My business partner cum best friend is taking 3 weeks off to Europe to get away from professional as well as personal (Wifey!) tension.
He’s not really a techno buff but always likes to purchase what is the latest in the market whether he can use it or not.
Last week he purchased the Nikon D70. As I’m not really a pro on photography i’m an really keen in learning, I studied it in college but never pursued it after that with the kind of experimenting I’ve wanted to do never really happened.
Though I’m a Canon fan, I think the Nikon is one of the best top range cameras too.
So the camera was dropped in my lap, saying ’’Listen, I’ve got tooo much shopping to do and so many things to be finished before I leave. I don’t have the time and the patience to read the manual, and even if I did I won’t understand it....... keep it with you show me on lunch at my place on Thursday’’ and zoomed away in his new Range Rover.
Well I wasn’t unhappy.......I was excited !
This was the first Nikon I use & the first digital SLR camera.
I turned it around and thought ’’So many things I don’t understand about this, How did he purchase it, he can’’t used our Sony cyber-shot. Two months ago I was convincing him as to why he must buy a 100 Hertz television and what it means!’’
Pretty rugged look, it was in black colour- I always prefer metallic silver. It was surely heavier than the Sony (215g) @ 595g (without battery) but it is light and compact and the smallest Nikon Digital SLR camera around I think.
The Sony was a 5.0 megapixels and this was 6.1 (but ofcourse the weight of the camera is not in the pixel- what am I calculating!!)
After taking my niece’s pictures, & some here-and-there pictures I wanted to see the clarity on print. The D70 is useful for both amateur & professional photographers seeing its functions and various adjustments I was amazed.
I realized one thing though that it’s not a ’beginners’ camera; my cousin & brother-in-law explored it as if it was made by NASA ! When I took the CD to print at a print shop he jumped in excitement ’’Changed the Sony?’’he asked. ’’I wish’’was my reply.
He explained some helpful features and little tips of shooting in different light and portrait shots.
D70’s LSI processor produces some really vivid colors and clarity was unbelievable. Same house, same room, same light that I clicked pictures of my niece but this was WOW ! The White balance is automatic, auto tone & color control, such clean overall results, and what sharpness! smooth gradations & rich tones.
If Nikon’’s 6.1 megapixels gets these results, what about the 8 mp and 12 mp cameras in the market. Wicked !
Fast shutter speed with a range from 30 to 1/8, 000 sec........... This baby never ceases to amaze. I didn’t get to use all speeds but I would like to learn more on photographing at different speeds.
The manual was too boring and stiff (what do I expect jokes!), so I went on to the Net to see more reviews & details, though there were not so many helpful ones that really outlined it’’s features in a semi-technical semi-layman’s language I grasp as much as I could.
While I was reading the Net I came onto an interesting point : ’’Fast Autofocus - Photographers know that even the slightest delay in taking a picture can mean missing the decisive moment and losing a great photograph. That’’s why Nikon’’s D70 has been designed to offer faster operation at nearly every level of performance. The camera is ready to shoot the instant it is turned on, and shutter-lag time is unrivaled in its class. Images are processed & written to memory faster.’’
RESOLUTION
6.1 effective megapixels with CCD imaging.
High resolution: 3, 008 x 2, 000-pixel images; file size goes to 2.2 MB (Now to a graphic designer I don’’t need a manual for that )
SOFTWARE-Nikon Picture Project
PC & MAC compatible.
Easy management of images and editing software as well...... but when you know Adobe Photoshop why use the editing software.
Easy navigation, easy to learn.
Software also supports plug-ins, where you can add new features, as technology evolves.
Browse, organize, and share. Pictures taken in vertical orientation are automatically rotated. !! Wow not that Photoshop does not do for me !
Formats JPEG, TIFF and NEF (Nikon Electronic Format) & compressed NEF (RAW) files. I didn’’t use and test NEF files though.
LCD display
1.8-in LCD with large buttons for easy navigation.
Zoom playback (up to 4.7x) and has a slide show too.
Displayed thumbnails option of 4 or 9.
Clip-on protector cover to avoid scratches and is transparent from the center.
FLASH
Built-in Speedlight with i-TTL.
Very bright, the corners of my hall that had less light we captured so well, making it look as if it were natural light. The speedlight’s main feature is it pops automatically when natural light is inadequate, which I later found out from the studio. Additional flash and lenses can be added for professional use which I didn’t experiment on.
PROGRAM MODES
Image enhancement options with seven selections optimizes white balance, sharpening, contrast, color, saturation and hue.
Portrait mode
Auto Landscape
Close-up Sports,
Night Portrait,
Night Landscape
MEMORY
144 pictures when using JPEG NORMAL SanDisk 256 MB Ultra II CompactFlash card. CompactFlash (CF) Card (Type I and II ) and Microdrive
PRINTING
PictBridge technology that allows in-camera direct printing from the camera to a compatible Pictbridge printer using a USB cable.
START-UP TIME
Very fast ( I expected this camera to be slower really)
BATTERY LIFE
7.4 V battery
The manual promises the lithium-ion battery can click around 2, 000 pictures on a single charge, but I didn’t have enuff nieces for that !
Can use three disposable CR2 batteries also with the (included) battery cradle- now that feature reminds me what made Alcatlel more popular than Nokia years back.
REMOTE CONTROL
Wireless remote control with optional ML-L3 (IR) remote control (not included but checked it as the store, becoz my freind was considering it later on)
END RESULT
A master piece really, it’s not a beginner’s camera. I feel its more towards a professional camera than amateur, as it comes back to me I’d like to use it to its fullest.
Come Thursday & it was not too difficult for my friend to use considering I warned him to shoot only on Auto without fiddling with anything.
Just shoot- view- delete if required.
Another photographer in the making !
Whats Included? :
- D70 Digital SLR Camera Body
- Body cap
- Eyepiece cap
- Strap
- LCD monitor cover
- USB cable
- Video cable
- CR2 Battery Holder
- Rechargeable Li-ion Battery
- Quick Charger
- PictureProject CD-ROM
For those looking for more technical details: https://nikonimaging.com/global/products/digitalcamera/slr/d70/