is the D7000 worth buying?

BrainBeat

You Aussies are always ripped off for stuff. I see lots of posts like yours for various things all say the same.

Considering the Aussie dollar is around 1.05 to the USA one products should be at worse be the same as US prices but nearly always we pay up to double.

Take another look at KnockKnock's post - that is a very likely scenario, not a rant.

True there could be problems but then again their might not be any. I am more interested in seeing how much really changes in the new version before I make my mind up at least as far as a new body goes.

PB_PM

What area import duties like in Australia? Often the price is inflated because the manufacture has to make up for the cost of import duties. The Canadian dollar is around 1.03 to 1 USD as well, and our prices are 50-100 more than US prices in most cases, primarily due to Canada's higher import duties.

BrainBeat

At the risk of putting this thread too far off track I will try to answer the question above and finish this side discussion. As far as I know there is no import duties that companies have to pay to import items into Australia. There is a flat GTS on most items of 10% sold in Australia. As for individuals we only have to pay GTS on imports over $1k at least at the moment. I believe most of our inflated prices are from greedy companies not adjusting down their local prices when the Aussie dollar rose from around 70c to over parity with the US dollar. There could also be a small argument that our market is relatively small and so has higher costs per unit. Our Government is said to be looking into this situation but I am not going to hold my breath for things to change too much. This situation is causing many of us to be looking overseas for purchases but I am not sure I would want to do that due to the warranty.

Lets return to the discussion on the D7000

spraynpray

"is the D7000 worth buying?"
---------------------------------
Price is a factor in that question - we are not too far off track

silvershot55

Nikon D7000....how do you rate the AF in this camera ? Mostly it's ok for me, but for the 39 af points, often
disappointing at the blurred shots. Just saying. And in the D7k forum on dpr, the moderator does not tolerate much dissention. (I was warned). So...just be happy ...ignore ? sigh....

spraynpray

I have to say that I zone focus with the centre point then lock it and pan like I did 30 years ago so no, I don't have any problems with D7K auto focus...

As to dpr - is there another forum then?

donaldejose

To quote Ken Rockwell: P mode stands for Professional mode. ) )

Golf007sd

@silvershot55: The AF, and the 39 focus point, on the D7000 is very good. Most of the time shooters forget to use the right ISO settings in order to get the action shot. Hence, increase your ISO so you can have a faster shutter speed and your problem is solved.

silvershot55

I wish it could use more than only one AF point or all 39 pts ...like the Canon 7D...zone at a side of vf, of about 4 cross AF points. Walking models...not time to refocus...and the single focus points in dim light...leave a bit to be desired.

obajoba

I wish it could use more than only one AF point or all 39 pts ...like the Canon 7D...zone at a side of vf, of about 4 cross AF points. Walking models...not time to refocus...and the single focus points in dim light...leave a bit to be desired.

I used 9-point AF selection IIRC on my D7000 and it worked great for most things. I would select the point I really wanted to use and if perhaps my hand was a bit shaky and VR was off, one of the surrounding points would catch that. It's a bit slow on the D7000 for shooting action or sports, but it works quite well.

I just sold my 6 month old D7000 with the 18-105, 55-200, and 35 f/1.8 and a bunch of accessories for $1500, I would say the buyer got a steal for a great camera. You would probably need to shoot the D7000 for 3-4 months and multiple subjects (sports, studio, family, etc.) before you could decide whether or not it has everything you need.

It's a great camera at an incredible price.

Golf007sd

@silvershot55 Maybe this video will help you.



Sample of D7000 shooting video at night.

silvershot55

Why did you sell yours ? I've had mine for 2 years...about 30,000 shots.

obajoba

Why did you sell yours ? I've had mine for 2 years...about 30,000 shots.

