scott_warn

The D70 is a very good camera capable of really exceptional results. However, there are some issues with the AF system in the D70.

 

Problem one is that the AF areas take in a rather large area. The AF system was based on that used in the N80, which is a 35mm camera. As a result the AF areas are oversize by that amount of the crop factor. Basically, they are about 1.5 times too wide and 1.5 times too tall. As a result, it can be difficult at times to specifically isolate your intended focus target totally within the AF area.

 

Which leads to problem two. For some reason that I do not fully understand, it seems like that AF system in the D70 is biased to fix on the detail within the chosen AF area that is farthest from the camera. Bascially, if you have 2 areas of detail within the AF area in use, the D70 will always chose to focus on the detail that is most distant. Which means that the D70 has a built in propensity to backfocus anytime there is a distance conflict within the AF area in use. Bascially, it's the perfect choice for shooting at tigers thru a fence because it won't ever focus on the fence. Unfortunately, I don't shoot thru a fence very often so it's a real PITA with normal subject matter. The only solution is to learn to pay very careful attention to what your aiming at. Which I did with my D70 but I still ended up with about 10% of my images out of focus.

 

BTW, the closest subject mode setting is NOT the solution for this problem, all it does is cause the camera to select what ever AF area contains detail nearest the camera. Which, in a landscape type shot means that the D70 will choose to use the bottom center AF area and focus on the grass in front of your feet.

 

The third issue is that there were some D70's built with the AF system slightly out of adjustment. This system uses a relay mirror which is attached behind the main mirror. Which make the camera sensitive to the main mirror returning to the exact correct position. Fortunately, adjusting this return position is so simple to do that almost any user can do it once they acquire the correct tool. Not having had to do that, I can only recomend that you empoy a google search to find a web page that show how this is done. I would also caution you to make sure that your camera is truly in need of adjustment by shooting a solid brick wall, that way you will totally rule out distance conflicts within the AF area as the cause. Which is what I did with mine and it's why I never tried adjusting the mirror position in my D70, the camera focuses perfectly on brick walls.

 

Also, perhaps because of my mainly owning older screw drive primes when I got my D70, I found that the AF-C setting was completely useless. Probably about as poor as my N8008s was way back in 1990. So, I used my D70 the same way that I used my N8008s, which was in single focus using the center AF area with the old focus/re-compose technique.

 

BTW, the D70 has now become my backup and I am now using a D300. Which I am happy to report has corrected every fault in the design of the AF system of the D70. For one, the AF areas are 1/2 the size of those in the D70. Second, it's my belief that Nikon has shifted the priority for distance conflicts so that the camera chooses the detail nearest the camera for focusing. However, I haven't actually tested for that because I have yet to see one OOF image that wasn't due to my being foolish about choosing a focus target. To put it simply, the D300 focuses exactly where I point it, every single time.

 

So, yes, the AF system in the D70 does have some flaws. However, it is possible to learn how to work around them for the most part and the D70 is actually capable of producing excellent images.

I would suggest that you actually take the time to find a store that has the D3 in stock and actually go out and hold one. Several times in your post you expressed concerns about weight and the D3 is a rather heavy camera. I suspect that after holding a D3 you'll drop that idea like a hot potatoe. You may also find the D300 is a bit heavier than you would prefer so you should also try holding that camera as well.

 

Now, about the D300. First, the AF is absolutely incredible compared to the D70. So, you'll see a huge improvement in that area compared to your D70. In fact, in some ways I think the AF in the D300 is actually superior to that in the D3, mainly because it covers a much wider area of the frame. You'll also find that hte higher resolution of the D300 will permit a bit more freedom for cropping. However, you will have a new camera that you will have to spend time learning how to use and the D300 doesn't offer any Scene Modes to help you out. It also offers so many adjustments that it's fairly easy to tie the settings into a gordian knot.

 

Specifically, settings to avoid.

