Nikon 7000 - digital cameras (Auto, Cloudy, Fine, Flash, Fluorescent, Fluorescent H, Fluorescent L, Incandescent, Manual, Shade, S, Beach, Candlelight, Children, Close-up (macro), Cuisine, Dawn, Dusk, Landscape, Night landscape, Nig, Black&White, Neutral, Vivid, Battery, SLR Camera Kit, TTL)

The D7000 produces great image quality and feels very responsive in most shooting situations. It shines especially in low light. From a specification point of view a 16.3 MP resolution sensor, 6 frames per second continuous shooting, 1080p full HD video and an abundance of customization options place this camera at the upper end of the mid-range segment of the market. My main points to recommend D7000: - It's very practical, all commands are available quickly using the buttons and wheels. The displays provide all necessary information. - The 39 AF points and 9 cross-type sensors makes your job easier. - Compatibility: I could use my old Nikkor AF lens (10 years old!!!) and Sigma lens also automatically. - Battery: I shot more than 1200 pictures before emptying the batteries, 1/3 using built-in flash (my SB-700 was not delivered yet).

Family man with kids, D70 was getting limited usage (portrait use only) while the point-n-shoot (with HD video, Pana LX3) was getting more usage. D7000 came in as a great upgrade (the cost part was the most painful one, $1500 with lens) option and I pulled the trigger wheh Amazon had it in stock momentarily last week. Have played with it for a brief 3 days and here are some additional info some of you might be interested in. I debated the kit lens (18-105) vs what I already had from D70 (18-70). The 18-70 is slightly faster, the 18-105 starts at 3.5 max open apperture, and quicks turns to 4.5 at 35mm equivalent. So that was a little bit of an issue I thought. But teh longer zoom range (105mm, which is more like 157mm with 1.5x DX factor) did provide an upgrade option without much weight (18-200 would have been better but is heavier, slightly more $$). But the super silent motor on the lens made it worth the upgrade - as for video taking, the slient motor does play a very useful role. It is just as sharp for a kit lens as you can get. My 18-70 didn't have VR. This one does and I think that is another positive if video shooting is important particularly if you are walking and recording video. So I justified myself with buying the kit lens. I already have the 50mm 1.8 (75mm with DX), for those portrait sessions. Might buy the 35mm 1.8 as my standard lens somepoint in the future. So my lens list would be: 1. 35mm/1.8 for most indoor people/kid photo/video. 2. 50mm/1.8 for portrait sessions. 3. 18-105 (or 18-200) would be for travel/outdoors. The video: With kids around, video shooting is very important. And D7000 delivered that with great results actually - to my surprise. Videos are bright, audio is clear even with the built-in microphone. The kit lens aperture (3.5 max) didn't impact the video quality to be any dark - with ambient light, the quality was great. Photos with kit lens (18-105): The indoor photos came our very very colorful and bright - despite what I had thought of. I realized that D7000 was moving to ISO3200 (my max level under Auto config in the menu) to compensate for the low light. I was worried that ISO3200 would render the picture quality low - grainy. But I must admit - my jaws dropped when I saw that even at ISO3200, the quality is GREAT (16MP do help here), for most print situations (letter size or slightly more). I think, this is really where the D7000 shines the most compared to other prosumre DSLRs of today. I went ahead and changed the AUTO ISO setting to max of 1600, and teh results are still great with the kit lens. With my 50mm or 35mm 1.8 lens, I will move ISO to at most 400, and I am sure I will be more than happy. I will add in more comments as I play with it more. Just one line on the memory cards I am using: I bought two 8GB transcend Class10 SD cards and configured 'duplication' of all photos. So the 2nd card is used by D7000 as a backup (automatic copy). This is a great feature. So far, no issues or delays recording video or photos to these cards. These Class10 cards are not as fast as the SanDisk 30MB/s cards, but I don't see issues in my situations. Combined, they were much cheaper than the SanDisk equivalents. with 8GB at full resolution and FINE JPEG setting, I think the total photos one can take are in the 700-800 range (sorry don't have details in front of me at this time). The default on D7000 was full resolution and 'NORMAL' JPEG, which was yielding higher total photo capacity (1,100 I think). cheers PN

This is a preliminary review. I'm a pro photographer who has been faithfully served by Nikon D200 & D300's for event and nature photography. Just before a trip to the Everglades, my D300's lcd info panel light wouldn't turn off and it kept abnormally seeking the cf card resulting in quick battery drain. Of course the fix was having lots of batteries and turning it off when not shooting. But In panic assuming that the D300 was going to completely fail, I read Ken Rockwell's review and noticed the D7000's price. With time running out and not wanting to shell out $7K for the D3x (or D700 for other reasons) I somehow found one D7000 kit, but not body, offered by Amazon and could get it quickly. It was on b/o everywhere else I looked. I didn't want or need the lens, but what can you do sometimes? I haven't had time to evaluate image quality in detail, but it's impressive at least up to ISO 1600. Without the battery attachment it's small and light, but with good ergonomics. It's got most of the feature required for my shoots and tons of goodies if you're just a camera bug. Combined with the 18-200 VR it's a dynamite, relatively affordable package. It was easy to use without consulting the unusually well written manual. However, if you're used to the D300, etc., you won't be happy with the organization of the controls. The iso button's on the back left and the exposure options are set with a dial like on the D70, so you can't change the most important settings as easily. I don't like the new control for setting the focus options. But if you've never used a D200/D300 you probably won't care. The 6 fps is cool, but I'm used to 8 fps with the D300s battery pack. Those extra 2 fps sometimes mean getting the shot or not for sports/birds. Random remarks: So far, taking movies is easy and fun. Rockwell states that the quality isn't great, but they look excellent when shown on a large led hd tv. I have had no trouble focussing with my 200-400 or any other lens. I don't like it that you can't display both iso and frame count at the same time. The lcd info display on the top of the body seems fine, in contrast to criticisms by other. What I'm really upset about is that neither Nikon or Adobe have updated Camera Raw for phototshop CS4, so you can't use the D7000's NEF files with CS4. Maybe Nikon gets a cut from Adobe for CS4 - CS5 upgrades, which I purchased reluctantly. Nikon's ViewNX2 is good software and loads and displays raw files quickly, but I need to use psd files and, of course, photoshop's + plug-in's features to do real work. At this point, nothing much to contribute until I can get that camera back from my wife. (My D300 healed itself, I did lots of trouble shooting, but don't know why it started to work again.) My recommendation is that if you can afford to shell out about $1.5 - $2K for the body/kit (this price includes battery attachment, sd cards (too easy to lose!), decent case and camera strap [Nikon should get out of the strap business or contract with Tamrac.] buying the D7000's a no-brainer regardless of your expertise and experience. Update, 7/1/11: OK, upgrading to CS5 was worth it, sorry about the conspiracy theory. This is a great camera except that it's destroying my technique because it's so easy to use. With the 18-200 VR and the D7000's low noise at hi ISOs (but keep using Define2.0), I can shed 30 lbs of photo gear and my tripod. It's really fun taking videos and as stated above, the quality's great. And Scott Kelby, notwithstanding, the built-in flash ain't so bad either.

