Nikon D70 vs Sony 828

I have been using a Sony 828 for about a year, since it was first released.
I finally broke down and got a Nikon D70 to leverage the closet full of
Nikon lenses.
Preliminary results are astounding:
Poor color fideltiy and detail, exposure problems, fringing: just like the
reviewers said.
Only it is the D70 that so far is a stunning disappointment in terms of
image quality shooting in jpeg, Raw, RGB or sRGB.
I am staring at Photoshop CS with Sony and D70 images side by side and the
still life arrangement I have used for a preliminary test.
Obviously this is not a scientific test but a pick up the cameras, put them
on a tripod, make comparable settings and press the shutter buttons.
I like the 828 but I fully expected the D70 to blow it away; so far Truman
beat Dewey again.
I will be heartbroken, and out $1100, if further results don't change this
impression. I am hoping much is due to the dubious quality of the Nikon
18-70mm lens compared to the very fine lens on the Sony 828.

Interesting - for your sake I hope it's just the kit lens too!
Although I can't say I'm greatly surprised - I did find it a little
unfair that the 828 got such a bad rap for the colorfringing it
occasionally showed, when in actual fact that lovely Carl Zeiss lens is
really something quite special. I used a work 828 for a lot of
portraiture, and the sharpness/detail, contrast, color and bokeh of
that lens were simply superb. I ran into the purple fringing very
occasionally, but otherwise, the lens is superb and the 828 is a very
fine camera indeed. FWIW I now have an Oly 8080, and its lens is very
good too - better than the Sony's for CA, but overall, I think the
'look' of the Zeiss lens was just slightly better...

Once upon a time I was tempted by going the DSLR road, but I'm now
pretty happy with my decision to stay on the cheaper pathway..

Interesting - for your sake I hope it's just the kit lens too!
Although I can't say I'm greatly surprised - I did find it a little
unfair that the 828 got such a bad rap for the colorfringing it
occasionally showed, when in actual fact that lovely Carl Zeiss lens is
really something quite special. I used a work 828 for a lot of
portraiture, and the sharpness/detail, contrast, color and bokeh of
that lens were simply superb. I ran into the purple fringing very
occasionally, but otherwise, the lens is superb and the 828 is a very
fine camera indeed. FWIW I now have an Oly 8080, and its lens is very
good too - better than the Sony's for CA, but overall, I think the
'look' of the Zeiss lens was just slightly better...

Once upon a time I was tempted by going the DSLR road, but I'm now
pretty happy with my decision to stay on the cheaper pathway..

I forgot to mention moire patterning- with the D70 this seems very obvious
in enlargements of many highly textured surfaces. When the D70 first came
out there were many images posted showing moire but these got ignored
because the common wisdom annointed the D70 "camera of the year." I can see
how for ordinary shooting the D70 would be a capable performer, but so far I
find the results underwhelming, to say the least.

I forgot to mention moire patterning- with the D70 this seems very obvious
in enlargements of many highly textured surfaces. When the D70 first came
out there were many images posted showing moire but these got ignored
because the common wisdom annointed the D70 "camera of the year." I can see
how for ordinary shooting the D70 would be a capable performer, but so far I
find the results underwhelming, to say the least.

You might want to do a couple of things:

- Borrow a good Nikon lens (which can be an inexpensive 50/1.8) just to
check.

- Check camera settings to see if there is a sharpening adjustment or
something.

My advice to you would be to read the manual for the Nikon D70 from front to
back. Then try to take some pictures of the same object under the many
options that the D70 can give you. Hopefully you will find as I have that
whatever type of picture you're looking for you should be able to achieve
with this camera.This is not a point and shoot camera and to not use all the
many options that this camera can give you would be a real waste of your
time and money.



"bmoag" wrote in message
. com...
I forgot to mention moire patterning- with the D70 this seems very obvious
in enlargements of many highly textured surfaces. When the D70 first came
out there were many images posted showing moire but these got ignored
because the common wisdom annointed the D70 "camera of the year." I can
see
how for ordinary shooting the D70 would be a capable performer, but so far
I
find the results underwhelming, to say the least.

My advice to you would be to read the manual for the Nikon D70 from front to
back. Then try to take some pictures of the same object under the many
options that the D70 can give you. Hopefully you will find as I have that
whatever type of picture you're looking for you should be able to achieve
with this camera.This is not a point and shoot camera and to not use all the
many options that this camera can give you would be a real waste of your
time and money.



"bmoag" wrote in message
. com...
I forgot to mention moire patterning- with the D70 this seems very obvious
in enlargements of many highly textured surfaces. When the D70 first came
out there were many images posted showing moire but these got ignored
because the common wisdom annointed the D70 "camera of the year." I can
see
how for ordinary shooting the D70 would be a capable performer, but so far
I
find the results underwhelming, to say the least.

"bmoag" wrote in message
. com...
I have been using a Sony 828 for about a year, since it was first released.
I finally broke down and got a Nikon D70 to leverage the closet full of
Nikon lenses.
Preliminary results are astounding:
Poor color fideltiy and detail, exposure problems, fringing: just like the
reviewers said.
Only it is the D70 that so far is a stunning disappointment in terms of
image quality shooting in jpeg, Raw, RGB or sRGB.
I am staring at Photoshop CS with Sony and D70 images side by side and the
still life arrangement I have used for a preliminary test.
Obviously this is not a scientific test but a pick up the cameras, put
them on a tripod, make comparable settings and press the shutter buttons.
I like the 828 but I fully expected the D70 to blow it away; so far Truman
beat Dewey again.
I will be heartbroken, and out $1100, if further results don't change this
impression. I am hoping much is due to the dubious quality of the Nikon
18-70mm lens compared to the very fine lens on the Sony 828.

Make sure that all the custom functions and image processing parameters are
set the way you like them first.

The D70 has a lot of control over the in camera processing options, and you
may want to tweak them to your satisfaction before making a final opinion on
this camera....

"bmoag" wrote in message
. com...
I have been using a Sony 828 for about a year, since it was first released.
I finally broke down and got a Nikon D70 to leverage the closet full of
Nikon lenses.
Preliminary results are astounding:
Poor color fideltiy and detail, exposure problems, fringing: just like the
reviewers said.
Only it is the D70 that so far is a stunning disappointment in terms of
image quality shooting in jpeg, Raw, RGB or sRGB.
I am staring at Photoshop CS with Sony and D70 images side by side and the
still life arrangement I have used for a preliminary test.
Obviously this is not a scientific test but a pick up the cameras, put
them on a tripod, make comparable settings and press the shutter buttons.
I like the 828 but I fully expected the D70 to blow it away; so far Truman
beat Dewey again.
I will be heartbroken, and out $1100, if further results don't change this
impression. I am hoping much is due to the dubious quality of the Nikon
18-70mm lens compared to the very fine lens on the Sony 828.

Make sure that all the custom functions and image processing parameters are
set the way you like them first.

The D70 has a lot of control over the in camera processing options, and you
may want to tweak them to your satisfaction before making a final opinion on
this camera....