 

Number one is the AF tracking with Lock ON. Nikon really should have called this the AF DELAY setting because that is what it actually does, it DELAYS the camera from acquiring focus on any subject at a distance different than what the lens is set to. So, if someone steps in front of your, it won't immediately snap the focus to the back of their head. However, it will also cause the camera to pause anytime you want to focus on a new subject. So, leave it OFF unless your shooting a football game from the stands or something similar. Otherwise you'll be wondering why the camera won't focus.

 

Second setting to avoid is the Active D-Lighting. This scheme acts to compress the tonal response in deep shadows and highlights. In some cases it can lift shadow detail by at least 2 stops and along with those lighter shadow tones you bring up NOISE. So, if you turn it on and find that you have noisy shadows, that's just an effect of the Active D-Lighting. So either learn how to properly deal with dark shadows or learn to accept the noise that the D-Lighting will cause.

 

Third is high ISO Noise Reduction. Keep it OFF or set to Low because any higher setting is just too aggressive and you'll lose a LOT of image sharpness. I keep it off and now apply any Noise Reduction during Post in NX where a much finer degree of control is possible.

 

Fourth is the Sharpening setting. Don't go any higher than 3 or you will see an increase in noise. The D300 will produce a superb 16 x 24 inch print with the sharpening set to 3 so going any higher is pretty pointless.

 

Finally, about Pixel Peeping. 100% peeps from the D300 are 43% LARGER than a 100% peep from your D70. Which means that they WILL LOOK A BIT SOFTER. Get used to it and buy a printer so you can actually see how well the D300 performs regardless of that "softness" that you see in a peep. What you don't want to do is start turning up the sharpening or you'll then start complaining about noisy images. BTW, that larger image also means that noise WILL become more visible in a 100% peep. Ignore it, on a real print the D300 is stunning in regards to noise even at ISO 1600. I can produce 4x6 inch prints from ISO 6400 images that are nearly free of any noise. At ISO 1600 you have to be a bit hyper critical to complain about the noise in an 11x17 inch print.

 

Now for my advice. If you are relying on the Scene Modes in the D70 then the D300 won't be a good choice because it doesn't offer these "crutches". In that case waiting for hte D90 may be a better choice. However, if your willing to take the time to learn how to use the D300 properly, it is an incredible tool.

 

BTW, the Picture Control that I found that I like best is the D2x Mode 1, which I had to download from Nikon. However, some recent posts indicate that the D300's now being produced come with the D2x Picture Controls pre-loaded. So, if you buy a D300 and it has the D2x Picture Controls pre0loaded, the first thing you should do is set your new camera to the D2x mode 1 and see how your images look to you. Frankly, I found the default Standard Picture Control to have too much saturation for my taste and thought that it produced over saturated images. As for the Vibrant Picture Control, it's a good choice if you want to make photographic Cartoons, the saturation is way way over the top. But, tastes vary, so my point is that you should experiment with the various Picture Controls and find the one that most fits what you want.

A WARNING. At about the sevenn o'clock position relative to the lens mount with the camera facing you there is a small lever. This is the minimum aperture signal lever. With some of these lenses, there is an interference between the rear surface of the lens and this lever. Basically, mounting the lens will cause it to try and push that lever STRAIGHT INTO THE CAMERA BODY. THAT WILL BREAK THIS LEVER. So, with these early lens you have to watch that lever VERY CLOSELY the first time that you try and mount the lens and, if you see any contact between the lens and that lever, STOP and don't try using that lens on your D80.

 

Unfortunately, if you do find that this lens won't clear the minimum aperture signal lever, you may find that modifying the lens to fit your D80 to be expensive. Bascially, you'll have to find a machine shop who would be willing to machine the rear surface of the lens until it just barely clears that lever. Which will have to be done by trial and error because if too much material is removed you may break into the interior of the lens.

