D7000 DSLR (Body Only) (OLD MODEL)

Hundreds of general reviews of the D7000 have already been written, so instead of trying to reinvent that wheel I will address specific issues that people who are thinking of upgrading may find helpful. If you currently own a D80 the upgrade is a no-brainer. Just do it, you won't regret it. If you're using a D90, as I was before, you may be considering the upgrade to a D7000 a bit more skeptically. I am a serious amateur/hobbyist with more than 50 years of experience in photography, and have progressed from a D50 to a D80 to a D90 (each owned for two years), to the D7000 purchased two months ago. Initially I wondered if the upgrade from a D90 would really be worth it. Well, it definitely is. The D7000 isn't an upgrade to the D90 in the traditional sense that we tend to think of upgrades, it's a whole NEW CAMERA. The improvements I'm most impressed with that matter most to me personally for my kind of photography? 1. New sensor with greater dynamic range and superior high-ISO performance. The first DX body to come close to approximating FX cameras in these areas. 2. New 39-point AF module that puts the D80 and D90's 11-point AF to shame in AF-C and makes easy work of any kind of action photography. Not only faster and more precise autofocusing, but also a significantly improved method for quickly choosing different AF modes. 3. Improved layout of buttons and controls on the body, but with a nearly identical menu structure to the D90 that makes it easy to learn and implement everything, including the D7000's new features. The learning curve should be minimal coming from a D80 or D90. And there are enough similarities to the D300 to make it an easy transition. 4. Metering, especially matrix metering, is more accurate in a wider variety of lighting conditions -- definitely improved over the D90 and a major improvement over the D80. A camera's meter readings are always suggestions, not commandments, and EV compensation is often necessary. But the D7000's matrix metering gets the exposure very close to right the vast majority of the time. 5. The D7000's light touch (hair trigger) shutter release takes a little getting used to, but it definitely minimizes the chance of camera motion blur when taking a picture. I understand that D300 and D700 users won't notice much difference in the touch, but it's a major improvement if you're coming from any of Nikon's consumer DSLRs. 6. The 6 fps continuous mode is plenty fast enough to capture very fast action like birds in flight. And the new dial configuration makes it easier than ever to change shooting modes quickly. 7. Programmable U1 and U2 modes eliminate time-consuming menu diving and button pushing when you want to switch instantaneously between settings for different situations (landscape or scenic shots vs. action photography, for example). 8. The introduction of several "pro body features" in a consumer camera like AF fine tuning, which is not something you need all the time or want to use indiscriminately, but it's wonderful to have when you need it. 9. Better construction gives the D7000 a "pro feel" not present in other consumer grade Nikon bodies. A subjective opinion, I know, but just picking up a D7000 tells you that you're handling a very solid, serious piece of equipment. 10. Yes, we all bemoaned the introduction of a new D7000 battery. But this new EN-EL15 is a powerhouse that will give the Energizer Bunny a run for his money. A very positive new enhancement. 11. Last but not least (lest we forget the real purpose of a camera), I am taking better pictures (technically, at least) with my D7000 than I did with my D90 -- and doing so much more easily and efficiently. Compared to the 2-3 months it took me to adapt to the D80 and D90 when I upgraded to those bodies before I began getting really satisfactory results, there hasn't been any such prolonged learning curve with my D7000. I have not commented on the D7000's video capabilities because I don't shoot video with it. I have noted that autofocusing with any lens in Live View is rather slow, even in good light, and many lenses may have difficulty achieving an accurate focus lock in low light. And a few lenses may fail to autofocus in Live View at all. This is not really important to me because I very rarely use this feature, but it is something to be aware of. A word about lenses: Achieving the best results with the higher resolution of the 16MP D7000 does require good lenses. The 18-105 VR kit lens is adequate and will yield perfectly satisfactory results. However, obtaining the superior image quality that the camera is capable of calls for better quality glass. For an excellent general purpose "walkaround" lens that is also a Best Buy at $449, I personally recommend the Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4 DC Macro OS HSM Lens for Nikon Mount Digital SLR Cameras . I prefer this Sigma to the somewhat overpriced Nikon 16-85 VR. To cover the telephoto range, I would suggest adding the excellent Nikon 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G ED IF AF-S VR Nikkor Zoom Lens for Nikon Digital SLR Cameras to your arsenal. I hope Amazon shoppers for the D7000 body only who thinking of upgrading from a previous DSLR find my observations helpful. UPDATE ON 03/16/11 -- Here is a link to my Flickr photostream if you would like view some of the photos I have taken with the D7000. They include the EXIF info and were taken with the Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4 DC Macro OS HSM and Nikon 70-300 VR. [...] One feature I didn't mention in my original review is in-camera editing. This is not something new, but it's much more robust in the D7000 and I use it quite a bit. For example, JPEG shooters will appreciate the in-camera WB adjustment that lets you correct color balance that's way off right in the camera and then make subtle adjustments in post processing. Likewise, in-camera B&W and sepia conversions produce images with a full tonal gradient for later creative manipulation on the computer. Both of these are handy time-savers, and your original image always remains intact. The in-camera cropping options have also been expanded to include virtually all of the popular formats and provide excellent flexibility for basic cropping. The more I use my D7000, the more I appreciate what a significant upgrade it is to the D90.

