Nikon D70The Nikon D70 is an "entry-level" SLR loaded with features at a sub-$1,000 price.<<Video, Power, Software :(Previous) | (Next): Reference: Datasheet>> Page 14:Test Results & ConclusionReview First Posted: 04/14/2004 |
Test Results
| Amazing eBook! | |
|
In keeping with my standard test policy, the comments given here summarize only my key findings. For a full commentary on each of the test images, see the D70's "pictures" page.
Not sure which camera to buy? Let your eyes be the ultimate judge! Visit our Comparometer(tm) to compare images from the D70 with those from other cameras you may be considering. The proof is in the pictures, so let your own eyes decide which you like best!
As with all Imaging Resource product tests, I encourage you to let your own eyes be the judge of how well the camera performed. Explore the images on the pictures page, to see how the D70's images compare to other cameras you may be considering.
Photo Gallery! For less-structured, more aesthetic sample images, check out my "gallery" of random photos shot with the D70.
- Color: Very good color all around, Auto white balance
could do better with some light sources, but Manual always did very well.
The D70 delivered accurate, very appealing color in all my test shots.
Colors were hue-accurate, bright, and appropriately saturated, although the
very bright red and blue primary color blocks in the MacBeth(tm) chart of
the Davebox test came out a little oversaturated. The "portrait"
image optimization setting produced particularly good results with skin tones.
A very nice performance overall.
- Exposure: An exposure system that was very consistent,
but that tended to underexpose by 0.3 to 0.7 EV. I found the D70's exposure
system to be very consistent, although it tended to underexpose shots by anywhere
from 0.3 to 0.7 EV. This isn't an entirely bad thing though, as it meant that
the camera tended to do a good job holding onto highlights in its images.
If I wanted to shoot more for the midtones for snapshots, I could pretty well
just dial in a +0.3 EV exposure compensation adjustment and shoot away. (And
interestingly, the high-key Outdoor Portrait shot that normally needs from
0.7-1.0 EV of exposure boost with most cameras only required +0.3 with the
D70. This was impressive, as it means that the D70's exposure system is less
likely to be tricked into underexposing high-key subjects.) I did find though,
that the Indoor Portrait shot took quite a bit more exposure boost than usual
to get a good exposure, so it seems that the D70 is a bit more likely to be
fooled by incandescent lighting. (Possibly reacting to the greater amount
of infrared?) Overall though, I really liked the D70's exposure system.
- Resolution/Sharpness: A crisper-looking image than the
earlier D100, albeit with about the same actual resolution. A tendency to
moire with repeating patterns though. The D70 performed nicely on the
"laboratory" resolution test chart. It started showing artifacts
in the test patterns at resolutions as low as 1,200 lines per picture height,
in both horizontal and vertical directions. I found "strong detail"
out to at least 1,400 lines horizontally, and 1,200 lines vertically. "Extinction"
of the target patterns didn't occur until about 1,650 lines. With the D70,
Nikon apparently chose to go with a less aggressive antialiasing filter than
in the D100, which produces the crisper-looking images, but also leaves it
open to moire problems with repeating patterns. (This is probably the one
aspect of the D70 that I found the most annoying, but on the whole, I'm personally
willing to accept a very occasional moire problem for the increased sharpness
that comes with it.) Comparing the D70's images to those from the Canon cameras,
the D70's photos tend to look just slightly crisper, but the difference is
very slight, and generally only visible with some squinting. Overall, I'd
rate the D70 and Canon EOS-10D and Digital Rebel as having more or less identical
resolving power and image sharpness.
- Image Noise: Very good noise performance. Numerically similar
to the Digital Rebel, but better-looking to the eye. Numerically, the
D70's image noise levels are very close to those of its competitor, the Digital
Rebel, on an ISO-for-ISO basis. (But of course, the Rebel goes down to ISO
100, at which point it has lower noise than the D70's ISO 200 minimum will
allow.) To my eye though, the D70 wins the noise derby handily, as its noise
pattern is finer-grained, and therefore less evident/objectionable than that
of the Rebel. Even at ISO 1600, the D70's noise is unobtrusive and quite acceptable.
(IMHO at least.)