I have an unfortunate "gift" to see imperfection - I'm the guy that cringes at swirl marks on white cars that 99.95% of population can't even fathom, let alone see. So, with that in mind, I couldn't handle the high ISO performance on the D7000 when shooting sports/action (>90% of what I shoot.) Now, I will admit, as I got better at filling the frame with the subject at higher ISO's (>800) I found it to be a bit less annoying, and even have a 16x24 print that I love which I shot at ISO3200.

If you go ISO1600 and have to crop 15%-25% in a low-key photo on a D7000 you might hate life, you might not mind it. I did. With the loss of facial detail (and most fine detail,) I couldn't handle it; combined with the inability to shoot 5fps and continue to stay in focus on a moving subject at 1/500th (which again is occasionally in part due to my mediocre panning skills but not always) I decided to upgrade. I'm extremely fortunate and I can do that, not everyone can.

I would recommend the D7000 as an APS-C camera, and would even say it's too much camera for most of the consumers out there. The guy I sold it to had zero idea what to do with it, didn't so much as take a test shot with it and it is his first SLR, let alone DSLR. I felt awful and wanted to tell him to buy a D3200 or D5200... But, with some learning, he has an incredible setup that will last him for years, or another 140k actuations, whichever comes first

fotomk

Ho hum.. CES show came and left and yet again, no sign of an upgrade..
Very glad I went with the d7k instead of wasting my time (like i did all of 2012) thinking that what I needed was on it's way.

7000 for now, upgrade later, as we all will eventually end up doing regardless what body we have!
7000 will make a great addition to the collection and will be a great 2nd body much later in the future.

PB_PM

CES = consumer electrics show. You aren't going to see a camera like the D7000 replacement released at that kind of show.

fotomk

Evidently, just about every rumor mill on the web was under the exact opposite impression.

MikeGunter

Hi all,

"Price" is always in the equation, isn't it?

The D7xxx will likely have more pixels and a few more features, but it might not take better pictures and it might be more pricey. It likely won't have much availability until December, and only God knows what gremlins will be under the hood - wouldn't it make more sense to let some other sucker work out the kinks this time?

The D7000 takes great pictures and video.

Just saying...

My very best,

Mike

DaveyJ

I have finally decided based on Mike Gunter's balanced post. I now, after all these months have made my decision. I'll buy a D7000 with a 18-200VRII lens and whatever additional gear I am forced to purchase along with it to achieve the best price point. I did finally buy the D90 and the 18-105VR lens quite late in the cycle as the video began to grow on me. But the D7000 stills and video and price have finally made me realize this waiting game is not working when the three of us that share cameras always seem to reach for the D7000 first.
At least we know we are buying a very usable camera at a great price. I know obviously believe it will be December 2013 before I could get a D7200 or a D9000 or whatever that camera would be and at what price. For me the anticipation was making me late. I feel the threat of gremlins under the hood has finally nudged me to purchase yet another D7000 and 18-200VRII lens. I guess for me price points can make the difference between a very usable camera in hand.....or to check in with NR every few days and wonder how far my say $1,500 could reach. Like racing's adage "Speed costs, how fast do you want to go?" When it comes to spending my diminishing money I conclude with Mike....the D7000 takes great pictures and video! Good luck to all you NR photo enthusiasts! For me the die is cast. I can still remember reading that in latin in Caesar's Gallic Commentaries as he crossed the Rubicon River.

MikeGunter

Hi DaveyJ,

I had in mind to upgrade to a D600 to expand dynamic range, ISO and enjoy somewhat less noise, but I don't think the fuss over worry about whatever these spots are warrants it.

Since it's January, I don't think I'll do anything any kind of upgrade for me until Fall or Winter at the earliest and kept what I have. I am, after all, mostly retired. ;-)

Although, my 18-105mm lens is like me, pretty worn out. It has gotten a ton of use, far more than it, like me, was designed for. The camera itself has seen quite a few 4K+ click nights during stage rehearsals, 8 to 10 shows a year and it hasn't shown any signs of quitting, plus the other torture it goes through. It seems pretty tough.

