Отзывы о Цифровой Фотоаппарат Nikon D7000

Since purchasing my Nikon N70 many years ago, I've been a Nikon fan. I have stuck with Nikon because I already have Nikon lenses. To be honest, I've seen some amazing shots/video come from Canon cameras too. Really not sure there is a monster difference between the two. I see no sense in playing one against the other. As with all products, it comes down to what you are going to use it for or what you may have already invested in with regard to accessories, lenses, etc. I do own Canon video equipment (XH-A1) and Letus Extreme (35mm adapter). I had been toying w/ the idea of moving to the Canon 7d so I could shoot stills/video with one unit. Lugging my Nikon D80 and my Canon XH-A1+the Letus gear all over for shoots was becoming more and more challenging. I literally was a couple of weeks from ordering the 7d when the D7000 announcement came out. I decided to wait. I'm glad I did.As the title indicates, I bought this primarily for the video capabilities. I shoot documentaries and nature-type films. I really wanted a full HD camera that allowed me to shoot 1080p w/ shallow DOF. With the D7000 I can shoot beautiful nature stills and capture some great video without changing equipment. I normally shoot 24fps since it is the the frame rate in full HD mode. But even the 720p @ 30fps is quite nice. The auto White Balance is amazing, but the presets can all be adjusted to your liking. The high-ISO settings are a blessing for shooting video. The HDMI output allows me to attach a 7" Marshall LCD monitor for better focus and shot setup. I'm not getting any younger and for shooting video, I highly recommend it. I have a difficult time seeing the built in LCD screen in bright sunlight, making shot setup very, very difficult for my eyes. This is only a problem if I'm shooting video w/ Live View, not using the viewfinder for stills. My monitor is light enough to sit in the hotshoe without much difficulty. If you're planning on shooting videos, I suggest an HD monitor for outdoor work if your video shots don't require too much mobility. You can pick them up for a few hundred dollars.Complaints: Aside from the reflective built in LCD screen I mentioned above, the only real other complaint I have about the camera is that you cannot change aperture settings during Live View when shooting in Manual mode. You can adjust White Balance, ISO and shutter speed. But if you are shooting in Manual mode (which I do most of the time for video), aperture can only be changed in Live View in Aperture-Priority mode. That does make sense for Aperture-Priority shooters. And this may not be a big problem if you are not shooting on Manual. But it is annoying to me to have to leave Live View to make aperture changes, then go back and make other settings to get my exposure correct. Again, not a huge problem, just a something I thought Manual shooters might want to know.In terms of still photography, the D7000 is a nice step up from my old D80. The light body of the D7000 makes it less of a burden to carry around. I'm smaller guy with larger hands and this camera fits me well. All the buttons and settings are well placed and easy to reach without a lot of moving of my hands. For those new to Nikon or w/o Nikon glass, if you purchase the kit version, you'll receive the 18-105mm kit lens which is a little slower than I'd like, but not a bad all around lens.Note: One challenge I've had since changing to a video-capable DSLR is that subjects sometimes don't know you're shooting video. I've actually pointed my camera at folks and they stare into the lens waiting for the shutter to go off! : This can create some interesting - if not unusable - footage as the faces on the subjects changes from a happy, nice smile to a "hurry up and take the darn picture!" look. This will change as people become more familiar with the capabilities of these cameras. For now it makes for sometimes funny, but often unusable video. I've actually started telling folks I'm shooting video when appropriate. That seems to help a little. :Overall I would say I'm in love with this camera. I've been using it for about a year now and I am absolutely thrilled with the images (both still and video) that it produces. I hope some day to get a full frame camera like the Cannon Mark 5d. Perhaps Nikon will make one w/ video in the next few years. For now, the D7000 perfectly suits what I bought it for. I couldn't ask for much more right now. If you are looking for a DSLR w/ video capabilities you can't go wrong with the D7000 or the Canon 7d. Both are great cameras and produce great results. If you already own Nikon glass, the D7000 is a no brainer decision.

It has been about 2 weeks since I bought the D7000 and I must say I'm just amazed...this camera can do so much more than I can handle as an amateur and I think until I become a pro this camera should keep me interested and satisfied.There's so much to learn about this camera and its capability. FYI:- I graduated from D40x and mind you that was an amazing camera for beginners and I had it for nearly 5-years and it did serve me well. Now that I'm finally ready to get serious with my hobby I can take it to the next level. I especially like the low light photography of D7000 where my D40x fell short several times.I must say there's bit of learning curve to the D7000 if you are moving up from say D40x (like myself). D7000 is considered entry level professional camera (I think) even though it is a DX body...I bough this camera mainly because I had my daughters 1st birthday last weekend. We had a party indoors and I did not want to get any bad pics because of the camera. I must say that I'm impressed by the pictures that I took they are significantly better than any I've taken with my D40x (I'm not bashing D40x but just saying that I'm glad I upgraded to D7000).I chose D7000 over D3100 & D5100 since I was looking for a great camera not a camera+camcorder since we have 2 smartphones that take phenomenal video with enough clarity to play on our TV/Laptop/Youtube uploads etc...Both the D3100 & D5100 compared to D7000 and marginal step above D40x (besides video). The myriad of features that D7000 has and its customization options are a definite plus..D3100:- Besides being cheaper, lighter and smaller form factor there's not much to say about D3100 over D7000 as both are not in same league so to speak...So I eliminated D3100 right from the start...D5100:- D5100 is pretty decent compared to D7000 but then again I think as a camera falls behind D7000. Few plus points for D5100 over D7000 are the in camera HDR & easy to use flip out screen + being thinner & lighter. Since I post process all of my pics at which point I can play with HDR toning using post processing tools. I can create HDR later and don't need in the camera also its hard to confirm that you got a great picture using the 3" LCD screen so in camera HDR is not exactly a huge plus.Any way these are only my first impressions so far. I will update once I use the camera for a while before I can truly see what wonder this cool camera has to offer...PS: D7000 has in built auto focus motor (A REALLY REALLY BIG PLUS) for my existing 2 amazing non motorized Nikkor lenses. The price for a non motorized lens is much reasonable compared to the motorized from what I have seen so far.---------------Edit: 07/10/2012What can I say after using it for little over a month, I've not regretted so far even for a minute. I can almost say that D7000 sometimes makes me feel like I'm a Pro after a bit of processing my pictures.There's a bit of learning curve in terms of manual controls compared to D40x. However, the inbuilt functions do give you spectacular images just so you can use a great camera whenever there's a moment that has to be captures.I still am using lenses from the ones I got when I purchased my D40x back in 2007. Also, last year I unknowingly purchased non compatible (non-motorized) lenses before (buying D7000). Now those lenses (mostly portrait lenses) are working perfectly with D7000 since it has built in motor. So suddenly my previous investments (in lenses) came to full life with little effort or not miss the shot of the perfect moment...**Amazing step up from D40x in low light situation - one of my gripes with D40x besides being non-motorized**------------Here's a link of the pictures that have pictures from both D40x & D7000------------[...]-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The D7000 is for me "as low as I will go" with Nikon, due to my many historic Nikkor lenses, incl the shift-lens. I took it because I was about to "wither and die" while waiting for a successor of the D300. Despite the high praise in the official tests, and some enthusiastic user report here, I do not see it that way. I was surprised to see how much less of a camera it is compared to D300/D700. Furthermore, my exemplar has quality issues, not up to usual Nikon standard, and of course any comments on them earn the "not helpful" predicate from the fan gallery. I stand by this summary. My experiences are:a) In P mode with auto-ISO it can happen that the camera ignores the program shift! That violates the very spirit of a manual program shift. User tries to overwrite the setting chosen by the camera, because the 3 contributing factors Shutter-Aperture-ISO provide several degrees of freedom. This is the biggest disappointment here, not Nikon at all. Turn, turn, twist, left, right... nothing happens, motive is gone, goodbye. That is not Nikon!b) The camera does not raise max shutter time for longer lenses in P, as it was traditional with many Nikon bodies. Both F4/F90 were excellent with that, it is such an old technology. Here when I put in the longer 80-200 f/2.8 for example, the shutter time might be often selected way too long, e.g. 1/40, acceptable to shorter lenses only. I would like to see the "mm/2" heuristics as a ballpark. Thus for 200mm, 1/100sec or less should be chosen by the camera, for 400mm 1/200sec or less. Of course, program shift should still work!c) Bad card reader slots! Too tight, some cards would not eject! In slot B my Transcend card hangs and I have to use tweezers to pull it out. However, the Sandisk cards operate in slot B, tight, but they move out. Something is not ok about the tolerances. No any other of our numerous SD readers make any problem with the Transcend card, though! Consequently this seems to be a problem with my D7000 card slot only.d) Very slippery grip, nothing like the D300. Some test reports praise it, here is an example from dpreview: "...'proper' rubber hand grip (as opposed to just rubberized coating) give it a reassuring heft which is closer to the experience of holding and using a camera like the Canon EOS 7D, or Nikon D300S.", but I do not see it any "reassuring" at all. No compare to the safe soft grip of the D300!e) Inconsistent menu operations. For example, I tried to enter my copyright data. No matter how often I entered them, the copyright setting stayed still on OFF. Finally I have discovered what is the anomaly: One have to move the cursor upward to the "Done" field, and than and only than the setting will be preserved! In most other cases "set and exit" principle applies: The selected setting stays always active.f) The depth of field button on a wrong place. I kept hitting it over and over again. The infuriating "click-clack" "click-clack" repeated itself until I discovered than I can place other function on it, thus disable it in end-effect. I put "display grid," which I see anyways. Finally it is quiet!g) The bracketing button is close to the flash pop-up button, and so instead of setting the bracket mode, one can pop the flash inadvertently.h) In a playback mode to my surprise both wheels were... "dead," useless. Only later I have discovered that I can activate them in the menus. I wonder what prompted the decision to make them inactive in playback mode?i) Very slow in mode change. For example, when I press the playback button, sometimes it takes 3-4 sec with "busy clock" in the display till finally the image shows. Equally sluggish can be entry to the menus. (This sluggishness seem to hamper the popularity of the smaller Nikon's camera, the P7000 as well. The Canon G12 is so much fast faster.) Nikon should look into these performance issues in their firmware!j) On my camera, the small rubber Power Cord Cover can peel off and hang annoyingly in the air from the hand grip. Very disturbing, not Nikon at all. Probably also a tolerance and quality control problem.k) Strange remote control operation. In order to use the ML-L3 one have to turn the under-wheel on the left to the "remote" position, in which case, the main shutter release is... disabled! Why to do such thing? In Canon's one may use the RC-6 without such unduly limitations! Here Nikon should really rethink their ergonomics.One generic observation about bracketing: Why only 3 exposures? In D300 one might make up to 9, it costs nothing, it is about firmware choice only. So why 3 only?But the main problem with the bracketing in all Nikon cameras is more serious and is still prevalent, albeit it was previously widely commented upon in D200,D300,D700: In a Single Shot mode the camera makes only one image, even when the bracketing is selected, and it stays in bracket mode. The bracket indicator is tiny, it is possible to forget that the mode is on! I did so in the past a few times. For hours I shot 0