Well, I'm still discovering a lot of functions... but here 10 key points. 1) In terms of QUALITY is amazing for its price. Everything is very professional, good materials, looks pro, feels pro. 2) PHOTO, I always loved Nikon and I still prefer Nikon over other brands. They keep on improving. 3) VIDEO, the HD quality is amazing, my only complain is that it has no 30 FPS in 1080p, only in 720p. I use it often in 24 FPS so I don't mind, but it's a flaw if you want to shoot content for TV in the highest quality/size. I hope they can upgrade it some day through firmware. 4) It's a little HEAVY with the 18-200 lens, but it's ok for its size/functions. It's average. 5) It's one of the few cameras in the market with a built-in INTERVALOMETER. A few days ago I was shooting a time lapse and it came out perfect, very easy to set from the menu. 6) I love the TWO CARDS slot for back up. Very convenient. Or you can also use it for JPG + RAW. 7) The TWO WHEELS system is fantastic and very customizable. For example, you can define that in (A)perture mode, you will use one wheel to set aperture (shutter speed comes automatically), and the second wheel to set ISO, or something else. 8) It has many customizable functions in different buttons (virtual horizon, same use than the bubble in the tripods), a new button: preview the depth-of-field, etc. 9) They compare it with the Canon 60D but I'd say it's comparable with the 7D. In some things the 7D is a step above, but in others the Nikon is way better. 10) Lots of alternatives for metering and focus, combinations from a single spot to a 3D tracking, from one point of focus to 39 points. Depending on photo/video, what kind of scene, how many subjects and how fast they move, you have a bunch of combinations. Or just do it completely manual. It's a great alternative to Canon 60D/7D/5D for pro level HD movies. I compared it to the 7D for a long time, and I finally chose the D7000 for quality and similar functions, but much cheaper. The rest of the money just save it, buy audio stuff like the Zoom H4n @ $299, or put it in more lenses (like the new 50mm 1.8/G @ $219. I don't regret and I'm loving it!

Please read my review on the Sony HX-20V where I talk about the best point and shoot camera and also talk about saving money for the Nikon D7000 to get a little background. Well, finally bought the D7000 with the 18-105mm lens on Thanksgiving day. It was such a fantastic deal that I had to take the plunge. For a special at $997 including a 16GB Transcend SDHC class 10 and an Amazon Basic camera backpack... it was just too good a deal to pass-on. I've been using it for about a month now and can report that it is an excellant DSLR. I can even use all my old AI Nikkor lens (only in manual mode since they are all manual lenses) but now I have 28mm, 50mm, 105mm, 43-86mm, 80-200mm, 200mm and a few more. With the VR and Autofocus on the 18-105mm zoom, doubt if I will be using the old lenses. But the 50mm is a F1.4 lens..... for non-flash pictures. I've been using my Canon EOS Rebel DSLR for about 5 years and the lens gave out (internal ribbon cable in the lens failed) so I've been itching to replace it. Almost bought a Canon 60D last year but I hesitated, which was good because I ended up with usually a more expensive Nikon D7000 as compared to normally ~ $200 cheaper Canon. I've setup the D7000 with a 32 GB SD card in slot 1 and a 16GB SD card in slot 2 and setup the camera to take NEF(RAW) into Slot 1 and JPEG Fine in Slot 2 simultaneouly. This is great way to take a picture since if you just want to send or move pictures around, the JPEG is lot smaller file and don't need any processing since all the processing is already done when you take the picture in the camera. For the NEF (Raw) files, they are just very big data file that must be processed in your computer. (The Nikon software included includes the conversion software for NEF (Raw) into JPEG or other formats. The NEF (Raw) allows you to maximize your manipulation of the picture itself in photoshop and other image processing software. So straying away from Nikon and coming back to the fold.....just feels better using a Nikon body. Even though it is a DSLR, compared to my old SLR's, just feels like old times. Just a quick initial comments But one scary note: when the package arrived it was left at the front door without signature....was suppose to require a signature and when I opened the box it was loose in the amazon box with no air in the air filled packing bags. Must have punctured during transit. So the Nikon box was just loose in the box. So far no damage to the camera. Although on the third day, when I turned on the camera----nothing. Had to cycle the power several times before it turned on. Fortunately just this one incident. Keeping my fingers crossed.