Tech Tuesdays - Nikon D7000, Deep Thoughts

A few months ago, I wrote a quick review of Nikon's newest DSLR, the D7000.  Since that post, I've done quite a few (25+) shoots and now feel very familiar with the camera. That means I'm ready to dive in and give a more in depth review. Not everything I have to say is positive (but to be honest, most of it is).

First, I want to confirm that all of my initial impressions were pretty much dead on. It still feels great and sounds awesome. To be honest, when I switch back to my D90, it's so loud and clumsy sounding! It always shocks me. The metering is pretty amazing, giving me very accurate exposures. The autofocus is just fantastic and I still rarely experience any lens hunting, regardless of which lens I'm using or what the lighting conditions are like.

So, what else do I have to add? If you're looking for a full, in-depth technical review, you're in the wrong place. There are plenty of great sites out there for that kind of stuff. Instead, I want to offer some more things that I've experienced with the D7000, both positive and negative. Just to make it easy (because I'm lazy and don't feel like writing more paragraphs), here are my thoughts in list form:

First, the things I'm loving...
- When syncing with studio flash (via Pocket Wizard IIs), I'm able to realistically shoot at up to 1/250 of a second (versus 1/160 on my D90).
- Processing the RAW files is a wonderful experience. There's so much more wiggle room in the exposures. I'm not sure if it's because they're 14-bit RAW files, the sensor or just some great Nikon mojo, but noise takes much longer to become an issue when really pushing exposures.
- Shooting from live view mode is very fast and convenient. Compared to the D90, it's like night and day. It's a very small change that doesn't get used very often, but it is SO appreciated when I do need to use it.
- With a maximum shutter speed of 1/8000 of a second and an ISO of 100, I'm able to shoot at very low apertures in full sun. With some very light cloud cover, I could even shoot at f/1.4 at noon in full sun! This will be so useful this summer.
- Shooting at higher ISOs is great! I have no worries shooting at ISO800. Shots that I took at an event at ISO6400 look great! I don't even hesitate to shoot up there if I need to.
- The viewfinder (and the information that's available in it) is so wonderful! It's big and it's bright. If you ever use manual focus, the focus meter is far superior to everything that came before it.
- I don't know how many times I've been saved by the virtual horizon feature. It rocks!
- Battery life is ridiculous. I think the last time I charged it, it had 750 shots since the last charge and still had a charge of around 50%.
- Video looks great and having a stereo mic jack is such a great addition! (FYI, I'll probably be adding a separate post about shooting video)

Now for a few things that are bugging me...
- The dials for adjusting shooting modes, apertures and shutter speeds are too easy to adjust. I appreciate the fact that they're quieter than the D90, but I keep bumping them and changing my shutter speed or aperture!
- Sometimes my 50mm f/1.4 doesn't "bite" when I first put in on the body and won't autofocus. All it takes is a little wiggle and it works just fine from there on out (it never just stops working), but it was pretty annoying until I figured out what was going on.
- My 55mm f/3.5 AI macro lens will not fit onto the body. I have no idea why this is. It's fit all of my previous Nikon bodies. It should fit, but I haven't felt like forcing it, so when I need a macro shot, I pull out my D90.
- I can't figure out how to format both memory cards at once. I'm sure it's some sort of safety feature that won't allow you to, but it's still annoying.
- The photos look a little bit grainier at all ISOs, but I'm sure I just need to work on my noise-reduction settings in Lightroom. Since everything else I've read claims that this sensor has the lowest noise of any DX format sensor on the market, I'm pretty sure it's me, not the camera.
- Skin tones seems to take on a slightly red/pink hue. It's easy enough to fix, and probably varies slightly from camera to camera, but it's still a little annoying.

So, there you have it. These are my thoughts after a few months of using the Nikon D7000. It's an amazing camera and I have no regrets in buying it (even if it was a little impulsive). Has it improved my photography? Not really. Has it made me any better or landed me any more shoots? No. Does it give me more creative options when I'm shooting? A few. Would I recommend it? Without a doubt. Would I buy it again? In a heartbeat. Do I like it? No. I love it!

Here are a few quick samples for you...

This shot was taken with an ISO of 1600 and has virtually no noise.

This was a "let's see how this works" shot that I took at
ISO6400, just to see what it looked like.

And finally, for window-light portraits, I've had the camera parked at
ISO400 and have loved the results.  Here's a self-portrait I did yesterday.
Of course, most of my clients look much better than I do.  :)