D70 focus problems-are they still there?

I purchased a D70 immediately after it was released and returned it

because of measurable, intolerable focus problems. I initially

noticed the classic "focused on the eyes, the ears were sharp," and

confirmed it with careful ruler tests on a sturdy tripod with both

auto and manual focus. I waited a bit and purchased another body

only to return it for the same reason. While much of my small format

photography is snapshots, I also occasionally do wildlife in

marginal light with a 300mm f/4 Nikkor lens so focusing accuracy is

critical. Needless to say, all my lenses seem to focus just fine,

albeit slowly, on my ancient N70 body.

 

At the time the internet was loaded with comments and concerns about

focusing issues in the D70. Many cameras were being sent to Nikon

for service. I found it absurd to buy a brand new out of the box

camera body for $1,000 and then immediately send it for repair of

what was at best poor quality control and at worst a design flaw.

 

Some months have passed and I see essentially no comments about

focusing problems on the net, neither here nor on the

more "excitable" sites such as DP Review. My hope is that Nikon has

gotten its act together and is producing a functional camera body.

 

If I did not have a large group of first class Nikon lenses, I'd

wait a while longer to see if the Canon 20D lives up to its hype.

 

Can recent purchasers of the D70 comment about their experience with

critical focus, please not with the kit lens at f/16, but with wider

aperture prime or pro quality zooms (eg the 80-200 f/2.8, or longer

telephotos such as my 300mm f/4)?

 

Thanks to all.

 

Eric

I only have the kit 18-70 mm lens, but I've checked the focus at a variety of zoom settings and with widest aperture, and it is right on. I've checked it both with automatic and manual focusing. I can't see why it would make a difference which lens you used, at least for manual focusing.

I bought a D70 body in late May (no kit lens) and have used with six or seven AF Nikkors to shoot more than 5,000 frames and have never had a focus problem.

I bought a D70 in late May, and then found out about the back focus problem. After lots of

stress and testing, I've found no problems with the camera. I have used these AF lenses:

 

18-70 kit

24-50 3.5-4.5 AF

50mm 1.8 Af

 

And more to the point, my 25 year old 55mm f3.5 AI Nikkor is as sharp as ever. No focus

problems in manual or AF that could not be attributed to "Error 1313:User Malfunction"

Buy it and be happy. THis is one of the best Nikons in recent years.

I've had no focus issues on my D70 with any lens: 80-200 f/2.8

AF, 35 f/2 AF, the 18-70 AF kit lens, or any of my Nikkor manual

lenses. I really think that a lot of those postings were user

related. The more time you spend with the camera (any new

camera for that matter), the better you know its nuances.

One reason you might be having trouble is for some reason Nikon defaults ships the D70 in "idiot" mode- ie with the camera set to Single shot focusing and Dynamic Focusing turned on. Now there's nothing wrong with having Dynamic focus on while in single shot focus mode per se (except that it's totally useless). A third "hidden" default however, automatically makes the dynamic mode the camera is set to "closest subject priority", rather than a user the determined focus point.This is where the "idiot mode" part comes in to play.

 

 

By setting the camera to closest priority mode in essence you are letting the camera determine the focus point rather than doing it yourself. Canon uses a similiar default mode in it's Rebel cameras- but it works much better and faster. On Nikons closest subject priority is slow, uses up to much of the focus sensors processing power, and is virtually useless unless for some reason one is shooting blind (ie with camera overhead) and can't view the viewfinder at the time the shot is composed.

 

In continuous focusing mode on the other hand, dynamic focusing is quite usefull- namely because Nikon by default turns closest subject priority off in continuous mode. Instead dynamic mode allows one to use a chosen focus point to initially focus the subject- and then allows the sensor processor to pass the subject from focus point to focus point as the subject moves across the focal plane without the need to have a "hot" focus point locked on the subject. The processor locks onto the subjects speed, and direction characteristics, and even color and tonal characterisics, and can maintain focus lock even when contact is broken by a pole or a building. It works best when there are strong differences in background color, tonality, and velocity, and when there aren't multiple similiar potential subjects moving in different direction. In situations with lots clutter and multiple similiar subjects, it's best to turn dynamic focus off and chose the focus point manually.

 

On my Nikon D1 and N80, I always have my camera set to dynamic whether in continous or single focus. I leave it in dynamic in single shot mode not so much because it serve any purpose, but because by turning closest subject priority off (using a hard to find command function), dynamic in single shot mode is "harmless" (and useless), and means my camera is ready to rock n roll in contiuous where dynamic is alot more useful.

 

On the D70 turning dynamic focus off (and even switching from single shot to continious) is a bit more of a pain in the "A". All of this is hidden DEEP inside of menus and not readily accessible. Turning off closest priority focus in dynamic mode however is easier since the menu are clearly labeled, rather than a "blind" numbered command function system.

