D70s for sports or just too crappy?

<p>Okay, I am about to have a meltdown...lol. First off, here is my equipment that I currently have:</p>

<p>Nikon D70S<br>

Nikon 35mm 1.8<br>

Nikon 50mm 1.8<br>

Nikon 85mm 1.8<br>

Nikon 18-70mm 3.5-4.5<br>

Nikon 70-300mm ED<br>

Camera back pack<br>

Tripod<br>

2x 4 gig 266x CF cards</p>

<p>I had a limited budget so I opted for an older body and decent lenses. The prime lenses could be used not only for indoor sports, but for individual shots of the athletes and team photos. Also could do some portrait photography as well.<br>

I am interested in learning how to shoot soccer and lax. I have been told that the D70s an old body and the newer stuff blows it out of the water in regards to IQ and high ISO performance. I don't really doubt it one bit. I have been reading posts, camera reviews and my mind feels like it is gonna explode. I haven't even shot a picture with my 'new' DSLR yet.</p>

<p>Here's the 10,000 question. Can I get by with the D70s or am I gonna have to upgrade to a newer body? I know my lenses will need upgrading too. <br>

If the camera is somewhat passable, then if I were to purchase a 70-200 2.8 lens, could I get by until I could upgrade to a better dslr say the d300S? (I am thinking that this is the SLR I should have gotten to start with)<br>

Or is the D70s the weakest link in my arsenal right now thus needing to be upgraded before anything else?<br>

Thanks so much for your time and advice.</p>

<p> </p>

<p>I've shot many thousands of soccer shots. I presume lax is pretty similar.</p>

<p>You can get good shots in daylight with your D70s and 70-300mm. If you anticipate where the ball is going to go and focus on the player before it gets there, you'll get some great shots. It will be tough to get good results at night games with that set-up.</p>

<p>Portraits will be no problem with the D70s and primes.</p>

<p>As you get more into it, you'll eventually upgrade. </p>

<p>the D70s is a very capable camera. i still use it as a backup body even for serious shoots that i get paid, of course mounted with an f/2.8 lens. .</p>

<p>the weakest link(s) for sports are the 70-300mm and the 18-70mm kit lens. but the latter is an excellent walkaround/street lens. its 20 to 30mm can do the group or team shots. so don't get rid of that one. your three primes are actually "must-have" primes for indoors, low light and portraits (both the 50mm and the 85mm).</p>

<p>if you are getting to be serious in sports, the D70s will surely need upgrading. and for sports, you got the right choice --- D300/D300s. but for now enjoy what you've got. the D70s has a lot more years of enjoyment to give you. and it will be an excellent second body when you get the D300/D300s.</p>

<p>how about selling the 70-300mm ($100?). that will help a little if you get the sigma 50-150mm f/2.8 for sports. or the older (and heavier) nikon 80-200mm f/2.8.</p>

<p>Thanks for the feedback. I was really about to lose my mind for a second there. I will just have to shoot events within the limits of the D70s. I am thinking that most of my shooting will be daytime to start out with. I will probably end up hanging on to the 70-300mm lens since I paid around $200 for it. It is considered just a step under the VR lens in terms of quality. That's why I paid the extra $100 for it over the cheaper 70-300 G lens that was selling for $99.00. I will aim for a 70-200mm 2.8 lens either an older version of the Nikon ED lens or a Sigma HSM APO lens. Both run around the same price used second hand. After that, I can invest in a decent flash until I upgrade.</p>

<p>I use my D70s for some sports photography with good success. The focus can be a little slow with the screw drive lenses. Focus speed is better with AF-S, HSM, (internal focus motor) lenses. The more prosumer grade bodies (D200, D300) drive the screw drive lenses much better. </p>

<p>As far as high ISO performance the D90 and D300 are better but they cost more. Indoor events will be the biggest challenge. On a budget, I'd keep the D70s and invest in lenses. They will still work on a new Nikon body in the future.<br>

