Dynamic Range on D70/D70s

On a chart on Imaging Resource, they tested the different dynamic range for cameras. D70(s) were the two on the bottom of the list. I'm worried that the dynamic range is not up to par of other digital SLR's. Has an owner of this camera had problems with blown out highlights and such? I'm thinking of buying the camera but i dont want this to effect my decision too much..

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Originally Posted by bordersandflags

On a chart on Imaging Resource, they tested the different dynamic range for cameras. D70(s) were the two on the bottom of the list. I'm worried that the dynamic range is not up to par of other digital SLR's. Has an owner of this camera had problems with blown out highlights and such? I'm thinking of buying the camera but i dont want this to effect my decision too much..

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Blown highlights are a problem on all digital cameras, the best being the Fuji S3 with a sensor specifically designed to increase the dynamic range. A camera like the D70 has a dynamic range rather similar to a slide film. The problem is that the highlights go from nromal to burnt-out in a more abrupt, harsh way than film and it looks unnatural.

This is one area that camera manufacturers are constantly improving - to my mind it's just as important as noise. About six months ago I saw a chart where the D70 was ahead of competitors like the 20D or the 300D so don't worry about it, it's not that bad.

I recommend you to shoot RAW always, preferably with Nikon Capture. It's much easier to salvage your image when you've got the original 12 bits/Channel coming out of the sensor rather than the 8 bits/channel you have in a JPG.

Charles

I purchased a D70s last year and have been shooting with it on an experimental basis since. I was hired to shoot photos of a local golf course for a CD to be sold over the counter. I chose to use the D70s as a back up to my Mamiya AND because I was shooting early morning into the sun which offered me a chance to see what it would do in more difficult lighting situations.It did beautifully. I saw no washed out highlights. Colors were true. I ended up using several of the D70s's shots on the CD. I prefer shooting in natural light. I have not used the D70s in a studio situation so cannot give an idea of what values work there or not.

So far I have not seen any appreciable diminishing of light values in the situations I have used the camera. Good color saturation. White balance is good right out of the box and is easily adjusted if need be. The only limitation might be the flash. It needs to be adjusted for fill in most situations or you get a lightning strike rather than fill.