The Nikon D7000 represents an evolution of the company's venerable D90 --the first digital SLR with movie capture capability and the first mid-rangemodel with a high-res 3.0-inch VGA LCD panel. Externally, the Nikon D7000 issimilar to its predecessor in terms of size, weight, and much of the controlledlayout, but adopts a weather-sealed, magnesium alloy construction like that ofthe D300S. Nikon emphasizes that the D90 will remain in the lineup.
Nikon is finally updating its flagship consumer SLR, the D90, after morethan two years of distinguished service. (And that service isn't over yet, asthe D90 will remain in the product line going forward, as Nikon's mostaffordable "enthusiast" SLR.) The Nikon D7000 looks to be a worthy evolution ofthe first digital SLR to shoot video. Most people I know who shoot and love theNikon D90 love it more for stills than video, but as always it's good to knowyou can capture a movie when you need to. With the D90 in their sights, otherSLR manufacturers exceeded the D90's capabilities with Full HD video, so theD7000 is Nikon's answer, and then some, creating a formidable competitor inmore ways than one.
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Sensitivity. The Nikon D7000's sensitivity range is also greatly expanded, with standard limits of ISO 100 to 6,400 equivalents, while ISO 12,800 and 25,600 equivalents are available when ISO expansion is enabled. By comparison, the Nikon D90 offers a standard range of ISO 200 to 3,200, while its expanded range was ISO 100 to 6,400. The Nikon D7000 is the company's first DX-format (APS-C sensor size) camera model to offer a maximum sensitivity of 25,600 equivalent, reaching into territory formerly occupied only by the company's FX-format (full-frame) models. With that said, Nikon was pipped to the post in this department by Pentax's K-r and K-5, other APS-C models to offer single-shot ISOs of up to 25,600 and 51,200 respectively, while several recent Sony interchangeable-lens models can offer ISO 25,600, but only in a multi-frame mode.
Full-time AF. Perhaps more significantly for consumervideographers, the Nikon D7000 now offers full-time contrast detectionautofocus during movie capture, including support for the face detection andtracking functionality. With Nikon F-mount lenses having been designed forstill image shooting, it's likely that autofocus drive noise will be picked upon the audio track when using the Nikon D7000's internal microphone, but thisis likely a worthwhile tradeoff for many consumers, given the difficulty oflearning to pull focus manually.
Movie record modes. Where the D90 is limited to a maximumof 720p (1,280 x 720 pixel) video recording at 24 frames per second, the NikonD7000 is now capable of Full HD (1,920 x 1,080 pixel) movie capture at the same24 frames per second rate. If this much resolution is overkill for yourpurposes, there are still options for both 720p and VGA video capture in theD7000, with a choice of either 24 or 30fps at 720p, and VGA movies being fixedat 30 frames per second. (These rates all apply in NTSC mode; for PAL mode the30fps rates are replaced with 25fps rates.)
Grip. Grabbing the Nikon D7000, my fingertips find a comfortable home in the gentle indentation just inside the grip. My middle finger just touches the function button on the front and my index finger rests on the shutter button. My thumb gently touches the left of the Main Command dial on the rear of the camera, also catching a bit of the rubber pad beneath it. Nikon has thoughtfully cut a corner off the left front of the D7000 so it doesn't jab into my palm as my fingers work the zoom and focus rings. The Nikon D7000 is well crafted.
Overall. I found myself hard-pressed to find much more to write about the Nikon D7000, mostly because it works so well. Nikon has a well-refined control scheme that now better integrates video into the experience, such that I was able to switch between the two very naturally. I love the 100% viewfinder, which tests at about 98% in our lab shots. Still, it's hard to beat seeing almost everything you're going to capture. I found autofocus to be a little slower than I'm used to in the multi-point modes, but speed rises well enough when I lock autofocus to a single point. Looking through my photographs, I got more hits than misses. I think for people pictures I'd do better letting the camera pick the AF points, as many of my shots are well-focused on the center point, which is often on the shirt, but not on the face. I usually pre-focus on the face, then recompose, but that didn't seem to work as well as usual. Regardless, the Nikon D7000 was a pleasure to use and really makes great images. I recommend it to anyone looking for a high-quality SLR that will help them grow as a photographer.