I have to admit, after researching this camera I was nervous about purchasing this due to the many posts about focus issues, but after 1.5 years of using a d5100, I found that I really needed more accessible control to get to the next level. I have a large investment in Nikon DX lenses so getting an FX camera was just not an option. The new D600 has the ability to shoot DX, but it is far from ideal and the cost of the D600 body was out of my price range. I also really have no need for a full frame, the cropped frame provides me with excellent photos. When the price of the D7000 dropped to below $900 and with Amazon's awesome customer service, I knew it was time to buy. If there was indeed a problem, I knew I could return it. FIRST IMPRESSION: Upon opening the box, I knew that this was exactly what I was looking for. Although a little larger than my 5100, the buttons and dials and top display screen is leaps and bounds better than the 5100. Finally...no menu-digging to adjust settings! I charged up the battery and started shooting. My first set of shots were taken with all the default settings in AUTO mode. The result? All of the photos were soft. Disappointment. Could I have gotten one of the "bad" cameras? I wasn't ready to say that yet, besides, many photo gurus have touted the amazing quality of this camera. I picked up David Bush's Guide to the d7000 and learned a bit on HOW the d7000 Autofocus actually works. With a few changes to the settings and a bit more insight into the autofocus system, I was shooting tack-sharp photos within an hour. DEFAULT SETTING CHANGES: The first thing you should do when you get this camera is change the JPEG image quality form NORM to FINE. Then turn OFF the Hi ISO NR (noise reduction), which is degrades the detail in your shots in order to reduce noise, creating a softer image. I choose to set the dynamic-area AF to 21 point which will help with speed (although I have to say this camera's focus speed is phenomenal compared to the 5100). Use AF-C or AF-S. This camera has 3 autofocus modes - AF-A, AF-S and AF-C. I found that when I use AF-A, I tend to get more soft shots. Once I move to AF-S or AF-C, my photos become beautifully sharp. Finally, you really need to have a grasp of how your aperture affects you DOF (depth of field). Using a larger aperture produces a very small DOF. If you are relying on the camera to make these decisions for you, you may not get the shot you are looking for. The camera may be smart for getting the correct exposure, but it doesn't know what you are thinking! A good rule of thumb is to use at least f/5.6 - f/8 for portraits and make sure your focus point(s) are set on the eyes. Set focus, lock and recompose if needed. You will notice a significant difference in the clarity of your photos. Finally, use a decent lens!!! My Tamron 28-75mm 2.8 is a solid performer on this body. MY RECOMMENDATION: I am by no means a "professional", but I do have a working knowledge of how to use a dslr. If you are looking for a camera that you pull out of the box and expect perfect shots while set in automode, this camera is not for you...you are better off investing in a high end point and shoot. If you know something about ISO, Shutter, Aperture, AF-S, AF-C, Metering and plan on growing that knowledge and want to rely on your ability instead of the camera, the d7000 is a gem at a great price. If you want something in-between, consider the d3100 or the d5100. Both of which are less expensive and are solid performers. The d7000 is the perfect answer for those looking for easy access and control over their images. MY OPINION: While I'm sure there are d7000s out there that do indeed have a focus problem, I'm pretty sure that many of the complaints may be due to not taking the time to truly understand the camera and how it works. While the autofocus is awesome, it is NOT perfect and requires the person to take control, which is the point of buying a dslr anyway, isn't it? Just because it costs more doesn't mean it should excel at being a point and shoot! THE BOTTOM LINE: Don't be afraid of buying this camera because of the publicized "focus" issues. ****UPDATE**** I've had this camera for well over a month now and I can't tell you how ecstatic I am with it. After getting comfortable with the camera and its controls, and learning all the sweet-spots on my lenses, I feel that this camera has pushed me to the next level in my photography journey. I have been able to produce tack sharp image after tack sharp image. I'm finding that I'm doing much less editing with this camera than I had with my 5100. I think this is partially due to the camera and partially due to learning more and having the ability to easily control manual settings. This camera will serve me for many years to come!!!!

