Nikon D70SNikon updates its midrange SLR with improved focusing, larger LCD, a new menu interface, and more.<<Nikon D70S - Comparison with other Nikon "prosumer" SLRs :(Previous) | (Next): Design>> Page 4:Executive OverviewReview First Posted: 06/30/2005 |
Executive Overview
The Nikon D70S represents a fairly minor evolutionary upgrade to the original D70, offering RELATIVELY minor tweaks (and a slightly lower price) to what was already a very solid digital SLR design. Like its predecessor, the D70S has a very professional look about it, but with a user interface that is quite straightforward and approachable. Equipped with a 6.1 megapixel CCD, the D70S captures high-resolution images with great detail and good color. While there is now at least one d-SLR in its price range with 8 megapixel resolution (the Canon Digital Rebel XT), it's my feeling that the difference in pixel count between 6- and 8-megapixels amounts to relatively little, on a practical basis. (Comparing the horizontal pixel counts between the two cameras, we find that the Digital rebel XT has only just under 15% more pixels laterally -- not enough to make a very noticeable difference in subject detail.) Leaving aside the matter of pixel count then, the D70S is a very capable camera, and it ships with a very nice lens.
Functionally, the Nikon D70S is replete with auto and manual exposure modes, ready for whatever type of shooting its owner desires, and with an instant-on feature that provides very short startup times for immediate picture-taking. It also offers several scene modes that bias the settings for the best results in a number of common shooting situations, making it easier for novices to bring back good-looking pictures with it.
Capitalizing on the broad line of Nikon optics, the D70S has a standard F lens mount that accommodates most of Nikon's 35mm lenses. This is one of the key advantages of SLR cameras: Interchangeable lenses offer greater flexibility than even high-end prosumer cameras, despite the latter's attachable accessory lenses. Use of the near-historic F mount means that a huge range of lenses originally developed for film cameras can operate on the D70S, although older lens models may have quite a few limitations. Nikon's "designed for digital" DX-series lenses, which feature a reduced image circle that is designed specifically to match the DX-format image sensors used by the company's digital SLRs, are also compatible with the D70S.
The Nikon D70S offers several focusing options, including Manual, Single-Servo AF, and Continuous-Servo AF for moving subjects. A five point AF system can be used in three modes: Single Area, Dynamic Area, and Closest Subject. In the first two modes, the user is free to pick a focus point. You can set the AF Point Lock switch to L to keep the focus point set indefinitely at the location you've chosen. Switch it to the dot, and it can be changed, but again only in Single Area and Dynamic Area modes. The MultiSelector nav disk on the back lets you move the focus point around in the viewfinder.
The AF system is an area where the D70S sports a number of improvements over the original D70. One such improvement is that when operating in an automatic mode, the AF system now continuously monitors the subject conditions (brightness, contrast, and available detail) at all five focus areas, and then automatically selects the best area on which to base its focus decisions.
The Nikon D70S features a true TTL (through the lens) optical viewfinder, complete with information display along the bottom. This shows shutter speed, exposure compensation, flash status, focus point and mode, focus lock, and flash status among others.
Custom setting 8 activates an optional Grid Display, useful for matching to the horizon line in landscape shots, walls and floors in architectural shots, or when using a tilt or shift lens. (The grid display can actually still just be made out even when turned off, but is not very obtrusive or distracting). The five focus areas are marked by round-edged rectangles that overlay the image. The selected point is highlighted in black in the viewfinder in Single Area and Dynamic Area modes, and whether chosen by the user or the camera, the active focus area will blink red before changing to a black highlight while the shutter button remains pressed. Unfortunately it can be rather difficult to tell which focus point was active if you're focusing in dim light, as the black indicator is near-invisible on a dark background, and the briefly blink of red light "bleeds" out to illuminate all of the other focus points, as well as the center-weighted metering circle and alignment grid (if enabled), almost as much as the active focusing point is illuminated. A clearer indication of which focusing point is active would be very welcome.
A diopter correction slider next to the viewfinder can be adjusted from -1.6 to +0.5 to accommodate eyeglass wearers; optional corrective lenses are available that extend the range from -5 to +3.
