scorpion
03-16-2004, 01:39 AM
Nikon D70
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
D100 Minus 30 Equals Better?
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Add a comment or send Thom feedback on this article.
The announcement has finally been made, and the D70 appears to be everything I disclosed briefly back on 1/21/04. That's not a surprise. In the days after I pulled the initial specification list but before the actual announcement, I was able to verify all but two of the things I list below from multiple sources. But that's all behind us now, and what's in front of us is a camera that looks very capable.
Indeed, it appears that the D70 was intended as a D100 replacement, despite the downgrade in numbering. That's a bit surprising, as Nikon generally performs model life endings much less frequently than most camera companies. Two years is a very short life span for a Nikon body, which tells you something about how fast the digital revolution is moving. (The downgrade in numbering seems to imply that another higher specification model is coming, though.)
Meanwhile, the criticism about Nikon not being able to match the Canon Digital Rebel (300D) should die. Not only does the D70 match Canon's entry in most ways, but it pushes the envelope forward for this price point (e.g., shutter, meter, build, flash, autofocus, to name a few). The game of leap-frog continues, with Nikon once again taking their jump.
Without further ado, the D70 Specifications with my comments in italics:
6.1mp CCD (3008 x 2000 Large, 2240x1488 Medium, 1504x1000 Small sizes), 12-bit in NEF. The buzz is that this is an update to the Sony chip used in the D100. Note that the spec sheet for the D100's sensor did not list any support electronic shutter speeds, which is one reason why it wasn't implemented, so I believe the buzz. Better than D100
ISO 200 to 1600, HI-1, HI-2, Auto. I wish they'd leave off Auto or only make it work in Manual exposure mode. That would cut down on the number of questions I get concerning why the Auto ISO doesn't work (it does, just cryptically in some exposure modes). Moreover, if you implement Auto ISO, you really need to give the user some idea of what's being set, which no Nikon body to date has done.
30 second to 1/8000 shutter, combined electronic/mechanical, with flash sync to 1/500. No mirror pre-release. At the Slow Sync end, users can set the slowest shutter speed to be used with flash (e.g., you can set 1/30 instead of 1/60 as the bottom shutter speed limit). Very nice, and a big step up. And with an AS-14 to give PC Sync out, you may be able to sync at higher shutter speeds, ala the D1 series. Better than D100 except for mirror prerelease
1005-pixel Color CCD Matrix meter. Better than D100
1.8" color LCD, 130k pixels.
Auto rotation of images (while viewing, too). Better than D100
14 frame buffer JPEG, 4 frame buffer NEF, 3 fps, WA and 32-bit FAT support. A reasonable capability level for a camera aimed at serious amateurs. But this only hints at the camera's capabilities, since it using a new, smarter buffering system and is faster at writing files. Nikon's press release claims that the Dynamic Buffer allows shooting up to 144 frames at 3 fps, but this requires you to set the camera to JPEG NORMAL and use a card that can keep up (specified in the press release as a SanDisk 256MB Ultra II). In general, buffer limitations, even if hit, are going to be substantially less restricting, especially if you're using a state-of-the-art storage card.
Compressed NEF, JPEG, and Compressed NEF+JPEG; no uncompressed NEF or TIFF. Dropping TIFF support isn't significant, IMHO.
5-sensor CAM900 AF module.
M, A, S, P exposure modes, plus 7 scene exposure modes (Auto, Portrait, Landscape, Close-up, Sports, Night Portrait, Night Landscape). Be aware that the special scene exposure modes place limitations on other features. In general, I've never liked Nikon's implementations of these modes, as they never quite are as extreme as they need to be and they limit the user's options.
I-TTL support (up to three wireless groups with an SB-800 as master, flash value lock, ala D2h). The internal flash has a Commander mode, which allows it to control a single wireless group of SB-600 or SB-800 Speedlights. You can also set the internal flash at several Manual power levels. However, note that D-TTL is NOT supported if you use an SB-28DX, SB-50DX, or SB-80DX. Better than D100 with new CLS flashes, worse with older DX flashes
N80-like On Demand grid lines in viewfinder.
25 Custom Settings (not listed).
PICT-Bridge, EXIF 2.21, DPOF Support.
18mm eye point (-1.6 to +.5 diopter adjust), 95% frame coverage at .75x magnification. DK-16 eyecup (so eyepiece is slightly different design).
