Help from Nikon Users pretty please

FakeSnake · 11 Aug 2006 at 20:54

Right chaps/chapesses
My D70 has started to annoy me. It has developed a couple of faults

The top LCD is failing, and parts of the display are no longer visible. The sensor has a fault in so much as it has a distinctive hotspot and a line on any image produced.
What would be my best option?
I am considering upgrading to the D200, which would be a worthy and useful upgrade. I really want the D2x, but cannot justify the expense.
Anyone have experience with Nikon repairs?
Any idea of an LCD replacement, and sensor replacement?

I cannot change to Canon, much as I would consider it, because I have invested quite heavily in some good Nikon lenses.

bigredshark · 11 Aug 2006 at 20:57

D200 is a great upgrade, I did it and it's in a different league, however the new D80 is cheaper and has the same features (menu, AF system, everything) but lower standard build quality, slower fps and takes SD cards instead. I'd try it out when it turns up in the shops or jsut go for a D200 if you can't wait, it's a brilliant camera!

If you have serious nikon glass, you will need the battery grip to balence it out. So add £200 for battery grip and 2nd battery. That said, a battery grip is also available for the D80(or will be)

FakeSnake · 11 Aug 2006 at 21:10

bigredshark said:
D200 is a great upgrade, I did it and it's in a different league, however the new D80 is cheaper and has the same features (menu, AF system, everything) but lower standard build quality, slower fps and takes SD cards instead. I'd try it out when it turns up in the shops or jsut go for a D200 if you can't wait, it's a brilliant camera!

If you have serious nikon glass, you will need the battery grip to balence it out. So add £200 for battery grip and 2nd battery. That said, a battery grip is also available for the D80(or will be)

Well the only large glass is the 80-400vr, which I guess is quite heavy. Not sure I can wait really.. I am too impulsive

bigredshark · 11 Aug 2006 at 21:12

FakeSnake said:
Well the only large glass is the 80-400vr, which I guess is quite heavy. Not sure I can wait really.. I am too impulsive

Me too, I tried a D200 in the shop out of curiosity and bought it there and then. What glass do you have? The 80-400VR may benefit a bit as i believe the AF motor is beefed up a little, though all my glass is AF-S now

FakeSnake · 11 Aug 2006 at 21:35

bigredshark said:
Me too, I tried a D200 in the shop out of curiosity and bought it there and then. What glass do you have? The 80-400VR may benefit a bit as i believe the AF motor is beefed up a little, though all my glass is AF-S now

I wish the 80-400 was af-s, cant have everything I guess

My glass at the mo is..
17-35 Sigma
28-288 Nikon, walkabout lens (I love it)
28-80 kit lens (never used!)
80-400vr, I really love it!

I also have an sb-800 flash.

I dont want the D80, as I have too much CF and no SD, so would have to upgrade all my memory

bigredshark · 11 Aug 2006 at 21:40

FakeSnake said:
I wish the 80-400 was af-s, cant have everything I guess
My glass at the mo is..
17-35 Sigma
28-288 Nikon, walkabout lens (I love it)
28-80 kit lens (never used!)
80-400vr, I really love it!

I also have an sb-800 flash.

I dont want the D80, as I have too much CF and no SD, so would have to upgrade all my memory

D200 is really your only bet then, only word of warning is the slower flash sync compared to the D70, I didn't notice but I'm not a big user of flash anyway.

the 80-400 suffers from being among the first VR lenses, I think it's due for an upgrade to AF-S sometime soon really as the 70-300 VR just released has AF-S. That said, AF-S doesn't necessarily mean faster AF, the 80-400 is geared to be slow with the Af motor, nikon could have made it faster. The most reasonable explanation is that it has some problems because of the huge zoom range that makes this necessary

Sic · 12 Aug 2006 at 16:34

check the dpreview of the D200. made for some interesting reading, and swayed me away from getting it. sounds like you just got a dodgy D70 there. maybe get your sensor cleaned? in what way's your LCD "failing"?

bigredshark · 12 Aug 2006 at 19:20

Sic said:
check the dpreview of the D200. made for some interesting reading, and swayed me away from getting it. sounds like you just got a dodgy D70 there. maybe get your sensor cleaned? in what way's your LCD "failing"?

Can I ask what put you off from the review? I just had a glance out of interest and couldn't see anything obvious (except noise maybe), personally I've never looked back after getting it...