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 have been old-school for all of my years of photography. I have probably over 1,000 if not 2,000 film photos (I would have to go back and manually count becuse I have lost some over the years and various people have gone through, moved, taken, etc... them). My wife bought a hybrid Canon S3 is camera about 7 years ago. It is a pretty nifty little camera. It takes long exposures and has various shooting modes, but has a fixed (zoom) lens and only a few bells and whistles. I was hoping that we would get to go for another trip to Peru for my birthday, but, alas, finances... For my consolation prize, I finally upgraded to a true dSLR- the Nikon D7000 DSLR to go with my lenses (mainly Nikkor). I received it about 9 days ago. I started reading the manual, but at 300+ pages, finally decided to dive in. I read how to set-up the camera and went for it. Over the years, I have pretty much decided that I like aperature-preferred shooting except for shooting B&W infrared. I used a hand-held light meter and had to set the shutter speed manually for that. Anyway, back to the D7000. It has an shutter speed from 1/8,000th (!!!) of a second all the way to the equivalent to cable release. You do need a remote to take full advantage of this. Holding the shutter button down manually or even just pressing twice can cause all kinds of havoc on long exposures. The "bulb" setting allows you to totally override the shutter speed regardless of lighting conditions. This camera will do pretty much anything an old-school film SLR can do. It has about every bell and whistle you can imagine or want. So far I have been happy with the results and the images are clear and sharp. I have yet to take full advantage of everything. In the half-week I have been playing with it, I have shot in aperature-priority mode for pretty much all of my shots. I have played with the D-lighting, ev values, and a couple of other features. I am really excited about trying out the continuous high-speed mode (up to 100 photos by holding down the shutter- you won't have to worry about camera shake at 1/8,000th of a second! lol) and the strobe-effect flash. I might try to see if the two options can be done at high shutter speeds. The only downsides that I have found so far are that it is DX-format (not really its fault, it is what it is); light output of flash is lame; even at the high D-light setting; there is really not much of an increase in contrasting detail (will have to experiment more); some of the commands are not intuitive (with as many options as it has, not too surprising); and a really weird thing happened while I was photographing the moon, Venus, and Jupiter conjuction. When I gave the ev value a positive response (even at 0.3!), the moon ghosted on another part of the frame.(?!?) I will have to do some research to see whether it is the camera, the lens, or maybe even just the angle of the shot. These issues are the only reasons that I did not give this 5 stars are because of the flash and the mysterious ghosting in that one series of shots. In conclusion, with the shots I have tried (and I have played with more settings than some people ever will), this appears to be a VERY solid dSLR. This is a great dSLR and the flash is the main limiting factor for this level of camera. This can be remedied by using an SB-700 or other flash, but having to shell out more money kind of sucks. I have absolutely no regrets with this purchase. The packaging was great and Amazon shipped it out quickly. It comes with nice accessories such as an eyepiece cover (useful for those long exposures). With things like exposure lock, focus lock, white balance, being able to do post-editing within the camera (better than using outside software), and quite a few other features, this camera will keep even the most serious amatuer happy. You might consider going for the FX version at another $1K, but that is the cost of a good Nikkor lens, for not THAT much of an upgrade. At that point, you might as well go for the D800E. Unless you are a professional photographer, you would buy a Nikon D4, this camera is a GREAT value for its price. Enjoy and fill up that 32 gig memory card of which you can have TWO at once!!! I HIGHLY, HIGHLY recommend this camera and would buy this camera again.

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 bracketing The 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.