Exposure compensation and ISO setting in 1/3 stop (or 1/2 stop).
Image enhancement settings: Normal, Vivid, Sharp, Soft, Direct Print, Landscape, and Custom (controls sharpening, contrast, tone, color, saturation, and hue, available in P, S, A, and M exposure modes). We'll have to test these things in order to get a handle of their usefulness. In general, I'm suspicious of attempts to generalize settings like this, though I can see how it could be some benefit to untrained amateurs. But given the high specifications of this camera, this seems a bit of a mismatch in target customer. Also, for some reason Nikon is now labeling the sRGB color modes Ia, and IIIa (they're I and III in the D100 and D2h). This seems to imply that the D70's target is slightly different than the D100's, but we'll have to wait and see what that really means.
PictureProject (apparently replaces View) and Capture 4.1 (optional). PictureProject and the new Capture support plug-ins. But the press release states that Capture 4.1 will be available about one month after the camera.
It doesn't have a threaded shutter release, but has a wireless IR remote. The ML-L3 remote isn't included, but it's less than US$20. Range on the IR remote is adequate for casual self-portrait use, but not for serious long distance triggering.
The body design is a bit taller than the N75 and uses a cross of D100 and D2h styling. In general, it looks like an update to the D100. Be aware that some controls have moved (metering) and are overloaded (flash release button), which will take some getting used to if you're transitioning to the D70 from a D100.
It's an all-black body design.
USB 12MBs transfer rate. Direct control of the camera from a computer is possible, but you have to switch the camera to PTP mode (normally, USB cameras default to look like mass storage devices).
The external connections are under a rubber side cover ala the D100.
EN-EL3 lithium ion battery (or use CR2 batteries).
No PC Sync terminal (requires AS-15).
No 10-pin connector option. Worse than D100
No optional extended grip/vertical release. I wasn't a fan of the optional grip, but some will lament the loss, especially since the 10-pin connector option disappears. Worse than D100
A new consumer-oriented DX lens, the 18-70mm f/3.5-4.5G DX ED-IF AF-S accompanies the actual product launch and is targeted at the D70 customer. Assuming the optics perform well, this gives you a fast-focusing ~28-105mm equivalent, which is the focal range most amateurs tend to use most.
US$999 street price without lens. Euro1100 without lens. In Japan, some stores are already listing the D70 at lower prices than Canon's Digital Rebel (300D), which probably means that there's some pricing flexibility that we'll see over time (the Digital Rebel lists for US$899 in the States).
Does not meter with AI and AI-S lenses.
1.5x angle of view change, ala other Nikon DSLRs.
Weight is 595g without battery (~21 ounces).
Body is made in Thailand (as have been many Nikon bodies).
Note how many of the features in the above list are "better than D100" and how few are "worse than D100." Given the lower price, the D70 effectively removes the D100 from the market and lowers the resale value of the D100. Note that this doesn't mean the D100 is any less capable than it has been (which is to say "very"), just that the target for digital cameras moves forward.
Since many are interested in the controls, here's are some of the highlights:
It has front and back command dials.
It has the N75 style autofocus mode switch on the front.
It has the N75 DOF button on the front, close to the lens mount at the bottom.
AE-L, AF-L button.
Autofocus sensor pad plus AF pad lock.
Delete (trash can) button.
Playback button
Menu button
Sensitivity/Thumbnail button, White Balance/Protect/Help button, Image Quality/Size/Playback button Dual purposing the back buttons give users faster access to common image settings, retain compatibility with previous playback style
Flash exposure compensation button (and options?) is the flash release button!
However, Nikon has once again changed both the order and naming used in the menu system, something that's going to frustrate those of us with multiple Nikon DSLR bodies. Also, the tabbed interface remains, but is controlled slightly differently.
Other:
An 18-70mm f/3.5-4.5G DX AF-S ED-IF lens launches with the D70, with a street price for the lens of perhaps US$500 or less. Again, this is very reasonable range, and the AF-S and internal focusing make this a step above previous Nikon consumer lens offerings.
SB-600 Speedlight. A much needed second CLS (I-TTL) capable flash.