Stan</p>

<p>I second the suggestion of a Sigma 50-150. I recently bought one for my D70s and use it for philharmonic concerts, mainly of the conductor, and it has been very useful. When I first bought the D70s 4 years ago (I now have 2), I also got a 70-300 VR and shot a Dodger night game from the seventh row up behind the visitor dugout. I found that the frame rate was just a little too slow to capture a good sequence of action, and because of the slow lens, many shots of the players had a lot of motion showing, but in some cases a good thing. I do plan on moving up to D300/s (2 actually) when I can afford it.</p>

<p>"I am interested in learning how to shoot soccer and lax. I have been told..."</p>

<p>stop right there... (a) you're learning, i.e. just starting out. (b) you've been told something or other about your D70...</p>

<p>you have the equipment, go shoot and learn from your experience. decide for yourself whether the D70 is enough for what you want to do. why drive yourself nuts over something someone else says? for all you know, the D70 may be perfectly fine for what you want to do. when you do run into problems, figure out whether you can workaround it with what you have, and only when you can't, ask yourself whether upgrading would solve the problem.</p>

<p>Many photographers shot a lot of things with the D70 and D70s when they were new...including LAX and Soccer.</p>

<p>The weakness that I see in your lenses is a 70-200 f2.8 is missing. I'd spend the money and get a Sigma 70-200 hsm - a lot cheaper than the Nikon and as good as in my opinion.</p>

<p>So why don't a lot of people still shoot sports with a D70s? - The autofocus. I would argue that the D70 / D200 have approximately the same AF engine - but the D300 / D700 puts them both to shame. Same with the D2h - which was considered to be the gold standard for Nikon sport bodies until the D3 series.</p>

<p>Dave</p>

 

<blockquote>

<p>Here's the 10,000 question. Can I get by with the D70s or am I gonna have to upgrade to a newer body? I know my lenses will need upgrading too. <br />If the camera is somewhat passable, then if I were to purchase a 70-200 2.8 lens, could I get by until I could upgrade to a better dslr say the d300S?</p>

</blockquote>

<p>James, I am afraid that only you youself can answer that question. I know that I do not want to shoot sports with the D70/D70S because of its slow AF and slow frame rate, but I am a very demanding photographer and would have been extremely frustrated by the D70. If you are a very casual sports photographer, the D70S could be good enough for you.</p>

 

<blockquote>

<p>Same with the D2h - which was considered to be the gold standard for Nikon sport bodies until the D3 series.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>I would rather describe the D2H as the top sports DSLR within Nikon from 2003 to 2007 or so, but back then perhaps 90% of professional sports photographers used Canon cameras. Since Nikon introduced the D3 in 2007, by the summer of 2008, people noticed that about half of the sports photographers at the Beijing Olympics were using Nikon equipment.</p>

<p>I only recently parted with my D70. I actually gifted it to my brother. The D70 is destined to be a cult favorite. It is a very capable camera. The focusing is not that great, but it is a damn site better than doing it by hand! For the money you can't go wrong. Spend your money on lenses and you can upgrade your camera much later. The D70 was Nikon's first REAL digital SLR and so they put so thought into it. If I recall, this was the only camera they had out before they put the pro one out, so they put a bunch of pro features into it as a stopgap measure. I shot a published calendar for two years with this camera and I got excellent results. I will eventually buy another D70 just to have in my collection. A great camera.</p>

<p>" ...I would argue that the D70 / D200 have approximately the same AF engine -..."</p>

<p>The D70s AF processing may not be that far behind the D200 but a big difference is the AF drive motor in the camera body. This only matters for non AF-S lenses. I borrowed a friends D200 for a swim meet and it commanded my Nikon 70-210 AF-D (screw drive) with authority. Shot after shot was in razor sharp focus.</p>

<p>I respect the comment about learning with the equipment that you have. All equipment will have limitations. We need to learn to work with and around those limitations. Eventually, we might find that we have done all that we can and need to upgrade but we'll be better for what we had learned.<br>

Stan</p>

<p>IMHO the only real limitation the D70S has for sportsphotography is the small buffer when shooting RAW<br>

I agree with other posters it's a great little camera with very decent AF and IQ, despite the small viewfinder and noise at high ISO<br>

I use one along with a D3 and D300, and as I want a D700 I'm going to sell one body<br>

And it's the D300 that is the one for sale ....</p>