As is the case with most digital SLRs, the Nikon D70S' LCD monitor is solely for viewing captured images and displaying the menu system, not for framing shots. (I'm careful to mention this for those potential users accustomed to composing pictures in point-and-shoot rangefinder-style digital cameras, who are considering moving up to a more capable camera.) Also important to know is that digital SLR cameras capture only stills, not video or audio. The D70S features a slightly larger 2.0" LCD display, as compared to the original 1.8" LCD in the D70, although resolution is identical, at 130,000 pixels.
In playback mode five information screens are available, giving a great deal of detail, plus a histogram and highlight displays. The highlight display shows any blown-out highlights, flashing the overexposed areas from white to black. This is something we'd like to see on all digital cameras, including consumer models, to let you know when portions of a photo have been overexposed.
Because this is meant as a consumer SLR, the Nikon D70S retains the healthy selection of Scene modes we saw on the original D70, in addition to the usual Program, Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority, and Manual exposure modes common to most SLRs. The D70S has a full Auto mode for point-and-shoot convenience, as well as Portrait, Landscape, Close Up, Sports, Night Landscape, and Night Portrait. All are quickly selected from the Mode Dial, which turns left or right with no limiter built in. In other words, you can turn toward the icon you want, no matter where you are on the dial, and not worry about whether you're going to run into a limiter, as we see on Canon's competing Digital Rebel and Rebel XT models. A minor point perhaps, but one that makes mode selection that much faster.
In Program mode, where most intermediate photographers will probably spend a lot of time, rotating the Main command dial adjusts through the possible combinations of aperture and shutter speed while maintaining proper exposure. This feature, which Nikon calls Flexible Program (some manufacturers call it Program Shift), allows the user to decide dynamically whether they want to emphasize depth of field or speed of capture based on the scene. Flexible Program is not available in full Auto mode, or in any of the Scene modes.
Using a combined mechanical and CCD electronic shutter, the D70S is able to achieve speeds from 30 seconds to 1/8000 second. This is the same as the original D70, and twice the maximum speed of its elder sibling the D100. In manual mode, Bulb is also available, up to a maximum of 30 minutes. Bulb exposures can also be controlled via remote, an important feature for blur-free long exposures. The shutter opens two seconds after the remote is activated, and doesn't shut until the remote is activated again, or the 30 minute maximum exposure time ends.
Nikon's trademark 3D color matrix metering is available by default when using G or D type lenses. It's considered "3D" because it gathers distance information from the lens to further optimize the metering's effectiveness. Inherited from the Nikon D2H and F5 by way of the original D70 is the very high resolution of this 3D matrix metering system. The Canon Digital Rebel has a 35 zone matrix meter, and the Nikon D100 has a 10 zone matrix meter, but the D70 and D70S have a 1,005 pixel metering sensor, separate from the main image sensor, that covers the entire frame. (Very impressive.) Matrix metering is useful for backlit subjects or when very dark subjects occupy a significant portion of the frame. Center Weighted metering is also available, which measures light from the entire frame, but places the greatest emphasis on a circular area in the center. Spot metering takes a reading centered on the active focus area, best when using the AE lock function, because it lets you meter off of a face or other area of primary importance and then recompose. The spot meter on the D70S bases its reading on approximately 1% of the total frame area, providing very precise exposure determination. These latter two metering options are only available in the Program, Shutter, Aperture, and Manual modes; the camera defaults to Matrix in the full Auto and Scene modes.
Sensitivity settings range from ISO 200 to 1600. In testing, we found that even ISO 1600 produced entirely acceptable results, with noise levels that were very low, to the point that 8x10 inch enlargements from ISO 1600 images looked quite acceptable for most uses. A special noise reduction mode can reduce noise in longer exposures with shutter speeds slower than about one second. When Noise Reduction is active, the time to process each image more than doubles, and "Job NR" blinks across the top of the status LCD while the processing is taking place. Surprisingly, my tests showed that (as with the D70) having NR active also slowed continuous exposures even in bright lighting, regardless of the shutter speed being used. This despite the fact that the NR processing is only supposed to apply to very long exposures. The amount of space in the memory buffer also decreases with NR on.