Coolwalker Digital Photo Storage Viewer (digital wallet type device)! While the idea of digital wallet type devices is obvious and potentially useful, in practice they've been a disappointment for two primary reasons: (1) battery life is abysmal, and (2) any drive failure can result in the catastrophic loss of many photos. Because of #1, you don't use them in the field, you use them in the hotel room after a day's shoot. Because of #2 you bring a laptop just in case you need to run a recovery utility on the drive. Which means that in practice you might as well just bring the images into your laptop. We'll see if Nikon has added anything to the mix that breaks this Catch 22 situation and makes the Coolwalker road-worthy for us extensive travelers, but I'm not hopeful.
Capture 4.1 adds:
D70 support. Obvious need given that the D70 only saves NEFs in compressed format.
Multi-image window (supports images from multiple folders). Marginally helpful. It's unclear how Nikon's software all fits together yet. PictureProject comes with the camera and supports cataloging, some editing, and plug-ins ,plus I would suspect links with Capture in some way; View doesn't appear to go away, as it will be a free download on Nikon's site and a 6.2 version appears to have been discussed with some of the press; Capture sprouts some browsing capability.
Color moire reduction. Surprise feature.
Faster. Always good news.
Plug-in Filter support! You'll see plug-ins from at least Nik (DFine, Sharpener) on day 1, and if Nikon is developing this correctly and supporting the developers well, this is very good news, indeed.
Direct JPEG to NEF conversion? I'm not 100% sure about this function, (e.g., can we re-apply white balance after the fact to JPEG images?), but I actually see several interesting possibilities with this. By converting a JPEG to NEF and then running that NEF through Photoshop CS, for instance, we could remove chromatic aberration from a JPEG more easily than before (that's assuming this works the way I envision it, obviously). Also, NEFs can be saved to JPEG format, too.
Option to save individual parameters in instruction sets. Much needed, and probably the number one request to Capture's development staff. Combined with the ability to batch selected images, this is very useful.
Ability to edit one image while others are being batch processed.
LCH editor (similar to what's in Nikon Scan, I believe) and Chroma (saturation) booster function.
The number one question, of course, is "when"? In Japan, the first ship date has been announced as March 19th. Whether it goes on sale in the US on that date or not, we don't yet know.
http://www.bythom.com/D70.htm
(I try to keep the same format but unfortunately I couldn't-Bù cạp :D )
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
D100 Minus 30 Equals Better?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Add a comment or send Thom feedback on this article.
The announcement has finally been made, and the D70 appears to be everything I disclosed briefly back on 1/21/04. That's not a surprise. In the days after I pulled the initial specification list but before the actual announcement, I was able to verify all but two of the things I list below from multiple sources. But that's all behind us now, and what's in front of us is a camera that looks very capable.
Indeed, it appears that the D70 was intended as a D100 replacement, despite the downgrade in numbering. That's a bit surprising, as Nikon generally performs model life endings much less frequently than most camera companies. Two years is a very short life span for a Nikon body, which tells you something about how fast the digital revolution is moving. (The downgrade in numbering seems to imply that another higher specification model is coming, though.)
Meanwhile, the criticism about Nikon not being able to match the Canon Digital Rebel (300D) should die. Not only does the D70 match Canon's entry in most ways, but it pushes the envelope forward for this price point (e.g., shutter, meter, build, flash, autofocus, to name a few). The game of leap-frog continues, with Nikon once again taking their jump.
Without further ado, the D70 Specifications with my comments in italics:
6.1mp CCD (3008 x 2000 Large, 2240x1488 Medium, 1504x1000 Small sizes), 12-bit in NEF. The buzz is that this is an update to the Sony chip used in the D100. Note that the spec sheet for the D100's sensor did not list any support electronic shutter speeds, which is one reason why it wasn't implemented, so I believe the buzz. Better than D100
ISO 200 to 1600, HI-1, HI-2, Auto. I wish they'd leave off Auto or only make it work in Manual exposure mode. That would cut down on the number of questions I get concerning why the Auto ISO doesn't work (it does, just cryptically in some exposure modes). Moreover, if you implement Auto ISO, you really need to give the user some idea of what's being set, which no Nikon body to date has done.
30 second to 1/8000 shutter, combined electronic/mechanical, with flash sync to 1/500. No mirror pre-release. At the Slow Sync end, users can set the slowest shutter speed to be used with flash (e.g., you can set 1/30 instead of 1/60 as the bottom shutter speed limit). Very nice, and a big step up. And with an AS-14 to give PC Sync out, you may be able to sync at higher shutter speeds, ala the D1 series. Better than D100 except for mirror prerelease
1005-pixel Color CCD Matrix meter. Better than D100
1.8" color LCD, 130k pixels.
