The D7000 is an awesome camera. In spite of my quibbles about image quality, it’s as good as any other crop-sensor digital SLR on the market and I was always happy to have it in my hands. The auto focus and six FPS burst rate are great for action subjects and the low-light image quality is very good. Video performance is also great. It doesn’t have quite the number of video frame rate and resolution options as the Canon digital SLRs. But it makes up for that with the built-in intervalometer and continuous auto focus in video mode. As long as you don’t expect to track high-speed athletic events, the D7000′s movie mode continuous auto focus is a very nice feature. Families with kids should be very pleased with it.
My overall experience with the D7000 was very positive. As a backcountry action sports photographer, I really like the D7000′s balance between packability and performance. Pair the D7000 with the Nikkor AF-S 18-200mm VR II lens and you’ve got a winning all-purpose camera kit for travel, mountain biking or backcountry skiing. It’s also pretty damn good right out of the box with the 18-105mm kit lens – especially when you compare the $1500 kit price to similarly-spec’d cameras. As the kids on the Internet like to say, the D7000 is full of win.
Who Should Buy It
The Nikon D7000 is an excellent choice for:
- Nikon digital SLR owners looking to upgrade from an older or entry-level body.
- Nikon pros looking for a small, light backup body.
- Outdoor action sports photographers who want a packable camera that can handle action photography.
- Beginner sports photographers on a budget
- Nikon owners who want a full HD video-capable DSLR.
- First-time digital SLR buyers willing to spend over $1000 for a full-featured camera they won’t feel the need to replace in a year or two.
- Travel photographers.
The Nikon D7000 is not a good choice for:
- Photographers who want Nikon D3s image quality.
- Videographers looking for professional-quality continuous auto focus in movie mode.
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All photos copyright John Shafer and/or PhotographyREVIEW.com.
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Three years ago, a camera with this level of performance was out of my price range, so I bought an entry level DSLR, that was supposed to tide me over for a few years until something like this was available at this price. My choice came down to the D40 vs the K100D. Since my AIS glass wasn’t really usable on the D40, and the K100 gave more value for the money, I went with Pentax.
Three years, a couple of intermediate bodies, and an insane number of photos later, I just bought a K-5, and am nearly ecstatic with the camera.
If these two cameras had been available at their current price back then, I would have probably gone Nikon rather than Pentax, just to make use of the lenses I already owned. I’m very curious to see how the two cameras compare in real world use. I do a lot of low light dance photography. Last Friday I was hand holding my K-5 and shooting ISO 12,800, f/1.8 at 1/10-1/25 second at 31mm, and I’d be hard pressed to give up image stabilization at f/1.8-1.4.
I don’t feel that one camera can be said to be better than the other, but I’d love to see where each camera excels in relation to the other.
On the subject of the dials and exposure compensation-
The dials can actually be reversed. It’s a custom function, probably under “Buttons and Dials”, although I don’t have a D7000 to check with. You can both reverse the direction they adjust in and switch which ones control aperture and shutter speed.
As for the exposure compensation, it’s actually quite useful in M mode when working with TTL flash, especially Nikon’s wireless CLS system. It allows you to quickly adjust the flash power while maintaining a chosen shutter speed and aperture.
Oh, and the intervalometer isn’t actually new. It’s been available on higher-end models since the D2 series, and the D300, 700, and D3 also have it.
Max-
Thanks for the comment and thanks for correcting my error about the intervalometer. It’s hard to get every fact straight and not miss any details. So many details…
As for the dials – yes I know you can switch them in the menus. I just don’t And I don’t get why Nikon doesn’t just go along with everyone else with the dials. On the other hand, if they did, maybe they wouldn’t be Nikon anymore. They’ve always been a somewhat obstinate company and it would be wrong to say it hasn’t worked for them
Larry-
I’d really like to review the Pentax K-5. It’s been quite a while since I did any serious shooting with a Pentax digital SLR. We need to get this site caught up on the latest Pentax has to offer. And yeah, it would be good to see how that camera compares with comparable Nikon and Canon bodies. I’ve been hearing lots of good things about the K-5.
John, Great write up of the D7000, I’ve been drooling over this for awhile as I save my pennies for my first DSLR, I got to play with one the other day at Costco, good thing the wife was with me to keep me from buying it outright $1799 with a 18-200mmVRII and other goodies was very tempting. The video’s actually better than I thought it would be and seems like for what I shoot it’d work pretty well, I’m just always worried that I should save some more and hold out for a full frame like the future D800 or something, I guess that’s a never ending dilemma though isn’t it…
BTW thanks for making Utah look so cool, nice to see a pro review coming out of this great place. Need to show some redrock!
Max, John, I recently bought a D7000, and one of the first things I did was reverse the Command dials. It was very easy, and I really prefer them that way. In general, the customization options on the camera are excellent.
