The
Nikon D1H, D100 and D70 Digital Cameras Compared
by Lars Troels
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ERGONOMICS
& HANDLING
The
design and build of all three cameras show Nikon engineers dedication
to ergonomics and consistent logic, making their handling so
easy. The controls and their location always follow similar
-if not identical- layout and logic, as you may have been used
to. Once you become acquainted with such logic you can always
operate a Nikon camera in total darkness.
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D100
LCD control panel |
The
fingers find their way to the right buttons, always in the right
place. You become an elite soldier who can operate, disassemble
and re-assemble his weapon blindfolded. An often unmentioned
major advantage is that such logic always follows through, from
model to model. Compared to any of its competitors, Nikon is
consequently better at this.
On
competitors models you often have to press two buttons at the
same time as you have to turn a dial, or you are forced to get
into the menus. Either is most unpractical when in the middle
of concentrated photography. In general, the more advanced and
professional a model the more you can operate it directly from
the outside of the camera, without taking your eyes off the
viewfinder. But then, that is true for almost any Nikon body.
The
D1H is by far the easiest camera to operate. It feels enormously
good in your hands and you can feel that it is quality you are
holding. The D100, more so with its vertical grip, is very nice
too. The D70 feels a bit flimsy, plasticy and small. Especially
if you have just been using a D1H and then pick up the D70,
it will feel like a toy. But don't be fooled by that. There
is no vertical grip option so you have to live with that. There
are non-original third party products on the way, but I doubt
they will be really good.
The menus have gradually gotten better and better from model
to model. The D70 has even better and most logical menus compared
to D100, more so when compared to the D1H. The D1H, on the other
hand, have the function button that allows you to change custom
functions, directly, without visiting the menus. On my D1H I
have made it possible to instantly switch between Single autofocus
and closest subject priority dynamic AF. On the other hand,
the LCD on the D1H shows a poor image that it is close to useless,
as there is no way you can tell if an image is sharp or not.
This has gotten gradually better and better in later models.
In
general you could say that D70 can be operated by anyone, regardless
of experience level, thanks to all of its automatic variprograms.
The D100 is somewhere in between, and the D1H is almost impossible
to operate if you have don’t have the fundamental knowledge
of the craft. I have no knowledge about how the cameras work
on the variprogram settings, I have never used any of them.
But from reading numerous experiences accounts, it can be concluded
that the D70 is very beginner friendly. In the recent past,
before the D70, I think you had to say that if photography was
not a fundamental interest/hobby, you should stay away from
DSLRs and choose a simpler point & shoot camera instead.
| On
the D70, to keep costs down, some compromises were made.
So it takes work in the menus to change from Single to
Continuous autofocus shooting mode.
This
switching to Manual, Single and Continuous can be done
with a single button at the front of the camera on both
the D1H and D100, at a higher price.
On
the D70, on the other hand, you can easily choose between
both traditional pro settings and beginner variprograms,
as shown at right. |
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