I just need to jot down a few lines about the Nikon D70. It’s not like I haven’t already written plenty about this camera — which is now over two decades old — but it was my first IR camera, and to this day, it’s still my favorite.
It starts with how solid and comfortable it feels in the hand — robust, easy to use, and simple to convert. But recently, I’ve realized another key point I hadn’t really appreciated before: white balance.
Since I work with filters that have, let’s say, interesting transmission curves — a little visible light here, some red there, blue and IR in the far end — it’s essential to set a custom white balance. And no camera makes that as quick and effortless as the D70. Period. Even with the most unconventional red filters, it just works — something I haven’t managed with other models. Why? No idea.
Another thing: it produces images like no other camera I know. Take Moonlight Green, for example. I was only able to get a proper custom white balance with the D70 using that particular red filter. And that look — it only comes from the D70. Other cameras, even after white balancing in post, shift the minty tone too far into the blue and end up looking flat or uniform.
This 6MP D70 still holds its own today. If you think you need 30, 24, or even 10 megapixels, you’re mistaken. Some of my best prints — up to A1 size — are from D70 files. No problem. They look stunning. 24 megapixels don’t help much if everything looks soft and mushy. When you zoom in to 200% on a D70 image, it still looks far better than doing the same with something like a D5000 or D5500.
Just for comparison — because many people have a completely wrong impression here. Do you know how many pixels 4K is? That hit me recently when I hooked up my laptop to my smart TV to get a bigger screen. 4K is 3840 pixels horizontally and 2160 pixels vertically. The D70’s resolution? 3008 by 2000. Slightly less — but not by much.
So in the end — an IR fan really doesn’t need more than a D70.