I borrowed my friend's D 70 and tried it out with my 500mm f 4.0 P mf lens about 6 weeks ago. I was appalled at the lack of accurate focus. I had my friend make sure the diopter setting was at neutral, and tried it again and again got poor results. I had posted these problems on this site and had my dealer send them on to Nikon.

 

Are you sure the diopter setting is not causing your problem? I do not own the camera, but do know the technique Thom Hogan includes with his Nikon F 100 guide to make sure the diopter is properly set for accurate focus: make sure the AF focus points on the image screen are really sharp by deliberately setting a focal point that is way out of focus so you can look at the AF focus points. You probably have already done this, but just wanted to offer it as a possibility.

 

I sure want to know the final answer in that I would like to buy a D 70 some day. Joe smith

Eric, I should have added to my lat post. If the AF focus points are not sharp, sharpen them by adjusting the dipoter setting. Joe smith

Here's a thread that illustrates the type of problem that can occur with the D70 set to closest subject priority:

 

http://www.ephotozine.co.uk/gallery/showlargepic.cfm?photoid=116011&category=0&time=0

 

It's not an inherent problem with the D70's focusing, or even an inherent problem with Dynamic Focus- which is most cases is good. It's a problem Nikon needlessly pushing closest subject priority on people because they think people raised on point and shoots are too stupid to manually choose focus points, or even lock focus with the central sensor and recompose (which is the way the camera should be default set).

 

Instead they want to force feed dynamic focusing on people, rather than let them discover it themselves, and their introduction to camera is focusing that sucks, even though there is nothing wrong with the camera.

 

It amazes me Nikon's ability to shoot itself in the foot even they do something right.

If you read the DP Review 10D pages when Canon released the 10D you would have seen that they were full of focus and soft image issues. Hard to tell where the problem lies - manufacturers or users.

Kit lense :

18 - 50mm : Slight back focus

51 - 70mm : Fine

 

24mm : Fine

 

50mm : Slight back focus

 

60mm : Fine

 

85mm : Strong back focus

 

Sent back to Nikon for warrenty repair, and did a lot of reading on the internet while I was waiting. Got the camera back and changed to shooting in RAW rather then JPG mode .. back focus problem gone.

 

The D70 is a consumer grade DSLR, so lets think of it as one. Just because it costs a lot compared to other consumer grade digitals doesn't mean your getting pro grade hardware, as compared to other DSLR's your money is only a drop in the ocean.

 

I went through the whole 'back focus' thing before aswell though, but then I just got out there and took photo's rather then sitting on the internet reading forum sites .. since then I've enjoyed my D70 sooooo much more :)

I got my D70 from B&H (high turnover, fresh from Nikon) in June. I've shot with the kit lens and 50 f/1.8 and have had no focus problems. Perhaps more telling, I did a quick test with an 80-400 shot wide open and focused close on the middle of a sheet of text slanted away from the camera, and focus was right-on. From what I've seen on this board and in my images, it sounds like Nikon learned their lesson.

I bought my D70 back in March and was happy for quite some time. Then I started to notice occasional shots with backfocus. I recently brought it to Nikon service and had it re-calibrated. Wow. I didn't know how bad it was! Not just the occasional backfocus problem, but the all of AF just works better now. Less hunting, no backfocus, and best of all, better low light focus ability. To make sure I wasn't just imagining things, I had a very experienced friend make a comparison to his D70 (he bought his the same week I did). He immediately said he's bringing his in to Nikon. It was that much better after calibration.

Having used my N90s for years I was troubled by the D70 focusing. After switching to the Dynamic Focus mode most of my problems were solved. It now focused more like my N90s. I have only had my D70 for a week, I still have a lot to lurn I guess.

Don't know if they fixed it, but the one I own certainly has a problem: for example I took some close-up pictures of frogs, and the frog's rear end was in perfect focus. The D70 has been collecting dust ever since I went back to my trusty F100.

 

ps: this ain't got nothing to do with dynamic or whatever mode. It happened in manual focus as well as autofocus, and both stationary as well as moving objects.

The D70 takes some learning to do in that it, unlike cameras like the F100, focuses at some point within the AF sensor sensitivity field. It could be anything, I mean, between the closest and the furthest-away point as long as the sensor covers the area. So one needs to look at the viewfinder image carefully and then refocus if necessary. On still subjects with apertures f/5.6 and smaller it works fine. I don't think the problem can be called "backfocus", it is just trying to be clever and it isn't very successful at it. The only good thing about the D70's focusing system is that it has increased my focusing skills and alertness so much that I now get a virtually 100% focusing success rate with my F100! With the D70, it varies between 25% and 90%. But the D70 is otherwise quite excellent.

Ilkka,

 

When you are doing macro photography, things snap into focus quite easily even on the D70. So it is not autofocus issue or an AF sensor issue. Some of the D70s clearly are faulty. Maybe yours isn't, but there are way too many reports to dismiss it as the fault of the photographer. Even Ken Rockwell, one of the biggest fans of the camera, admits he saw the flaw in "2 of the 7" he tried.

