Anyone still using the D70?

I never thought about a D70 as I was 100% film and hardly into Nikon at all in 2004 until I picked up one with around 3000 exposures and near new condition in the 'unwanted and free' box at my local dealer couple of weeks ago. So I had to save it! I charged up the flat battery and checked a card was fitted - yes in place still - a 1024 MB Kingston.

 

So I took it on a short break which had one or two slots in the weather - I was happy with the performance and it worked intuitively and apart from the small screen, could be any modern camera.

 

Anyone still using as a regular camera? Any recent shots you are proud of you could share? Interested to see if any are still being enjoyed. Three examples are below that I took - I am still getting a feel for the photos and best ways to edit them but I am enjoying the small file size which makes for swift editing on my older computer.

 

 

 

I still regularly use a Nikon D50. 6mp doesn't leave much room for cropping I wouldn't want to push ISO much over 400, but yes, fun to use a "classic". Think I'll take it out tomorrow.

I never considered the D70 was good enough for me but I couldn't resist when I saw one in very good condition a few years back at garage sales for $30. It's a nice camera though .

I still regularly use a Nikon D50. 6mp doesn't leave much room for cropping I wouldn't want to push ISO much over 400, but yes, fun to use a "classic". Think I'll take it out tomorrow.

Good luck with that Sandford. What lens - the 18-55?

50mm F1.8 Nikkor. I have a few Nikon zooms and a D300, always enjoy using the Nikons.

While I didn't mind it way back in 2004, a few years after that when I picked up a D70, I found its viewfinder totally unacceptable. Today, I think working EN-EL3(e) batteries maybe harder to find.

The D70 was my first DSLR - purchased towards the end of 2004. Sold almost exactly 3 years later.

The dinky viewfinder shocked me the first time I saw it. Dynamic range of the sensor was abysmal by today's standards.

A few years later I picked up a D60 (modified D80/D200 sensor) - quite enjoyed using it with the 35mm DX lens.

Hi, I'm not a Nikon guy, so never used one. But just fyi, I think that the D70 may be one of those sorta unique cameras that can flash sync at ANY shutter speed, all the way up to max.

 

So if you wanna use a fill flash in bright sun, or likely even "overpower the sun," I think this may be a camera that can do it. I just looked at the specs - they say 1/500 sync speed, but if you can use a flash that doesn't talk back and forth to the camera (aside from simply making the sync contact) then the sky's the limit. Maybe.) I'm going from memory, so best look for online reviews to confirm this; I could be wrong.

The closest I ever came was the D100. I picked up a low mileage body and battery grip for $100. Still got it and use it now and then. Of course I still have a D1-X too. Shun the EN-EL3e batteries are still available through places like Battery Source, I bought a few spares last year.

 

Rick H.

The closest I ever came was the D100. I picked up a low mileage body and battery grip for $100. Still got it and use it now and then. Of course I still have a D1-X too. Shun the EN-EL3e batteries are still available through places like Battery Source, I bought a few spares last year.

 

Rick H.

The D100 is a modified Nikon F80/N80 film camera. In fact it was my very first digital camera of any type. It has a pentaprism viewfinder instead of the penta-mirror on the D70/D70S. I still have a new EN-EL3 and EN-EL3e batteries around, when I want to use my D300 and D700 (EN-EL3e only for those). I have given away most of my CF memory cards by now, although I still have a few around.

I almost went in on a D70 but opted to buy a Coolscan IV and continue with film. I'm glad I made that choice.

 

When I got married in 2008 the wedding photographer used a D100. I was a bit shocked but all the photos were fine and printed up well. I even handed him a D40 and a big cropped print my father-in-law had done from a JPEG I sent him via email looks great.

 

Eric Sande

I still pull out the very, very old D1H from time to time and use it for pictures of stuff I'm selling or giving away. I had the upgraded D70s but sold it when the D50 came out and that was followed by the D80 and then the D300s and on and on and on. Today I use a D7100, D7200 + D800 or D600. Your pictures from the D70 look great!

Thanks for the input. Nice to know that even one of the oldest Nikon cameras can give good results in 2020. When people tell me photography is an expensive hobby and they can't afford it I tell them it can be almost free - and they hardly believe me. But it's true. No excuses!

