Starting out - is D70 ok?

Hi -

I am after some general advise.

I have a Nikon D70 and a 18-70mm Lens.

I was going to buy a D300, Ikelite Housing and 2 x DS-125 and a 60mm Nikon Macro.

I am now thinking maybe I should use the D70 I have....

What should I do and why? Maybe the D70, Ikelite Housing and 2 x DS-125 and a 60mm Nikon Macro will do... I can save over 2K?

Cheers

Hi -

 

I am after some general advise.

I have a Nikon D70 and a 18-70mm Lens.

 

I was going to buy a D300, Ikelite Housing and 2 x DS-125 and a 60mm Nikon Macro.

 

I am now thinking maybe I should use the D70 I have....

 

What should I do and why? Maybe the D70, Ikelite Housing and 2 x DS-125 and a 60mm Nikon Macro will do... I can save over 2K?

 

Cheers

Loaded question. I recommend you tell the group a lot more of why you think what you are thinking. & Why you consider what you are considering. Then you will get massive amount of feedback!

Describe as much as you want to, everyone here love to read and love to response, but we need lots of info before say anything :-)

For example, I started w/ a D70s in Iketlite and I am shooting a D80 in Iketlite with a pair of DS125. I have 60mm and others. But I also would love to have a SeaTool housing and Inon Z240 strobes. Everyone has different experience and preference. Tell the group more, you wouldn't be disappointed !

I was going to buy a D300, Ikelite Housing and 2 x DS-125 and a 60mm Nikon Macro.

 

I am now thinking maybe I should use the D70 I have....

 

What should I do and why? Maybe the D70, Ikelite Housing and 2 x DS-125 and a 60mm Nikon Macro will do... I can save over 2K?

I think you need to sit down and think about your experience, your goals and what you'd like to accomplish.

You have yourself a fine camera, maybe a bit dated comparing it to what is currently available. The autofocus on the D300 is much better than the D70, the ability to shoot at high ISO without a lot of noise is much better than the D70, there is no question that the D300 is superior to the D70 in these areas. But both are capable of taking good underwater images. If it were me personally, and my budget was limited, I would spend the $$$ on acquiring good glass. Then, when you've outgrown the D70, you would still have the glass and could use it on the D300. If, OTOH, your budget is unlimited, then by all means go for it. Or perhaps you're a professional and need the latest and greatest, that would also be reason to upgrade.

Hope I've given you some things to think about. In the end, of course, the decision is yours.

Ellen

Loaded question. I recommend you tell the group a lot more of why you think what you are thinking. & Why you consider what you are considering. Then you will get massive amount of feedback!

Describe as much as you want to, everyone here love to read and love to response, but we need lots of info before say anything :-)

 

For example, I started w/ a D70s in Iketlite and I am shooting a D80 in Iketlite with a pair of DS125. I have 60mm and others. But I also would love to have a SeaTool housing and Inon Z240 strobes. Everyone has different experience and preference. Tell the group more, you wouldn't be disappointed !

Sure - I am starting out and I was going to go all out and get the D300... Now I have questions like;

= Should I get the D70 and 2 DS-125 (instead of D300 and 1 x DS-125)

= What is the better feature of D300 over the D70 - apart from res?

= Will I be sorry if I don't get D300?

= Should I bother with the 18-70mm and 6" port?

= Can i get great shots with 1 x DS-125? Shadows?

Happy to spend, as long as it is worth spending...

Thanks

Ellen has a great response there and well worth reading a couple of times.

The D70 is a good camera - don't be fooled my the meagpixel thing a good shot with a D70 will knock the nuts off a mediocre D300 shot any day of the week.

The critical part is behind the viewfinder - if you gave Alex Mustard a box brownie in an EWA bag he would take a better picture in the bathtub than I could on some fancy dive site.

The D70 compared to others does suffer from noise - it's not bad at ISO200 but as you go any further the noise rises a lot (OK if you convert to black and white later though!).

If it were me I would think about looking for a second hand housing for the D70 - Ikelite D70 housings must be available at a very reasonable cost - maybe post a 'wanted' in the classifieds here and see what comes out of the woodwork?

Personally I would not bother with the 18-70 - I had this lens with my D70 and in the water it is not a lot of fun - I sold the port in the end as it was gathering dust.

And yes you can get great shots with a single DS125 - if you end up with a 10mm wide angle you will struggle to light it but a single flash will work fine for macro and a lot of not quite so wide shots.

Shadows are not all bad - they can add depth to a shot that you can't achieve with 'even' lighting.

Paul C

My opinion is that I wont buy today the D70, Its a good camera and I had if for few years but today is too much old in digital photography years.

The D300 is great camera (I heard) but it quit expensive this days and you can't find a second hand camera & housing.

So the solution is a third option in the middle (why not to make thinks harder if I can? ) I bought a second hand D200, its not as good and new as the D300 but its still few levels above the D70, and a second hand housing (that for me didn't cost almost at all, since I sold the D70's housing in very close price)

The price different between second hand D70 and D200 its not so big so for me its look like a better option, but as people here already told it's very depends on your needs.

Absolutely right Arnon - I wouldn't encourage anyone to go and seek a D70, right now when there are D200's being unloaded.

BUT in this case the questioner has a D70 - and I am guessing but you might pick up an Ike D70 housing for a couple of hundred ?

Quite a low entry price for what can be achieved by it.

Paul C

Paul, Its nice to argue with someone that agree with you

It's right what you said but:

The camera body is a relative small part of the entire system (housing, strobe, arms, ports, lens) and here is all the difference between D70 vs D200 total systems, all the others items are very close in price (housing) or even equal (All the others items)

I also had the D70 but decided to upgrade to D200 since the housing replacement from Ike's D70 to D200 housing cost me only ~200$ and that was most because I had the non TTL early housing model, if I had the TTL the difference was even smaller.

