New lens, or new body?

[karlman01]

I've got a Nikon D70, first run, with an 18-70 f3.5-6.5 and 70-300 f3.5-6.5.

I do weddings and portraits and travel photography.

I am really frustrated with the D70's grain quality and lack of depth of field.

I am looking to upgrade.

So, Would I be better off with a new lens, like an 18-55 f2.8
or a D90, with my old lenses?

Thanks!

[Axle]

I would go with a new body, if that's what's frustrating you. Maybe look at a D300 or something, that's what I went to after a D70s.

If you don't have that kind of money. Maybe the 50 1.8 (it's really cheap but a great lens!)

[Photo-John]

I'm confused by "lack of depth of field." Can you be more specific? Depth-of-field is more of a lens issue than a camera issue. In fact, your D70 will have more depth-of-field than a full frame camera because of the digital crop factor. Is it shallower depth-of-field that you want?

The grain or noise problem I understand. But again, better lenses might be the answer. You've got two consumer lenses with slow, variable apertures. A fast aperture pro lens is almost always a better long-term investment than a new camera. You'll be able to use a pro lens with future cameras and a lens with a fixed f/2.8 or faster aperture will also help you with the noise by allowing you to shoot at lower ISO settings in low light. The same thing goes for Nikon VR lenses. Image stabilization (unless you already have VR Lenses) helps improve image quality by allowing you to shoot at lower ISO settings than you would be able to without image stabilization.

I understand the desire for a new camera body. I have the same desire and give in to it more often than I should. A new camera body will definitely help you minimize noise. Nikon has come a long way since the D70. The D90 has beautiful image quality and is really impressive at high ISO settings.

Before you buy anything I think we should help you sort out what your real needs are. I'm also concerned about the depth-of-field issue since I don't think it has anything to do with your camera. I'd like to better understand what you're unhappy with in case it's a misunderstanding of some sort. If you have unrealistic expectations, you're not going to solve the problem with any new equipment.

Give us some more details and maybe post a couple of sample images that show us why you're unhappy with your D70. I know we can help you spend your money