Auto rotation of images (while viewing, too). Better than D100
14 frame buffer JPEG, 4 frame buffer NEF, 3 fps, WA and 32-bit FAT support. A reasonable capability level for a camera aimed at serious amateurs. But this only hints at the camera's capabilities, since it using a new, smarter buffering system and is faster at writing files. Nikon's press release claims that the Dynamic Buffer allows shooting up to 144 frames at 3 fps, but this requires you to set the camera to JPEG NORMAL and use a card that can keep up (specified in the press release as a SanDisk 256MB Ultra II). In general, buffer limitations, even if hit, are going to be substantially less restricting, especially if you're using a state-of-the-art storage card.
Compressed NEF, JPEG, and Compressed NEF+JPEG; no uncompressed NEF or TIFF. Dropping TIFF support isn't significant, IMHO.
5-sensor CAM900 AF module.
M, A, S, P exposure modes, plus 7 scene exposure modes (Auto, Portrait, Landscape, Close-up, Sports, Night Portrait, Night Landscape). Be aware that the special scene exposure modes place limitations on other features. In general, I've never liked Nikon's implementations of these modes, as they never quite are as extreme as they need to be and they limit the user's options.
I-TTL support (up to three wireless groups with an SB-800 as master, flash value lock, ala D2h). The internal flash has a Commander mode, which allows it to control a single wireless group of SB-600 or SB-800 Speedlights. You can also set the internal flash at several Manual power levels. However, note that D-TTL is NOT supported if you use an SB-28DX, SB-50DX, or SB-80DX. Better than D100 with new CLS flashes, worse with older DX flashes
N80-like On Demand grid lines in viewfinder.
25 Custom Settings (not listed).
PICT-Bridge, EXIF 2.21, DPOF Support.
18mm eye point (-1.6 to +.5 diopter adjust), 95% frame coverage at .75x magnification. DK-16 eyecup (so eyepiece is slightly different design).
Exposure compensation and ISO setting in 1/3 stop (or 1/2 stop).
Image enhancement settings: Normal, Vivid, Sharp, Soft, Direct Print, Landscape, and Custom (controls sharpening, contrast, tone, color, saturation, and hue, available in P, S, A, and M exposure modes). We'll have to test these things in order to get a handle of their usefulness. In general, I'm suspicious of attempts to generalize settings like this, though I can see how it could be some benefit to untrained amateurs. But given the high specifications of this camera, this seems a bit of a mismatch in target customer. Also, for some reason Nikon is now labeling the sRGB color modes Ia, and IIIa (they're I and III in the D100 and D2h). This seems to imply that the D70's target is slightly different than the D100's, but we'll have to wait and see what that really means.
PictureProject (apparently replaces View) and Capture 4.1 (optional). PictureProject and the new Capture support plug-ins. But the press release states that Capture 4.1 will be available about one month after the camera.
It doesn't have a threaded shutter release, but has a wireless IR remote. The ML-L3 remote isn't included, but it's less than US$20. Range on the IR remote is adequate for casual self-portrait use, but not for serious long distance triggering.
The body design is a bit taller than the N75 and uses a cross of D100 and D2h styling. In general, it looks like an update to the D100. Be aware that some controls have moved (metering) and are overloaded (flash release button), which will take some getting used to if you're transitioning to the D70 from a D100.
It's an all-black body design.
USB 12MBs transfer rate. Direct control of the camera from a computer is possible, but you have to switch the camera to PTP mode (normally, USB cameras default to look like mass storage devices).
The external connections are under a rubber side cover ala the D100.
EN-EL3 lithium ion battery (or use CR2 batteries).
No PC Sync terminal (requires AS-15).
No 10-pin connector option. Worse than D100
No optional extended grip/vertical release. I wasn't a fan of the optional grip, but some will lament the loss, especially since the 10-pin connector option disappears. Worse than D100
A new consumer-oriented DX lens, the 18-70mm f/3.5-4.5G DX ED-IF AF-S accompanies the actual product launch and is targeted at the D70 customer. Assuming the optics perform well, this gives you a fast-focusing ~28-105mm equivalent, which is the focal range most amateurs tend to use most.
