3 questions, D70s vs D200 noise, +1

[phatkid77]

i use a D70s and find the noise useable at ISO 1600 from my hockey shots.. as long as exposure is good

1. ive heard people that upgrade from the D70s to the D200 say its not that much better?? noise wise

2. id like better AF, but D70 is cam 900 and the D200 came 1000, is that even much of an upgrade??

3. does the D2x only have 11 AF points whereas the top o line canon 1dmk has 43??? can it even compete?? i guess the canon is $3000 more

i would like to eventually upgrade to the D200 (battery grip and better noise, and AF) but if its not that much better i may wait??

i love the D70s, but wonder now that i am into shooting hockey if i shouldn't have got the 20d (or waited for the 30D, had i known)
i do love the intuitive menus, and ergonomics of the Nikon

can someone please put my mind at ease??

ps, i suppose people that say the D70s is "painfully" slow to focus, are the people testing them and their daily camera is a $8000 rig???
guess it could be taken with a grain of salt

[coldrain]

The D200 is not much better with noise. Do you need moe AF points??

[phatkid77]

more is better i figure....

maybe if i can swing a deal, ill get a 30d and trade the nikon, or keep it and have both systems....

really like the noise hanling of the 20d tho

[Jason25]

The D70 is fine with noise. The D200 may be more of a camera, but the extra grand isn't gonna net you much better noise handling. I would just invest in a copy of Noise Ninja or something before swapping out all my gear.

[phatkid77]

yeah, i use noise ninja and all that jazz..

just keepin options open

[erichlund]

i use a D70s and find the noise useable at ISO 1600 from my hockey shots.. as long as exposure is good

1. ive heard people that upgrade from the D70s to the D200 say its not that much better?? noise wise

2. id like better AF, but D70 is cam 900 and the D200 came 1000, is that even much of an upgrade??

3. does the D2x only have 11 AF points whereas the top o line canon 1dmk has 43??? can it even compete?? i guess the canon is $3000 more

i would like to eventually upgrade to the D200 (battery grip and better noise, and AF) but if its not that much better i may wait??

i love the D70s, but wonder now that i am into shooting hockey if i shouldn't have got the 20d (or waited for the 30D, had i known)
i do love the intuitive menus, and ergonomics of the Nikon

can someone please put my mind at ease??

ps, i suppose people that say the D70s is "painfully" slow to focus, are the people testing them and their daily camera is a $8000 rig???
guess it could be taken with a grain of salt

First of all, the D200 has a wider range than the D70, going from ISO 100 to ISO 3200, though, Nikon does not call the ISO's above 1600 by those names. However, at least Nikon calls the ISO what it truly is. Phil Askey has started measuring ISO accuracy. The D200 is spot on at each of the major values (100 = 100, 200 = 200...3200 = 3200). The D20 and 5D both measure about 20% higher than the setting, so ISO 100 measures as 125 and so forth.

1. Noise: The D200 does not differentiate itself from the D2X OR the Canon 5D, as TESTED by DPReview, up through ISO 800. At 1600, the 5D is cleaner, but the D200 noise is more film like and the 5D has more Chroma noise up through ISO 1600. How does this compare to a D70? Good question. The tests both here and on DPReview have changed significantly since the D70 was tested. There's only one common shot, and the D200 exposure is, frankly, horrible, and under significantly different conditions, so I refuse to use it for judgement. If Jeff had been doing his product test when he tested the D70, which has controlled lighting, we would have had a much better comparison. Unfortunately, I don't still have my D70, or I'd do the side by side test myself.

If someone in the Anaheim area has a D70 they would like to compare against the D200, perhaps we could meet to do a little testing.

2. This is how you should look at 900 vs 1000 vs 2000:
900 -------------------------1000----2000
The D200 meter is much better than the D70 meter. Also, the D200 has more focus points, and is much less likely to hunt when focusing compared to the D70. The D2X is even better at focusing, but it's advantages are more cross focus points (more accurate than single focus points) and a much stronger motor, both expected from a pro body. The D200's tracking of moving subjects is improved from the D70.

3. Yes, the 1DSMkII has 45 focus points. Gotta get something for your $8000. Of course they are all clustered at the center of the image. The D2X is more proportionately distributed. One thing D2X users really like is focus points at the rule of thirds points. While the D200 pattern is approximately the same as the D2X, the points are not distributed as nicely.

4. I would not have bought a D200 if my D70 had not been stolen. However, that said, the D200 is a huge upgrade from the D70. The build is far superior, and the D70 is already well built. The flash capability has been upgraded from an already high standard. The rear LCD is incredible. The access via the controls is a dream come true. There are very few things you will go into menus for, and you don't have more than a few dual purpose buttons. You have a button on the front that's there for you do choose what to do with it. When you do have to go into the menus, they have been greatly improved. You can set the camera up with four different sets of settings. I don't recall if the D70 even has anything similar. There's a whole menu devoted to your most recent changes. The viewfinder is far superior, though not as good as the D2X or 5D. It is significantly superior to the 20D. There is a mirror lockup that's there for shooting, something the D70 always seems to take a beating for. The top LCD is bigger, giving more information. The D200 has ISO in the viewfinder. The white balance has been improved. In playback you can magnify right to pixelation, so critical focus can easily be determined. There's also a one button solution to get a 100% view, though that's not the limit of magnification. Oh, and BTW, the extra 4 megapixels is sometimes handy to have. And it's fast. Faster than the D70. Faster than the 5D. About the same as the 20D and 30D, but it has a bigger buffer, so it can keep it up longer. And, if you want continuous shooting, but not 5 frames/sec, you can select from 4, 3, 2 or 1 per second as alternate choices.

5. The D70 is only painfully slow to focus if you are used to pro cameras. If you are not, the D70 focus is adequate. The D200 is faster, but really only a little. More importantly, it's more positive.

So, if you want a better camera, because you are not satisfied with the D70, then the D200 will fill that bill. If you are satisfied with the D70, then enjoy it because its still a great camera. But, if you need the stuff I talked about above, then the D200 will definitely be an improvement.

[phatkid77]

son of a ......

http://cameracanada.com/eNet-cart/Product.asp?pid=EOS30D&type=1

canadian bucks too, i thought for sure around $2100.........

wish my head would stay on str8....i DO want to take one for a test drive tho..