I use an old D100 with a cracked LCD glass for infrared shots, also a D70 and D1x before selling them, These early Nikons are much more sensitive to IR than later ones. I also used a 6MP Canon D60, which works with many older Sigma lenses which throw up error messages on the 10D and its successors. Here's a shot from it with a Sigma 24mm Super Wide, shot in RAW and upsized to 11MP in ACR:

Converted my D70s to IR, still fun to use.

I have been using the D50 today and the one real issue I have with the camera is the sticky, tacky feeling on the grip. Tried everything, any suggestions?

I have been using the D50 today and the one real issue I have with the camera is the sticky, tacky feeling on the grip. Tried everything, any suggestions?

When I bought the D70s for $30 it has a severe case of sticky issue. I used 90% alcohol and spent about an hour clean it up. It's no longer sticky but it's much smoother than new and it's not as grippy like new.

Thanks, I've tried alcohol but didn't put in enough effort it seems. I don't mind removing all the ruberized coating.

Thanks, I've tried alcohol but didn't put in enough effort it seems. I don't mind removing all the ruberized coating.

I also have a couple of D70s cameras. I removed the IR filter in one, and still use that one occasionally.

 

Batteries are still available.

50% Isopropyl Alcohol wasn't getting the job done so I switched to a 90% alcohol hand sanitizer, much better job and a lemon scent for my Nikon.

Mine was sticky. Hit it with 100% IPA. No messing ;-)

A D70s was my first Nikon DSLR, bought when it was still very, very much an outdated camera and I bought something better within a month(a D2X in my case, which in ~2016 I think still probably wasn't a great move up-it took me a few more steps to get to a D800, which was a game changer for me).

 

For someone coming from higher end film cameras that normally had 100% high magnification pentaprism finders, the viewfinder bothered me too. A lot of DX cameras have this issue(the D500 doesn't bother me so much) but the D70 seems unusually bad since it has the "tunnel vision" effect of a lot of early DX DSLRs and the pentamirror keeps it dim.

 

In good weather without too much contrast, I could still get great results from it. The limited dynamic range, especially inherent in most CCD based cameras, can make it challenging to use well, and high ISO performance is less than great.

 

BTW, one of my biggest struggles with mine was the pop-up flash. I could often find it handy both for slave triggering and also as an on-camera way to deal with the limited DR as long as I was close, but the on-cameras on these are a know weak spot. I fixed mine a few times(I think it's one of the microswitches that goes out of alignment as best as I recall) but it never stayed fixed for long.

 

I've since picked up another D70 in an odd lot, and it has the same flash issue.

 

BTW, I have piles of genuine Nikon EN-EL3e batteries, and have one or two that won't take charge. The rest are fine, and they also often turn up cheap in the clearance bins at my local camera stores. The Fuji NP-150, which is for all intents and purposes the same except that the S5 Pro(a D200 with Fuji guts) will power on but refuse to work with a Nikon battery, is a different story. I have one genuine Fuji battery that works fine, but have gone aftermarket on my others, although they're fine also(if anyone has any NP-150s kicking around they don't want, let me know).

I bought the D70 for my son, when he was 6 years old, and he only used it 2 years and then no interest in photo any longer. 2 months ago I decided to have it converted to IR, but the guy who had promised me to do it, asked for USD 170 - so now it is back on the shelf

I bought the D70 for my son, when he was 6 years old, and he only used it 2 years and then no interest in photo any longer. 2 months ago I decided to have it converted to IR, but the guy who had promised me to do it, asked for USD 170 - so now it is back on the shelf

I did mine my self, it was pretty easy to do, been a while back I dont remember the cost but got it from LifePixel.

My first DSLR was a D70s. It was mostly working fine, except would sometimes forget

that it had a memory card. Eject and reinsert, and it would work.

 

Then I found a good price on a D200, which I like better. One is that it is designed

to work with AI lenses, which I sometimes use. It still works well.

 

Not so much later, I got a (not very) used D700, but I still also use the D200 when I

don't especially need the higher resolution and FX format.