Problem with quality on D7000

eljaysheffield

I have just bought a nikon D7000 after using a d80 for six years but after taking it away travelling for a week, I have come back to 600 bad quality images and i am bitterly disappointed. I can only assume that it is my fault but I have used generally the same settings and style of photography as I used on my D80 with which I never had any problems at all. As an amateur photographer and graphic designer, I am critical of my work and like to check and process all images in NX2 but this time they are too far gone to rectify to my standards.

All of my recent images are done with aperture priority, most 100 or 200 ISO and using mainly between f8 and f14. All of the images are quite blurred in both foreground and background and the colours on most are shocking – dull or with huge amounts of darkness and highlights blown out. At 100@ they are unusable and I can only settle for 6x4 prints. It is like they have been taken on a cheap camera and there is no definition, sharpness or detail. I used two lenses that I regularly use – Nikon AF-S Nikkor 18-55mm 3.5-5.6G VR and a wide angle Tokina SD 12-24mm F4 (IF) DX. Both have got hundreds of great shots in the past with the D80. I always shoot in RAW so I can do the post-processing in Capture NX2 and I always use the best quality settings. I switch the D-Lighting off.

I had the camera's autofocus set on AF-A and fear that this may be the problem as my subjects were landscapes, buildings and general scenery but I have never had any problem with my D80 using the same settings. Am I doing something fundamentally wrong with this D7000 or could there be a problem with the autofocus and light metre?
Any advice would be appreciated.

rschnaible

If you have not already done a "reset" to the factory setting I might recommend that. The D7000 typcially takes wonderful images and I am a bit puzzled by your experience. Taking it back to the factory settings and then doing some tests shots.... Is there anything different about your monitor or such?

MikeGunter

Hi eljaysheffield,

What was the shutter speed of the shots and was the VR on and if on was the camera on a tripod or still?

Does the EXIF data show any Exposure Compensation?

Is the camera set for manual focus?

Do you have the locking focus set on or off?

Multifocus points or single focusing point?

My best,

Mike

spraynpray

Can you post one of the pics you are unhappy with along with the EXIF data?

Golf007sd

@eljaysheffield: I truly do not believe it is the camera..most likely has to do with the settings in which you took the pictures at. I'm just surprised you did not do a quick inspection on the LCD display to see some of the 600 shots that are now unusable.

I'm interested in seeing what your shutter speed was at when shooting @ F/8-F/14. Where these shot taken handheld? Can you please answer some of Mike's question in addition to posting some pic's as requested by spraynpray?

The more info we have the better we can assist....cheers.

dissent

I'm a relatively recent owner of a new D7000, and I have not had issues as you've described them. There is always the possibility that you have a defective camera. As others have mentioned, some data from you may help the folks here diagnose your problem(s). The autofocus system on the D7000 is different in terms of it's controls than the AF on my D5100; more points and more capabilities. See also - http://www.pixelfinesse.com/_docs/D7000_AF_Explained.pdf

I'm still trying to wrap my head around some of the intricacies myself, so my recommendation is to persevere. As mentioned, some test images with exif may help. Is your Autofocus Fine Tune turned on with bad settings? Might not be a problem at f/8 to f/14 though.

more info here -
http://www.bythom.com/nikond7000review.htm

NSXTypeR

From what you described it seems as if your shutter speeds are too low. You shouldn't be afraid of boosting your ISO as its performance is way better than the D80.

I came from a D40 to a D7000 and I used to be able to get away with some ridiculously slow shutter speeds. But now I feel like I need to do speeds higher than the 1/focal length general rule.

spraynpray

From what you described it seems as if your shutter speeds are too low. You shouldn't be afraid of boosting your ISO as its performance is way better than the D80.

I came from a D40 to a D7000 and I used to be able to get away with some ridiculously slow shutter speeds. But now I feel like I need to do speeds higher than the 1/focal length general rule.

Kind of like people going to the D800 from a D700? I know what you mean, but his problem isn't just sharpness.

@eljaysheffield: If you aren't going to post pics, we are not going to be able to help you as our chrystal ball has oil spots on it....

JJ_SO

... and the crystal ball focuses not so well on left side

Coming from one camera generation to the next, couple of years later - are you sure, eljaysheffield, everything hasn't changed since? It's the combination of slow ISO with high aperture that leads to blurred images. If you set the D7000 to matrix-metering, this is the next best possibility to get overexposed pictures. Meaning the shutter speed was even slower than necessary.

But having a new camera and taking 600 pictures without being curious how they look like while taking them is far beyond my imagination. I join the circle of people who wants to see some samples before guessing on. Don't be shy, you can't lose much more than you already had with 600 pictures, but gain a lot of information for having much better times with your new cam.

kyoshinikon

I use both the D80 and the D7000 and the D7000 is miles better. Either you are doing something wrong or your camera is defective. Check to see if exposure comp or bracketing is on. If not check to see that it is communicating with the lenses...

safyre

Post some pictures. Seems like user error to me.

NRandall

I am currently using a D7000 on loan while I wait for my other body to arrive. The only issues I found at first use were to do with exposure, but not sharpness. [see photo a day]
I also agree it could be a defective camera since my images in comparison with the D90 which had between this and a D80 like you did.

ZH_Driver

Eljayshefield, I think you have the same problem as I do. I have thought there was something wrong with my camera and I was able to do a test yesterday when I caught up with my mother who has just bought the D7000 as we'll.

Although we did have different lenses on (Tokina 100mm f2.8 for me, Nikon 18-105? on my mothers camera) I set them both to F8, aperture priority and zoomed to approximately 100mm on the zoom lenses and of course checked all settings (ISO, metering etc) were the same. My camera gave my approximately half the shutter speed the other one gave!

My suspicions were correct. I think I will be contacting Mr Nikon this week.

Have you had any resolution to your problem?

spraynpray

@ZH_Driver: Welcome to NR.

Try swapping your lens with hers to eliminate the lens as the cause of the problem. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain from doing so.

KAP

I have a D7000 and shoot in aperature and exclusively in RAW given your low ISO relatively large dof at f8-14 unless you were shooting on a sunny day your shutter speed might have been as slow as 30. If this was the case and if you weren't using a tripod your blur could be from that.

kyoshinikon

Could possibly be a bad shutter

spraynpray

I think the OP has left the building. Don't you just hate that?

Golf007sd

Agreed.

Topic Closed.