back to article Nikon D7000 DSLR camera

In the months following the launch of its new mid-range DSLR at Photokina, Nikon struggled to keep up with demand, so successful and fabled the D7000 had quickly become. But does it really live up to the hype? Nikon D7000 Clicking into place: Nikon's D7000 Well, to start with there are quite a few headline-grabbing …

COMMENTS

This topic is closed for new posts.
  1. BristolBachelor Gold badge

    In-camera effects

    I'm a bit lost with these. It seems to be aimed at an advanced user, but yet has these strange in-camera effects (especially the way the 'tilt-shift' has cut the woman in the foreground in half; Half of her is near the camera, the other half far away!)

    Why? Do Nikon think that the person who will buy this will not be able to do B&W / Sepia on a computer? Why not have a full-auto mode or portrait mode? This stuff should be left for camera phones and disposable compacts.

    1. Scott Herter
      Go

      It's not for final production

      It is more for testing the image before heading home. Black & White and sepia type affects highlight the contrast in a scene by getting rid of the color. Scenes that look great in color often look boring and drab in black and white. By the same token scenes that look drab and boring in color can look spectacular in black & white. I use this often on my camera to check out how the affect might look so I can alter settings, change position, wait for different lighting, etc. before going home, using photo shop, and finding out the original image does not work so well once altered.

      I did a series of shots on an overcast winter day where all the colors were washed out by nature. Produced un-interesting color pictures but using black & white along with a number of other affects produced some spectacular pictures. I made good use of the cameras ability to convert the images so I could re-try shots if they didn't come out right the first time. Without that I would not have known when some pictures needed to be re-taken with different settings.

  2. Anonymous Coward
    Thumb Up

    Positioning

    Seems that Nikon have just released thier 7D..

    1. No, I will not fix your computer
      Heart

      If only Canon see it that way....

      Then the 1Ds Mk4 will come out early, the 5D Mk3 will shortly follow, love the 7D, love the 5DMk2 just can't wait until they have babies, (fast accurate focus, full frame 28Mp 8fps).

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      I thought the 7D

      was Canon's response to the D300 range

      from specs it almost looks like a replacement for the D300s :s

  3. Tim #3

    Also....

    That looks very good, but is there any chance el Reg is planning a review of budget DSLRs for these more cost-conscious times? Am wondering about getting a Pentax K-M...

    1. Jamie Kitson

      erm...

      http://www.reghardware.com/2009/02/06/review_digital_slr_camera_pentax_k_m/

    2. Code Monkey

      Here's one

      http://www.reghardware.com/2010/09/10/grouptest_budget_dslr_cameras_intro/

  4. Spartacus
    Joke

    Refreshing change..

    Have to say t's nce to see two competng companes share the letter D, makes such a refreshng change to that other company, who warm up the lawyers every tme someone uses ther letter.

  5. Sorry that handle is already taken. Silver badge

    Fantastic camera

    While not a Nikon user, I nonetheless think it's a great thing whenever they release such an excellent camera as this one, because it puts pressure on the manufacturer of the system I do use to lift their game even further.

  6. Steve Davies 3 Silver badge
    Thumb Up

    Nice job Nikon, nice review.

    Any nikon fan looking for a new body should consider one of these. Like the reviewer I have a D700 and was looking to 'trade up' this year.

    The D700 replacement is going to be delayed for, well a long time. The D3x, D3s and D700 bodies along with most of the pro lenses are made in Sendai, Japan.

    I might consider getting one of these myself. The kit lens is just that, a kit lens. I'd probably try to get the new 24-120Lens instead. however I use the higher ISO's a lot so I'd need to see for myself what the noise was at 6400.

    Walking around the West End of London with the D700 + 24-120, iso 6400 and taking handheld shots at night without using the flash is a real treat. If I were to buy one of these it would have to pass that test first.

    1. hexx

      24-120L?

      L lenses are canon lenses not nikon lenses. did you mean 24-120 f/4 vr?

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Headmaster

        @hexx

        oops! try cleaning your screen.

