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Nikon D70 outfit comes with an inferior quality lens?

Forum Digital Camera : Digital SLR - Nikon D70 outfit comes with an inferior quality lens?

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

Is it just me or is the 18-70mm zoom lens that comes with the Nikon D70 kit
really garbage? I mean when I shoot with it wide open, it is noticeably
fuzzy, darker in the corners and distorted. This is particularly evident
when taking pictures of buildings at night where those pinpoints of light
wind up being luminous blobs in the picture. Does anyone else share this
experience or did Nikon do it again and produce a garbage product (like
their Coolpix 5000 camera that I once owned)

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

Anthony Maw wrote:
> Is it just me or is the 18-70mm zoom lens that comes with the Nikon
> D70 kit really garbage? I mean when I shoot with it wide open, it is
> noticeably fuzzy, darker in the corners and distorted. This is
> particularly evident when taking pictures of buildings at night where
> those pinpoints of light wind up being luminous blobs in the picture.
> Does anyone else share this experience or did Nikon do it again and
> produce a garbage product (like their Coolpix 5000 camera that I once
> owned)

I used to have a client who bemoaned his misfortune: every time he had
contact with any kind of community peace officer he ended up restrained,
in pain, and under arrest. He couldn't understand why no one else
experienced this. He reckoned it was bad luck, or they all had it in for
him.

--
Frank ess

Reply to Anonymous

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

Anthony Maw wrote:
> Is it just me or is the 18-70mm zoom lens that comes with the Nikon
D70 kit
> really garbage? I mean when I shoot with it wide open, it is
noticeably
> fuzzy, darker in the corners and distorted. This is particularly
evident
> when taking pictures of buildings at night where those pinpoints of
light
> wind up being luminous blobs in the picture. Does anyone else share
this
> experience or did Nikon do it again and produce a garbage product
(like
> their Coolpix 5000 camera that I once owned)

It would help if you posted some pics with the exposure info.
- Siddhartha

Reply to Anonymous

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

On Sat, 15 Jan 2005 04:51:51 GMT, in rec.photo.digital.slr-systems "Anthony
Maw" <anthony@maw.bc.ca> wrote:

>Is it just me or is the 18-70mm zoom lens that comes with the Nikon D70 kit
>really garbage? I mean when I shoot with it wide open, it is noticeably
>fuzzy, darker in the corners and distorted. This is particularly evident
>when taking pictures of buildings at night where those pinpoints of light
>wind up being luminous blobs in the picture.

If you look at the histogram of these shots are those luminous blobs blown
out highlights? If so, then it's not the lens but an incorrect exposure.
----------
Ed Ruf Lifetime AMA# 344007 (Usenet@EdwardG.Ruf.com)
See images taken with my CP-990/5700 & D70 at
http://edwardgruf.com/Digital_Phot [...] index.html

Reply to Anonymous

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

Frank ess commented courteously ...

> I used to have a client who bemoaned his misfortune:
> every time he had contact with any kind of community
> peace officer he ended up restrained, in pain, and
> under arrest. He couldn't understand why no one else
> experienced this. He reckoned it was bad luck, or
> they all had it in for him.

Huh? What's that supposed to mean? You're a shyster as
well as a car aficionado, photographer, judger of human
beings, and spreader of viruses? Not bad for a single
person!

--
ATM, aka Jerry

Reply to Anonymous

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

"Anthony Maw" <anthony@maw.bc.ca> wrote in message
news:Hj1Gd.82159$Xk.24905@pd7tw3no...
> Is it just me or is the 18-70mm zoom lens that comes with the Nikon D70
> kit really garbage? I mean when I shoot with it wide open, it is
> noticeably fuzzy, darker in the corners and distorted. This is
> particularly evident when taking pictures of buildings at night where
> those pinpoints of light wind up being luminous blobs in the picture.
> Does anyone else share this experience or did Nikon do it again and
> produce a garbage product (like their Coolpix 5000 camera that I once
> owned)

Actually, the consensus has been the 18-70mm "kit" lens packaged with the
D70 is a considerable bargain: a fairly sharp, wide-range zoom lens for
only $300 that puts other "kit" lenses to shame. It's not perfect - you can
buy prime lenses or *much* more expensive zooms that will put it in the
dust, particularly WRT distortion at some "zoom" levels - but it's a great
starter lens.

It has been noted that shooting wide open does produce mild vignetting
("fuzzy, darker in the corners" ), but stopping down just a bit gets rid of
that entirely (or there's a "de-vignetting" tool in Nikon Capture and many
other RAW processors).

- John

Reply to john

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

"Anthony Maw" <anthony@maw.bc.ca> wrote in message
news:Hj1Gd.82159$Xk.24905@pd7tw3no...
> Is it just me or is the 18-70mm zoom lens that comes with the Nikon D70
kit
> really garbage? I mean when I shoot with it wide open, it is noticeably
> fuzzy, darker in the corners and distorted.

It is not when you shoot wide open so much as when you shoot at the widest
angle, although shooting stopped down at the widest angle is the worst case.
Vignetting is to be expected in very wide angle lenses, and the 18mm setting
on this lens is no exception.

There are a couple things you can do about it:

1) Shoot with an extremely wide angle lens that has a larger image circle
than the DX series. Of course, all you are doing is cropping out the
vignetting in camera, along with a good portion of your image.

2) Fix the problem in post-processing. Most good photo software allows
correction of vignetting.

3) Don't use filters at the widest angles. Lens filters are probably the
single most common cause of vignetting. Polarizing filters are the worst.
Don't use the hood at wide angles, either. Although the hood has cut-outs to
help prevent vignetting at the widest angles, it still has a moderate
effect. It also can create a severe shadow at the bottom of the frame.
Obviously, thin filters will cause less vignetting than thick ones. Using
two or more filters at once practically guarantees some vignetting.

4) You should be able to see vignetting in the viewfinder. Use the stop down
preview button to check for it before shooting. Also use the LCD review to
see if vignetting shows up in the picture, then adjust accordingly (zoom in
slightly, remove filters and hood, larger aperture, etc.) and shoot again.

Reply to Anonymous

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

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