FakeSnake · 13 Aug 2006 at 00:16

The LCD now only displays 2/3rds of it, no visible damage, so I guess it would need replacing.
I dont thing its a sensor cleaning issue, it looks like hot pixels to be honest.

ANYWAY, the d70 will now be relegated to a spare body, as I indulged myself this morning, and purchased a D200 body

Only had a play for about 30 mins, but its fantastic, so much of an improvement in every way to the D70.

Sic · 13 Aug 2006 at 10:44

bigredshark said:
Can I ask what put you off from the review? I just had a glance out of interest and couldn't see anything obvious (except noise maybe), personally I've never looked back after getting it...

sure, it's the sharpness comparison with the 5D. i know you can bump the sharpness up, but even when he'd done that, it wasn't as sharp as the 5D.

bigredshark · 13 Aug 2006 at 11:42

Sic said:
sure, it's the sharpness comparison with the 5D. i know you can bump the sharpness up, but even when he'd done that, it wasn't as sharp as the 5D.

Fair enough, it is a big failing of the D200 that the sharpening is set too low my default, it needs adjusting up manually. Personally I was never going to get a canon or a full frame so it was something of a lack of choice.

I'm surprised the sharpness took you to the 5D though, I imagined the 5D would remain exclusively for those you wanted full frame, did you reject the 20/30D as well or were you specifically looking for full frame?

barnettgs · 13 Aug 2006 at 12:17

FakeSnake said:
ANYWAY, the d70 will now be relegated to a spare body, as I indulged myself this morning, and purchased a D200 body
Only had a play for about 30 mins, but its fantastic, so much of an improvement in every way to the D70.

Nice, I have D70s and is AF faster on your lenses with D200?

bigredshark · 13 Aug 2006 at 12:22

barnettgs said:
Nice, I have D70s and is AF faster on your lenses with D200?

Depends, the AF module (CAM1000) is a little better and may improve focussing, I also believe the AF motor is beefed up a little which will make non AF-S lenses quicker to focus.

So, you probably wouldn't notice a difference on the 18-70 AF-S, you might notice a bit of a difference on the (imfamously slow to focus) 80-400 VR, most difference would probably be seen on something like a non AF-S 24-85.

End conclusion, don't upgrade for the AF speed, buy AF-S lenses instead, they'll last beyond the life of the body anyway

hoodmeister · 13 Aug 2006 at 12:32

bigredshark said:
End conclusion, don't upgrade for the AF speed, buy AF-S lenses instead, they'll last beyond the life of the body anyway

AF-S lenses are not inherently faster than screw type lenses! Many screw type lenses focus extremely quickly ~ jamming AF-S into something like the 80-400 wouldn't make a jot of difference, it needs to focus slowly!

bigredshark · 13 Aug 2006 at 12:38

hoodmeister said:
AF-S lenses are not inherently faster than screw type lenses! Many screw type lenses focus extremely quickly ~ jamming AF-S into something like the 80-400 wouldn't make a jot of difference, it needs to focus slowly!

No, but by design most AF-S lenses are faster. The 80-400 *may* need to focus slowly, is one explanation offered why nikon didn't give it AF-S (another being it just wouldn't fit). In general AF-S lenses do focus faster (not because they're AF-S, just because they're designed that way). Screw type lenses are also dependent on the camera, so with a lower end consumer camera, AF-S obviously has an advantage.

hoodmeister · 13 Aug 2006 at 12:44

Indeed. Although the AF system doesn't make that much of a difference to AF speed - I was shooting a decrepid F801 the other day, and found AF speed to be no different to my D70.

edit : I'm not saying you're wrong per se about anything btw - it's just that a lot of people seem to think that you need all AF-S lenses for decent paced AF, which simply isn't the case

bigredshark · 13 Aug 2006 at 13:23

hoodmeister said:
Indeed. Although the AF system doesn't make that much of a difference to AF speed - I was shooting a decrepid F801 the other day, and found AF speed to be no different to my D70.

edit : I'm not saying you're wrong per se about anything btw - it's just that a lot of people seem to think that you need all AF-S lenses for decent paced AF, which simply isn't the case

No, it isn't necessary for decent AF speed, my comment was more meant to be, if you go for Af-S you know it'll be a decent speed (and quiet too). It's interesting to compare the 80-400 on a D70 and a D2x, the difference is marked in speed, it's still slow but there is a noticeable improvement.