The other lenses, even the oldest auto focus models, seem to working fine.

My very best,

Mike

spraynpray

God knows what gremlins will be under the hood - wouldn't it make more sense to let some other sucker work out the kinks this time?

In England, we would call that 'harsh - but fair' Mike

MikeGunter

Hi all,

@spraynpray In England, we would call that 'harsh - but fair' Mike" Ahem, in the light of the next day, I didn't intend for it to sound so harsh as it sounds. More like to be, 'sucked into the buying frenzy,..'

Still, I guess I'll have to stand buy it.

I have carried Nikon gear for nearly 45 years professionally, and have 3 cases of lenses and bodies that I have hauled around. Some of it replacement from stolen gear from two robberies (it would have been three if I had taken gear to Peru this last Summer).

The D7000 that came out had some production issues as does the D600, and I wonder 'What's up?"

It makes less and less sense to be early adopters.

While the complexity of electronic stuff makes for more things to go wrong, it also means that people should be leery of promises that a manufacturer makes, and perhaps weary of lack of delivery of lack of same. Maybe I'm just getting crotchety, but if a camera is suppose to work, it should just should work.

My best,

Mike

Dredden85

Think I'll wait for whatever announcement is made in March-April. If the next D7X00 is announced, the price drop on the D7000 would be awesome! That's when I'll jump on it!

spraynpray

@MikeGunter: Sometimes you just have to call it the way it is.

@Dredden85: As every D7000 sold is a D7*00 not sold, I would expect Nikon to be managing their stock levels carefully so as to minimise the number of low margin cameras sold so you may be looking at the lowest prices now. Maybe they have already stopped production of them and we are buying stock. That may not be the case of course - are you feelin' lucky?

Dredden85

@ SprayNpray: Good point! But I am feelin' lucky!
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KnockKnock

Received the D7000 Monday, shot a couple hundred pictures. Love it. Coming from a D60. Love the viewfinder, autofocus performance-options-control, bracketing, grid overlay, U1-U2, shutter response and blackout brevity, the feel of a fine(r) instrument - especially coming from an entry-level body.

Did some pixel peeping day 1 and was only marginally impressed. ISO6400 in black skyline at 100% surprise, HEY - NOISE. Yup, blotchy muddy darkness - I found it. Day 2, I got real, scaled to compare to my 10MP CCD with normal evening low level indoor lighting, full-screen 24" and wow, it's usable at 6400 - still holds color - and any perceived noise is so small it's negligible. So I'm back to loving it and happy. I don't think I'd upgrade it with a D7200 (or whatever it's called) for a mere 1-stop improvement. We'll see what else is on tap.

I think there is room for improvement with in-camera jpg noise reduction. The automatic processing Nik Dfine does brings a lot of shadow detail back. Having that power in-camera would be huge. Maybe it'll never happen (hasn't all these years) since I guess that's why we have RAW - still, that would be a useful user-friendly improvement.

Back to jpgs, I tested distortion correction, and cannot for the life of me see any of the hideous pixel-level loss of sharpness I had read about. I do see the clip/cropping, but it isn't terrible. It really helps the perceived quality of the 18-105DX and even the 35mm 1.8DX. That sense of quality I feel when I put my 50mm 1.4G on, the flatness and straightness of lines, was one of the first things I noticed when I got it, and now the wider lenses feel that way too. It probably helps that I'm getting the CA correction too. All I can say is my 2 'cheap' lenses just improved notably. Probably an opportunity for a D7200 as well is that I don't think the D7000 corrects for vignetting. But vignetting doesn't bother me as much as CA, barrel, pincushion and noise.

Pardon my rambling. Maybe it'll be useful to others on the fence following this thread. Now I'm considering a used 12-24DX lens, or hoping they come out with a prime ~14mm DX. I really thought this would just be a placeholder before moving to FX, but my needs are very well met right now.