D70 Viewfinder

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

I've see countless great images from the D70. I travel on business at
least one week a month with colleagues who have D70s and have used
them with great results. However, I do have some vision problems and
the D70 viewfinder seems to me dim, small and doesn't contain enough
information. I've been using Nikon F (F/F2/F3/F100/F5) for years and
I'm used to bright, easy to use high eyepoint viewfinders - and in the
case of the latter two bodies, information rich viewfinders.

The D2* offerings are just going to be too far out of reach dollars
and cents wise and I'm not interested in putting off my DSLR choice
any longer.

So are there any other past 100% Nikon viewfinder users who can relate
to me their experiences (e.g. likes and dislikes) about the D70
viewfinder.

On the very encouraging side is that I've heard very little about the
lack of reliability with the finder - something that I expected to
hear about a pentamirror implementation as opposed to their film
sibling's pentaprism implementation.

Comments please.

For the record, my current digital is a Canon S60 and with the
exception of shutter lag, I find it to be a very enjoyable camera that
delivers all I could ask for in travel snaps (e.g. 4x6 with generous
cropping allowances). It's great as a supplement to, but lacking as a
replacement camera for, my film gear.

Regards,
Roger

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

I entirely agree with you that the D70 viewfinder is small and dim. I think
the amount of information you can see in the viewfinder is more than
adequate as you would have to take your eye away from the viewfinder anyway
to make most adjustments that are not controlled by the two wheels on the
right side of the camera.

The cameras you list are at the high end of the Nikon food chain. As you
descend down the chain viewfinders deteriorate accordingly. The viewing
screens in the "amateur" Nikon 35mm autofocus lineup are not easily used for
manual focusing.

The small view in the D70 is in part related to the APS sized imaging
sensor. However I have an old Pronea APS slr and the view through that seems
brighter and more magnified, although it is entirely possible that to save
money on production Nikon (Mitsubishi?) engineers adapted that existing
mechanism for the D70.

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

On Fri, 14 Jan 2005 16:16:59 GMT, "bmoag" <apquilts@pacbell.net> wrote:

>The small view in the D70 is in part related to the APS sized imaging
>sensor. However I have an old Pronea APS slr and the view through that seems
>brighter and more magnified, although it is entirely possible that to save
>money on production Nikon (Mitsubishi?) engineers adapted that existing
>mechanism for the D70.

I can't remember if it was in this group or on a website that I so the
info, but I believe that the D70's finder is indeed "borrowed" from one of
their film bodies and basically masked to give the correct framing.

Regards,
Graham Holden (g-holden AT dircon DOT co DOT uk)
--
There are 10 types of people in the world;
those that understand binary and those that don't.

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

"Rodney Myrvaagnes" <rodneym@attglobal.net> wrote in message
newsnqfu0dvnj26k59c7o1bqvb1etg235jnp9@4ax.com...
> >
> My eyesight is ok for a 69-year-old man, so the lack of the handy
> eyepiece adjustment the F5 has is not so bad. I think my wife keeps
> her glasses on.



But the D70 DOES have a viewfinder diopter adjustment... it's a vertical
slider directly to the rigth of the eyepiece.

As a Nikon F2/F3HP/F4 user, I agree that the D70 viewfinder isn't up to the
"pro" bodies' standards, but I get along with it OK. The only thing that
really bugs me as missing information in the viewfinder display (or the
camera's LCD display) is the current ISO setting.

The D70 is a wonderful camera!

Good shooting,
Bob Scott

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

On 17 Jan 2005 06:44:00 -0800, parisphoto_2000@yahoo.com wrote:

>I've used the F/F2/F3HP and the only thing that bothers me about the
>D70 is that it doesn't show 100% of what your lens sees.
>
>But for what the D70 does, and can do, I can put up with that. To me,
>the viewfinder seems bright enough and with more information than I
>really need, but that's only because I'm usually in A mode and need to
>look at only 1-2 items.
>
>The only time I could possibly complain about the viewfinder is when I
>mount an old 500 f/8 to it. But then the D70 turns it into a 750mm so
>again, I can't complain too much.
>Don

I keep getting tempted to pick up a cheap 500mm mirror, other than
viewfinder brightness issues, have you found yours to be any good with
the D70?

These things sell new for between $130 and $90 (Quantaray - Vivitar)
...adding $12 for a T-mount adapter, sounds like a bargain.

Iv'e never used one before, but do you find having no aperture control
and no zoom ability to be a problem?

--
Owamanga!

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

Thanks to all who responded. I had another chance this week to work
with one of my friends who has a D70 and I now understand that some of
the exposure compensation information (flash and shutter) share some
of the viewfinder locations. The information I wanted is there but I
need to learn how to look for information. My original statement that
some of the info I wanted was missing was incorrect. It seems to be a
very information rich finder. With one exception that was noted in the
responses.

I have used the camera with wider aperture lenses and as some have
indicated that certainly offers a brighter view than a f3.5 minimum
aperture. I still miss the 100% finder coverage.

Your comments on, and my recent usage of the D70 support the choice of
the camera for me. Thank you all for your time.

Now I have to find an affordable lens to give me the equivalent
coverage and aperture of my 28mm f2.0 lens for film <g>. My favorite
film series is 28/45/105 which leaves me with ??/35/50 or ??/28/50
lenses for the D70. The 20mm f2.8 is the only affordable UWA for me
right now so that makes a 30/(42|53)/75 kit for available light.
Unfortunately, a bit slow on the short end and a bit short on the
long-end, but still territory to be charted by 1.5x digital lens
makers.

So the digital kit will likely be a D70 with the kit lens with my
existing 35mm f2.0 for street speed I certainly have a lot of other
lenses to choose from as I build the digital kit. The difficulty in
filling in with fast wide angle lenses is a real drawback for me. I
think the best thing is to buy the camera and then fill in the holes
as required. An f2.0 52mm lens (35mm f2.0) will take me a long ways
with any camera.

I haven't heard too much about the 28mm f2.8 AFD lens on the D70 but
that is my ideal "equivalent" focal length for street photography. I
use a 45mm f2.8 AI-P lens on my F100. That would also mean adding a
new 28mm lens for me.

Anyway, fun to think about and certainly an option until the run-away
D2 pricing settles down.

Regards,
Roger

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

parisphoto_2000@yahoo.com wrote:
> Hi there,
>
> No aperture control is no problem, it's an f/8 and I can check the
> exposure right away with the D70. No zoom? Well it's not a zoom lens
> so what the hey?
>
> Don't buy a cheap lens, but that's only my opinion. A good Nikon 500
> f/8 will be cheap enough but better than most 3rd party lenses.
>
> Having no aperture control doesn't bother me in least. I used to shoot
> with a Widelux F7 and I'd focus by setting the f/stop which was never
> a problem.
> Same thing with my old Nikonos I. Blazing down a highway and holding
> it out the open window with 1 hand to shoot some smiling bikers
> cruising by.
>

Don't let Rolland The Alarmist hear you say that ...


--
Frank ess

Forecasting is difficult. Particularly about the Future.
-Deepak Gupta