Nikon D70 Digital SLR

By Clint Thayer

Very, very sharp photo performance.

If you are use to shooting with a D100, you'll immediately notice the acuity of which is revealed in your work. Almost too sharp is not an understatement. If you take your pictures in automatic mode, not only are the pictures sharp, but very contrasty and dynamic. This may be a good thing or a bad thing, depending on your preference of course. In any event, Nikon seemed to be aware of the "soft image" reputation of the D100, and responded with quite the opposite in this iteration.

However, the dynamic range has not improved with the D70, so something else must be going on here. The tonal response has an even greater tendency to bunch towards the left side of the histogram. Be if for highlight safety or not, your exposure will tend towards dark. From my tests with this camera, it is clear that Nikon was targeting a more "point and click" approach for the first time user. A peppy picture with a deep shadow tone boost and ultra sharp and vivid images straight out of the camera. That sounds wonderful, but a bit much for my taste. What the D100 lacked in "snap" was excellent tonality, smoothness of tone and wonderful graduations of highlights and color.

Recapture smoothness and dynamics.

Inside the "Picture Optimization" menu, you can select lower contrast and low sharpness. As well as color space such as Adobe RGB and various intensities of sRGB. Selecting lower contrast immediately spreads out the shadow to mid tones of the image and provides for substantial benefits of tonality. This curve slightly reduces the contrast and makes for a far more appealing image. Use Photoshop to add just a bit more contrast and you're done! Sharpen your image in Photoshop or other imaging application for best results. May I suggest Focal Blade?

If however, you use one of the many "scene modes" that are available, the camera will select the picture optimization for you and you can't change them. For example, if you use the close-up scene mode, the camera color space shifts to sRGB III which enhances greens and makes colors pop loudly. This is true even if you have the main camera parameters set for Adobe RGB. Unlike the Canon 300D, you can still shoot RAW in these scene modes and change the color space inside Nikon Capture. Nice touch!

The last (12) images of the Nikon D70 Photo Trials were shot in this fashion. Taken at JPEG Fine, set to lower contrast and low sharpness and Adobe RGB color space. Then I used PS CS to resize the image, added one half stop mid tone bump in curves, and then sharpened using Focal Blade then converted to sRGB color space for web display. All of this sounds like a recipe for a holiday dinner, but the differences are palpable. I might add that anytime I use JPEG mode out of the camera, I religiously do a manual white balance setting with a white or gray card. It's very difficult to adjust white balance with JPEG's after they've been taken.

Above: My emergency kit lid serves as a white reference

Rapid fire continuous shooting.

The Nikon D70 has an almost bottomless buffer zone for taking photographs. Staying within the limits of 3 FPS, you can fire off shots till your hearts' content. That's because the D70 does its' image conversion magic after the image reaches the buffer. It will tend to slow down a bit after the buffer is full (17 to 120 shots or more*!). Then this buffer area quickly does the image manipulation just before it writes to the compact flash card. What a difference this makes! If you want to follow a river rafting sequence from the shore, go right ahead!

*Depending on scene complexity and shooting mode. Raw or JPEG.

Overexposure. Watch your histogram.

What is a histogram? Very simply put, a histogram on your camera displays a tonal range from black to white across the horizontal scale (see sample below). These values are numeric and range from 0 to 255. Within that range, if a particular value pegs the vertical scale, clipping can occur. On the right side of the scale, when this does happen, it results in overexposure.

In the lamp sample above, you'll see that the white globe is no longer within the dynamic range that the Nikon D70 can handle. It's not only at a value of 255 (maximum), but it has peaked this value (vertical) off the chart. Therefore, the camera is not able to resolve the white globe whatsoever and the shot is lost. Unfortunately. with DSLR's, you have to take a picture first to see if your exposure is within the target range by using the histogram function immediately after taking the shot. What to do? Expose for the globe with central or spot metering- and within Photoshop, add a mid tone boost to the background (which would be a bit dark).

The recent emergence of the live histogram function on newer digicams point to a feature which will probably be on the next generation of DSLR's. Live histograms display information in real time before you take the shot. This is a real time saver and one of the reasons why I never overexposed a shot in my Nikon CP8700 or Leica Digilux 2 photo trials (take a look).

Serious Moiré Problems

Much as been said in the user groups regarding image moiré. That nasty little artifact that really means that the camera can't resolve for repeated cross patterns in certain circumstances or it interferes with the beat frequency of the sensor technology. It manifests itself in creating false colors near or around the offending area. In fact it may produce a new pattern altogether. After testing the camera for almost 30 days, I can conclude that this artifact is more pronounced than the Sony F828 purple fringing problem and that it is very difficult if not impossible to remove under certain circumstances.