I understand what you guys mean about reversing the dials. Coming from any other system, it must be difficult. Nikons dials feel right to me, but I suppose that’s because I learned to shoot on them, and have been using AF Nikon cameras for the past 15 years.
What’s much harder is getting used to the zoom and focus directions, I think. I know that when I was working for a Canon paper, it was very hard to switch back and forth.
My impressions of the D7000 after a week of shooting it.
First off thanks to the person who tipped me off on reversing the dials… Coming from this being my first Nikon Camera it was driving me absolutely bananas.
The lack of any kind of audio or exposure meter in video mode is a real drag.
Images seem to have a cool blue tint to them in AWB, anyone else find that to be true?
Against my better judgement i bought this body with the 18-105mm kit lens which is absolutely horrible, i’ve got a 28-70 2.8 on the way and it won’t be here any to soon.
The one thing that I do love about this camera coming from the Canon world is there is a button for everything right on the body. No digging through menus, so ergonomically it gets a 10.
I’m trying hard to LOVE this camera, but so far for me it’s been a love/hate relationship. I’m hoping better glass will make me 100% happy with the D7000.
Good reviews Dan and John.
Cris Mitchell
I got my Nikon D 7000 with the kit lens 18~105. I find the combination good and the kit lens is sharp, focuses fast even in low lights.
I also bought a 35mm 1.8G which is super sharp and fast.
I am now planning to add a few lenses like 50mm 1.4 G, 105 f2.8 VR micro. I also read a review of the new 28~300 VRII.
Would love to have suggestions on these lenses and more.
I usually do landscapes, portraits, and birds, besides family photographs.
I am armature hobbiest.
Now this is what I call a review! Thank you for not rehashing a general review about the specs that can be read from any spec sheet. Thank you for going into your own personal experiences and siting a comparision to the D3s and Sony Alpha. Your camera experience w/D7000 was very insightful and gave great perspective into how far Nikon has come in terms of DSLR evolution. Thanks.
The D7000 is looking really hot. Maybe its time to trade up from the Sony Alpha to the D7000.
Derek-
Maybe you should wait for my Sony Alpha A55 review – it’s on deck, next up for review
Glad you liked the review. Our goal with reviews is always to talk about real world useablility over specs. Anyone can spew out a big list of specs – you can do that without even having the camera in your hends. But specs will never accurately tell you what the real world experience with the camera is like.
Ok i’m not to proud to admit when i’m wrong especially when it happens all the time
After much frustration with the d7000, having spent a week testing and pouring over the manual and a few ebooks I bought on the camera, I noticed a few things that were set weird on the camera D Lighting was turned on etc… so thinking that someone had possibly been playing with the camera at best buy before i purchased it i decided to do a total reset of the camera … probably should have done that a week ago and saved myself much angst. The reset made all the difference in the world, the camera is now firing on all cylinders the 18-105 kit lens while still not great in my book is totally adequate as a walking around lens, light and get’s the job done.
I purchased a Mamiya 645 to Nikon F Adaptor which arrived in the mail today and let me just say WOW, Mamiya glass on the D7000 body is stupidly stunning.
I retract my last post, I’m now 100% happy with my purchase of the D7000, ok well if they fix the Live View issues i’ll be 100% let’s say 98.9 %
Great Camera, Great Review of it.
Cris…
Cris-
That’s great news. When experienced photographers say they don’t like something it’s sort of hard to argue. We all have different styles and tastes and sometimes it just comes down to that. Plus, I hadn’t seen your photos so I couldn’t say if I thought something was wrong. I can only go off my own experience, which was very, very good. So I’m happy to hear you’ve sorted it all out and we’re more or less on the same page. I really do think it’s a great camera – even if the image quaity doesn’t walk all over the 7D like I expected it to.
By the way, thanks for mentioning the metering in Live View. I missed that when I was writing my review. I am aware of it now but when I was using the camera I immediately found a workaround (switch off Live View and meter with the viewfinder) and then never thought of it again. But you mentioning it in the comments section gets the information out there, so thank
I got myNikon D7k and shots taken were amazingly shap & Crisp, the only thing that i don’t like about is when i brought it out at night and outside temp was 14-15 deg., the movie rec.mode doesn’work!!! i brought it back home and tried at room temp. and it works!!???
Thanks for adding your experience to the discussion, Randy. Are you talking 15-degrees Fahrenheit or Celsius? I’ve shot video with the D7000 at temperatures below freezing although I’m not sure I’ve done it when it’s that cold. I have heard of other cameas having problems with video at temperatures below freezing but that still doesn’t sound right to me. Did you take it right out into the cold and try to shoot video? Maybe the abrupt shift from warm to cold gave the camera problems. When I’ve shot cold video I’m usually out for quite a while before I actually shoot anything so the camera has had a chance to cool off.
You might want to try posting a question on our video forum, too. This is the kind of thing that the dedicated video guys might have an answer for.
