Manual Control Options
The Nikon D70 has a comprehensive amount of controls available for the user. The manual focus, ISO, white balance, exposure, metering, shutter speed, and aperture are all accessed through external buttons or dials for easy adjusting during shooting.
Focus
Auto (7.5)
The focus of the Nikon D70 is controlled by the focus selector, which can be set to either auto or manual focus. Within auto focus there are two options: AF-S (single-servo autofocus) and AF-C (continuous-servo autofocus). In AF-S mode, pressing the shutter button halfway will lock the subject in focus. If the subject was moving at the time the button was pressed, the autofocus system uses predictive focus tracking to predict where the subject will go and locks the focus into place when the subject stops moving. In AF-C mode the camera will use predictive focus tracking continuously when the shutter button is halfway down, regardless of the subject’s status.
The AF-area mode on the Nikon D70 is selected in the custom setting section within the menu. The three modes are single area, dynamic area, and closest subject. In single area, the focus area is determined manually by the user, and the digital camera focuses on the subject within that selected area. In dynamic area, the user also determines the focus area, but the camera uses information from many points to determine the focus. This is useful if your subject is moving around a lot, because the camera has enough information to determine focus in different spots. In closest subject mode, the subject closest to the camera is automatically the object of the camera’s focus. This is good for subjects that are moving really fast.
Manual (9.0)
The Nikon D70’s kit lens has a nice focus ring that allows you to easily focus your photograph manually if you are not getting the desired effect with the digital camera’s auto focus. To set manual focus, you simply switch the focus selector from AF to M. Be careful, because images can be taken at any time in this mode, even when the image is out of focus. The focusing ring on the Nikon D70 kit lens is much easier to maneuver than the one on the Canon EOS Digital Rebel kit lens. The Canon doesn’t have a designated focusing ring, but allows you to adjust the lens at the tip. This is a bit awkward and definitely not as accurate.
Metering (7.0)
The Nikon D70 offers three metering modes: 3D color matrix/color matrix, center-weighted, and spot metering. They can be accessed in manual, program, aperture priority, and shutter priority modes by pressing the metering mode button and rotating the command dial. 3D color matrix metering evaluates exposure based on information from multiple areas of the frame. It's ideal for situations where there are extreme light and dark areas within an image that need to be balanced. Center-weighted metering evaluates the entire frame, but weights the exposure to favor the center of the image within the 8mm reference circle in the viewfinder. This mode is best suited for portraits, or shots where the subject is positioned in the middle of the image. When spot metering mode is active, the Nikon D70 meters off a 2.3mm circle (1% of frame) within the current focus area. This allows you to meter off a subject that is close to you, even if the background is of a differing exposure. These three modes are pretty comprehensive, giving the user three equally useful modes to choose from. I was very pleased to see that you can set the meter mode manually, unlike the Canon EOS Digital Rebel.
Exposure (8.5)
If the metering on a specific situation is not producing an accurate exposure, the Nikon D70 gives you the option of adjusting the exposure of the image (when in manual, program, aperture priority, or shutter speed priority modes only). By pressing the exposure compensation button and rotating the main command dial, you can adjust the exposure in 1/3 increments ranging from -5 to +5 EV. This is an impressive range, especially when compared to most point-and-shoot digital cameras that give a range of -2 to +2 EV.
White Balance (8.0)
White Balance adjusts the digital camera’s settings to compensate for unnatural color casts caused by different lighting temperatures. The Nikon D70 allows you to choose from auto, incandescent, fluorescent, direct sunlight, flash, cloudy, shade, and preset white balance modes. Nikon recommends the automatic white balance for most sources, and that the previous modes should be used when the automatic white balance doesn’t produce desired results. For many people, the automatic white balance would probably suffice, but if you are serious about your photographs I would suggest taking matters into your own hands. The preset white balance mode can be set from an existing image stored on your card or it can be set manually. If you go into the preset white balance section of the menu, hold a true white or gray object in front of the lens and press the shutter. The white balance will be set for your current lighting situation. The white balance options on higher-end cameras are usually pretty comprehensive. This is demonstrated with the Nikon D70 and the Canon EOS Digital Rebel, which have comparable settings.
The Nikon D70 also gives you the opportunity to fine-tune your white balance once you have chosen a mode. If you hold down the white balance button while in shooting mode and rotate the sub-command dial, adjustments from -3 to +3 can be made.
ISO (7.5)
The Nikon D70 offers ten different ISO settings beginning at 200 and ascending incrementally up to 1600 (200, 250, 320, 400, 500, 640, 800, 1000, 1250, 1600). The user also has the option of selecting auto ISO within the custom setting section of the menu. (ISO speed represents sensitivity to light, much like film speed in the olden days!) At higher ISO speeds, there is more sensitivity to light, which allows the user to use smaller aperture settings and higher shutter speeds. One major drawback to higher ISO speeds is the increased appearance of noise. Similar to lower film speeds producing less grain, lower ISO speeds will give less noise. Most digital cameras, from lower-end point-and-shoots on up, offer ISO settings of 100 and even lower. The Canon EOS Digital Rebel offers 100, 200, 400, 800, and 1600 ISO ratings, which is a good range, giving the user better flexibility with the lower ISO level. That’s why I was very surprised to see that the Nikon D70 doesn’t offer an ISO speed lower than 200! I would think it would be more important to include a wide range of ISOs as opposed to so many 'extra' options in the middle of the range.
Shutter Speed (9.0)
The Nikon D70 has a combined mechanical and CCD electronic shutter. The shutter speed ranges from 30 seconds to 1/8000 of a second in 1/3 or 1/2 EV increments. It also has a bulb option and remote control capabilities, although the remote is sold separately. With a shutter speed of 1/8000, the Nikon D70 allows the user to capture lightning-fast images, more so than the Canon EOS Digital Rebel which offers a highest speed of 1/4000. With the bulb option and 30 second exposure ability, the user has the flexibility to be creative and explore. I think these are important options to give the user, especially on a camera meant to appeal to a broad audience.
Aperture (8.5)
The Nikon D70 kit lens gives you an aperture of f/3.5-f/22 at 18mm and f/4.5-f/22 at 70mm. If you plan on doing a lot of low-light shots with ambient light, I'd suggest a lens that allows you to stop down a bit more, but the kit lens is sufficient for a variety of occasions. To gain the ability to stop down, I would suggest checking out some of Nikon’s other lenses, such as the Nikkor 10.5mm f/2.8G ED AF DX Fisheye or the Nikkor 17-55mm f/2.8G IF-ED AF-S DX Zoom.
