat: NONE, out of 2200. I took them all in P mode, which is the same flexible program I got in the F100, although in the F100 I always used aperture priority, because my lenses all have the aperture ring in the camera, which I prefer, so I used it always. But the P flexible program is almost the same, within the reach of the right thumb, so, no complaints, took 1/2 hour to get used to it.
So, maybe you should give another shot. Believe me, the D70 is the best thing for any enthusiast and demanding photographer since the F100
Cheers!
Fernando Martins
