Nikon D7000 DSLR test

The Nikon D7000 is at the top of Nikon’s line of amateur DSLRs. The camera was announced in August 2010.

Nikon D7000 SLR camera

Specifications

Sensor: CMOS with dust cleaning function

Size: DX 23.6×15.6 mm

Resolution: 16.2 megapixels 4928×3264

Krop Factor: 1.5

Recording format: NEF RAW , JPEG

Sensitivity: ISO 100-6400 extendable to ISO 25,600

Recording format: MOV H.264/MPEG-4

Video quality: up to 1920×1080, 24 frames per second

Viewfinder: pentaprism, matte screen

Frame coverage area: 100%

Display: color LCD TFT , 3 inches, about 921,000 dots, Live View mode with autofocus

Shooting speed: up to 6 fps

Memory cards: SD, SDHC, SDXC two slots

Weight: 690 g

Price: $1720

Camera capabilities

Nikon’s previous leader in amateur DSLRs, the D90, once surprised with a new approach to the capabilities of non-professional cameras. It was packed with features more inherent in the older class, and it was unexpected. The D7000 was a feature-rich camera just like its predecessor, but with a huge leap forward in terms of quality. The camera body is dust and moisture proof, and the magnesium elements in the special plastic body provide high strength and rigidity. The shutter is designed for 150,000 guaranteed operations, which is more common for professional cameras.

The camera controls are not much different from the D90, but some of the elements have been rearranged. The AF switch button has moved to the AF/MF lever axis, and the mode button has been replaced by a ring around the exposure mode dial. At first, this innovative move seemed unobvious, but the first shooting showed the convenience of such a solution. Better control of video shooting. Exposure metering uses the new 2016-pixel RGB sensor, which achieves very high precision in both exposure and white balance. The new autofocus system has a sensor with 39 focus zones with 9 cross-shaped ones in the center. Four focus modes, including 3D tracking, should keep you accurately in focus in all situations. New sensor with higher resolution allows for larger print sizes. The most important thing for photographers shooting in any conditions was the increase of sensitivity of the sensor and reduction of noise at maximum ISO settings. In general, however, the controls retain the familiar layout, which is good because it eliminates the need to retrain when switching to a new model.

Test photography

For the photographic test, the AF-S Nikkor 18-105 mm f/3.5-5.6G ED lens was attached to the camera. The first pictures were taken in windy, snowy weather. The high ISO 3200 sensitivity made it possible to close the aperture quite a bit and still work at short shutter speeds. Snowflakes flying at high speed appeared to be practically stopped, turning into poorly visible bright dots instead of smeared stripes in the image, which improved visibility and provided sufficient detail even at a considerable distance while maintaining the general tone of the image. Good auto exposure and excellent auto white balance.

The following series of shots were taken in a large office center. Artificial light from fluorescent bulbs mixed with natural light coming through the glass roof. I was primarily interested in how the auto white balance worked in this type of light. The result was surprisingly good. Even taking pictures from the office gallery behind glass, where halogen local lights were also present, was perfectly acceptable in terms of results. On the aluminum bindings of the glazed wall, you can see that the outside light has a clear blue hue, but the camera was very sensitive about the white balance.

The walk with the camera through the streets of New York was dedicated to video shooting and genre scenes. Of course it’s better to shoot video with a tripod, pre-setting the camera, but it was interesting to check the possibility of shooting short videos or genre movies. Shooting movies out of the blue did not work: still the SLR is not too handy for this in terms of ergonomics and the camera shake failed to get rid of snippets and jerks. But I had no complaints about the image quality in HD mode. A very detailed picture.

Smart 3D autofocus proved itself well in genre photography. The camera reacts very quickly to subject movement, and there was almost no focus failure. It was more difficult to shoot the scenes, because cold cloudy weather does not encourage people to take walks, but we managed to get a couple of shots with this one.

