Nikon D7000 review

For the opportunity Nikon D7000 Review many thanks to Igor

Review of the Nikon D7000 body. Near Vega-11U.

Nikon D7000 is a very unusual digital SLR camera. On the one hand, it has some indicators better than professional cameras Nikon D300, D300s, on the other hand: Nikon D7000 does not reach the professional level. Historically, the Nikon D7000 is difficult to attribute to one of two categories, therefore, I will dwell on this in more detail.

Signs of a Nikon D7000 indicating a professional level:

• Compatible with old manual (non-studded) lenses AI-S. The camera works perfectly with any manual lens, even with non-native AI compatible.
• The presence of two slots for memory cards
• Save option 14-bit RAW File
• Dustproof and waterproof
• 100% frame coverage in the viewfinder, a clean viewfinder
• The presence of over short excerptsequal to 1 / 8000s.

Signs indicating that the Nikon D7000 refers to amateur (amateur cameras)

• At the camera part of the body is made of plastic. The case is not all made of metal alloy, as in older models D200, D300, D300s.
• The camera does not support quick cards CF
• Frame buffer total 9 (maybe 10) RAW shots
• The burst speed is fixed and does not expand with the booster
• Well, of course, the presence of automatic modes of use, as in a number of models Nikon D80, D90.
• Camera does not allow saving uncompressed RAW file

I stand in solidarity with Nikon, which classifies the Nikon D7000 as an amateur camera. It so happened that the line of professional cameras is Nikon D100, D200, D300, D300s, D500. In turn, the range of cameras Nikon D70, D70s, D80, D90 has been improved and supplemented by Nikon D7000 cameras, D7100, D7200, D7500. You can see for yourself composed by me Nikon camera geneology chart. Therefore, the Nikon D7000 is simply an improved level of advanced amateur cameras, but not a professional line.

Review of the Nikon D7000 body. Redesigned shooting mode selector.

The most important thing in the Nikon D7000 for the photographer:

1. CMOS sensor in 16.2 megapixels DX format with crop factor 1.5x. The same matrix is ​​in Nikon D5100. The same number of megapixels in the flagship Nikon D4. The number of megapixels is not so importantbut the working range of ISO is 100-6400 and expands to 25.600. Believe the range ISO 100-25.600 - this is already serious. Moreover, we can say that at ISO 3200 you can very often get a satisfactory result. Funny, but Nikon released an amateur Nikon D3200which has as much as 24MP. True, the quality of pictures at high ISOs is much worse than full-frame cameras, such as D700, D3 etc.

Very similar to the fact that Nikon D7000 uses a matrix that Sony produces, the same matrix is ​​available in cameras

• Nikon D5100
• Pentax K-30
• Pentax K-5
• Pentax K-01
• Sony a580
• Sony A55
• Sony NEX-5N

Photo on Nikon D7000

2. Burst speed 6 fps. It is worth noting that the D7000 did realize fast shooting with 14 bit RAW without losing the shooting speed. D300(s) loses shooting speed at 14 bit RAW, in fact D300(s) speed with 14 bit RAW is poor 2.5 fps. 6 fps for the Nikon D7000 is very good. I do not recommend chasing a rapid-fire camera, very often the rate of fire is not important at all. For example, in a studio, flashes are sometimes recharged within one second, and few people shoot faster than 2 fps. For home and leisurely photography I have enough Nikon D40 and 2.5 fps. But high shooting speed is important for reporting, unfortunately high speed requires a good buffer size. The buffer is where pictures are stored in the camera before being written to the memory card. An analogy can be drawn that the buffer is the camera's RAM, and the card is its hard drive. The Nikon D7000 has a small buffer, see below.

Review of the Nikon D7000 body. Rear view camera. The main panel of buttons.