So if you sell the D70 and buy second hand D200 the difference in price relative to all the expense is quit small and well deserve it in my opinion but of course its depend on more privets issues and so.

twice in a week i feel bad about owning my D70....

i hate this site! hahahaha

I think the used D200 is a good idea.

I would budget on the 2 DS125 and the body and some nice lenses rather than go straight to the D300 and 1 DS125 myself.

Confused now?

You could well be right Arnon. It's down to the pure math I guess.

Just seems to me that the D70 is not that hideous that someone should be scared to bring it out in polite company!

After all Mike there has published a lot of happy snaps from his - even if he seems a bit distressed now - wasn't there even a Nat Geo cover at some point as well Mike?

The D300 is nice - I have one, but unless you need the hi ISO performance in the water (if you do - buy a Canon) then it is not that much better than the D200.

Paul C

"...a good shot with a D70 will knock the nuts off a mediocre D300 shot any day of the week."

amen

I have never owned a D70, but an issue I have seen that frustrated the hell out of other photographers is the smaller cache on the D70 and thus the slower rate of loading pictures to a card, to the extent that one can really lose the shot during an action situation, while waiting for images to load. Image quality is great, but I would still go for a D200 or D300. A little more up front, greater satisfaction and less frustration down the road.

I have both cameras. The D70 is a fine little camera and is capable of taking award winning shots in the right hands. The D300 is an outstanding camera that will empower you, but is quite capable of producing garbage in the wrong hands.

If you are new to underwater photography then you're going to find that you have a lot too learn and the D70 will provide plenty of room to grow with. So, I'd recommend you look for a used housing and save yourself a couple grand. Take that money and buy a dome port and tokina fisheye as well. Buy the time you outgrow such a system, you may find that the D400 has hit the market.

If you can't find a used housing for your D70, then it gets a little more complex. If you're buying all new, the price of the camera becomes less significant. If your system is going to cost 10K by the time your done, then what's another $1800?

Cheers,

Mike

Sure - I am starting out and I was going to go all out and get the D300... Now I have questions like;

 

= Should I get the D70 and 2 DS-125 (instead of D300 and 1 x DS-125)

= What is the better feature of D300 over the D70 - apart from res?

= Will I be sorry if I don't get D300?

= Should I bother with the 18-70mm and 6" port?

= Can i get great shots with 1 x DS-125? Shadows?

 

Happy to spend, as long as it is worth spending...

 

Thanks

Don't you love this site now ...

= Should I get the D70 and 2 DS-125 (instead of D300 and 1 x DS-125)

>> I would not, I like new equipment, that's my preference !

= What is the better feature of D300 over the D70 - apart from res?

>> A lot ! Foucs area, ISO noise, syn speed, prettier pictures ;-)

= Will I be sorry if I don't get D300?

>> You will if you like new equipment like me :-) Consider there are a good number of housing already available for D300, I would give up some other $ from other life style and get D300 & SeaTool :-) Ikelite is plastic, plastic port, they can be scratch no matter how careful you are.

= Should I bother with the 18-70mm and 6" port?

>> 18-70 is not a very good lense to begin with, I wouldn't border to take it down (I did a few times with mine but don't really care). You really only need 2 lenses to start with, a 60mm and the Tokina 10-17mm or Nikkor 10.5 if you have to shoot Nikkor lenses. That's also my preference too :-) But like every one said, you can give anything to Alex Mustard and his worst shot would still be better then my best one.

= Can i get great shots with 1 x DS-125? Shadows?

I will get Inon 240 instead :-) :-) even I shoot a pair of DS-125. Sure start w/ 1 strobe and get a better camera and lenses first is the right path. I did it that way but stuck w/ DS125 instead of a smaller lighter equally powerful Inon. When you carry a pair of DS-125, you really feel the weight and compare with a pair of Inon Z240, it's feels like 1/3 lighter.

Happy to spend, as long as it is worth spending...

 

Thanks

If you think you are just going to dabble and do this occasionally stick with the D70. If you are like some of us (I include myself) and you plan to, or are the type that immerses himself, in something like this with a passion, go for the best you can afford, and you will never second guess yourself.

OK - S0 D300 it is with Macro Flat port for the Nikon 60mm Lens....

Now - I had a look at the Macro 60mm Lens yesterday - Looks like it is OK for the ocasional wide angle (2-3m wide) snap? Focus was fine...

Thoughts?

OK - S0 D300 it is with Macro Flat port for the Nikon 60mm Lens....

 

Now - I had a look at the Macro 60mm Lens yesterday - Looks like it is OK for the ocasional wide angle (2-3m wide) snap? Focus was fine...

 

Thoughts?

The 60mm is a work horse, u can take a lot of pictures with it. Depends where you dive most, warm water or cold. 60mm get use a lot for different reason. It is not however a widge angle in any respect. You could take a pictures w/ the 60mm from 3 ft away in clean water but that's not wide. Anything from tiny nudibranch to fish head, 60mm can do ! Focus is not as fast as the 105VR but it's more often use then the 105VR for the most part. Unless you are always looking for just nudibranch, pygmy seahorse, then 105VR might be more fun. Well, I guess I just say what to buy next for macro :-)

this mola mola was huge, way bigger than me...

this is about as wide as you'll get with a 60mm lens

OK - So I can start with just the flat Port and 60mm - and a 1 x DS-125 - and D

What should I make my second port and lens or start with above....

What should I make my second port and lens or start with above....

probably some wide angle lens.

Check the boards, there are more then one thread regarding what WA lens to buy.

For WA you'll need a dome port.