upgrading a nikon d70

[bella]

hey guys,

i inherited a nikon d70 and an 80-400mm lens from my old man about 7 years ago. the d70 is really showing its age now, particularly in low light, and i'm looking to upgrade it. i've only got small hands (don't laugh, it's a serious limiting factor with cameras) so i'm looking to stick with the newer smaller bodies rather than go for an older second hand pro camera.

can any of the forums nikon users recommend a good replacement? i'm looking for fairly robust build quality and a decent screen. budget will fit the crime, if it's worth the investment.

[Tim the Grey]

D90 seems popular as a 'back up' to guys using D300 or 300S in DX bodies.
I am growing to really like my D700 a LOT. That's FX, but about the same size, and weight, as a 300.

All of those should be pretty similar to the D70 for size, some ups and downs on weight, maybe, but all way better on build spec.

P.S. Why are you worrying about weight of the body? I thought 80-400 was mahoossive??? I'm kind of thinking about one, or the Sigma equivalent. FX is great, but you do have to carry BIG lenses around, compared to DX.

[bella]

it's not the weight of the body, it's the size. long story, i'm the missing link, i don't have totally opposable thumbs (shut up, it's not funny! ) and can't physically get my hand around the big pro cameras. the 80-400 lens is actually pretty small and light, it's a lot lighter than the monster canon 200mm one! i had the sigma 50-500 on my old d100, and the nikon 80-400 is SO much better.

jessops have the d7000 at a pretty good price at the moment, i was thinking that might be the way to go but without any real experience of the newer bodies i don't really know what i'm looking at. i've got a j1 and the quality of the shots from that versus the shoddy efforts from the d70 has kicked me into an upgrade.

[Tim the Grey]

Jake looked hard a D7000, but couldn't live with all the bits he used being buried 3 layers deep in menus...
So he bought a D300S. About the same size, but easier to use, he reckons.
It certainly delivers results.

Talking J1? Park Cameras are selling them for £249, with a £50 cashback! I might have to try one...

[bella]

didn't realise jake was a nikon boy, that's interesting. what sort of features did he find buried in the menus?

i guess all i do with the thing is change the iso and occasionally the focus area thingy from pitlane to grid stuff so having everything lost in menus isn't so much of a problem.

the j1 has saved my bacon in situations where the d70 has been a massive letdown. eg press conferences in unfavourably lit rooms, pitlane and grid when it's seriously dark and gloomy, etc. the autofocus is RIDICULOUSLY quick, and it's built like a tank. i think it's perfect if you're used to a slr but want a camera just to carry around that you can actually contribute towards the quality of the image with rather than just point and hope. i've cropped some photos from it that have been far better than the d70 uncropped. the colours are really good too - something i've had issues with on the d70. you don't get slr quality shots out of it, but it's a lot more fun to use than a p&s. make sure you get the long lens version though - the shorter one is fairly useless, though it depends what you're planning to use it for.

[EastonNeston]

Many people the best upgrade you can get for a Nikon is to buy a Canon.
:-)

[bella]

that was my initial plan, but the budget won't quite stretch far enough for the replacement lens

[EastonNeston]

Send me a pm with details of what you need, I know some good sources of quality used kit

[bella]

i think i know the vague ballpark of what i'd be expecting to fork out because if i changed to canon i'd want a decent lens rather than something that only just does the job - which is the state of affairs with my current setup.

the d7000 is going for £699 at the moment which seems a very fair deal... IF my existing lens was doing the job entirely.

anyone got any other recommendations on the nikon front?

[Stephen H]

Originally Posted by EastonNeston

Many people the best upgrade you can get for a Nikon is to buy a Canon.
:-)

So why are canon cameras so popular with motorsport photographers?

[Tim the Grey]

I'd say it's 50/50 from when I was the ONLY Olympus guy in the room...
Freelancers, and Agencies, and Major Publications seem to fall either way.
I went Nikon because the lads I work with have them. And if it's good enough for Jeff Bloxham... I can have NO excuses!

[bella]

my old man's a nikon boy and thus my first setup was nikon. once you've started and have a pile of stuff that's nikon it's fairly annoying and expensive to change to canon. in my opinion the colours that canon cameras produce without any tinkering are much more pleasing on the eye than a nikon. both nikons i've had have produced such flat, dull photos on auto wb even in great light conditions.

think i might convert over the winter though - canon have some much nicer glass between the SCARY YIKES money and the well-priced zoom lenses.

