Review: Nikon D70s specs

In 2005, Nikon upgraded the Nikon D70 DSLR with the Nikon D70s—including an improved autofocus system, a larger rear LCD monitor, re-designed menus, slightly wider flash coverage and a higher capacity battery.

The D70s incorporated a 6.2-megapixel, 3:2 ratio, DX-format (effectively an APS-C format) CCD sensor, with a 1.5x crop factor. This crop factor means a 200mm lens on the D70s effectively gives you a focal length of 300mm, in comparison to a full-frame camera, and gets you ‘closer’ to subjects. This is highly useful for shooting far-off subjects, such as sports participants or nature, as it effectively makes those subjects appear larger in the frame. Capturing action is further helped by a three frames-per-second shooting speed, which allows you to buffer up to 12 JPEGs in a single sequence. Plus, it featured a top shutter speed of 1/8000sec.

The autofocus system in the D70s has a five-point AF system, with a cross-type sensor in the centre to autofocus both horizontally and vertically for more accurate autofocus. The system includes an AF-assist illuminator, which helps to maximise the potential focusing performance when shooting in low light conditions. Autofocus shooting options include Single-shot AF (AF-S) and Continuous AF (AF-C).

The larger LCD monitor is a two-inch [5cm], 130K dot, TFT LCD screen on the rear, with brightness adjustment. The screen allows for the playback of one, four or nine images, magnified playback, slide show, histogram indication, highlight point display and auto image rotation.

The D70s includes 3D Colour Matrix Metering, with a 1,005-pixel CCD sensor, which helps to deliver accurate exposures by measuring brightness, colour, contrast, selected focus area and subject-to-camera information for each shot. It then uses a Scene Recognition System, which helps to deliver superb exposure accuracy by evaluating an onboard database of over 30,000 photographic scenes. For further exposure control, you can choose from seven different ‘Digital Vari-Program’ modes (Auto, Portrait, Landscape, Sports, Close-up, Night Portrait or Night Landscape) or select from Programmed Auto (P), Aperture Priority (A), Shutter Priority (S) or full Manual (M) control.

The camera’s standard ISO range is from 200-1,600. But, if you don't want to set ISO values, you can simply rely on the camera’s Auto ISO feature to automatically select an ISO value in order to maximize the available light. The built-in flash can offer flash sync speeds of up to 1/500sec, the rechargeable lithium-ion battery can shoot up to 2,500 images on a single charge and the camera has a near-instant power up with a time lag of just 0.2 seconds before it’s ready to shoot. 

At first glance, the D70s may appear to be something of a ‘DSLR dinosaur’. But, it does have a great metering system, a good flash sync speed, a fast shutter speed and a significant array of shooting modes. There have been plenty of higher-spec Nikon DSLRs launched since the D70s made its debut in 2005. But, depending on your budget, it’s worth a closer look—especially if you’re considering a step up from smartphone photography and taking more control over your image settings.