3. The number of frames in the buffer depends on the image recording format. What interests me most is the buffer when shooting in RAW format, and for maximum 14bit RAW quality with lossless compressionhe makes up 9 frames. With a shooting speed of 6 fps, the camera starts to slow down after the second second of shooting. You immediately understand that the D7000 is far from a professional camera. Here are other buffer metrics:

1. JPEG maximum quality, quality priority with disabled ADL, Noise reduction, High ISO Noise reduction, etc. - 15 frames.
2. JPEG maximum quality, quality priority with ADL, Noise reduction, High ISO Noise reduction, etc. - 11 frames.
3. RAW 12bit lossless compression - 9 frames, the file weighs about 12MB
4. RAW 12bit normal compression - 9 frames, the file weighs about 11MB
5. RAW 14bit lossless compression (the absolute maximum quality for Nikon D7000) - 9 frames, the file weighs about 20MB
6. RAW 14bit normal compression - 9 frames, the file weighs about 15MB

Frame buffer is one of the most important indicators of camera speed... Even my old lady Nikon D200 squeezes 21 frames of continuous shooting and gives as much as 4 seconds of shooting without brakes in a series of 5 fps. The camera buffer of the Nikon D7000 in RAW mode greatly disappointed, I don’t know what those who say about the professionalism of Nikon D7000 think.

Photo on Nikon D7000

4. Nikon D7000 has convenient help with tips, different shooting modes like “night portrait” or “sports”. The camera has a convenient photo editing system. For those who are too lazy to mess around with editing programs on a computer, the Nikon D7000 has an excellent image editor built in. Also, in addition to JPEG processing, the Nikon D7000 camera supports RAW processing.

Black shutter button on the D7000. View of the shutter button and monochrome display.

5. The display of the camera is excellent, with 920.000 pixels. The display is very large and bright. Viewing images on the display is a pleasure. The same display is on Nikon D90, D300, D300s, D700, D3 etc.

Photo on Nikon D7000 Neutral Picture Control

6. The ergonomics of the camera is excellent. The additional display helps a lot. It is very convenient to configure the basic parameters for an external monochrome display. The external monochrome display has a backlight. U1, U2 modes allow you to save all the necessary settings and quickly switch between the settings of the camera U1 and U2.

Example photo on Nikon D7000

7. Nikon D7000 supports AF lenses without built-in focus motor. For example, Nikon D7000 will work fine without motor cheap and high quality lenses. Nikon 50mm F1.8D, Nikon 85mm F1.8D, Nikon 70-210mm F4.0AF etc. And also, Nikon D7000 gives the chance to work with AI, AI-S and any other old lenses. For example, the camera can easily make friends with manual lenses Nikon 50mm f / 1.2 AI-s Nikkor, Helios-81H, and Nikon 100mm F / 2.8 Series E etc .. If you specify the parameters of the manual lens in the camera menu, then matrix metering will be available exposure... The camera can store 9 'non-CPU' lenses (the same number in the more serious D300s / D3s / D3X). Only the following DX cameras could work with old lenses: Nikon D200, D300, D300s. Nikon D7000 uses a unique focus module Multi-CAM 4800DX with 39 sensors (9 cruciform)which is the same as a full-frame camera Nikon D600... 39 focus points are enough for any kind of photography. Focusing accuracy and speed are highly dependent on the lens rather than the focusing system. And the camera has a new one 2016 pixel RGB sensor measuring exposure.

Nikon D7000 - Back View

9. Viewfinder 100%. This means the following: what you see in the viewfinder when you zoom in is fully consistent with what will be in the photo. Typically, coverage is 95% of the frame. For example, Nikon D90 also 95% and often at the edges of the photo extra details appear, since they are not visible in the viewfinder. A trifle, but very nice.

Example photo on Nikon D7000

10. The camera can shoot video with a maximum quality of Full HD 1,920 X 1,080 (24p), while using a mono microphone (for stereo sound, you should buy a separate stereo microphone). The camera has automatic focus when shooting video, which they could not Nikon D90, D5000. The video is of sufficient quality (according to the reviews of my colleagues, I myself am not strong in video analysis). The maximum length of a video is 20 minutes. Of course, the camera has a Live View mode. In this mode, focusing is performed in contrast and is much slower in speed than normal focusing using the optical viewfinder and phase sensors. The Live View button is combined with the video recording button. In focus mode AF-C and with Live View turned on, the camera automatically monitors focus, even if the shutter button is not pressed.