[Peter Mallett]

FWIW I don't think there's much difference in cameras these days (as far as us amateurs are concerned anyway). Once upon a time you bought a Canon for Shutter priority and a Nikon/Olympus for Aperture priority. Nowadays they all do both. The only thing is density of picture, the 5D f'rinstance is too dense (21mp?) for sports photography but great for landscapes, portrait etc.

[bella]

peter, i'm thinking about changing to canon and going for a second hand 7d instead - how are you getting on with yours? i've seen the photos you posted on the other thread, how do you feel it handles the darker days - if you've had the chance to use it *on* a darker day

[Peter Mallett]

For low light conditions I use a 580EX flash. However with a multitude of ISO settings it is perhaps not an issue, although it very much depends what you stick on the front.

These were taken last year at the Silverstone Classic at dusk.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/4098191...57627167853017

http://www.flickr.com/photos/4098191...7627167853017/

I have had Canon cameras since the 70's so I am a bit of a fan. So I may well be biased.

[MikeHoyer]

I've used Nikons and Canons. They all work by the same principle as far as I'm concerned! When my old D100 died I bought a Canon and lenses simply so I could use the Canon stuff with my work kit. I'd go with whatever makes sense budget wise - the 7D seems like a nice camera though, a lot of pros use them now.

[bella]

Originally Posted by Peter Mallett

For low light conditions I use a 580EX flash. However with a multitude of ISO settings it is perhaps not an issue, although it very much depends what you stick on the front.

thanks, peter. those shots are better quality than the ones i'm getting from overcast days on iso 400. i'm not a pixel peeper but i do like to be able to see a difference between my point and shoot and a dslr...

the canon thing could be a case of the grass being greener, but the autofocus really decides it for me. i got some gorgeous shots from the wsr finale at barcelona the other week where it and the light levels weren't an issue.

[Peter Mallett]

Originally Posted by bella

the canon thing could be a case of the grass being greener, but the autofocus really decides it for me. i got some gorgeous shots from the wsr finale at barcelona the other week where it and the light levels weren't an issue.

Not sure I understand that. Do you mean that the autofocus on your Nikon does it for you or you used a Canon at the WSR and got some great pics?

[bella]

sorry, i can't brain on mondays i meant that the slow autofocus on the nikon setup i have decides that i'd like to change, if that makes sense. when i took photos where the autofocus wasn't required to keep up with anything and it was a nice sunny day it was fine. the fact that friends with almost identical canon setups don't have the autofocus issues i do suggests it's the nikon that's pants :/

[Peter Mallett]

Oh I see. Although using manual is much more fun.

But another thing is the processing time. I use a 16gb high speed CF card; bloody expensive but I don't get that shutter stutter on fast multi-exposure.

All in all I really like my 7D but often I use the 50D for static shots. Again, it's what I stick on the front that makes the difference.

[bella]

oh yes, i used to use manual all the time on the sigma, but for some reason it's totally ineffective on the nikon lens. probably the user needs new glass

i'm not worried about the lens to go on the end of it - the f2.8 70-200 has been the motivating factor in considering a canon at any point to be honest. my only worry with looking at a second hand camera is that it'll be a step backwards, but if the 7d is still very popular and the results aren't dated then it seems sensible.

[bella]

dragging this one up from the depths of last year...

i can't really justify swapping to canon at this stage, so it's back to nikon.

with that in mind, does anyone have any recommendations for second hand toy, er, camera shops that might be able to unite me with a d7000 for a reasonable price? lce are slightly high on their prices currently, and i'm off to check out the local places tomorrow but they're not renowned for their rational pricing to say the least...

[EastonNeston]

mpbphotographic have a very good reputation for supplying used kit, also theres a company in Scotland, Ffordes I think, that seem to be pretty good

[MikeHoyer]

Originally Posted by bella

dragging this one up from the depths of last year...

i can't really justify swapping to canon at this stage, so it's back to nikon.

with that in mind, does anyone have any recommendations for second hand toy, er, camera shops that might be able to unite me with a d7000 for a reasonable price? lce are slightly high on their prices currently, and i'm off to check out the local places tomorrow but they're not renowned for their rational pricing to say the least...

Fixation have a D7000 for £390. I don't know if that's good!

[gary396]

Bella - a D7000 (new, body-only) sells for about £642 (e.g. on Amazon at the moment) but there is currently a Nikon cashback deal on whereby you get £100 back on that camera. Don't know if that suits your budget?

You don't actualy get the cash back in your hand - get a credit card with a £100 to spend on whatever you want.

D7000 prices might fall further given that the D7100 has just come out (even though the D7000 will continue alongside it).