tiny brown insects

Could be spider mites/russet mites or aphids.
(the dew you're describing suggests to aphids to me, though)

Suggest you go here and look at the pics of Foliage Pests.

Not sure about the "fungus" though based on your limited description (tiny black spots). You might want to go to the Tomato Problem Solver (link at bottom of this post), to see if that doesn't give you some help.

If you could post a picture, that's helpful.

tops of the plants are also curling.

Could be mosaic virus, or curly top -- or could be related to the aphids (if that's what you have).

Leaf curling can also be caused by environmental stress, and may not be a major cause for concern.

So, have a look at some of the sites I've linked to.

Will wait to hear back from you after you've done that, and we'll go from there.

Here is a link that might be useful: tomato problem solver and other links

Thanks for responding Suze.

On closer exaimination the brown "things" i thought were insects turn out not to be insects at all, which means i am more at a loss (if that is indeed possible after my confession) as there is literally no evidence of any infestation at all, which makes the dropets of dew even more mysterious.
As for the curly top, i believe you are right, that it is due to enviromental stress, as i looked at the links you provided and nothing seems to match what i have.
As i have no digital camera i cannot post any pictures for you unfortunately. If this hepls the black spots i described give the stem a grey-brown hue, it is predominately closer to the growing points, though the discoloration affects the whole plant in varying degrees.

Cheers