Considering buying a Nikon D70s, have questions...

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Jack Black - 09 Apr 2006 22:53 GMT

Hi, all!! Long-time film guy (both 35mm and Medium Format), and I've
been toying with the idea of getting a Nikon D70s body for use with
some existing AF and MF lenses, and want searching for some input
beyond what I've already read on DPReview.com.

My main concern is losing the use of a couple of my favorite AF
lenses, currently used on my workhorse F4s and FM3A. I have a Tokina
28-80 AF-X Pro f/2.8 lens that I use 80% of the time: losing the use
of this lens might ("might") be a deal breaker, but I'm open to
comments and suggestions. Will I still be able to use the new Matrix
Metering with this lens? If not, what kind of metering will be
available with this lens? Other lenses I'm concerned about losing are
the Nikon 50mm f/1.4 AF and a Vivitar 100-400 AF f/4.5.

Can I use my old Nikon SB-25 flash on this body?

I've seen LCD sizes on various sized running from 1.8" (CNet; this is
the original D70, no?), 2" (most sites), and 2.5" (a couple comments
on this UseNET group). The D70s has the 2" LCD, yes?

Also noticed that the max shutter speed is 30 seconds; what about
longer shots (amateur astro photo shots)? Bulb setting or timed shots
longer than 30 seconds?

I typically shoot film in the ISO 50-100 range for color slides (and
100-400 for B&W); has anyone seen any "issues" with a minimum ISO
setting of 200 on this body? Noise above what I could get with ISO 50
on a film body?

Can I use a standard cable release on this body? Looks like it's
electronic only now...

Is the D70s scheduled for discontinuation any time soon? I noticed
the 'S' model just came out last year but with Nikon discontinuing the
FM3A so shortly after putting it on the market...

Any thoughts and suggestions would be appreciated. Best price I've
seen is at Adorama, so I'll probably buy the body (not kit) from them
or B&H.

Thanks!
Jack

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David Dyer-Bennet - 10 Apr 2006 04:29 GMT

> Hi, all!! Long-time film guy (both 35mm and Medium Format), and I've
> been toying with the idea of getting a Nikon D70s body for use with
[quoted text clipped - 9 lines]
> available with this lens? Other lenses I'm concerned about losing are
> the Nikon 50mm f/1.4 AF and a Vivitar 100-400 AF f/4.5.

That Tokina has been my main walkaround lens since 1994, when I first
got Nikon AF gear. I went digital at the end of 2002. It works
excellently (first on a Fuji S2, now on a D200). It's an AF-D lens,
so it supports all metering modes.

The only drawback is that, on a crop-factor body like mine or your
hypothetical D70, it's a "normal" to mid-telephoto lens; no wide
portion at all. (42mm to 105mm angle-of-view in 35mm film terms).
I'm currently experimenting with the 18-70mm f/3.5-4.5 G AF-S ED DX
"kit lens", though I bought it separately (used, cheap), and liking it
a lot (note the AF-S and ED; while it's fairly cheap to buy, those are
both premium-lens features). The obvious problem is that it's slow,
of course; but I have fast primes for the *real* low-light situations,
and figure I'll be using flash more now that I have a body and flash
that support iTTL (one of the main motivators for the D200 upgrade).

The other two AF lenses should also support matrix and all other
metering modes, but I can't speak to them from personal experience.

> Can I use my old Nikon SB-25 flash on this body?

Not for TTL exposure. I don't know if it will even *try*; but it
won't produce good results. You need modern equipment that supports
iTTL for good TTL results. (If you're using it in manual or "A" mode
where the flash uses its own sensor, that's fine.)

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Buy_Sell - 10 Apr 2006 12:53 GMT

Hi Jack, ( better not say that on an aircraft these days...)

I bought the D70s last year. The batteries last a really long time
between charges, I was impressed. My favorite low cost lens is the
Nikkor 50mm f/1.8 AF. With the D70s, you can load gamma corrections
into the camera called custom tonal curves. When I first got my camera,
I hated it. The images were lifeless and dull looking. They appeared
darker than they should be. I would have to make ridiculous aperture
and shutter settings to get the image that I wanted and then most of
the time, the image was blurred because of camera shake. I learned
about the custom tonal curve feature of the camera and its like a
completely different camera now. I get images out of the camera
exactly the way that I like them to be. No tripods for me, no flashes,
no post processing. The camera works beautifully now. Natural
lighting, the way it should be...

-------------------------------------------------------
Jack Black - Sun, Apr 9 2006 3:53 pm

Hi, all!! Long-time film guy (both 35mm and Medium Format), and I've
been toying with the idea of getting a Nikon D70s body for use with
some existing AF and MF lenses, and want searching for some input
beyond what I've already read on DPReview.com.

My main concern is losing the use of a couple of my favorite AF lenses,
currently used on my workhorse F4s and FM3A. I have a Tokina 28-80
AF-X Pro f/2.8 lens that I use 80% of the time: losing the use of this
lens might ("might") be a deal breaker, but I'm open to comments and
suggestions. Will I still be able to use the new Matrix Metering with
this lens? If not, what kind of metering will be available with this
lens? Other lenses I'm concerned about losing are the Nikon 50mm f/1.4
AF and a Vivitar 100-400 AF f/4.5.

