Nikon D7000 16.2MP DX-Format CMOS Digital SLR with 3.0-Inch LCD (Body Only),3.0 out of 5 stars A good camera with a handful of annoying flaws., December 15, 2011

I own a Fuji x100, d300 and a d700, having bought the d7000 as a light backup and toy camera. I admit to having very high hopes for the low light capabilities of this camera and in most ways it lived up to the hype, taking very usable images at iso 3200 in near darkness.

I used it for about 3 months off and on for some bar photography and 2 weddings as well as just fooling around with it. In low light it focused very quickly and I was very happy with everything except especially the improved flash metering (metering in general actually, you often have to baby sit the d700 meter in tricky light if you use it). Unfortunately when I looked at the images on my computer it seemed like most of them were WAY too soft for a fast prime. I calibrated all of my lenses on it and tried my damnest to fix the issue and upgraded to the most recent issue but it still SEVERELY backfocused in about every third shot or so, just enough to keep the subject from being sharp enough. I noticed it was worse with my G series pro lenses, my old 85 1.4d seemed to nail every time though.

I could have sent it into get fixed but my biggest problem with the camera was the flexability of the raw files and dynamic range at high iso's. At 3200 if it didn't nail the exposure the photo was "difficult" to save and the resulting image would always lose way too much detail and smooth tonal gradation. I already knew i was spoiled by the d700 but the specs said it should have been better than it was.

It is a very good camera, but I agree that the focusing issues with this camera and the i guess, "quality of the noise pattern in the raw files at high isos" prevent it from being an acceptable backup to my D700, the D300 is still just more convenient and excellent at low iso.

Things I liked:
-Handling
-Metering
-weight and size
-felt very well built
-video was cool but still not good enough
-dual card slots THANK YOU NIKON.

Things I didn't like:
-no af-on button (which sort of drives me nuts due to personal habits)
-Focusing
-The noise pattern at high iso (1600-3200+ w/ no NR)resembles a pointilism impressionist painting instead of the more natural film grain look from the x100 and D700 I pretty much only shoot my x100 at between 2200 and 3200 without ever having a quality issue.


Review by Daniel Gray "Dirty Gears"