US$999 street price without lens. Euro1100 without lens. In Japan, some stores are already listing the D70 at lower prices than Canon's Digital Rebel (300D), which probably means that there's some pricing flexibility that we'll see over time (the Digital Rebel lists for US$899 in the States).
Does not meter with AI and AI-S lenses.
1.5x angle of view change, ala other Nikon DSLRs.
Weight is 595g without battery (~21 ounces).
Body is made in Thailand (as have been many Nikon bodies).
Note how many of the features in the above list are "better than D100" and how few are "worse than D100." Given the lower price, the D70 effectively removes the D100 from the market and lowers the resale value of the D100. Note that this doesn't mean the D100 is any less capable than it has been (which is to say "very"), just that the target for digital cameras moves forward.
Since many are interested in the controls, here's are some of the highlights:
It has front and back command dials.
It has the N75 style autofocus mode switch on the front.
It has the N75 DOF button on the front, close to the lens mount at the bottom.
AE-L, AF-L button.
Autofocus sensor pad plus AF pad lock.
Delete (trash can) button.
Playback button
Menu button
Sensitivity/Thumbnail button, White Balance/Protect/Help button, Image Quality/Size/Playback button Dual purposing the back buttons give users faster access to common image settings, retain compatibility with previous playback style
Flash exposure compensation button (and options?) is the flash release button!
However, Nikon has once again changed both the order and naming used in the menu system, something that's going to frustrate those of us with multiple Nikon DSLR bodies. Also, the tabbed interface remains, but is controlled slightly differently.
Other:
An 18-70mm f/3.5-4.5G DX AF-S ED-IF lens launches with the D70, with a street price for the lens of perhaps US$500 or less. Again, this is very reasonable range, and the AF-S and internal focusing make this a step above previous Nikon consumer lens offerings.
SB-600 Speedlight. A much needed second CLS (I-TTL) capable flash.
Coolwalker Digital Photo Storage Viewer (digital wallet type device)! While the idea of digital wallet type devices is obvious and potentially useful, in practice they've been a disappointment for two primary reasons: (1) battery life is abysmal, and (2) any drive failure can result in the catastrophic loss of many photos. Because of #1, you don't use them in the field, you use them in the hotel room after a day's shoot. Because of #2 you bring a laptop just in case you need to run a recovery utility on the drive. Which means that in practice you might as well just bring the images into your laptop. We'll see if Nikon has added anything to the mix that breaks this Catch 22 situation and makes the Coolwalker road-worthy for us extensive travelers, but I'm not hopeful.
Capture 4.1 adds:
D70 support. Obvious need given that the D70 only saves NEFs in compressed format.
Multi-image window (supports images from multiple folders). Marginally helpful. It's unclear how Nikon's software all fits together yet. PictureProject comes with the camera and supports cataloging, some editing, and plug-ins ,plus I would suspect links with Capture in some way; View doesn't appear to go away, as it will be a free download on Nikon's site and a 6.2 version appears to have been discussed with some of the press; Capture sprouts some browsing capability.
Color moire reduction. Surprise feature.
Faster. Always good news.
Plug-in Filter support! You'll see plug-ins from at least Nik (DFine, Sharpener) on day 1, and if Nikon is developing this correctly and supporting the developers well, this is very good news, indeed.
Direct JPEG to NEF conversion? I'm not 100% sure about this function, (e.g., can we re-apply white balance after the fact to JPEG images?), but I actually see several interesting possibilities with this. By converting a JPEG to NEF and then running that NEF through Photoshop CS, for instance, we could remove chromatic aberration from a JPEG more easily than before (that's assuming this works the way I envision it, obviously). Also, NEFs can be saved to JPEG format, too.
Option to save individual parameters in instruction sets. Much needed, and probably the number one request to Capture's development staff. Combined with the ability to batch selected images, this is very useful.
Ability to edit one image while others are being batch processed.
LCH editor (similar to what's in Nikon Scan, I believe) and Chroma (saturation) booster function.
The number one question, of course, is "when"? In Japan, the first ship date has been announced as March 19th. Whether it goes on sale in the US on that date or not, we don't yet know.
http://www.bythom.com/D70.htm
(I try to keep the same format but unfortunately I couldn't-Bù cạp :D )