Sample photo on Nikon D 7000

11. The flash can work in command mode on system Nikon CLS. When using external flash units SB-600, SB-700, SB-800, SB-900, SB-910 (or from third-party manufacturers) quick synchronization with shutter speeds up to 1/8000 is possible, this is very important when photographing with flash at slow shutter speeds.

Photo on Nikon D7000

12. A bunch of pleasant things: the shutter withstands at least 150.000 operations, the camera has a gyroscope, the ability to shoot at intervals, alignment (adjustment) of precise focusing and many others.

Two memory card slots on the D7000

Personal impressions:

The camera is very good. The camera menu is very large, it is not so easy to figure it out. In the review, I touched only on vital points for the photographer, if you need to find some trifle in the settings, then the instructions will help.

In many ways, the Nikon D7000 is one of the best DX-format cameras. When they ask me which advanced camera I recommend, then Nikon D7000 is the best option.if the issue price does not play a role. In my hands, in my opinion, the camera looks more like Nikon D90than on Nikon D300s. Image quality: at a high level, however, you can only talk about matrix noise, color reproduction, etc., since the image itself forms the lens and at low distinguish one camera from another. Some of my colleagues video operators shoot video on the Nikon D7000, and it is for the sake of video that they take this camera. Also, very often the Nikon D7000 is very popular as a second camera with professional photographers.

Example photo on Nikon D7000

Comparison with other, similar in functionality, cameras from Nikon

Nikon D90 VS Nikon D7000

The Nikon D7000 has a step higher ISO, and two steps higher maximum (extended) ISO. 4MP added. The viewfinder covers 100%. Support for manual lenses has been added, autofocus has appeared when shooting video, video quality has reached Full HD, and the shooting speed has increased by 1.5 fps. Another slot for memory cards has been added; the Nikon D7000 can use more capacious ones SD XC cards. The number of focus points has increased, exposure metering has improved, and a virtual horizon has been added. All in all, D7000 all better for the Nikon D90. Ergonomics and overall functionality are very similar. I do not recommend changing Nikon D90 to D7000.

Nikon D7000 VS Nikon D300, D300s

The D7000 beats the D300s at 6 fps in 14-bit RAW mode versus 2.5 fps in 14-bit RAW mode on the D300s. Also, the D7000 has 1 stop higher ISO sensitivity, better video with autofocus. But the D300s has a more robust body, more focus points (51 versus 39), support CF memory cards, higher burst speed, larger buffer and professional ergonomics. Nikon D300 performance is better for Nikon D7000. I do not recommend changing D300, D300s to Nikon D7000, and vice versa, D7000 to D300s.

Nikon D7000 has a younger brother, the continuation of the line - Nikon D7100.

Sample photo on Nikon D7000

In general, a review about Nikon D7000 can be written endlessly, the camera is simply full of different functions and settings. There are few photos in this review, since while I was testing and delving into the settings, the battery ran out and the charging was not given to me. Please note that the quality of photos depends very much on the lens and other important things when shooting.

Sample photo on Nikon D7000

The parameters shown in the photo gallery:
All shot with Nikon D7000. On-camera JPEG L. Everything was shot in NL picture control mode: contrast correction - 0, brightness - 0, saturation - 0, hue - 0, sharpness - position 9 between 0 and 9. Used white balance: 'Auto', 'Shadow' and 'Cloudy'. The size of the photos was reduced to 3 MP. All shot using a lens Nikon Nikkor AF-S 35mm 1: 1.8G DX.

Prices for modern Nikon cameras in popular stores can look at this link.

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Nikon D7000 is a great advanced amateur camera. Many indicators excel in the quality of the camera of a professional line. Nikon D7000 will be useful for both amateur and professional. I recommend.

Material prepared Arkady Shapoval.