Readjusting the camera angle or changing your point of view can help eliminate or minimize this effect. But in many photographic situations, that may never be an option. Ideally you should compose for the subject-- and not for the camera's peculiarities in my opinion. It is an unfortunate flaw you will have to shoot around.

The metal staircase mesh moiré can't be removed easily.

In print, this vertical aluminum siding moiré problem is plainly visible. Note that there are no cross diagonals or repeated patterns here-- just vertical.

In this photo, there are countless moiré problems that destroy this image.

A closer look a multiple moiré patterns.

Above: Note the wire mesh detail in the window on the left

Above: Can you spot the moiré in the wire mesh?

ISO Noise

I have found no discernable difference between the D70 and the D100 regarding noise when low sharpening is selected. That is to say it has excellent and extended low noise capability all the way up to ISO 800. Even at ISO 1600, the images are very usable. There is a lower noise floor from the Canon 10D and the Canon 300D which both have ISO 100 capability. You can clearly tell the difference on smooth surfaces of color at base ISO between these two brands of cameras. Is it a deal breaker for Nikon? No. But I'd like to see what Nikon can do at ISO 100 in the future. That still remains Nikon's Achilles' Heel in this class of DSLR.

Above: Canon still reigns as the king of low noise at ISO 100

Nikon PictureProject software.

Nikon provides PictureProject software in certain packaging of the D70. This is a kitchen sink program that combines cataloguing, elementary editing and picture printing. It is a very similar to Apple's first generation iPhoto program- in that it store's duplicate images in its' own "program space". What that means to you is that all of your photos take on another storage form in a compressed database located somewhere on your computer. Your original files stay intact on your hard drive. It's user interface works like iPhoto in that you can create catalogs of pictures that you can drag and drop to and from. This idea is an excellent one, because regardless of where your images are on your hard drive, you can custom organize them in any category you choose. The program is extremely buggy, however and very slow. It's not happy with Nikon's NEF RAW files- and if you scroll too fast through your RAW files, the system will crash and hang up your PC for 5-15 minutes. Nikon promises additional performance and feature advantages in future versions, such as direct CD burning of your pictures. There is an automatic update button on the software which will do the upgrading for you. If you own a Mac computer under OS X, iPhoto is supremely superior. Stick with it. In any event, use the latest of Nikon's View software instead. Much faster and more reliable- however it is not a genuine cataloguing software like others that are available.

Conclusion.

As Nikon's 6th generation of DSLR, the D70 is a mature example of everything Nikon has learned in the business of crafting a quality digital camera. They've designed a quality device that speaks both to the emerging amateur and the professional. The low price of the camera should not be used as an image quality indicator. Instead, Nikon has raised the bar of how a camera should be when it comes to handling, ergonomics and speed.

If the image moiré problems do not concern you, then jump on the D70 wagon. They are selling quite fast. If you can satisfy yourself with a much simpler camera, don't rule out Canon's 300D. It produces excellent images, has a lower noise floor at base ISO and does not produce the random artifacts that can potentially destroy a photo session sooner or later.

Strengths:

Excellent resolution and sharpness.

Very fast handling and shooting performance. The best of 6MP class DSLR yet.

Breathtaking color (check the photo trials) especially with Adobe RGB color space.

Instant-on and instant recover time. The best of 6MP class DSLR yet.

Seemingly unstoppable file buffer. The best of 6MP class DSLR yet.

1/500 second flash sync: Great for filling in outdoor subjects and freezing water drops!

Cam 900 Auto Focus retained. Fast, reliable and confident.

Text help built in: Press the "?" button on any MENU item and the screen will explain function.

LCD Menu: Very bright, legible and sensible. Almost every parameter is customizable.

Excellent low light focus. Focus assistance lamp aids you without using the flash.

Build quality and control placement: Built soundly-- nice weight and grip. Controls easy to reach.

Histogram display: Full size and zoned. Much easier to read than competition.

Battery life: Over 400 shots and my battery is still indicating full charge. Best 6MP class DSLR yet.

Challenges:

Image moiré problems can be quite visible and severe. Software removal may not always work.

Base ISO 200 still not as remarkably clean as Canon's CMOS based 10D or 300D at ISO 100.

Out-of-the-box tonality not as smooth as Nikon D100 or Canon series.

No vertical grip available for the D70 at this time. This is a nice feature that is available on the D100 or even the Canon 300D.

No mirror lock-up function. Even though this function is on the menu, it is intended for sensor cleaning only and can't be used during photo shooting. Long shutter speed users with extended length lenses will miss this feature still available on the D100.

Nikon Capture software not included. Although a trial version is in the box on CD ROM, Nikon Capture still remains a fairly expensive add-on. Raw plug-in for PS is included in the basic package, however.

Poor PictureProject software. This sadly replaces Nikon View in certain distribution markets which is far more robust, quicker and reliable. Let's hope this gets updated quickly.