Can someone help me with advice on my Nikon D70s?

Question

I have a Nikon D70s (digital, slr) I've had it for 2 years. Recently I've had lighting issues shooting outdoors. It seems as though the photos are always over or under exposed. The white balance is off too. Even if I shoot in complete Auto. When I first got this camera, the pictures were sharp and clear, great color. Now that I've been using it more, and playing with different settings, I just can't seem to get great color or sharpness outdoors. pictures sometimes seem grainy. do you think a handheld light meter would help? Any advice on shooting outdoors, or what I could check on my camera?

Answer 1

Have you tried performing the 'green dot reset' by holding down the bracketing and metering buttons?  That will reset most of the unusual settings that can give unwanted results.  

More troubling, the shutter may have reached the end of its service life.  D200s are rated for ~100,000 shutter cycles, I'm sure that the D70 is rated for considerably less.  I would used a program like Opanda's Exif reader http://www.opanda.com/en/iexif/iexifpro.... to see how many shutter clicks you've gone through.  The line in the EXIF data you're looking for is something like "total shutter releases".  

If its more than 50,000, it may be time for a new camera...

Answer 2

first make sure the pictures or set on large and jpeg fine. then make sure the iso is set to the lowest or a lower one. also check the white balance and make sure its on auto. make sure the lens and shutter are clean. also check all other settings to make sure none have been changed on accident. if none of those work call a local camera store.