In Program, Shutter, Aperture, and Manual modes, exposure can be adjusted between -5 and +5 EV in increments of 1/3 EV. The camera can also be set to adjust EV in 1/2 EV increments, if you prefer. EV adjustment values show on the Status LCD only when the EV adjustment button is pressed, though in the viewfinder the scale is skewed on the exposure readout any time an exposure compensation has been specified. Exposure compensation is remembered even after the camera is powered off, but can be immediately reset to 0 - along with all other custom settings - via a two-button reset. This is performed by pressing both the Bracket and Exposure mode buttons, both being marked by an adjacent green dot. Hold these buttons down for more than two seconds and all settings are returned to default (see button listings later in this review to see which functions are reset by this process). This is a handy feature that I'd also like to see on other cameras, as it can be tedious resetting a large number of camera settings manually, or having to navigate the menu system to do so.
Auto Bracketing can help you with EV adjustments of up to plus or minus 2 EV. The camera will take one shot underexposed by the amount you set, one at the "metered exposure" (determined by the camera in Program, Shutter, and Aperture mode; by the user in Manual mode), and one overexposed. The sequence can also be "metered," under, over. Three presses on the shutter are required to complete each bracketing sequence. The sequence can also be applied to flash exposures, and white balance settings. (White Balance Bracketing can only be done in JPEG mode.) In the case of White Balance, Auto Bracketing works a little differently. Instead of requiring three presses on the shutter to complete the sequence, only one press is required to produce the desired number of frames. Users choose between two and three frames and which direction they want to go. A little experimentation is required, as is a thorough read of the manual. The benefits of using this feature could be significant, however, when you're just not sure about the white balance settings and the shot is critical.
White balance can be left in Auto, where the camera will adjust the color temperature from 3,500 to 8,000 Kelvin using both the 1,005 pixel RGB exposure sensor and the CCD image sensor. This is a wider range than the earlier D100's Auto White balance mode offered, but as I said in my review of the original D70, I'd still really like to see it extend lower, to handle the incandescent lighting so common in US interior spaces. The D70S still offers the same preset options, from Incandescent (3,000K) through Fluorescent (4,200K), Sunlight (5,200K), Flash (5,400K), Cloudy (6,000K), and Shade (8,000K). You can also preset a white balance by pointing the camera at a white or gray object, or it can be copied from an existing photograph. You can fine-tune the color balance of all white balance settings (except Preset) from -3 to +3 arbitrary units, for a more precise color balance. The D70S also offers Hue, Sharpness, Tone and Saturation adjustments. Hue can be adjusted from -9° to +9° in increments of 3°. Sharpness can be set to Auto, or set from Normal (0 adjustment) to Low (-2), Medium Low (-1), Medium High (+1), High (+2), or None (No sharpening is applied). Tone curves can be set to Auto or set from Normal (0 adjustment) to Low Contrast (-2), Medium Low (-1), Medium High (+1), High Contrast (+2), and Custom. Custom allows the user to download a custom tone curve created in Nikon Capture 4 on a PC. Saturation can be set from Normal (0 adjustment) to Moderate (negative adjustment) or Enhanced (positive adjustment).
There are three color modes, two of them sRGB, and one Adobe RGB. The first sRGB (mode Ia) is optimized for skin tones, and is the default setting. The second setting is Adobe RGB (mode II), offering a wider gamut than sRGB, meaning that it can capture and deliver more colors to a program like Photoshop, especially in the green range. It is recommended for photos that will be modified extensively on a computer. The second sRGB (mode IIIa) is optimized for nature or landscape shots, and apparently more closely approximates the color space of the previous D100.
In more than a few ways, the original D70 and new D70S are actually superior to their higher priced predecessor the D100, and one of those is their continuous capture mode. They're not only faster at 3 frames per second compared to the D100's 2.5 fps, they also can capture far more frames without pausing. When using a fast Compact Flash card, like SanDisk's Ultra II, Extreme or Extreme III, or Lexar's 80x cards, the buffer doesn't fill very quickly at all, although the original D70 seemed to have a (very) slight edge in its ability to shoot continuously without pausing. The faster the card, the more quickly the camera can offload the data, and in the case of high resolution images saved with the "normal" JPEG compression setting, the buffer may never fill at all. This is truly amazing, and the original D70 was the first digital camera we'd seen that could do this. Note though, that this effect requires a card with a write speed rating of 9MB/second or more.