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Operation is similar to that of the Nikon D90, but with a couple of key differences. Movies are captured as Motion JPEG compressed AVI files, with a frame rate of 24 frames per second. At the full movie-mode resolution of 1,280 x 720 pixels, the Nikon D300S can capture clips as long as five minutes. At a reduced resolution of either 640 x 424 or 320 x 216 pixels, the clip length is limited to a maximum of twenty minutes. Maximum movie file size is 2GB, but may be limited by recording time.
Autofocus. According to our test results, autofocus is a little faster on the Nikon D300S than on the D300, but I still found it a little slow or unresponsive in low light. Even locked to a single point, the full-autofocus shutter lag was 0.225 second, just a hair faster than the D300's 0.227 second, both using the same f/2.8 prime lens. Turn on the 51-point Auto area mode, and capture time slows to 0.370 second, but that is an improvement over the D300's 0.419 second.
Detail comparison. Though it holds its own, the Nikon D300S has more competition today than the D300 did when it first shipped; it performs about as well as the competition. The 50D delivers a little more resolution, but it also oversharpens enough to make the distinction vague. Even the full-frame D700 doesn't do much better than the D300S in these crops. The Canon 7D also oversharpens, but turns out more usable detail even at ISO 3,200. ISO 12,800 is a bit more dodgy, but the D300S doesn't have that setting, and yet you can still see more hints of the lines inside the letters on the 7D image. And as expected, the 5D Mark II turns in the better performance for about $900 more than the Nikon D300S.
As for speed, the Nikon D300S is faster, but this greater speed is only available at the camera's 12-bit setting, while both the Canon 50D and 7D are capable of their fastest rates at the full 14-bit setting. We're not able to see much of a difference in JPEG files, at least, so whether it matters to you is an open question.
Save for the Nikon D300S's HD movie mode and dual card slots, there are few compelling reasons to upgrade from the D300, but the D300S is a great choice for the intermediate photographer looking for a more serious photographic tool. The Nikon D300S presents a more capable 720p HD video solution than the D90, but it doesn't quite rise to the level of HD video capture found in the extremely popular Canon 5D Mark II and 7D, both of which can record up to 1080p, and capture a full-resolution still image while recording video. Those looking for an SLR for shooting video might want to consider some of these other options, especially if their needs include 1080p capture.
Maximum image resolution in the native 3:2 aspect ratio is 4,256 x 2,832 pixels, and there's also a 5:4 aspect ratio mode which allows image capture at up to 3,552 x 2,832 pixels, excellent for helping photographers frame in the popular 8x10-inch format. In addition, the Nikon D3S can record images in DX crop mode at up to 2,784 x 1,848 pixel resolution, and there's a new 1.2x crop mode which trades off a little resolution in favor of a slightly increased 35mm-equivalent focal length, avoids the very corners of the image (which tend to be the problem areas for lens-derived image defects), and yields slightly more manageable file sizes.
Metering is performed with a 1,005 pixel RGB sensor, and shutter speeds range from 1/8,000 to 30 seconds. The shutter mechanism is retained from the Nikon D3, and is still rated at a lifetime of around 300,000 cycles. Also unchanged from the D3 are the camera's white balance options. These include Auto, twelve presets (including fully seven Fluorescent presets), as well as five Manual white balance positions, and the ability to directly specify a color temperature from 2,500 to 10,000 Kelvin. In addition, all white balance modes allow fine-tuning. +/- 5.0EV of exposure compensation is available in 1/3, 1/2 or 1EV steps. The Nikon D3S also includes a hot shoe and flash sync terminal, with iTTL flash metering, an X-sync of 1/250 second, and compatibility with the company's Creative Lighting System.
D-Movie. The Nikon D3S is the company's first full-frame dSLR to offer video recording, similar to a few other recent digital SLRs. Unlike many, however, Nikon has allowed both the ability to perform contrast detection autofocusing during movie capture, as well as to specify the shutter speed, ISO speed and aperture, before or during movie recording (although it should be noted that these changes will probably be noticeable in both the audio and video captured).
The Nikon D3S' video mode allows use of the camera's unusually high ISO sensitivities, although in its default configuration, the exact sensitivity selected remains under the camera's control. In its regular mode, the photographer selects from one of two ISO ranges -- either 200 to 12,800 equivalents, or 6,400 to 102,400 equivalents. This latter mode is called High Sensitivity Movie Mode. It is possible to enable full manual control, where any combination of aperture, shutter speed and ISO speed can be set, within certain limitations. 2ff7e9595c
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