The green dot indicator in the N2020 can generally be trusted as an in focus indicator. Nikon left the focusing aids out of the N2020 because it was an autofocus camera and they didn't see any need for those aids. There is a small bit of range in the indicator but that is normal with any AF camera, even my new D300. However, my experiece is that range where the green light is solidly on is usually more accurate than using those old focusing aids and focusing by eye alone. Back when I was shooting with manual focus 35mm cameras, I either used an eyepiece magnifier or stopped the lens down a bit to cover any error.

 

Bascially, if your camera is within specification for the AF system, you should get good results using that indicator. However, it is an old camera and the main mirror, or sub-mirror my be slightly out of adjustment and require adjustement. In which case, you will find that hte camera either consistently front focuses, or backfocuses, when that green light is lit. Do a google search on "back focus testing" and you'll find lots of posts that will tell you now to test for this. As for having the camera adjusted, I expect that it's a pretty simple procedure but finding a shop that is familiar with a camera this old may be a bit of a challenge. So, it's probably not too costly but you will have to do some looking to find a repair shop that can do it properly.

Phil, the motion blur is a product of magnifying that center rectangle by a greater amount in order to produce a specific print size. So, in one way crop factor does have an effect. However if you crop a 35mm frame by the same amount and then make a print, you'll see identical results.

 

I think a larger part of this issue is that it is now so easy to look at an image at a very high magnification. So we now see a lot of posts complaining about soft images and too much noise. BTW, there is a pretty simple method for determining the equivalent print size of a 100% zoom. Take the horizontal resolution of the camera and divide it by the horizontal resolution of the screen display. Then take a tape measure and measure the horiztonal display are of the monitor. Multiply that measurement by the previous product and you now have the horizontal measurement for the image size, which you can then divide by 1.5 to get the vertical dimension. Anyone who takes the time to do this will find that they are probably looking at an image size equivalent to 20 x 30 inches or larger. With some monitors, much larger. So, it's no wonder that they are seeing things they never was in a 4 x 6 inch print.

D300 - 1800 USD. 16-85 VR - 700 USD. 70-300 VR with D300 - 400 USD. 50mm f1.8 - 130 USD. 85mm f1.8 - 400 USD. Total - 3430 USD, with 6% sales tax 3636 USD. Just a tiny bit higher than your 3500 dollar limit.

 

Now for the Why.

 

With the D300 you get an amazing AF system and stunning performance at high ISO settings. I am still shocked at how cleanly an ISO 6400 image from the D300 will print at 8 x 10 inches. There is some visible noise but it's so orderly and clean that it really doesn't detract from the print and sometimes adds to it. You can also downsample the image by 50% and convert it to B&W and produce an image that is nearly noise free.

 

The 16-85 is a near no brainer, provided that you do some sample shopping because I have seen some posts indicating that this lens has a bit of sample variation. Get a good one and you have convenience, VR, and Prime image quality in a great walkaround package.

 

The 70-300 is also a near no brainer. It's also offered at a 150 dollar discount when you purchase a D300 at the same time, which takes the cost down to 400 dollars. I have one and the image quality is a match for my 180mm f2.8 EDIF when used between 70 and about 230mm at either f5.6 or f8. Which means that it's a very good lens optically up to about 230mm. However it does soften noticably at 300mm so I regard is as a cheaper, slower, and LIGHTER version of the 70-200 f2.8 with 300mm in reserve for emergencies. BTW, the 70-200 f2.8 with the 1.4 TC-E will blow it into the weeds but consider the size, weight, and COST difference.

 

The 50mm f1.8. At this price it's a total no brainer. Superb quality and darn near free.

 

The 85mm f1.8. Another total no brainer, especially for shooting theatre or snapping candids. Many rave about the bokeh of the 85mm f1.4 but the 1.8 version is no slouch in this area and some tests indicate that it's just a hint sharper than the faster lens. Being 1/3 less costly and about 2/3 the weight of the faster lens it's within your budget and the focal length is fantastic on the DX format.