About a year ago I decided to upgrade my DSLR from a very serviceable D3000 (which is now being used by my daughter) and I had a few criteria I was looking at. It had to be a Nikon as I already had a couple of lenses, I wanted a large, bright viewfinder, I wanted a focus motor in the camera and I wanted good low-light capabilities as well as easier access to full manual control. My plan was to pick up a D90 body after the D5200 was introduced and the price went down, but that changed after I held a D7000. I was ruined. Watching the prices I realized that the D90 was only a hundred bucks less than the D7000 so it wasn’t worth considering and the then new D7100 didn’t show enough difference to be worth the extra bucks.After close to a year of use, and close to 6,000 photos taken, here are some of my reflections on the camera.The Viewfinder- Bright, large and full of information. I can see what settings I’m changing without taking my eye from the viewfinder.Manual Settings- Very easy to access and once you get used to them, easy to change on the fly.Low Light Capabilities- I normally set it at 160 (reminiscent of Kodak Portra) for normal shooting and have the automatic ISO set at a maximum of 6400 with a minimum shutter of 1/30th. I took a photo of my grandson at ISO 6400 and cropped the image after converting to black and white. Making it full screen on the laptop and zooming in on it to the equivalent of a 16x20. It still looked good with some noise that gave it the look of Tri-X-Pan. Indoor color shots of food (that’s my primary use of the camera, food blogging) at 1600 ISO are magnificent. Over that, you do get some noise.Two card slots- Nice feature. I set it up so I shoot JPEG on one card and RAW on the second.Depth of Field Preview- I missed this feature on cheap cameras.Focus- Many people claim this camera has a ‘back focus’ issue. I can’t say that I have it on mine; I can’t say that I do. What I can say is that I find it to be the fastest focusing camera I’ve ever had. I also find that it focuses on what I want, most of the time. No camera will ever be 100% accurate.Sharpness- Pictures are sharp and clear. I set the color to vivid for almost everything but portraits where I use some tweaked settings on portrait.Live Screen- Nice, but I like the viewfinder. It doesn’t like to autofocus as well in live mode as the camera uses a different (more archaic) focus system. I haven’t used to video mode as yet, it wasn’t important in buying the camera.Video- This wasn’t important, but I have used it a couple of times and the quality is good. I plan to do some time lapse work at the beach this summer so it will come in handy.By the way, I use prime lenses only. I have a 10.5 fisheye, 35 f1.8, 50 f1.8 and an 85 f3.5 micro. All focus well for me.Overall, I’d recommend this camera to the photographer who wants superb photos and ease of control.

If you decide to buy this camera, factor in an extra $40 multiplied by the number of times you expect to have to ship it to Nikon for repairs. I originally gave the product 4 stars for features. Now, I'm lowering the rating to 1 star for Nikon's service and support.I want to provide a review for shoppers that will assist them in determining if the features of the camera are right for their needs, based upon my hands on experience. I also want to paint an accurate picture of the quality that I have experienced.I have had problems with large glowing white'ish colored dots showing up randomly throughout my images. My sensor is failing. Wow! That's not good. Currently, Nikon has my camera. When I get time, I am going to post examples on my personal website. Hopefully Amazon will allow me to link to those images.Based upon my experience, you can expect to send this camera in every 3 months to have the sensor repaired. You will have to pay the shipping and be inconvenienced.Bottom Line:I will not buy another Nikon product. That's not because I think they are all bad. Sure, you can get a lemon with any manufacturer and even the best companies will have an occasional problem. However, how they treat the customer when problems do arise makes the difference. So, do yourself a favor and buy something another brand.Disclaimer:Prior to owning this camera, I owned a Canon 60D. Not having owned any other DSLR's, the 60D is my single point of reference. So, you might want to factor that into my review.About the features:I was looking for a camera to shoot indoor sports in very low light. A full frame camera would have been even better. But, I couldn't justify the cost. I am using this for family photos.When working, it has good high ISO performance and focus pretty well in low light. These two features were very important to me and the reason why I bought this camera. When shooting low light sports indoors, you need these features. I have had some shots outdoors in plenty of light where the focus was so far off that I was left wondering, "what the heck was the camera thinking????". You could blame me for the out of focus shot. But, in this specific case, I was using center focus aimed directly at my subject. There was really no room for human error. The camera simply goofed. However, if that's not something you plan to do, I see no other compelling reason to choose this camera over any other camera.I find the menu system of the Nikon to be fair. I like the Canon better. To switch auto-iso on and off, you have to navigate through the menu system and then click a few times.I prefer the Canon for the buttons and the way you access shooting modes. I also like the fold out screen on the Canon. Before purchasing a DSLR, I owned a point and shoot with a flip out LCD. I really liked that. I wish the D7000 had a flip out LCD, too. It makes self portraits (like you and friend) much easier.I think the image quality is quite good. If you don't mind buying Adobe Lightroom, *sometimes* you can get usable photos with ISO's up to 3200 and 6400. Honestly, I don't know if I've tried an ISO higher than 6400. The amount of noise associated with higher ISO seems to be dependent upon the available light. If you have decent light, higher ISO's don't seem to introduce as much noise as the same ISO in worse light. Don't expect all of your high ISO's to come out looking sharp. Once you get up in the range of 3200-6400, you will always want to do some noise reduction with post processing. In the 800 to 2800 range, you're probably going to want to clean them up with post processing, too. But, at those levels, depending upon the circumstances, you may not have much clean up to do. FWIW, Lightroom's noise reduction works far better than Aperture's. Apertures's is rather poor and brings my macbook pro (late 08 model) to a crawl.Shooting....the frames per second are not quite adequate for my needs. The buffer is too small. So, I don't get too many shots before you have to stop shooting and wait on the buffer to process some of the images. I have to pace myself. The Canon beats the Nikon here. I like that the D7000 has a fine tune adjustment for lenses that consistently front or back focus.

Well, I upgraded to D90 from D40 and the change is huge for me. One hell of a camera it is, I loved it. Later when D7000 came, I have been reading reviews and hearings from friends that it has lot of potential and significant upgrade over D90. After too much of thinking i decided to go for it. ordered it and made one day prime shipping coz I cant wait to hold this bad boy and shoot it to its potential. But to my disappointment, I dint feel it at all from the moment I took the first snap out of it. Soft images, Memory Card error (ordered brand new 2 memory cards with camera), washed out oily images on occassions. I wasn't feeling at all and I realised as I read in many reviews for few users, they recieved the faulty unit like mine. Amazon is awesome, they have excellent return policy. Leave all that, after too much of thinking when you finally get to hold the camera, you really wanted to have a faulty one and have to struggle through all that returning. I cant even exchange as this is in high demand and all ran out of stock in few days after I ordered this. I need to wait until stocks are loaded up again. Now I lost my interest in D7000 and made me think to wait for D400 (reading rumors but not sure). Nikon needs to do more robust QA on the products. I am not blaming the product but the company.When I get the perfect piece not the faulty one, I will re-write my review with updated points.UPDATE:Sad to give this update that still has not found defect free D7000 yet. After the original review I returned the camera and was looking for replacement but to my luck Amazon is out of stock. So got the refund and bought one from J & R. So unwrapped it and started firing away and learn many things that issues I noted above are not with faulty piece but with all the camera's.- Washed out / Oily / over Exposed Images under bright conditions. In general this new sensor/processor is over exposing constantly all the time that it washes out details under bright condition. It was not the case with D90 (one beautiful camera it is, i sold it :( ) ...I have to always look for this wash out situations and adjust exposure value 2 stops down or more- Memory Card Error. This was really annoying. Thought its defect with few pieces but its not. The new piece had the same problem. On trip, I set to shoot RAW on one card and jpeg on another. All general ppl shots suffice to be compressed jpeg, easy to share right off the trip. And RAW images are things which I do part of photography, like any landscape scenes etc., because of this error all my RAW and jpegs got mixed up in the secondary card.Later Nikon had released the latest firmware 1.3 and it had the fix for that.- On occassions still i see, soft images (be little careful and you can avoid this in many situation)there is setting in the camera for Shutter Release "Release" & "Focus". What does "Release" priority do is, regardless of your object is in focus, it release the shutter. Useful for sports photography (they cant miss the moment, during continuous shots if camera is trying to Auto Focus, also it slows down 6 fps on such occassions.So camera comes with "Release" setting by default. Change it to "Focus" priority, no matter what until the desired object is in focus it doesnt release the shutter. So no chances for soft images.THE NEW QA DEFECT:Again I am returning this piece because it has hot/stuck pixel on my LCD screen (not on sensor). Once you notice, its really tough to ignore it from that moment. Its annoying though its tiny and tinier that this . dot. I can get used to live with it, caveat is it may develop more in the future and cant be acceptable for the price of the camera. i have tried all the ways to fix the hot pixel and not going away. I feel have NO LUCK with D7000.What I still love about the camera and want to hold it:- Colors ! Colors ! Colors! are simply real- Fast AF system.- Better User Settings.- Pictures just come alive and feels so great with lenses like 24-70 f2.8- Weightless and Ergonomically awesome.- Portraits are way to go !! after post processing ppl think I am a PRO and GOOD TO START my portrait business (but in real I am not that pro like)I wish I understand this camera more to work around the few defects .. or just work great like predecessors. May be I am thinking buy used D90 for now until they release D400.

Do you want a DSLR (digital single lens reflex) camera? If so, next question.Do you want a DSLR with a large selection of very good lenses? If so, it's either Nikon or Canon. Leica's another category. Next question.Can you take excellent photos with either Nikon or Canon? Yes. Next question.Are you currently invested in a selection of DSLR lenses, either Nikon or Canon? If so, stick with that brand. Next question.Do you need one or more specific features that only one brand has? Hard to believe, but, if so, buy that brand. Next question.So, how do you choose your camera? Don't limit yourself to reading about the cameras you're considering. Try them, or at least go to a camera store and play with them. Touch and feel are big factors. Really! My personal experience is that I went to a camera store to buy a Canon T4i. I decided on it, because it's less expensive, easier to use, and has a highly-reviewed LCD screen (i.e., I read about features that appeal to me). Before I bought the Canon, I held it, looked through the viewfinder, pressed the buttons, and turned the dials. Before I bought it, merely out of curiosity, I did the same with the Nikon D7000. Bang. I bought the Nikon. The touch and feel varied drastically, for my taste. Most importantly, the Nikon viewfinder is head and shoulders more usable and comfortable, and that's what I'm always looking through. Also important, the buttons and dials work and feel better. And, by comparison, the Canon does feel flimsy.I haven't used my Nikon much yet. Also, since I'm a novice, you may question the value of my opinion. However, here's my experience with my Nikon. It is larger and heavier, but not so much larger and heavier that the difference is a problem. My Nikon feels study, and it's buttons and dials feel sturdy. When I take a shot, the internals sound solid, with no shake. It's an intangible that's difficult to explain, but is best described by two experts you can find on the internet. One expert is Lori Grunin on CNET's website, where the Nikon D7000 is reviewed. Her amorphous enthusiasm at first appears overly subjective, but turns out to be exactly true for me too. The other expert is Ken Rockwell, who has his own website. Everything he says resonates with me, and perhaps will resonate with you too. For anything less serious than a full-frame professional camera costing much more money, the Nikon D7000 is his clear choice. Why, again it's difficult to explain, except to say -- Try it, you'll like it.One more thing -- about lenses. They are a personal choice. One of the lenses I bought is the Nikkor AF-S 50mm f/1.4G. It is a full-frame lens. The 50mm focal length is affected because the camera is a DX body (not full-frame). However, the lens works perfectly with the camera body. And the lens is excellent. I took a shot of a sculpture in an outdoor sculpture garden, and the photo has the look and feel of art. I took many shots of my grandchildren (using continuous shooting mode), and I can't fail to get a good shot, even indoors without a flash. If you buy this camera body, I strongly recommend you consider buying this lens.

If you look carefully through the DSLR offer from all major brands, there are very few things that might make you buy a different one than the D7000. You might say it's a subjective point of view, but since I've been shooting film too (with the great F5) and has my share of digital compact experience (Lumix LX3K), I've been wanting to upgrade to a different, (presumably) better DSLR only a few months after I bought this one, thinking that it was obsolete. It has now been over a year, within which new, amazing DSLRs have been launched. The fact that this one sells for under $900, makes it a no brainer for anyone who's been doing (or wants) a bit more than just snap shooting with a do-it-all-good-for-nothing compact camera. Of course, if a few hundred buck is no problem, get the D7100, or if DX is not good enough for you, by all means get the Canon 6D, the best, cheapest full frame to date. But if you want the SAME picture quality (as seen on any computer screen), flexibility and ease of use as a professional FX body, for a lot less money, THIS is still the best choice. With the money you pay for a 6D with kit lens you can get a new D7000 + a new Tokina 12-28, f/4 (best DX wide in my opinion) + a new Nikon 35mm, f/1.8 DX (most versatile DX prime) and a spanking brand new Nikon 80-200D-ED, f/2.8, a great FX zoom lens that gives you the best portrait focal length (120mm) and goes all the war to 300mm at a constant, professional aperture of f/2.8.But that's just me :)

I've only been using the D7000 for a few days but first impressions are sometimes useful to others and often forgotten as the newness wears off. So I'll share a few early impressions while they are still fresh in my mind. First off as others have pointed out this camera has a real Quality feel to it. Nothing at all like the Canon T2i and other enthusiast level cameras. It feels rock solid and very well put together. Weight wise it's not a lightweight by any means but it's nowhere near as large and heavy as the pro cameras. Still with the Nikon 70-300 VR attached I was glad to have ordered a fancy padded neck strap with it as I spend long days aboard my boat as a marine photographer shooting photos of watercraft, as well as long days in the mountains hiking rugged trails and shooting landscapes. In terms of being user friendly almost all of the controls are logically organized and conveniently placed. Compared to the Olympus E-300 that's been my workhorse unit for the past few years the D7000 is a virtual paragon of good design. This is a good thing because this is one very feature rich camera with so many bells and whistles that Nikon could easily (and profitably) offer doctoral programs in its use.My short lived love affair with Japanese factory manuals died a sudden death in 1984 when the manual that came with my Toyota pickup truck advised me to "Not use windshield wipers on dry grass!" And no, the last word is not a typo, that is precisely what the manual said. So even before ordering my new D7000 from B&H I ordered a 3rd party D7000 manual from Alibras. When it arrived I was all but overwhelmed by the complexity of this camera. Menus have submenus, and submenus have endless choices. The mere thought of someone new to digital photography buying this camera makes me glad I don't sell cameras for a living! Sure, as with any complex tool you can "Grow into it" but believe you me there are going to be some growing pains for those just becoming involved in digital photography! I should, in fairness, add that the factory manual accompanying the D7000 is not bad at all. In fact I would say it's one of the best Japanese manuals I've ever read.Happily by the time I had read a few hundred pages things began to look doable if I'd just hang in there and get the basics down. In fairness to the D7000 I should point out here that I've allowed myself to fall way behind when it comes to camera technology. Someone moving to the D7000 from a D90 or one of the many other later vintage enthusiast cameras put out by others won't face anywhere near as steep a learning curve.Speaking of which, even when things go bad there is often a bright side to it. To whit, the first time I took the D7000 out to make some images I managed to set the auto ISO feature incorrectly and thus wound up with 25 shots taken at an ISO of 3200! The bright side of this was that I'd been duplicating all the images shot with the D7000 with my trusty Olympus E-300 set at an ISO of 100. Now the E-300 is no slouch when it comes to image quality but low noise is not one of its strong points. Still, when I discovered I'd shot all the D7000 images at an ISO of 3200 I felt confident that the ISO 100 shots I'd made with my E-300 would be far superior. Imagine my shock when I discovered that was simply not the case. Quite the contrary, the D7000 images were superior! Wondering if this was a fluke I shot some photos of my cat in available light the next day at an ISO of 2500 and then compared them with the best images I've taken with the E-300 over the past several years at an ISO of 100. If you can believe this the D7000 shots were heads and shoulders better. In fact, the best shot of the bunch was shot with the Nikon 70-300 VR lens at a setting equal to 380 mm, at a shutter speed of 1/30" and an F stop of 5.6 and it was simply stunning! Every whisker sharp as a tack!So, it's fair to say that based on my initial experience with the D7000 I am quite pleased. I will get back with further comments after I've shot a few thousand more frames.12/17/2011Well I'm back. Having shot 15,000+ frames with my D7000 I can only say that I grow ever more impressed with this camera. Image quality is simply superb! I commonly get images of a quality I simply would never have believed possible back when in the 1970s when I was a full time photojournalist shooting with top of the line Nikons and film. High ISO performance is also spectacular and I constantly have to fight my fear that bumping up the ISO will cause radical dropoff in image quality as was the case with my previous Olympus E-300 camera. While it's always wise to shoot at the lowest ISO practical I've found that anything up to 1000 is just fine for most of my work. Image stabilization with my AFS NIkkor 70-300mm G is also superb! In truth my use of a tripod has dropped more than 75% since the purchase of this camera and lens. I am constantly astounded by how low I can go shutter speed wise while handholding this out

I migrated 2 months ago from D40. I read the reviews and was ready to spring until I read concerns about auto focus being blurry on shots. I ultimately purchased from ABT, which has a generous return policy. In my opinion, there is no focus issue. The camera is very good and I am very happy with it. I would note, I shoot with my kit 18-55 mm D40 lens and I am very happy with the shots.Given that this is a very expensive purchase, I had exhaustively looked at the reviews and the comment boards. The only surprise upon purchase is Nikon has added a clumsy USB interface that requires downloading all photos through its Nikon Transfer 2 program. I have an iMAC.SD camera cards should show up as external devices when hooked up. With my D40, all I do is connect the camera and download JPG/RAW files to my hard drive. However, the D7000 does not show up as an external device when hooked up. This is a real annoyance. Fortunately, I found a simple workaround.One Nikon support person claimed the issue was that I was using an "unapproved" SD card (I am using Transcend SD HC card). However, the problem of card nonrecognition persisted even when I switched to a different SD card from my D40, one that had always been recognized by my computer. Another Nikon support person claimed that the only way to transfer files was through their Nikon Transfer 2 program. My reading of the manual suggests that Nikon does not intend for the D7000 to directly show up as an external device. The manual only refers to the Nikon Transfer 2 program.In any event, with my Mac computer, only way to "see" D7000 files is with Nikon's enclosed Nikon Transfer 2 program. I already use Adobe Bridge and Aperture 3 and have no interest in an extra forced layer of preprocessing. Nikon support claims that its intermediary program is necessary because Nikon RAW files are different than other RAW files. Perhaps. But Photoshop has a plug-in that converts these files just fine, thank you. And as for JPEG these files, these should be unconditionally visible and easily migrated from SD card to hard drive, as there is no special conversion or handling required.But as I said, there is a simple workaround: Apple's Image Capture program. A different workaround was proposed by Ken Rockwell, who suggested purchasing a SD card reader. And I did, but a cheap reader from Radio Shack did not work, so I returned it. I was about to go purchase a different SD card reader, when I stumbled upon a far simpler solution. As I noted, iMAC does not recognize a plugged in D7000. Nor does Aperture 3 or Adobe Bridge recognized the D700. Curiously, however, iPhoto and Apple's Image Capture programs DO recognize the D7000. Go figure.Downloading with Image Capture is very, very easy and as simple as plug and download for the D40. It is faster and avoids all the hassle related to Nikon's Image Transfer Program 2. I use it all the time and now the issue of file transfer is transparent to me. It is a nonissue.I would give this camera get top marks save for this hassle factor for downloading photos. I should not have to use a workaround in the first place. Overall 4/5 because of this single issue.My only other kvetch is that auto ISO trends higher earlier than necessary. ISO 6400 is a little grainy for my taste, but certainly better than no shot at all. Grain starts at above 800. The auto ISO function is very nice, but it will go to 6400 in many situations when a far low ISO could be obtained. There are two solutions. First, I set the max ISO to 1600, which again the camera will move towards more often than not but better than 6400. I also adjusted the maximum shutter speed setting. But more than that, by and large I shoot manual to have greater ISO control, so this is not a problem.Finally, I gave this product 3/5 on price scale, but that is simply because of sticker shock coming from the D40, which I bought for $600 only 3 years ago. My D40 is now worth only $200, even though it is a great camera. My price point happens to be set lower than the market price. Would I pay more than $1200? No. Would I pay less? Sure, if only someone would sell it to me for less than this price. When I looked, the list price was $1200 and most places were asking up to $1600 because of a short-term shortage. In a year, the price will certainly be lower.So should you pay $1200? As I said, despite being cheap, I purchased the camera and am very happy. However, mine was a discretionary purchase. My D40 is great, but I was ready to upgrade. Coming from the world of the older D40. For me, the step-up is notable. If money is tight, then hold on a year. Alternatively, look at the D90 and other related kin which reportedly are comparable cameras. However everything is relative. For instance, if you are really penny pinching and looking for a decent DSL--go get the D40. It is a simply wonderful camera and it will serve you well. The D7000 is only if you have cash to burn.Apart from these minor complaints I am very hap

Please read my review on the Sony HX-20V where I talk about the best point and shoot camera and also talk about saving money for the Nikon D7000 to get a little background.Well, finally bought the D7000 with the 18-105mm lens on Thanksgiving day. It was such a fantastic deal that I had to take the plunge. For a special at $997 including a 16GB Transcend SDHC class 10 and an Amazon Basic camera backpack... it was just too good a deal to pass-on.I've been using it for about a month now and can report that it is an excellant DSLR. I can even use all my old AI Nikkor lens (only in manual mode since they are all manual lenses) but now I have 28mm, 50mm, 105mm, 43-86mm, 80-200mm, 200mm and a few more.With the VR and Autofocus on the 18-105mm zoom, doubt if I will be using the old lenses. But the 50mm is a F1.4 lens..... for non-flash pictures.I've been using my Canon EOS Rebel DSLR for about 5 years and the lens gave out (internal ribbon cable in the lens failed) so I've been itching to replace it. Almost bought a Canon 60D last year but I hesitated, which was good because I ended up with usually a more expensive Nikon D7000 as compared to normally ~ $200 cheaper Canon.I've setup the D7000 with a 32 GB SD card in slot 1 and a 16GB SD card in slot 2 and setup the camera to take NEF(RAW) into Slot 1 and JPEG Fine in Slot 2 simultaneouly. This is great way to take a picture since if you just want to send or move pictures around, the JPEG is lot smaller file and don't need any processing since all the processing is already done when you take the picture in the camera. For the NEF (Raw) files, they are just very big data file that must be processed in your computer. (The Nikon software included includes the conversion software for NEF (Raw) into JPEG or other formats. The NEF (Raw) allows you to maximize your manipulation of the picture itself in photoshop and other image processing software.So straying away from Nikon and coming back to the fold.....just feels better using a Nikon body. Even though it is a DSLR, compared to my old SLR's, just feels like old times.Just a quick initial commentsBut one scary note: when the package arrived it was left at the front door without signature....was suppose to require a signature and when I opened the box it was loose in the amazon box with no air in the air filled packing bags. Must have punctured during transit. So the Nikon box was just loose in the box. So far no damage to the camera. Although on the third day, when I turned on the camera----nothing. Had to cycle the power several times before it turned on. Fortunately just this one incident. Keeping my fingers crossed.

Back in the film days, you could sit on the drive for a few (meaning: press, and hold the shutter button on a motor drive equipped 35mm camera for a few seconds,) and expose 10-12 frames (meaning: capture 10-12 full res images,) in a couple of seconds without issue. Most DSLRs are limited to their individual processor speeds, and buffer sizes, and therefore, after five or six exposures, the camera "locks-up" temporarily, mis the tail end of a lot of action shots.But since most applications do not require full size (in this case 16-22 meg) files, the frame rate and buffer size of the D7000 is more than adequate to get 8-10 frames of medium size (9 meg) photos in one burst. This is the first DSLR that I've ever owned that has every thing I would expect from a serious camera. the two user programable settings allow the photographer to save setting that they go to frequently. Most of my photography is done in daylight, or with strobes, but about a third is done under tungsten lighting. The program modes allow me to keep one dedicated to the custom balance I use for tungsten lighting situations.The two SD slots mean you almost never run out of room on your cards.The D7000 has the solid feel of a film camera. Something, I have missed in other DSLR units. Color rendering in the shadow areas of the photos is frighteningly good at times. There is a richness in low light, and with tungsten lighting that is REALLY great.I use this as a main, but I would not hesitate to use it as a back up to a pro model. Unlike lower priced DSLRs, former 35mm photographers won't find themselves asking "Where's the...?" and "Why isn't there a...?" like they do with lesser digital SLR cameras. I've owned this camera for about two and one half years. Just a delight to own and use.

I'm a semi pro photographer in a third world country with low budget, but some kind of a talent :)for almost 6 years i had my old good pal the nikon d40, i mastered it and from some time ago i found so many flaws in it .. it even started jeopardizing my work by not working properly, not shutting quick and all.. so i decided to get another camera, i was so eager to get a d700, d300 or d600.. but budget was not enough so i decided the d7000 was the next best thing, and i wasn't wrong at all!!! i invested my money on this incredible camera and the tank the nikkor 17-55mm f2.8... awesome couple! blew my eyes when saw the result of the first wedding i shot with this jewel! i know it is not the fantastic and perfect d3 or d4 (i hope when i become a master photographer in the upcoming years i'll be able to buy one) but for the money and features it is totally worth it! the quality is awesome, the controls are easy to handle, has many advanced features that will help you to improve as a photographer. Works great in low light conditions, focus fast and along with my tank lens it is just as fast as sound.. click click click! no more "wait a second..." issue i had with my ol d40...it might have some issues as any equipment, i read a lot before deciding to buy this one, but as for me i got a diamond (not a lemon thanks god) :) pretty happy with my purchaseif you are in my case (moving to the next semi pro level) this is the right camera to buy, invest more on a great lens. If you are already a super pro, then go for the d4, i think you would see the flaws in the d7000 as i see on the d40 now..as for me, i'm completely satisfied :)

No need to go into a long technical preview here, some other posters have done an excellent job at pointing out this little camera's finer points. One even had a "cool list" - which I found quite useful.One of my other choices (and sent back) was the D3200 among others. The D3200 to me was plasticy and almost toyish, and had [some] useful features. They call the D3200 an entry level camera and they mean it. We sat around comparing hundreds of photos between the D3200 and the D7000 the other day, and the D7000's results were night/day. I mean, REALLY jump-out-at-you noticeable. The D7000, even though about 6 megapixels smaller (24 vs 17?) ALWAYS produces better photos - especially when blown up. We've done a number of 3' x 5's done using raw, and the final product is awesome hanging on the wall. We asked the print shop about the 24mp D3200 files, and after they compared a few they overwhelmingly said go with the D7000's files. His comment was something like "yes, some of the cheaper cameras have a higher pixel count, but we noticed a lot of the pixels were duplicated and lacked color definition - they do that to use cheap sensor technology with the bragging rights of 24mp"And finally, the D7000 is just loaded with working features that make it a very useful tool. Sometimes you find a camera that meets all of your needs without breaking the bank. It's design is particularly natural - everything is where you think it should be. It does what you think it should do. The only negative I have with any of these high-end cameras is there's no native wifi built in. The add-on wifi thing for the D3200 doesn't count as it's much too hokey to be useful. It's not really wifi - if you don't believe me go get one and see. IMHO Nikon and Canon have really dropped the ball on 802.11, but they're probably thinking #1) they don't want to be in the networking biz and #2) It'll kill the battery life. But get a grip guys - wifi is here to stay, and it's only a matter of time before you realize it and build it into the cameras. Go ahead, be brave and beat the other guys to the market! (the mem card/wifi combo can be useful, but they have their own issues as they are not native to the camera)But the D7000 is a most capable camera. The full-auto on this camera is so incredibly intelligent - it's hard to make a bad photo with it. And when you want it to bend over backwards, you can modify it with manual controls in 10mil ways. Pay the extra few $hundred and be done with it - you'll be glad you did!

Five Stars to Amazon, 4 Stars to Nikon. Read on...After being a Canon user ( 450D XSI with 24-105L & 70-300IS 4.5-5.6, Speedlite EX 580EX), I finally decided to give Nikon a try and what better model than the much acclaimed D7000 to make the leap!Amazon promptly delivered my wishlist and the first 3 days I spent hours of controlled shots - Still life, Tripod mounted, manual and programmed exposures - comparing the image quality between my entry level, 4 year old Canon XSI and the D7000. While exposure accuracy and high ISO noise levels (significantly) were better on the D7000, I was aghast to notice that the D7000 could never match the image sharpness of my faithful 4 year old Canon, which cost less than half of the Nikon. Did I make a wrong choice? Google to the rescue - I quickly realized I am not alone in being unhappy with the soft images from D7000. Few more days of research, and a comparison with my friend's D90 reiterated my worst fears - MY D7000 PROVIDES SOFT IMAGES. No matter if I cranked up the default In-camera sharpness to 7 or 8 from 3 - these were simply not sharp. Swapping the 18-105 kit lens from my D7000 with my friend's D90 was quite a revelation - The problem was with the lens severely back focussing and not with the D7000 body - Whew!. The back focus was beyond what could be adjusted with D7000's AF micro adjust. By -20 ( the limit), sharpness improved, but still not matching to my old Canon.Then I called Amazon - requested for a replacement lens. The customer support person after a lengthy consultation with his supervisor, informed since the lens is part of the camera kit, they will have to replace both my camera and lens, and a replacement was being sent to me immediately - 5 STARS TO AMAZON FOR CUSTOMER SUPPORT. As for Nikon, that Kit lens should not have passed their QC, which led me to doubt the fine camera's quality - So, only FOUR STARS FOR NIKON.Unfortunately, I had to go out of town for couple of weeks, while my replacement D7000 arrived and awaiting the verdict. OK, I got back and started the comparison between the old and the replacement D7000s and to my big releif, found the replacement body and the kit provided the sharpness I expected form a camera of this repute.With the old Nikon back in mail enroute to Amazon returns, and couple of hundred shots on my new Nikon (Controlled comparison tests, family outing and a kids' birthday party) later, I am ready for rating my priced posession. My benchmark is obviously the Canon XSI I was used to, albeit with professional ( L series) lens, and I am listing the subjective elements than the superior specifications.D7000: ProsOverall image quality (provided you are fortunate to get a 18-105 lens without back / front focus issues).Very low noise levels and good image quality up to ISO 1600, even ISO 3600 provides very usable pictures.Noticeably better dynamic range.Very good JPEG engine - Though I shoot primarily RAW, many JPEGS are useable as-is.More stable body, allowing hand holding at slower speeds. Extra weight does not hurt.Soft and refined shutter release compared to the Canon's metallic click.Higher res LCD & bigger view finder.More accurate Auto White Balance - Very few need post processing.Faster continuous shooting ( Not relevant to me, as I shoot landscapes, not sports)39 AF Points - especially when you want to compose with subjects off center.Movie mode with continuous AF - Continuous AF is not as reliable as in a consumer handycam, neverthelss it is there.2 SD card slots - allowing me to record RAW in one and JPEGS n the other.Cons:Only one so far - tendency to over expose under difficult conditions.18-105 Lens:Pros: Excellent range, light, good sharpness for lens of this price range, fairly fast focussing, relatively smooth zoom action.Cons: Heavy barrel distortion at wide end of Zoom, prone to lens flare when shooting into light.Bottom line: Was this a worthy upgrade? I gain better low light performance with lower noise levels - ISO 1600 on teh D7000 is comparable to or better than ISO 800 on the Canon XSI in terms of noise. Better dynamic range allows me to get pictures which would have burnt otherwise.Will keep updating as I get more experience with this camera.ThanksSuresh Nair

I've had a Nikon D40 for about four years, and finally upgraded to the D7000 in advance of a long trip I'm taking.This review concentrates on what's different between the D7000 and the D40. That might sound strange since they're so different, but I think that it's a common upgrade- I bought my D40 to get my feet wet, took tens of thousands of pictures, and started bumping into the camera's limits on occasion, and learning to operate in those limits.To compare the D7000 to the D40, first I will give you the 'cons'-It's heavier and larger. You notice this when you carry it around. I could throw my D40 and kit lens in my bag and forget it's there.-It seems more prone to having the memory card door pop open. It might just be me, and maybe my hands will get more used to it, but I seem to accidentally dislodge the door and the little rubber plug near the battery door on a regular-ish basis when I'm pulling the camera out of my bag.-It's a little harder to set up. What do you expect? It's a lot more camera, and I don't do manuals.-The battery is slower to charge, and doesn't seem to last any longer.-The fancy AF system can be confusing if you're used to always using one point to focus and recompose.These 'cons' could just be my whining at no longer having my trusty familiar camera in my hand, and having to learn something new again instead of concentrating purely on the images.Some 'pros' compared to the D40:-The low light quality is leaps and bounds better. I hesitated to shoot the D40 at ISO 1600, and now I am willing to shoot at 3200 with the D7000. Even 6400 can give nice shots, and the HI-2 (equivalent of 25,600) can give very usable shots if you don't mind heavily post processing them and only using them reduced to web sizes.-The metering is noticeably better, so I have to adjust the exposure less, and have fewer blown highlights.-The viewfinder is larger, so its easier to see what you're doing.-The auto white balance has a much wider range of correction, and is more accurate. In difficult mixed indoor/outdoor lighting, I feel like I have a real shot at getting colors right with this camera. Even if the 'auto' isn't infallible, the adjustments are much easier to tweak, and have more range.-The dynamic range is great. I'm not sure if it's the Auto-ADR or something else, but I have been getting some great shots. As an example, I have somebody indoors with a bright light streaming in from the sun outside, and nasty overhead lights, and I am now able to much more reliably get shots that show her face with a nice soft graduation of light instead of looking posterized.One other thing to mention is that I've compared the D7000 to the D700 briefly, and I will say that the D700 still seems to be the superior camera. It feels better in the hand, the viewfinder is bigger, and you can read all over the internet about technical stuff that people will argue makes one better than another. In my eyes the D700 is better. Is it $1,000 better? Maybe, maybe not. If you're in the market, I'd say to go get your hands on both.In closing, you may want to know if I am I getting rid of my D40. Heck no! I couldn't sell it for much anymore due to its age, but it's still reliable and makes great pictures.

Take note this is my first Dslr camera. came a looong way from a kodak 8z812 is. Also i didn't not buy it from amazon as i buy pretty much every thing from here( sorry amazon)not your fault, i don't really trust something over 1,000 getting delivered to my house.I canot recommend enough how great this camera is. even to get started if you want to become a pro photographer and don't have enough money for the big boy cameras. trust me, this camera with. before i bought it i must of seen over a thousand reviews saying that it was a great camera and don't buy it with the kit lens. well i went on anyways and bought it with a kit lens since i didn't have a lot more money to buy a pro lens. the kit lens is great to get you started with the camera, I'm not going to lie and say you don't need anything else because you do. i did a practice wedding shoot for a friend, (REMEMBER NEVER AGREE TO BE THE MAIN PHOTOGRAPHER IF YOUR JUST GETTING STARTED, YOU WILL RUIN THE WEDDING) well anyways, while the photographer they hired was taking photos of them getting married i was doing the same thing and trying not to get in his way. here is what i notice about the lens.-First ---Inside a brightly lit church the lens will give you the photos you need. you might just need to bump up the iso a bit. and since i bought it with the 18-105 kit lens i didn't necessarily have to be in there face all the way. i can just stand back and take photos of them as well.-Second--- remember when i said you can zoom in to get out there way? yea ones you start to zoom in the F stop will go higher REALLY quick. so you need to compensate on a higher iso because if you don't the pictures will either come out dark or if you don't have a pretty quick shutter speed there going to be blurry.--third-- the camera made as much noise as the photographers 300s. take note when your inside a church and the priest is the only one talking that will be disturbing.....--Fourth-- The picture quality with the lens was ok. I would not say professional. to an average person the the photos looks great but for some one who wants to strive but the best results to become a pro is not.so the bottom line. i will completely recommend this camera with the kit lens. even if doesn't sound good. you will get better if you practice on the kit lens first and then when you go out and buy does expensive 2.8 nikon lens you will appreciated MUCH more.one last thing. when you do buy lenses. i would suggest to but FX lenses. they work perfect on a DX body and ones you upgrade to a FX body the lenses you bought won't go to waste because if you buy DX lenses and then put them on a FX body it will still 1.5 crop your photos because its a lens made for a DX, even if your on that FX body.they might be more expensive but worth it because the lenses are sure to last you longer then the body.any questions feel free to ask :)

Good camera, noticeable improvements from a D90. I shoot real estate and it's good to have the dual slots for SD cards as a back up. 100% view finder allows me to frame exactly what I see and want to show. Slightly better noise and color over the D90. Longer movie recording at full HD. Also a quicker camera for making adjustments and changes.I shoot in manual mode primarily. The 2 presets U1 and U2 can be very useful for having a couple of different settings ready for different effects.The dynamic range is about 3/4 stop better for highlights and shadows.Since I shoot RAW, at 16 mega pixels the file sizes are manageable and not too large, still plenty large for printing in high quality.Overall, a good camera that does the job for me. For under $800, it's a sweet deal.

I bought my D7000 as an upgrade from my D80, which was itself an upgrade from the D50. I'm not one to buy a new dSLR every couple of years; I have been wanting to migrate from the D80 for awhile now because I don't like its meter, which consistently overexposed and blew out the highlights in pictures. I considered the D90, of course, but it wasn't quite enough to make me take the plunge. The D7000 is. I don't understand Nikon's naming convention on this camera, though: Prior to this, the pro-level cameras had one numeric digit (D1, D2, D3), the enthusiast-level cameras had two digits (D40-D60 for lower end, D70-D90 for higher end), and the newer consumer-level cameras had four digits (D3100, D5000). The D7000 in no way belongs in the same class as any consumer-grade camera. Nikon may have created an entirely different class of dSLR here. It beats every two-digit camera they've made, and might even render the amazing D300s largely irrelevant, but that's just an opinion. So, Nikon's inconsistent nomenclature notwithstanding, this camera is fantastic in nearly every way.Suffice it to say that anyone interested in this camera knows the specs. Nothing in the marketing blurbs, however, can convey the way the D7000 feels and operates in the hands of a photographer. This camera just hums. It feels solid and professional, the buttons and dials are thoughtfully placed (no surprise there... ergonomics and build quality are why I shoot with Nikon), and the performance is just breathtaking. The D7000 borrows numerous features from its pro-grade lineup, such as blazing speed (largely unnecessary but still impressive at 6 fps), magnesium alloy body, virtual horizon, user-defined controls for entire banks of settings, etc. And it gets some features of its own, like 14-bit processing, a new processing engine, a newly-designed 16.2 MP sensor, vastly improved metering (much better than my D80), an intervalometer (for unsupervised timed interval shooting), and 100% viewfinder coverage. A full range of "live" adaptive dynamic range lighting control (called "D-lighting") is available, including an "AUTO" setting my D80 lacked. This really helps with high-contrast scenes, preserving the detail in the light areas while bringing out some of the details in the shadows. Focusing is fast, fast, fast, even with my non-Nikkor lens, which had regular problems on the D80. The D7000 manages it perfectly. Obviously, performance with my Nikkor lenses is silent, fast, and flawless. All of this translates into a remarkable experience for the experienced photographer. Playback is great too -- fast response when zooming (including diagonal zooming), and a new feature called "Face Playback" or something like that which is actually as useful as it is gimmicky, unlike most things like this which are more gimmicky than useful in real-world applications. When zooming in on a photo with people in it, the screen puts a small white box around all the faces. Set the zoom level, then use the front dial button to move instantly from face to face. Use the main (rear) dial to move to the next picture at the same zoom level. It's really useful and fun for checking to see if everyone is smiling and has their eyes open in a group photo. It's definitely gimmicky, since it's not strictly necessary, but in this case, it's actually quite useful, too. I enjoy this feature.The menus are logically laid out, and pressing the "?" button offers more in-depth information on any of the myriad features and functions in the menus. Everything is HIGHLY customizable... you can easily spend several hours playing with menu settings, but owing to Nikon's liberal sprinkling of dedicated buttons and controls on the D7000 body, you won't need to dive into the menus very often after the initial tweaks are made. The superb degree of customization possible is what pushes the D7000 solidly into the very high end of enthusiast cameras. If you tend to leave your dSLR set on AUTO nearly all the time, don't waste the money on the D7000; buy the excellent D3100 instead. It's got many of the same features for half the price.Battery life on the D7000 is completely insane. For even an enthusiast shooter, one full charge can easily last a week of shooting 100+ photos per day. Going on a weekend vacation? A week? Leave the charger at home. I took it on a six-day trip to Thailand and lost only one segment on the battery meter during that time (although to be fair, I didn't shoot hundreds and hundreds of photos). The D7000 is rated at 1,050 shots per charge, and I believe it based on my own usage so far. This is nothing particularly jaw-dropping for me, though: the D80 battery lasts forever, too. I also love the twin SD card slots with their multiple options for use: overflow, backup, dedicated video/RAW assignment... brilliant.As reported, low-light performance is excellent, particularly with a fast lens. Even with a standard f/3.5 zoom, the lack of noise in ISOs up to 1600 means you won't be popp

My first DSLR was a D80 I purchased four years ago. The shutter went out a few weeks back but I had been planning to upgrade to the D7000 anyway so this just hurried things up. I bought the D7000 kit with the 18-105 lens but quickly sold that on Ebay. There is nothing wrong with the 18-105 lens, but it would be a shame to keep that as your only or primary lens on such a fine camera. It really belongs with more of an entry level DSLR such as the D3100. Consider the 16-85, 35mm 1.8 prime, or 18-200.I was shooting with a Tamron 17-50 2.8 lens on the D80. For low light, it worked pretty well but greater than half the time I needed to use my SB-600 flash to capture my young kids doing what they do (move). The only downside to the Tamron, or combination of the Tamron with the D80, was that the images tended to be soft, especially when opened up. So I also upgraded my lens to the Nikkor 16-85. While this is a variable lens that maxes out at 3.5, it is amazingly sharp combined with the D7000. And the extra reach is great for getting better shots and also providing relatively shallow depth of field that otherwise would be lost with the slower aperture.The reason I mention the lens change is that I wouldn't have gone to a variable lens had it not been for the amazing ISO performance on the D7000. I am now shooting flashless at very fast shutter speeds. I usually shoot raw and process with Lightroom and I'm seeing amazing results at 800 ISO even when fully blown up (1:1). At ISO 1600, I can see minor noise but Lightroom 3's noise reduction easily eliminates it. 3200 certainly isn't noiseless but again, Lightroom can clean it up very well in most situations. My old D80 had more noise at 400 than the D7000 has at 1600; I'd say 800 on it was equivalent to 3200 on the D7000. I could see printing 1600 shots at smaller sizes with no need for software cleanup. So while my results are preliminary (3 weeks in), I am astonished at the ISO capabilities of this camera. I no longer have d700 envy and am glad I can get great dx lenses for under $700 as opposed to $1500 for fx. Perfect for enthusiasts like me!You've seen the stat that the D7000 can shoot 6 shots per second. The 6FPS shutter is in some ways overkill. But if you shoot HDR/Bracket shots in quick succession having such a rapid shutter can allow you to do so handheld. This is really only possible because of the high ISO capabilities enabling very fast shutter times. And for sporting events and the like, it's nice to have the ability to rapidly fire off shots.I have also noticed considerably improved metering and white balance on the D7000 compared to my old D80. Of the 350 or so shots I've taken, I am spending much less time adjusting lighting and white balance in Lightroom.As others have mentioned, the ergonomics/design of the camera are quite good and I really enjoy the many direct access shortcuts for adjusting everything from focus to flash to white balance and much more. The two custom settings are very easy to set and perfect for your two most common profiles (e.g. indoor portrait and outdoor landscape). The screen is beautiful and moving in and around even RAW files is very smooth and fast. I went with two 16GB SD class 10 Transcend cards and while I'm currently using the RAW 1 / JPEG 2 option, I plan to use the second as a backup card once I go to RAW only.I've only toyed with the video function but that was a part of my consideration since I dislike carrying two cameras, plus chargers and media, on family vacations. The tests I've done in 1080P have been very impressive, albeit large as you would expect. Auto-focusing while video recording is okay, as long as the background isn't too noisy or subjects too many. The biggest downside I have experienced is the built-in microphone picks up lots of auto focusing noise. I have not yet invested in an external mic but probably will need to.All in all I am very pleased with the D7000 and see no major shortcomings. It's not cheap, but you get a lot for your money if you are in the market for a prosumer class DSLR. For users who won't explore and use the MANY options and capabilities of this camera, I would recommend considering the 3100 at less than half the cost. For D70/80/90 users who are ready to step up big time in terms of performance, this is the upgrade you have been waiting for. Some will hold out for a D700 successor (D800 or whatever it ends up being called). I have no doubt it will be an amazing camera but cost wise, you're going to be looking at $2500+ for the body alone and pay roughly double for coverage equivalent lenses. So figure $4K just to get started. Too rich for my non-professional needs but certainly should be considered if your work or wants dictate that level of camera. And there maybe be a D300s replacement in the works too. Still, I'd urge anyone to consider the D7000, which in my opinion is the best cropped sensor DSLR to date.