- Closeups: Obviously dependent on the lens used. The
18-70mm kit lens is not a macro lens. Normally, I don't bother shooting
a macro test with SLR cameras, because the performance will obviously depend
entirely on the lens you happen to be using. Given that so many D70s will
be sold with the 18-70mm kit lens though, I went ahead and did the macro test
on it. It turns out to only be so-so for macro shooting,
with a rather large minimum area of 3.56 x 5.35 inches (90.4 x 136 mm). This
is close enough that you'll be able to shoot typical small objects for eBay,
but if you need really good macro performance, you'll want to check out lenses
like the excellent Micro-Nikkor 105mm f/2.8. (For the record, the Digital
Rebel's 18-55mm kit lens does quite a bit better at macro shooting, with a
very small 2.53 x 1.69 inches (64 x 43 millimeters) minimum subject area.)
- Night Shots: Excellent low-light performance, with bright,
clear images and low image noise even at the darkest light levels. A bright
AF-assist light for accurate focusing in the dark. The D70 performed very
well in the low-light category, capturing clear, bright, usable images down
to the 1/16 foot-candle (0.67 lux) limit of my test, with good color and surprisingly
low noise at all four ISO settings. The Auto white balance setting produced
a slightly warm color balance in a few shots, but color was generally quite
good. (Manual would likely have done better, but I shoot this test with the
Auto setting though, as a test of how well cameras' white balance systems
do at very low light levels. The D70 acquitted itself very well.) The biggest
surprise here though, as how clean the images were with the optional Noise
Reduction processing disabled: There was virtually no difference between the
images with and without the optional Noise Reduction, and in fact the shot
at the 1600 ISO level showed slightly better noise performance with the Noise
Reduction turned off. It's clear though, that the Noise Reduction processing
affected by the menu option is only one form of noise reduction that the camera
is doing, and the primary noise processing isn't accessible to user control.
I say this because there's a loss of fine detail with long exposure times
and high ISO settings that I can confidently say wasn't caused by any camera
shake in my tests. Overall though, an excellent low-light performer.
- Viewfinder Accuracy: An accurate viewfinder, just slightly
tight. The D70 is a digital SLR with a pretty accurate viewfinder. Working
with the 18-70mm lens, I found that the viewfinder showed 95 percent of the
final image area at wide-angle, and about 97 percent at telephoto. (It's not
uncommon to find minor variations in frame coverage with different focal lengths
like this, even on an SLR viewfinder.) Given that I like digital SLRs to be
as close to 100 percent accuracy as possible, the D70 has just a little room
for improvement here, but is actually about the same as most d-SLRs out there
in this respect.
- Optical Distortion: With the 18-70mm lens, A bit more
barrel distortion at wide angle than I'd like, but very low chromatic aberration,
and good sharpness from corner to corner. Like any removable-lens SLR,
the D70's optical distortion will depend entirely on the lens attached. For
this reason, I normally don't discuss lens distortion in my SLR reviews. Given
that so many D70s will be sold with the 18-70mm "kit" lens though,
it's worth taking a look at how that specific lens performs on the camera.
Shooting with that lens, I measured approximately 0.9 percent barrel distortion
at the wide angle end of its range, but only 0.3 percent pincushion distortion.
Both figures are about average for a 3.9x zoom lens, but both are also a bit
higher than I'd like to see. Chromatic aberration was surprisingly low, showing
only very faint coloration on either side of the target lines. (This distortion
is visible as a very slight colored fringe around the objects at the edges
of the field of view on the resolution target.) The images were also quite
sharp from corner to corner. Overall, a very good performance for a zoom lens,
the 18-70mm is a high-quality piece of optics.
- Battery Life: I couldn't measure actual power drain, but battery life is excellent. Not having access to the external power adapter, I couldn't perform my usual direct measurements of the D70's power consumption, but Nikon claims battery life of between 400 and 2000 shots, depending on the lens used and flash usage. My own experience seemed to thoroughly support Nikon's battery life claims: The D70/EN-EL3 combination seemed to offer really excellent battery life, as I could shoot literally hundreds of photos without draining the battery. Despite the long battery life though, I still heartily recommend purchasing a spare battery pack and keeping it charged for long shooting days or for shooting in cold weather (which can greatly reduce battery capacity). Nikon says they will not be offering an external battery pack/vertical grip for the D70.
Conclusion
| Free Photo Lessons | |
|
Related Links
More Information on this camera from...
DCViews:
Nikon D70 review
Reader Comments! --> Visit our discussion forum for the Nikon D70!
Follow Imaging Resource: