Nikon D7000 One Month Review

I've been shooting the Nikon D7000 for a month now. Everything from weddings to portraits, landscapes to wildlife, macro, and walk-abouts, so I thought it was time to post a D7000 One Month Review.

Here's my thoughts and observations on the D7000 after shooting it for a month.

Video is awesome. The 1080HD video on the D7000 is top notch. I thought I might miss the 30fps and 60i settings that my Canon T2i 550D has, but I don't. The 24fps 1080HD setting on the Nikon D7000 is great.

The D7000's LiveView switch is killer! I love it! So much so that when I was switching between T2i and the D7000 to shoot video, I found myself really missing the D7000 switch when using the T2i. It's just so convenient and easy to use. One of those things that just works great, and once you start using it, you don't want to be without it.

The D7000 video quality is excellent. I've found it to be even better than the video from the T2i (and by inference the Canon 60D and Canon 7D which all have the same video quality). The D7000 video has greater dynamic range than the Canon video and doesn't bunch up the blacks the way the Canons tend to.

The D7000 video is so good that I've since sold my Canon T2i. I'd originally bought the T2i solely for video use, and I was very pleased with it. The D7000 is just that little bit better, and I found I no longer needed the T2i.

Photo image quality on the Nikon D7000 is superb. The extra 4 megapixels on the new 16 megapixel sensor are great. The extra resolution translates into finer detail, more ability to crop tighter, and a better file over-all. The beauty is that it comes at no loss of image quality.

The D7000 high ISO is excellent. The D7000 is now the TOP crop sensor DSLR for high ISO image quality. It beats the Nikon D300s, the Nikon D90, the Canon T2i, the Canon 60D, the Canon 7D, the Pentax K5, and all the Sony DSLR's for high ISO image quality. Check out the rankings at www.DXOMark.com.

My observations are that my D7000 is within a stop to a stop and a half of my Nikon D700 for high ISO image quality. Simply incredible for a DX sensor with 16 megapixels!

Color is beautiful on the D7000. It renders accurate, pleasing tones.

White balance is the best I've seen of any Nikon DSLR to date. Auto white balance works great, and the colors are pleasing.

Focus is fast and accurate. The D7000 locks on quickly and is super sharp. From my observations, the D7000's auto focus is on par with my Nikon D700. The new 39 point auto focus system delivers in spades.

After shooting with the Nikon D7000 for a month, I'm VERY impressed. It delivers on everything it promised and then some.

In fact, the D7000 is SO GOOD that I'm considering selling my Nikon D700 and adding a 2nd D7000 so that I'm shooting with a pair of D7000 bodies. For those of you that know how good the D700 is, that's high praise for the D7000.

I give the Nikon D7000 a hearty 2 Thumbs Up for the D7000 One Month Review. Stay tuned and I'll keep you posted as I continue to put the D7000 through it's paces.

Related posts...

Nikon D7000 vs Nikon D700 High ISO Shoot-Out

Nikon D7000 Unboxed Video

Nikon D7000 - The New Crop Sensor DSLR King!

Is the Nikon D7000 replacing the Nikon D300s / D400?

Nikon D7000 Spec Rundown

Nikon D7000 High ISO Movie Tests at ISO 1600, 3200, 6400, 12,800, 25,600

Nikon D7000 Movie Clips at ISO 1600, 3200, 6400, 12,800, and 25,600

Lilly was watching the Wiggles last night, so I grabbed the D7000 and shot some movie clips of her at the higher ISO settings.

I put them together in Sony Vegas so you can see how they compare for noise.

Similar to my findings for using the Nikon D7000 for photos, even ISO 6400 is quite usable.

For best quality, I would stay at ISO 1600 or lower, with ISO 3200 being ok depending on what you're using the footage for. ISO 6400 is usable, but the noise is getting more visible, so again, it depends on what you're shooting and what your end use is.

For personal stuff such as family and kids, I wouldn't hesitate to use ISO 6400.

For professional use, I would stay at ISO 1600 or lower.

The Nikon D7000 continues to impress me, and it's video capabilities are no exception. I'm really liking the D7000 movie controls much better than my Canon T2i.

The D7000's new movie switch / button is excellent.

Related posts...

Nikon D7000 One Month Review

Nikon D7000 vs Nikon D700 High ISO Shoot-Out

Nikon D7000 Unboxed Video

Nikon D7000 - The New Crop Sensor DSLR King!

Is the Nikon D7000 replacing the Nikon D300s / D400?

Nikon D7000 Spec Rundown

Nikon D7000: Lilly & Ella - filmed with the Nikon 35mm f1.8G

filmed with the Nikon D7000 & Nikon 35mm f1.8G

I've been getting lots of questions about the Nikon D7000 video abilities.

The short answer is, the D7000 is excellent at video. It is easily the equal of my Canon T2i, and may even be better (translation... it's the equal of the Canon 60D and Canon 7D too as all 3 do the same quality video).

I actually prefer the controls for the video on my Nikon D7000 better than on my Canon T2i, especially the live view switch and movie record button.

Yes, the Nikon D7000 only does 24fps at 1080HD, but that's the industry standard. It's also something they may change in a later firmware release. You can get 24fps and 30fps at the 720HD setting.

I'll keep you up to date as I shoot more video with my D7000.