 

Now, I would regard the D300 a 10 year keeper, it's really that good. Following models may have more mp, or the FX format, but for making prints they will have a hard time topping what the D300 can achieve right now. The 50mm f1.8 and the 85mm f1.8 will be lifetime keepers or keepers for as long as Nikon produces cameras that will focus with the screw driven lenses. BTW, while screw driven, both lenses are quite rapid in focusing on the D300. As for the 2 zooms, they will be keepers for as long as the AF motor or VR motors keep working, which I have no idea of. Since they are consumer items, I would figure on them being problem free for 3 to 10 years depending on how hard you work them.

 

Finally I feel that I should mention the Dead Battery Syndrome, which has caused total failure of some D300's. Currently Nikon has not announced a cause or what they will do for a solution. However, based on Nikon's history with the D70's BGLOD failure, I expect that they will provide an extended warranty for this problem. BTW, I have an early D70 and, darn it, it still hasn't failed, I was going to have Nikon touch up the focus a tiny bit while they were fixing the BGLOD and that never happened. I suspect that the actual incidence rate for this failure is probably quite low and it's being blown out of proportion by the net. However, I mention the problem because at some point you may be a victim and suffer the inconvenience having to send the camera in for repair. The good news is that if it does happen, Nikon will probably do the repair for free. Bottomline, there is a slight risk in buying a D300 but I feel the benefits far outweigh the risk and nothing in life is totally risk free. Chances are that your probably more likely to drop your D300 and break it that suffereing a failure from this issue.

The AA suggestion is one possible solution. I have found that you can get a pretty decent number of shots with the F5 using rechargeable NiMh AA cells. You may also want to take a very close look at your MN-30 and see if been assembled with small screws. If it has, then it's quite likely that it can be rebuilt with new cells in the battery pack.

Due to high Oil prices, Nikon is now in the process of developing a compact catalized Fusor Reactor that will "crack" water into it's basic components, Hydrogen and Oxygen. The goal is to produce a net energy gain in a package compact enough to fit into an 2 square foot volume with enough capacity to produce enough oxygen and hydrogen to power a 400 hp engine. When successful, we can stop worrying about buying gasoline or global warming, our automobiles will run on simple distilled water.

Anyone considering upgrading from Capture 4.4.2 to NX is in for a real shock. Capture 4.4.2 can run rings around NX. When just opening a simple JPG Capture 4.4.2 is about 10 TIMES faster than NX. And that's on a machine with 2 gb of RAM, and Athlon 64 3400 CPU and a 300 dollar Nvidia Graphics card operating under XP Pro SP2. NX is a resource hog of immense proportions and it's now costing Nikon a lot of sales to other Raw converters becaue word is getting around. Which is a shame because NX can do some things extremely well. Such as CA removal, Noise Reduction, Picture Controls, and Tonal corrections.

 

My advice would be to keep both 4.4.2 and NX operating on your system. They do coexist quite well so there isn't any need to remove 4.4.2. Currently I use 4.4.2 when I am shooting JPG's and reserve NX for those occasions when I need the higher quality that shooting RAW can provide.

 

Hopefully, Nikon is currently thrashing their software developers and will come out with an upgrade that solves the current speed issue. As I recall, Capture 4.1 had some speed issues that were cleared up quite well in a later upgrade so I am hoping that the same will happen with NX. As it is now, it's completely unuseable for a high volume shooter because it takes about 45 seconds just to open an NEF from the D300.

 

I would also recomend that only one image at a time be opened because opening multiple images really causes resource issues and may result in the computer crashing. At the least, it just makes a really slow program even slower. To the point where you just may have time to bake a cake while the files open.