        1. hexx

          hehe

          not just screen, need new set of eyes. will pay a visit to tyrell corp

  7. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Brief D90 comparison

    I've had a D90 since it was released and if the D7000 had been available at the same time the only thing that might have persuaded me to buy the latter would have been the dual SD cards, much of the other improvements are unnecessary bells and whistles.

    If I'd been interested in the video capabilities then the continuous autofocus which is lacking on the D90 would also have been a consideration.

    As it is coming a few years later I can't see many D90 users seeing this as an upgrade so I'd also have to agree with Nikon.

    >This arrangement should prevent hitting it by mistake with the thumb, as I tend to do with the D90.

    I can only think that you have either a weird way of holdinng the camera or a deformed thumb, my fingers are quite long and I've never had this occur.

    1. hexx

      high iso performance

      Is one of the most important additions. You would definitely benefit just from that. you can use iso 3200 for pro work with d7000, you can't with d90.

  8. GettinSadda
    Stop

    Please stop it!

    Please stop posting the videos via YouTube!

    You may as well not post sample videos at all because whatever comes out of the camera is ruined by YouTube's recompression.

  9. Fuzz

    Exposure

    The over exposure is not an issue with the new sensor, Nikon makes a distinction between how a consumer SLR exposes and how a pro model will treat the same scene.

    Nikon expects a pro to want to save highlights and then bring out the subject in post if needed. They expect a consumer to want the subject to be well exposed at the expensive of sky or other background. They do this by giving a greater weighting to the area under the active focus point. Unfortunately this can lead to unpredictable results. The D80 is the worst for this, the D90 improved the situation, hopefully the D7000 is another step in the right direction.

    1. Steve Davies 3 Silver badge
      Pint

      Want to stop highlights from burning out?

      Just set the camera to underexpose by 2/3 (0.7) of a stop.

      I've been doing that since I went digital with a D100. All my DSLR bodies are set to underexpose the .3 or .7 of a stop. I even did this before Digital (F3/F4) when shooting Slide/reversal film.

      And to my earlier post...

      I did say 24/120 LENS.... I am perfectly aware that L series lenses are Canon ones. As a one time Canon user (AE-1 with the notorious sticking shutter blind) who switched to Nikon in 1978 I would never confuse the two. I've owned the old 24-120 lens for 5 years. It is my standard lens on the D700.

      now its time for a beer. Red Noses all round this afternoon...

      1. hexx

        sorry

        for that lens comment, it's my eyes :)

      2. magnetik

        Re: Want to stop highlights from burning out?

        Setting a minus exposure compensation is fine if you're shooting in JPEG where highlight info gets lost easily. If you're shooting in RAW it's better to overexpose than underexpose as more can be recovered from that kind of exposure, thus you ETTR (expose to the right) when shooting RAW, as you would do for slide film.

        1. The Fuzzy Wotnot
          Pint

          Indeed

          Just what I was thinking and something most teachers I have seen, seem to teach. Always err on overexposure side, you can't save shadows if they are too dark due to the noise that will get in there. If I just don't like what I see on the back I will overexpose and recover the detail later on in Adobe Camera RAW.

  10. Richard 92

    Disappointing RAW Buffer Size

    Catherine overlooked the fact that the D7000 has an unusually small RAW buffer. It makes the 6 fps shooting speed less useful.

  11. quartzie

    choppy video

    I have to ask - does the video really look so choppy to everyone, or is it just me? Or perhaps YouTube is to blame?

  12. Anonymous Coward
    Pint

    time to upgrade...

    as a semi pro / enthusiast photographer I have been using my Nikon d40 for some time now and have never felt the need to "upgrade" I get perfect shots every time, although it did take me a good 12 months to be able to constantly get good results from the D40.

    After reading this review i started drooling and am considering an upgrade.

    Just need to point out to people before they start sniggering at the ageing d40 (and its not even the D40x) that 95% of the work involved in a good photograph is the person holding the kit. You have to know how to use the electronic gadgetry to get the most out of it. The amount of times I see people with £1000+ priced cameras and just set to auto everything.... disgraceful...

    I am now feeling sad for my trusty D40...

    beer.... the staple diet of photographers

This topic is closed for new posts.

Other stories you might like