As with the original D70, the D70S offers support for Nikon's optional ML-L3 infrared remote control, which allows you to take a picture without touching the camera - great for reducing vibration in long exposures, or getting yourself into the picture. A new addition is a remote control port for the MC-DC1 electronic cable release, adding a second choice to the infrared remote control. Two remote modes are available - either Delayed Remote, or Quick-response Remote - and their operation varies depending on the focusing mode. In AF-S mode, the Delayed Remote function will trigger a two-second delay during which the self-timer lamp lights (allowing the camera time to stabilize, or the photographer time to lower their hand and pose as desired before their self-portrait is captured). The camera will then attempt to focus, and if focus is achieved, will fire the shutter. If focus cannot be achieved, then the camera will not take a photo. In AF-C or Manual focus modes, the Delayed Remote function offers the same two-second delay, but captures the photo immediately afterwards without attempting to focus (the same is true if the shutter-button was being half-pressed to lock focus when the remote was triggered). The Quick-response Remote mode has the exact same functionality in all focus modes as the Delayed Remote function, but without the two-second delay.
The D70S' built-in pop-up flash has an ISO 200 Guide Number of 15m/49ft (ISO 100 Guide Number would be 11/36; though the D70S' ISO starts at 200, so this is only stated for comparison with other cameras and flash units). When a CPU lens is on the camera, Nikon's i-TTL is invoked, allowing complex measurements via low-power "almost invisible" preflashes right before the main flash, that the camera combines with distance information from the lens' CPU. This is excellent for fill flash, because the D70 uses its 1,005 segment Matrix meter to balance foreground lighting against backlighting. When a non-CPU lens is used, the built-in Speedlight supposedly only works in Manual mode, but my test unit showed no difference in flash behavior when I tried it with a couple of my older lenses.
Flash sync modes include Front-curtain sync, Red-eye reduction, Slow sync with red eye reduction, Slow sync, Rear- and Slow rear-curtain sync. In full Auto, Portrait, and Macro modes, Auto front curtain sync, Auto with red eye, and Off are the only options. In Night Portrait mode, both Auto flash modes are of necessity Slow sync. Flash Exposure Compensation allows the user to adjust brightness from -3 to +1 EV, providing for very subtle fill-flash effects.
The D70S uses Type I and Type II CF cards and MicroDrives. In addition to three JPEG compression levels, images can also be saved as NEF-format compressed RAW images, or simultaneously as RAW + JPEG files. Resolutions are 3,008 x 2,000, 2,240 x 1,488, and 1,504 x 1,000. When printed at 200 dpi, these can produce images as big as 15 x 10, 11 x 7.5, and 7.5 x 5 inches, respectively. A USB cable comes with the camera for uploads, as well as Nikon PictureProject software and a 30-day free trial of Nikon Capture. A video cable with a standard male "RCA" style jack is also included.
One EN-EL3a Lithium Ion battery pack powers the D70S, providing 7.4V at 1500mAh - just slightly up from the 1400mAh provided by the D70's EN-EL3 battery pack, which can also be used in the D70S. (Note that the EN-EL3a is actually compatible with the original D70 as well, although that camera is bundled with the older type). Though the battery looks very much like the Canon BP-511, they're not compatible. Along with the new battery is a new charger bundled with the D70S, the MH-18a. This charger (as with the slightly larger MH-18 that it replaces) is compatible with both the EN-EL3 and EN-EL3a batteries. The EN-EL3a gives very long run times in the D70S, but unfortunately there is no battery pack/vertical grip planned for the camera, an advantage that both the D100 and Digital Rebel have. The battery door is removable by gently pulling on it when opened about 45 degrees, but Nikon don't seem to have any plans to release a battery grip. (If you're interested in a vertical grip, the Harbortronics VG-D70 looks like it could be a good option. That grip included a fiber optic light pipe to couple to the original D70's IR remote port: I suspect they'll come out with a version for the D70S to take advantage of the new model's wired remote jack, but you'll have to check with them for more information.)
Offering the same 6.1 megapixel resolution as the original D70, plus the same sturdy, competent build, fast capture, and very nice kit lens, plus a new MC-DC1 cable release port, as well as improvements to the focusing, LCD, and bundled battery / charger, the D70S is poised to be a great seller for Nikon. This is an amazingly capable camera, with excellent image quality and excellent optics, at a very affordable price. While not offering quite as much resolution as Canon's Digital Rebel XT, nor the availability of a Nikon-designed battery grip, the D70S remains a very worthy competitor in the d-SLR marketplace.
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