The S2 is a great little camera but I would not recomend that you try and repair this yourself. At this point it's just too valuable to take a chance on trying to fix it yourself. I would suggest that you find a repair shop that has experience with Leica rangefinders and let them do a complete CLA on the camera. The shutter in the S2 is basically a copy of the shutter in the screw mount Leicas, so someone with experience in servicing older Leica cameras will have no problem figuring out the Nikon. As for the rangefinder, there is probably an access port in the top plate covered by a screw. It's what Nikon did with the S and I would expect that they did the same thing for the S2. As for the location of the access port, I have a very vague memory of it being dead center in the show mount for a flash but it's been over 20 years since I fiddled with my old S.

 

As for the cost, it should be relatively low becuase it is a very simple camera to work on. Most of the lubrication points for the shutter are under a cover in the base of the camera as well as the trim adjustments for the 2 curtains.

One way to eliminate the pre flash issue is to go old tech. That is, use a non TTL automatic flash such as the SB-24 or Vivitar 285HV. Which is what I used with my D70 and am now using with my D300. The simple fact it works so well that I just cannot enough of an advantage to push me into buying one of the new flashes.

I just checked with the 70-300 VR on my D300 and the VR timed out after 30 seconds. BTW, I took a picture after the VR had timed out and it was definately OFF. So, it would appear that this is a camera specific timing. Most probably an effort by Nikon to extend battery life because VR does consume power. What is irritating is that Nikon didn't provide any method for changing the timing for VR.

What is your shutter speed set to? The F2 will only sync with an electronic flash at 1/80 second or slower. I believe that if you set the flash to a higher shutter speed it will default to a sync for flash bulbs but it's been so many years since I lost my manual for the F2 I am not at all sure of this.

 

However, I think that the real issue may be that the contacts for the flash in your camera may be fused closed. The reason that I say this is because plugging in the flash should not trigger it. I just checked two of my F2 bodies by plugging in my Vivitar 285HV and neither camera tiggered the flash when I plugged it in. However, both cameras properly triggered the flash when I fired the shutter. So, if I were in your position, I would start looking for another F2 body. The simple truth is that it's now cheaper to just buy an F2 body than it is to have this fixed. As for why get another F2, the answer to that is simple, they are simply the finest all mechanical SLR ever made.

It may be a micro reflection. Basically, your subject moved just enough so that a stary bit of somethng reflective was in perfect alignment with the lfash and your lens. Which I wouldn't worry about because it simply won't be visible in any normal work product.

One issue with trying to compare the F5's Matrix meter to hand held meters is that the Matrix Meter in the F5 is somewhat color dependent. Which will sometimes cause it to disagree with a hand held meter or an older camera with a TTL meter. The good news is that the meter in the F5 almost always outperforms the older technology in these instances.

 

You can also eliminate the color bias of the F5's Matrix Meter by switching to the Center Weighted or Spot metering, which are totally color blind.

I agree that the D70 is fully capable of producing an excellent 11x17 inch print. I have a tabloid sized printer and have printed many 11x17 prints from it. Generally, what I have been doing is uprezzing the image to 260 dpi and printing it. BTW, that dpi was determined thru a process of experimentation where I was looking for the best balance between quality and and a computer with limited resources. Now that I've upgraded computers I use 300 dpi but really don't see much difference.

 

Also, most commercial printing is done using either a 180 or 150 line/inch screen. When I had to produce a brochure for the manufacturere that I work for, I actually had to downsample the files for the printer from my original workups. Point is, whoever asked you for 20mb files has no idea at all what is actually required for you book. I would suggest that you ask so speak directly to the printer and determine what his exact needs are. Otherwise you'll end up with a lot of wasted time and effort trying to satisfy an intermediary who has no idea of what is actually required.

What your seeing is chromatic aberation, which is a lens defect. Capture NX is quite good at correcting for this so you may want to consider getting it. However, that 70-300 G isn't the finest of lenses and you won't be able to do much about the softness that your seeing except upgrade to a better lens.

Luke, the D3 is a brand new camera with a huge array of new features. I suspect, as others have mentioned, the you've managed to find a combination of settings that have basically tied the AF system in knots.

