Camera guys: DSLR question

[Kestonian]

Question for the shutterbugs

I have a Nikon D70 which is around 4 years old. I bought it because I had a F801 before it and wanted to keep the same lenses. I have a Tokina lens that was second hand when I bought it in 1998.

Pictures I take, especially without flash, are really susceptible to blur, and focusing can be erratic.

I'm guessing that the lens is not designed to be driven by a DSLR.

My question: am I better off buying a new DSLR with a stock lens, or should I spend the money on just a new lens?

Second question: I've never had my camera cleaned or serviced. Should I have done?

Any thoughts appreciated! Cheers, all

Woody

 

[Caramba Kid]

A service / sensor clean would be a good start.
Do you have any friends who also use Nikon? - borrow one of their lenses (similar focal range as your Tokina) & take some comparison shots.
Results shold then tell you if it's the Tokina lens or camera / user.
Don't mean to be rude about your abilities but you've not said how long you've had the D70, took me a quite few sessions to get decent results when I switched to DSLR.
If you need a new lens then go with Nikon.
You're based in about the best place for bargain prices anyway

Dave.

 

[Kestonian]

Wise words. I haven't been able to get my mucky paws on a Nikon lens for long enough to really try. This is something a decent camera shop would be good for, but I haven't found one out here that isn't aimed at bartering tourists into submission! Especially when, shall we say "demographically" I look like a tourist (also because I'm new out here and walk around wide-eyed anyway!)

I'm happy I know how to drive the D70 and have had some really pleasing results, but a couple of friends have newer Canons and they seem much better in lower light. I think they've spent proper money on the lenses to get the vibration reduction, though, which also helps.

 

[Caramba Kid]

Historically Canon for some reason have performed better in low light conditions, although the latest crop of Nikon DSLR do now match Canon.

 

[Augustus]

Woody,

It should still work ok with your D70 to be honest. However, there is much to the argument that the complex levels of communication between lenses (and especially flashguns), and modern camera bodies that pairing the same brand isn't a bad idea where possible.

Try playing/ experimenting with it all more and discover if there are patterns of issues developing. Test against a new nikon lens at a shop on the same settings.

Focus won't be as fast on a generic lens, it's usually one of the main drawbacks of the cheaper generic lenses than specific own brand ranges. That said, obviously there are some real Canon and Nikon stinkers made cheap for packages out there.

Try modern Sigma lenses. a bit cheaper than the nikon alternative, but usually as sharp and possibly only a bit slower in focus. (usually a bit faster for your money in f.stop value).

It all depends on what you want to do with the pics i suppose. if you rarely make bigger prints than the usual 6x4 or whatever, you may not see the difference between results of lenses.

 

[Kestonian]

What kind of step up is there in image quality between a fixed length and a zoom lens?

I'm happy enough cropping it in potato shop if I can get a nice 24 or 25mm lens. I guess this gets me a lower f-stop for the cash as well

 

[Augustus]

potato shop...LOL. that's my new term.

prime lens vs zoom is so irrelevant an argument for most purposes these days. i couldn't live with primes to be honest. just so unpractical and for such a slim gain for most applications.

And the whole 'pro' lens thing can be a bit of a myth too sometimes. I've got a £200 cheapy that will match the quality of result as my equiv 'pro' version costing £700 more if you look at both as raw files at 100%. The more expensive one is nicer made and definately tougher, but 3 times the cost tougher? not convinced.

Obviously this is a hit and miss myth buster. there are going to be cases where our silly expensive and daft heavy lenses are the only way to go.

One of the best inventions....Image Stabilizers. Amazing things. Got me out of many a scrape.

 

[P20]

If you want to check you sensor/lens for marks/dirt,etc set it to F22 ish and take a photo of a blank sheet of paper it should show up any problems.

 

[Crayons]

I'm with Wu-Tangled re. quality of lenses. My sigmas are the equal of my nikons in almost every respect bar possibly build – that said my 500mm f4.5 sigma really is built like a tank.

I've never had a problem with lens communication using 3rd party lenses on any of my dslr bodies, and some lenses are getting on a bit now. Do recall there being a problem with some 3rd party lenses though – needing to get them re-chipped. Canon seem to have more of a problem than nikon with this, but it would be worth doing a thorough search on the interweb for your lens model and D70 just to see if anyone else has suffered the same problem.

Failing that just go and buy yourself something shiney and new – optics have moved a long way in recent years

 

[Kestonian]

Thanks for the tips all.