This camera is incredible, I am just learning it and it produces great pics... I bought David Busch's (Engineering textbook) D7000 guide and after about 1200 shots am just beginning to scratch the surface of what this camera is capable of.. Many before me have written much better reviews with much better expanations on how great this camera really is so I won't go into that.I am a hobbyist with a pretty good eye for photograpy that used a D50 for 5 years or so and SLR film user since the early 80's. Early last year I had the opportunity to start shoot at a local charity's events (12-13 per year), HS graduations at their adult high school and program graduations as well. I also really enjoy landscape, macro, wildlife and vacation photography as well. The D50 was OK and worked pretty well in regular light but started to have a lot of problems that several local repair facilities and Nikon all said buy a new camera... My choices were the Nikon D90, D300s and the D7000 and after loosing on an Ebay bid for a new D300s I decided to go for the D7000 from Amazon.... Best price, fast delivery and good support incase something goes wrong... I intend to buy an additional four year warranty extension to support my photography as soon as I recover from sticker shock and get a few new lenses...I was a little intimidated by the vast ammount of functions that this camera offers but have found that if I am paitent and continue to learn one function at a time that I will have a great tool for a long time in the future... The fears I had about being too complicated to really learn, the strange over manipulated samples from Amazon's pics, FLICKR and several on line forums I belong to and the fear that I would only use about 35% of this camera's actual capabilities have been put to rest by David Busch's book...I have shot mostly in one of the four modes controlled by the dial so far and have loved them. (Auto, Program, Shutter and Aperature) Even on Auto most of the pics have turned out better than the D50. As I gain a better knowledge of the functions and light readings of this camera I will begin to step away from the mode dial and start to use more of my choices for ISO shutter and ap speed... Don't get me wrong, not every pic has come out calling to be framed and put on my wall at home but I can assure both the novice and the intermediate shooter that you will not regret buying this camera... It will grow with you (and until you become a pro if that is your goal) satisfy your every photographic need... I am happy that I can use my old lenses during the learning curve so that when I am ready I will be able to shell out some buck for the real "Glass" that Nikon makes. These old lenses still are great for a lot of pic taking and will suffice for a time...The colors are great and actually really close to what the eye sees, I have been surprised time after time by the D7000 and how accurate and sharp the pics are even with Nikon kit lenses. Since I really am not one of the so called artist style photographers but do believe that composition is very important in picture taking I have set the goal to do as little manipulation of the shots as possible. With the old D50 it was pretty much manditory because the CCD was on its way out and when I had an event shoot often the camera (or the operator) was fooled by the types of lighting, a non TTL flash or a background that the camera didn't recognise a focal object and wouldn't get a clear focus on anything.... So far the only problem I have actually experienced withe the D7000 was getting it to pick a clear field of focus on a bunch of wild rice shoots with grain that was ready to be harvested... Operator error not the camera... I also understand that this is a universal problem with autofocus DSLR's...My advice is if you are willing to put in the work and really learn photography,,,,, Buy it...

I had used a point and shoot 10 mp canon for a few years and wanted to jump up to a higher level of photography.Having never owned a DSLR or "fancy" camera before I was fortunate enough to find enough money to get a D7000. I have not been disappointed at all. I made sure the firmware was upgraded and have not had any backfocus issues. I have used the 18-105 "kit" lens which is a great all purpose walkaround lens, a 35mm 1.8 (a must have at sub $200) and the 70-300mm VR lens. None of these are "professional" lenses which all seem to cost as much as my first car, but to a hobbyist like me they produce outstanding photos. The best advice I can give is to read the owners manual, practice a few hundred shots (digital is free!) then read some more and practice more. Join an online discussion group as other people have tons of experience to learn from. Every problem and bad picture I had came down to user error. Once I figured out the proper procedure, my pictures became exceptional. The D7000 is plenty if not more camera than an average hobbyist needs. I dont think I will outgrow this camera for about 10 years (if I ever do). I now shoot low light inside, family photos on holidays etc and my all my kids sporting events with great results. Other parents often ask me if I have any shots of their kids which I take as a compliment. I do have one word of caution to new buyers looking at the D7100 and other cameras with huge MP's (over 18 mp) be careful what you wish for because picture files can get so huge on a 24, 36 or higher MP camera that you may need to upgrade memory on your computer or worse, get a new one if you're serious about your editing!

I bought the D7000 as a package through Amazon's retailer, Adorama. I've had it less than 30 days at this point. I do digital artwork, which means I photograph everything from landscapes to macro images, and I process everything through Photoshop. First issue I've noticed with this camera and lens is that it is very slow when used in anything from full manual mode (which solves a great deal of problems). When you don't rely on the camera to "make" your images (auto-focus, white balance, auto-exposure, etc.), you can work around some of the issues. When I do have to use some of the camera's modes, there are issues of off-and-on crispness. The lens that came with this package is cheaply made, and engineered so poorly that "lens creep" occurs at about 70mm if the camera is held at less than a 90 degree angle. This throws everything out of whack.I called Nikon service to ask is there was any repair possible on the lens creep issue on the lens. While they were courteous, it was concluded there was no point in sending in either the body or the lens as they are aware of the problems and have no fix for them. And they offer the Nikon customer nothing, which I find appalling. Nikon is well aware of the problems with this camera and this lens, and, if they were a responsible company, they would either do a recall, or offer the customer a discount on another model and lens that doesn't have the issues of this one. But no. What an arrogant way to do business.At the end of the day, I'm too entrenched in Nikon products (like the great Speed Flash and my fixed distance lenses) to give up the ghost on Nikon. I'm also not able to spend $7,000 for a pro body. Adorama offered to take back the whole package, but that doesn't really solve anything other than save up for the better body and hope my lenses are compatible with it.Shame on you, Nikon. You used to set the bar for the SLR cameras back in the day, but all you produce is flawed equipment and disappointed customers.

I went a little crazy last year and bought a D700. I learned that camera pretty well and absolutely loved shooting with it. But I am an amateur and always felt a little guilty having spent that much money on a hobby. What's more, the D700 is big and heavy compared to amateur cameras (it's an awesome size for pros), and I actually found myself leaving it at home on occasion because of that size and weight. So when the D7000 was out for a bit and received such good reviews, I jumped.I fell in love with the D7000 immediately and sold the D700. Of course, I would have kept both if I could justify the cash, but the D7000 is so good that I usually don't feel like I'm missing much. There are quite a few interesting points to be made comparing the two cameras, but I recognize that the average shopper would not be considering the two in the same class, so I'll just say I'd be happy to answer questions in the comments. The short version is that while the D700 produces slightly better images and generally handles better, the D7000 is at least 90% the camera for the half the price and is better suited to the amateur shooter in several respects.So why do I like it so much?-Beautiful images, of course.-Low light performance is extremely admirable for a DX sensor.-100% viewfinder-Flash commander mode for using flash off-camera-The right amount of heft and size for my taste. Build feels excellent, and it's got weatherproofing!-Dual SD cards are a nice touch.-Handling is great. U1 and U2 modes are a wonderful addition. Nikon's command dials have a nice feel and are extremely useful.-I didn't buy this camera for video, but the video looks great IF you handle it right. Think movie camera rather than family video cam.What I don't like as much?-Buffer is a bit small when shooting NEF (RAW). It doesn't affect me because I don't shoot much action, but heavy sport shooting could be difficult in NEF.-SD cards still aren't as fast as CF cards.-Viewfinder is a nice size for DX, but it's still nowhere near the size of an FX viewfinder.-I think I prefer the AF selector on the D700 by a hair. One finger vs two. Not that big a deal.-See above, but video is obviously not as easy as a dedicated video camera. Who cares?I mentioned the D5100 in my title because I think many people are wondering if the D7000 is worth the extra cost over the D5100. The short answer is that it depends on how serious of a shooter you are. Do you understand the relationship between shutter speed, aperture, and ISO? If the answer is "No, and I don't care," stop reading and buy the D5100, or even the D3100. Do you want to film your kids playing soccer? The D5100 is better suited for that, although I'd really suggest you buy a dedicated video camera. These are primarily still cameras after all. If you're a more advanced shooter, or you'd like to become one, consider the following:Some people say the D5100 has the same sensor and the option to shoot video at 30 fps, so why would you possibly want a D7000 instead? There are several very important upgrades that the D5100 does NOT have, some of which I could not live without:-Flash commander mode: Enables you to shoot your external flash or flashes off camera. Huge capability.-Continuous shooting speed is 6 fps vs 4 fps.-Battery life is far superior-Dual SD cards. Not critical, but a very nice feature for backup especially.-Lossless compressed 14-bit NEFs. Probably not a deal breaker, but I want every bit of quality available from that sensor!-100% viewfinder vs 95%. I didn't know I wanted it until I got it.-Non AF-S lens compatible (for autofocusing), Will meter with AI lenses. Another huge feature. I can use my 30-year-old 85mm f/2 lens.-Faster shutter-Better AF system. Another big deal for dynamic shooting situations.-Flash bracketingThe D5100 is cheaper, lighter, has a swiveling screen, and shoots video at 30 fps.At $300 more, I think the D7000 is an excellent value compared to the D5100 when you consider the extra features it has.What else can I say that hasn't already been said elsewhere? The D7000 is the camera to beat in this class, if you know how to shoot, and often, even if you don't.