 

Here is what I suggest. First, do the 2 button reset. Next, try putting the camera in that Auto Area AF mode and see how that mode works. Nikon has coupled this AF mode with the light meter and the Scene recognition system so that the camera can detect and focus on elements such as faces. Which may save you a lot of frustration. Another option to explore are the group Dynamic modes, either 9 or 21 point. I suspect that using the single point setting may be a large part of your problem. In the D3 the single point is VERY small, small enough that it's probable that many times your aiming the AF system at an area lacking in contrast, such as a persons cheek. At which point the camera will refuse to focus. The answer is to use a wider array of sensor areas that take in a larger area so that one, or more, will find an area with sufficient detail to focus upon.

The problem with your idea is that Nikon uses an internal contact block for the communications buss for the lens. Which means that you'll either have to place all of your hardware within the confines of the lens mount, or tap into the existing communications buss in the camera and provide an external method of providing the communications, which will end up by being a really ugly kludge. Not to mention the fact that Nikon keeps their communications protocol for thier lens mount VERY close to the vest. Sigma and other 3rd party lens makers have spent many man hours reverse engineering Nikon's communications protocols and they still sometimes get bit by an unknown feature when a new camera is introduced using a new feature they were unaware of. Bottomline, it will probably be easier and cheaper for you to just buy a D200. However, you may want to send a resume and your proposal to Sigma because they just might be interested in hiring you when your finished with college.

It's possible. Push processing uses an extended time of development to increase the density of the negatives. Which means the the film gets soaked for a longer period of time, which can make it more prone to being damaged. However, if the film is handled properly this is not a problem. Bascially your film was scratched because it was mis-handled and nothing else.

I would be willing to bet that your film was hand processed because of that push. And, I'll also bet that at some point the 1diot doing the processing squeegeed the film between two fingers instead of just hanging it up to dry. Which is almost guaranteed to cause scratches just like you described. I would suggest that you talk to the manager of that lab and complain vigerously about how your film was mis-handled. The simple fact is that skin is about as harsh on a wet film emulsion as using sandpaper. Which is why I use a photo wetting solution and jsut hang my film up without any wiping. In over 30 years I have yet to scratch one roll of film and water spots have not really been an issue.

Shun, I believe that the D2h uses the aperture indexing ring to sense that the aperture has been to it's minimum setting. Which means that cleaning the contacts probably won't do a thing to solve this issue. Also, if Nikon is still using a string to link the aperture indexing ring to the internals in the camera, that string stretching a bit could cause this problem. If so, it may be possible that by twisting the lens to it's fullest extent against the locking pin may get the camera operating for a while. That lock pin has about .015 of .020 inches of slack and that may be enough to put out the FEE warning.

 

I think that your only option is to send the camera in for repair. Until that's convenient, then your best option is to use the camera in the A mode with the camera set so that you use the aperture ring on the lens instead of the control on the body.

Two things that you can try. First, find the latest firmware for the D70 and update the firmware in your camera. Second, you could try renaming those JTG files as JPG files and see if they are then readable.

Charles, the image sensor in the D300 is sensitive to temperature during long exposures. So, it burnblue was shooting at an ambient temperature of -10F, that would explaing his low noise results. Nikon put the long exposure NR in the camera because of this issue, that is that the S/N ratio drops as the temperature goes up and these sensors do generate heat during a long exposure. That second exposure is a "dark frame" that is subtracted from the primary image in order to counter this effect.

 

Basically, you have 2 choices, twiddle your thumbs or move to Antarctica. Yeah, there is noise reduction software that can help but it will come at the price of a severe loss in fine detail. So, you either use the camera as it was designed to be used or move somewhere very cold.

Personally, I plan on replacing my 18-70 with the 16-85 VR once it becomes available locally. The one test report that I saw indicated that it has a bit less distortion with sharpness and contrast basically equal to the 18-70. Add VR to that and it's a winner for me.