Just like a lot of others, I too got a camera with the notorious back focus 'problem'! . But I was not worried because, before deciding on D7000 I did a search and found that back focus or front focus issue is not a specific D7000 (or Nikon) issue. Canon, Pentax, Sony, Olympus...they all have similar 'issues' and most of their prosumer or high-end cameras come with an in-camera option to address this, just like the one there is present in D7000. (They use different terminology though..Nikon calles it AF Fine tune; Canon/Sony - AF Micro Adjustment; Olympus - AF Focus Adjust; Pentax - AF Fine Adjustment etc). Also, I understood that there are a lot of kits available in the market to help this calibration/fine tuning (Datacolor SpyderlensCal for example). So, fine tuning looked like something that is not uncommon with pro-prosumer type camera bodies. I do not know whether this is to be seen/called as a 'problem' or not....Because this also could be viewed as having 'more control' over our gear, at some point. I did not face any back focus issue with my D5100 (or my Canon T2i), so, there indeed was a moment of frustration when I got a camera that looks somewhere else when I ask it to 'look there'. Personally, I find this as a pain than a problem because I had to fine tune two of my lenses (a 35mm 1.8 and a 16-85mm (both were bought used)...third one, a 55-300 mm auto focuses just fine without any fine tuning). So, should one stay away from D7000 because of this terrible back focus 'problem'? Nope... D7000 might back focus when paired with some lenses but at the same time, the camera comes with a built-in feature to address this concern. If that fails to resolve the issue, then, ONLY then, it becomes a problem. There are more than enough blogs/videos related to 'how to do AF fine tuning' hence I am skipping 'how I fixed it' part...but I would like to mention that checking/enabling the 'Focus Point' (that can be found under 'Disply Mode' in PLAYBACK MENU) before taking the fine tuning test shots makes it bit easy (because, at the time of playing it back, it would show where exactly we had focused). A few things (among the many) I liked about D7000: 1. Excellent, durable build quality 2. Great picture quality 3. More direct controls 4. Brighter view finder with 100% coverage 5. Long battery life 6. Two memory card slots 7. Decent video 8. User control over fps (personal preference. I have one of the shakiest hands in the world and hence I often shoot more than one frame whenever I shoot critical shots. Many a time, 6fps is wasting memory by filling the card with similar shots, especially considering D7K's low buffer) What I did not like: 1. Position of the ISO button (I wish it was on the top, just like my (wonderful) Canon T2i) 2. Low buffer 3. Plasticky LCD cover (It is to be noted that this is neither a beginner camera nor designed for people with no patience and hence one should not expect great shooting experience straight out of the box with any lens attached to it. Being said that, if a beginner is patient, not intimidated by some extra buttons, ready to read the boring user manual (this is very important) and want to learn photography, then D7000 has everything one need to learn photography or even make a living). Overall, I am pretty happy that I bought this camera...Awesome camera. (Wish to give 4.5 stars but that is not possible hence giving 5 stars)

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. 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 in a pinch. 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 3100/5100. For D80/90 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.

First off, let me state that I have had a long and interesting journey through the world of DSLRs and have gone from Pentax to Canon and have finally settled in with Nikon. I have shot probably 15 or more different bodies with multiple light setups and lens combinations. So, what about the Nikon D7000 in mind warrants the title to this review....? Simply put, it's the most professional feeling and functioning "pro-sumer" camera I have laid my hands on. Let me break it down a bit: Body and Ergonomics: I have fairly large hands and like to grasp something solid when shooting. Nikon did not disappoint here making the body from Magnesium for sturdiness and heft, while also making it big enough for me to hold comfortably (Note: I still bought the Nikon MB-D11 as I like to shoot in portrait position often). All of the button and dials are convenient, tactile and well made. The 150k shutter rating also helps to solidify the toughness of this camera. I can definitely see this camera putting up with many years of solid use and abuse. LCD: Yes, I gave the LCD it's own bullet point. MY GOD!!!! This thing is just too sharp! I know that you have probably read about the resolution of the screen above, but it just does not hit home until you start reviewing your shots on it. I have NEVER used a DSLR with a screen this crisp. Just believe me, it's amazing. AF: 39 points....What else is there to say? This thing tracks quickly and picks up the right points almost all of the time. I have no issues with any of the lenses that I am using (Note: Nikon lenses are generally always going to work better with the Nikon AF system, but there are Third party lenses that perform just fine). 2 SD Card Slots: Talk about a GOD send!! This cam take 16.2 MPX JPEGS and who knows how large the RAWs can get. We need all the storage/redundancy we can get. The D7000 allows you to choose that in the settings. AWESOME!!! CLS: This is one of the major things that turned me over to Nikon. Their take on lighting is just so amazing and this camera uses all of the same functions that you would get on any of Nikon's top FX cameras. I love off-camera lighting and having the Nikon CLS system is second to NONE! High ISO: Ok, I know that the camera will go up to 6400 (or even 25800 equiv.), but what is usable? Well, that largely depends on the photographer and what he/she is shooting, but to be honest for me all the way up to 1600 is easily usable. I would even go so far as to say 3200 looks great for viewing online or even some print sizes. Really, this sensor will BLOW you away with how well it renders low light scenes and details. Well, what are the negatives you ask? I will say this much....This is NOT a beginners camera. When I hand it to my wife, she generally just stares blankly back at me and says, "ok what do you want me to do now?" There are so many features and functions to explore that I cannot even begin to describe them all nor have I even found them all yet. Needless to say, if you are looking for simple, this is not your camera. Also, this thing is not light at ALL!! If you are looking for compact and unobtrusive, look elsewhere. This thing is a HUNK of metal and plastic. Overall, I am excited to have this one in the family and it is now my "go to" body for pretty much anything!!