I'm not suggesting that the flaw is in the user; quite the contrary. Like I've said before, the D70 produces an unheard of proportion of out-of-focus photos <i>but</i> it is still clear that this percentage can be <i>reduced</i> (not eliminated) with practice and by understanding what the camera is doing and when it is likely to err. I have no idea whether my camera has back- or front-focus problems because the focusing is so erratic that any systematic bias is hidden behind the random errors. That's the main point: it's not whether the camera is calibrated correctly or not (if it has a systematic bias), but rather what it is trying to focus on and why. In close-up photography, the depth of field is very small, and the D70 focuses where it will. Just take more pictures and refocus all of them - some of them will be in focus. :-)

<p>

Anyway, I've got that attitude that if the aperture is large, and subject is moving, I accept that most shots from the D70 are not correctly focused but it does very well when correctly used with small apertures and if there is a lot of light. If I need accurate focusing with wide apertures and can live with the problems of film (colour accuracy, grain, cost, etc.) I will just rather use my film cameras because at least the shots will be in focus. However, for 2/3 of my photography I still use the D70 because of its image quality (apart from the focusing problems) is so good.

<p>

But if you feel that your D70 has a systematic focusing bias instead of random errors in selecting the point to focus on, by all means have Nikon check it. Maybe I should do that just in case. I have done some wall tests and they came out right on so probably I just have issues with the logic of the camera.

I must say, I really am very disappointed with Nikon at this point. I thought I was buying into a quality system. When I have time, I will be selling my expensive Nikon lenses (17-35 and 80-400) and only keeping very basic ones (24mm, 50mm and 75-150mm) along with the F100. If I need digital, I will look to a digicam with a built-in zoom lens.

Thanks to all for your helpful answers. I have reached the conclusion, based on this discussion as well as conversations with photographic colleagues that the D70 is not the right camera for me.

 

I have been doing photography, including my own darkroom work in black and white and in color for 45 years and have managed without a digital SLR. I have lots of fun with my Canon A80 point and shoot for snapshots; I dearly love my 4x5 and my medium format cameras and have had wonderful results with my Nikons, starting with a Nikkormat purchased in 1968, an F2 in 1975 and an N70 in 1997. The N70 still works well.

 

Like many people, I do at least two types of photography, one/family and travel documentation, done well with 35mm and digital equipment, usually in color, and two/"serious" (hah!) efforts at artistic expression, for me done with medium and large format black and white in a traditional darkroom. I am not sure where a digital SLR fits at this time in its evolution. When the quality is genuinely up to medium format standards, as it surely will be some day, and there are easy to use, high quality black and white printing solutions, I'll probably climb on board.

 

Now I'll develop some more film instead sitting at a computer.

 

My best,

 

Eric

I just downloaded 3 GB of images from my San Francisco trip last week. I shot a mix of landscapes, aquarium fish, and people on the streets. The landscapes turned out spectacularly well (in technical terms), no colour film can render the shadows with such detail and produce beautiful results in harsh sunlight.

 

Most of the aquarium fish turned out out of focus or otherwise blurred. I shot with 50/1.4 and 105/2.8 micro. It was expected as the D70 couldn't follow the movements of the fish so well. What's annoying is that because the D70 has a focusing sensor which tends to be fooled by high-contrast background texture if it's even remotely near the focusing sensor, many corals were in focus but not the fish in the foreground.

 

I shot a lot of people shots, with the result that every time there was nothing which the D70 could focus on in the background, the foreground subject was focused perfectly. However, if the subject had any 3-dimensionality, in most cases the camera focused on the street or building behind the people. This is extremily annoying as the image quality which results on in-focus shots is really fantastic, something that I could never approach with my film cameras using colour film. Notice that all pictures of essentially 2-dimensional subjects (facades without people in foreground) were perfectly in focus, every time. This indicates to me that it's not a calibration issue but something which is in the programming or logic of the AF sensor.

 

I also shot 3 rolls of T400CN/BW400CN and they turned out perfectly in focus, but they're black and white of course. No chance with slide film in these lighting conditions, and with colour negs the printing process would cut off the highlights and shadows so I shot digital for colour. Bad me.

 

The D70 has demonstrated to me what a good digital camera can do in terms of allowing great new photographic opportunities which are inaccessible to the film photographer. However, it also has demonstrated Nikon's ability to produce a very poor instrument for general use (anything that moves or is 3-dimensional and is shot with a narrow depth of field), for what I think are purely marketing decisions (poor VF, incredibly poor AF sensor programming) just to sell the D2H which has inferior resolution and considerably bigger weight not to mention the obnoxous price (you really don't want to know what it costs in Finland).

 

They're of course very good at their jobs, because surely they will sell me another digital Nikon, which I hope improves upon what the D70 does. At a much higher price, I'm afraid.