My son and I just came back yesterday from doing a commercial medical video shoot in Hawaii. Up until now, we had been shooting with rental Canon 5D Mark II bodies and rented lenses. Good stuff, although the Juiced Link audio input was a real kludge, not to mention a real battery eater. 5D Mark II can be finicky about which CF cards you use.
Why rent? We both own a lot of Nikon glass, and didn’t want to have to invest in its replication. So we have been waiting for a Nikon version of the 5D Mark II, full frame shooting 1080p video.
At my urging, my son did some research on the D7000, and with considerable skepticism, agreed to test the D7000. Within 24 hours, he called to pronounce it superior to the 5D Mark II in ease of handling and competitive web-video quality. I immediately bought a second body, and it arrived the day before we left.
For several days, we shot simultaneously with both cameras, one with a lavalier mike and one with a Rode shotgun; one with a Nikon 85mm f1.4 or a Nikon 50mm f1.4 on the subject’s face, and the other with a Tokina 11-16mm or a Nikon 35mm at a different angle.
We also had a bit of time to see Oahu, I did a lot of shooting of scenics and a bit of indoor stuff (dark Japanese temple). I shoot only in RAW, so I cannot tell whether what I found would be comparable if I shot in jpeg.
Conclusion:
1. Video is outstanding. Need to set up so we can listen to the audio in while recording. Would be better if monitoring built in. Rode mike + D7000 is absolutely AMAZING.
2. The sensor is amazing. It blows away the Canon sensor in dynamic range accommodation.
3. Quality of stills at ISO 1600 is darn close to that of the D300 at 400, and ISO 3200 is easily better than 1600 on the D300. I never had the confidence with the D300 to shoot it ISO 3200, so I have no comparison. I found
4. The autofocus for stills on the D7000 is CLEARLY superior to that of the D300. I generally hate the results of the Nikon 18-200 first-generation zoom on the D300. I was amazed at how much more accurate it focuses on the D7000. I am anxious to try the D7000 with my big Nikon 80-200 f2.8 zoom, which was similarly problematic on the D300.
5. The D300/Nikon 35mm f2 is a deadly sharp combo. Ditto with the D7000. I did a few street shots at ISO 3200 with the D7000 and the 35/f2. Again, the dynamic range of the D7000 imaging chip was amazing.
6. I have no interest in video autofocus. My son correctly maintains you have to learn to use manual focus in video mode. The slightest focus hunt would be unacceptable, as would the noise.
7. Quiet mode is interesting. Essentially useless because of lag, but interesting.
Bottom line: The D7000 is a winner. Can’t wait to see a full-frame 1080p Nikon (D800?) when released.
Mel
I decided to test how my new D7000 compares to my D300 in resolution and general rendition. I set up my tripod about 15 feet away from a shelf, and shot both images with a 55mm f2.8 Nikkor, wide open, 200 ISO, 1/50th second.
Here is the D7000 image:
https://picasaweb.google.com/melsnyder/D7000VsD300#slideshow/5590825165226991138
Here is the D300 image:
https://picasaweb.google.com/melsnyder/D7000VsD300#slideshow/5590825164398469090
I think the D7000 is clearly superior
Mel
comparison with Canon is not the true. so if you expected more from D7000 look here: http://members.chello.pl/m.kaluza/HDR_D700.jpg http://members.chello.pl/m.kaluza/HDR_500D.jpg more about that http://forum.optyczne.pl/viewtopic.php?t=14798&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=150
But it is true. My tests were made very carefully and they haven’t been manipulated at all. I took a look at the samples on the site you linked to and they’ve both had Fill Light applied at 100. I’m not sure what exactly that means in terms of exposure but it does show (if the tests are to be trusted) that the Nikon files can be pushed harder with the Fill Light adjustment than the Canon can. That’s great I still expected the D7000 to be a lot better than the Canon than it actually was in my tests.
I am not even close to professional. I’ve owned D40s and D90s, as well as many point and shoot cameras. The D7K, which I bought last December, out classes anything I’ve seen or used. The pics are fantastic. Videos are great.The camera is easy to use and until Nikon makes a full frame that I would be able to afford. I’ll stick with my D7000.
Says:
August 29th, 2011 at 6:15 pm
i want to know the price for a brand new nikon F80 camera on its on i already no the price of the nikon AF NIKKOR 28-80mm lense if you could help me with that it would be a great help thanks
Stephen – try when I want to find a price on used gear I check the final prices on eBay and http://www.keh.com. KEH is on one of the best sources for used camera gear. The price will be in US dollars but that’s as good a place as any to start.
stephen mccallum
Says:
August 29th, 2011 at 6:19 pm
Says:
August 29th, 2011 at 6:15 pm
i want to know the price for a brand new nikon F80 camera on its on i already no the price of the nikon AF NIKKOR 28-80mm lense if you could help me with that it would be a great help thanks
Best camera i ever owned ! great review