We were able to test the camera in difficult lighting conditions at the presentation of new printers, where journalists of leading photo editions were invited. Bright light from huge windows, a relatively low ceiling, and dim warm fluorescent light is quite a challenge for the camera’s automation. Exposure metering was very good in all the shots, so I hardly had to make any exposure corrections, even in the scenes with ambient light. It was more difficult to set the white balance. The presets required a new setting for each shooting point, and the result was not always acceptable, because when shooting quickly it is difficult to control the color of the nearest sources as well. All the problems were solved by returning to automatic selection. What’s more, all my attempts to find the best color combinations with graphics software were terminated with the next viewing, because the one I took looked the most natural.

I should also mention the amazing high sensitivity performance of this new device. Experience makes us cautious about high ISO settings, increased noise and color artifacts at maximum sensitivity are natural, although recently impressive results have been achieved in this area. In this test I paid special attention to high sensitivity shooting because I think this factor is the most important for today’s photographers. Judging by the test results, we can say that 3200 ISO is the absolute working sensitivity for the new camera for reportage photography, and even 6400 ISO is also usable with some limitations .

Subsequent outdoor shooting only confirmed the excellent performance of the camera in natural light. Shots of dark subjects in the light snow showed the good dynamic range of the new sensor and the excellent performance of the exposure programs.

The last part of my test shooting was night scene. Tested exposure programs, white balance and image quality at extreme sensitivities, including at 25,600 ISO. I took these shots in the not so well lit streets of the center of New York. High contrast, unpredictable color temperature of street lighting, and deep shadows are all common conditions for a nighttime cityscape. Even under these conditions, it was clear that the exposure metering works very well, and you only need to make corrections in special cases. The white balance works accurately in all conditions, and the pictures at sensitivities up to 6400 ISO look quite decent. This image taken at 25,600 ISO has almost no noise in the bright highlights, though it is quite noisy in the shadows. Apparently, this sensitivity is not marked in the basic settings for a reason, but is used only in extensions.

Conclusions

The new camera is clearly a success, and although externally very similar to its predecessor, is very different on the inside. Picture quality has improved considerably, and can be firmly rated as excellent. Particularly happy with the result at high sensitivity. Camera has good speed and effective autofocus. The new DSLR can be recommended for experienced amateurs and even beginner pros can use it.

We thank Nikon New York office for the camera we received for testing.

Test in pictures

By clicking on the picture you can see a larger image. You can get out of full screen mode by clicking outside the picture area

Notice the subtle detail in the highlights and the natural tone in the black 58mm, f/6.3, 1/60s, ISO 3200 .

You could see the horizon better than in reality because of the flying snow. The short shutter speed stopped the movement completely 105mm, f/10, 1/2500 s, ISO 3200 .

The close proximity of the transparent ceiling, through which the bluish light from the sky and the yellow artificial light pass, made auto white balance easy 70mm, f/5.3, 1/40sec, ISO 500 .

Top local light – halogen lights. Out the window, bright, cold daylight. The face has a yellow tint to it, but trying to change the color only makes the picture worse. Camera was smarter than photographer! 28mm, f/7.1, 1/80s, ISO 3200 .

This one was also taken during a snowfall. Very subtle and accurate halftones in the highlights 35mm, f/14, 1/800s, ISO 3200 .

It was really dark, only a streetlight illuminated this building. Noise at this sensitivity is very noticeable, but in this scene it does not make a bad impression 28 mm, f/4, 1/60 sec, ISO 25 600 .

The texture of the snow, the dark trunks, and the red bricks appear very natural 32mm, f/6.3, 1/160s, ISO 500 .

Shot from the gallery on the fifth floor. The mixing of natural and artificial light is almost imperceptible 105mm, f/5.6, 1/50s, ISO 500 .

Window, projector, overhead lamp light and local small lights. The picture in this light is very lively and natural 21mm, f/8, 1/100sec, ISO 3200 .

Great brightness gradients, but ghost shots only in certain areas, so the picture doesn’t lose anything 26mm, f/5, 1/100sec, ISO 6400 .

Large reproductions of paintings by great American artists appeared on some central streets of New York and St. Petersburg. This is very satisfying. And so does the camera work 66mm, f/5.3, 1/400s, ISO 500 .

A cold spring day. It’s not a hot hug, it just moves sculpture 75mm, f/5.3, 1/125s, ISO 500 .