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DoN. Nichols - 11 Apr 2006 00:57 GMT

According to Buy_Sell <werkspace@hotmail.com>:

> Hi Jack, ( better not say that on an aircraft these days...)
>
[quoted text clipped - 11 lines]
> no post processing. The camera works beautifully now. Natural
> lighting, the way it should be...

Hmm ... are you using it in "Auto" mode? I tend to prefer
"Program" mode -- unless I want to manually control aperture, shutter
speed, or both. I use the Program mode and get quite good results,
sometimes after adjusting the exposure boost/cut "[+/-]" button after
examining the histogram -- depending on what the lighting conditions
are, and what degree of "spot" metering I am using.

Also -- if you turn on "Auto ISO" mode, you can cover a much
greater range of illumination with a given lens. At the extremes (e.g.
1600 ISO) there will be an increase in digital noise -- but that is not
as objectionable as the increase in grain pushing a B&W film to that
speed -- and you continue to get color.

>> Jack Black - Sun, Apr 9 2006 3:53 pm
>>
>> Hi, all!! Long-time film guy (both 35mm and Medium Format), and I've
>> been toying with the idea of getting a Nikon D70s body for use with
>> some existing AF and MF lenses, and want searching for some input
>> beyond what I've already read on DPReview.com.

O.K. Note that the manual focus lenses will probably require
you to also manually control the exposure (the metering does not work
with a lens without a "chip" -- though I did have a chip added to a
180mm f2.8 Nikkor and am quite pleased with that.

>> My main concern is losing the use of a couple of my favorite AF lenses,
>> currently used on my workhorse F4s and FM3A. I have a Tokina 28-80
>> AF-X Pro f/2.8 lens that I use 80% of the time: losing the use of this
>> lens might ("might") be a deal breaker, but I'm open to comments and
>> suggestions.

As another followup has already indicated -- you might not be
using the 28-80 as much with the D70s -- depending on where in the zoom
range you normally shoot. It will have the same coverage as a 42-120mm
lens. You might do better to use this new body with the normal "kit"
lens for the D70 and D70s -- the "DX 18-70mm f3.5-4.5G ED", which will
give you coverage equivalent to 27-105mm. Of course, that lens will not
work on your film bodies, as it is designed to cover the 1.5 crop factor
sensor in the Digital bodies, so you can leave your Tokina with the film
bodies and be able to shoot both in about the same range at the same
time.

had a nice 28-105mm lens which I expected to use with my D70
when I bought it "body only", and while it is an excellent lens, I
eventually wound up buying the kit lens to cover the wide angle range
which I was missing. And the kit lens is a *very* nice lens for the
price -- probably better than the Tokina.

>> Will I still be able to use the new Matrix Metering with
>> this lens?

That depends. I forget which brand of third-party lens decided
that they could do just as well by reverse-engineering the
communications protocol of the Nikon chips -- and wound up with a lens
which had to have the chip upgraded when new camera bodies came out.
Was it Tokina, Sigma, or some other brand? Someone here will probably
supply this information.

>> If not, what kind of metering will be available with this
>> lens?

That depends on the chip in the lens.

>> Other lenses I'm concerned about losing are the Nikon 50mm f/1.4
>> AF

I'm using one of these, and getting excellent results with it.
Remember that it will supply coverage equivalent to a 75mm lens on a
full sized 35mm frame.

>> and a Vivitar 100-400 AF f/4.5.

    This will probably work. I don't have one, so I can't say what
it will do.

    Where you have to *really* jump through hoops is with lenses old
enough to not have the AI (Aperture Indexed) aperture ring, which means
that you can't mount the lens on the camera body until some
modifications have been performed to the aperture ring to clear sensors
on the camera body. But all of these lenses were pre-AF anyway, so this
should not apply to your lenses.

    I hope that this helps,
        DoN.

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Buy_Sell - 11 Apr 2006 02:06 GMT

Hi Don

I prefer using manual mode. The Auto ISO is turned off. I've tried
using it but I'm not crazy about the results. The ISO is set to 400
most of the time. The custom tonal curve feature was the biggest
improvement in my camera.

-------------------------------------------------------------
DoN. Nichols - Mon, Apr 10 2006 5:57 pm

According to Buy_Sell <werksp...@hotmail.com>:

> I bought the D70s last year. The batteries last a really long time
> between charges, I was impressed. My favorite low cost lens is the
[quoted text clipped - 9 lines]
> no post processing. The camera works beautifully now. Natural
> lighting, the way it should be...

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Jack Black - 11 Apr 2006 02:06 GMT

>According to Buy_Sell <werkspace@hotmail.com>:

DoN, thanks for the answers! Good info in there! :)

I understand the 1.5 factor, just didn't really sink in that my fave
lens would go away. I do landscape almost exclusively, and losing
that 28mm-35mm range would be bad. The kit lens might just be the way
to go, although I really try to avoid these slow lenses.

Definately some good information to mull over, thanks for responding!!

Jack

> I hope that this helps,
> DoN.

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Paul Furman - 11 Apr 2006 19:49 GMT

> I understand the 1.5 factor, just didn't really sink in that my fave
> lens would go away. I do landscape almost exclusively, and losing
> that 28mm-35mm range would be bad. The kit lens might just be the way
> to go, although I really try to avoid these slow lenses.

Yeah it's tough because the only fast options are really expensive.
$1200 17-55mm f/2.8 DX (digital only)
$1500 17-35mm f/2.8 (full frame)

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