charles_sullivan

I am extremely pleased with my Sigma 105mm macro lens. It delivers sharp images, is light in weight; and not too expensive. I use this lens in combination with extension tubes for macro photography of wild flowers and insects with my D70. It also makes a decent portrait lens.

The Nikon repair facility in Melville, NY, repaired my D70 recently. The work was excellent but the turn around time was just shy of three weeks. The camera was still under warranty so I cannot comment about the price.

I have an SB-600 that I use with my D70 and the mounting is rock solid. No wobble at all. You might see if you can take your D70 to the store where you bought the flash unit; then see if you can try another unit on your camera. If you find a unit that doesn't wobble perhaps you can make an exchange, provided that your SB-600 is still under warranty. I think the warranty period in the U.S. is one year. Good luck!

Though not in the South or Southeast region of the state, the Rangely Lakes region is an excellent and reliable place to see and to photograph Moose. I have often seen Moose tracks in the area of Wilton but yet to see an actual Moose there.

Less than three weeks ago I reluctantly decided to send my one year

old D70 to a Nikon service repair facility in Melville, New York. The

LCD screen would no longer display the recorded images I shot.

Yesterday the camera came back to me repaired and fully operational.

Not only was the repair made, the service tech performed the firmware

upgrade, made some adjustments to the auto focus; they thoroughly

cleaned the low pass filter over the ccd sensor; cleaned the camera

chamber and returned my camera in a reasonable period of time. All of

the work was performed at no cost to me under factory warranty. I am

extremely pleased with the excellent service I received from Nikon. If

I knew the name of the tech person who did this work I would thank

them personally.

 

While my D70 was away for repairs I purchased a second D70 with lens

kit. I simply couldn't bear to be without a camera for several weeks

during the peak of the wildflower season in West Virginia. I have

leared that if at all possible one should have a second camera body.

While in the field one camera will be outfitted for macro photography

of wildflowers and insects; the other with a larger glass for

butterfly and bird photography.

 

It is good to know that Nikon stands behind its products with

excellent and professional service. Clearly, this is an important

factor in one's decision to purchase a camera.

You're right about the Compact Flash card. I'll try some of these suggestions. Thanks to all who offered to help me. Any and all suggestions are welcome.

While shooting wildflowers yesterday the screen on my one year old D70

suddenly went white. It would no longer display the images I recorded

and the menu would not display either. Occasionally, the images would

display again; but only rarely. The images continued to be recorded on

the Smart Card, as I discovered when I looked at them on the computer

when I got home. Has anyone had experience with this problem?

Suggestions welcome. Its prime wildflower seaaon where I live and I do

not want to be without my camera. Please help.

I use the new Sigma 105mm macro on my D70 for flower and insect photography, often adding extension with excellent results. This is a very sharp lens. I think the high end Sigma lenses can compare favorably with any lens on the market. Long term durability remains to be seen.

Fiona:

 

I use the new Sigma 105mm macro with my Nikon D70 for macro photography of wild flowers and insects. I can attest that the lens produces wonderfully sharp images. I have also begun using it as a portrait lens as well. In my experience it is a superb lens that works well with the D70, light in weight and affordably priced. It rarely comes off my camera any more.

 

Charles Sullivan

You need to download the latest version of Capture (I believe its version 4.2) in order to recognize the NEF format. You can do so on the Nikon web site. You will need to have the serial number of your camera handy, which can be found on the box. I think this will solve your problem.

I have many years of experience at macrophotography and have never before had problems obtaining a sharp image . I don't know how to upload a sample image to this site or I would do so. The settings that affect image sharpness include: image quality; I usually select JPEG fine or RAW format; additonal sharpening under the Optimize Image menu; and using matrix exposure metering, as well as spot focus on the center weighted maximium size or '12' setting. I have tried both manual and auto focus; but always resulting in images that get close to sharp but remain just slightly out of focus. This is not a backfocus issue, by the way. This is the same setup I use for getting good closeup images of wild flowers, etc., using my Nikon film camera.

 

I am going to return the camera to the closest Ritz Camera store one last time this afternoon and try to get another exchange before returning the camera to Nikon. I presume that sending the camera out for service will mean doing without it for a month or so. Dang! I've waited so long to obtain this camera only to be disappointed.

 

User error? It's always possible, I suppose; but I have taken great pains to assure that I have done everything right. Perhaps I am overlooking something. I've also tried fast shutter speeds, even though wildflower photography often requires slow shutter speeds and maximum depth of field. It appears that others have reported similar focus problems with the D70. Any suggestions?

The first D70 I purchased a little more than a month ago worked well

except for poor focus when taking closeup photographs. Regardless of

which settings I used, the images were not sharp. I returned the

camera to Ritz and got another one. The same problem. The Nikon tech

rep looked at the images I sent him by email and acknowledged that

there is a problem with the closeup focus. He advised me to return the

camera for service. I know that some of you have done this and

reported excellent results upon getting the repaired camera back. My

question is how long do I have to be without my camera? It bothers me

to have spent so much money on a camera--actually two of them--that is

defective. And now I have to send it out for service. Is there a way

to expedite service?

I recently purchased the D70 and use it primarily for wildflower

photography in the macro mode. I shoot almost entirely in the

Aperature Priority Mode. I am not completely satisfied with the image

sharpness I have been getting. In fact the images I get with my Fuji

4900Z are more crisp. I am using a solid Bogen tripod with a pistol

grip head, occasionally 52mm of extension and I have been careful to

get parallel to the subject. I have the focus mode set to sharp in the

Image Quality Menu and use the Dynamic Focus Mode. I have even tried

using the remote as an electronic cable release in order to minimze

camera vibration. Does anyone have experience using the D70 for this

kind of photography? Are there any camera settings that I can change

in order to get the razor sharp images I desire? The landscape

photographs I have taken are very crisp and pleasing. Any and all help

will be greatly appreciated.

Go into the detailed menu and you will find an option to turn the command dial on and off. I am willing to bet that your friend's command dial option is turned off. I had the same problem a few days ago and turning this option on corrected the problem. I hope this helps.

 

Charlie