A while back I got call from the Nikon mothership which put the very first HDdSLR–the Nikon D90–into my hands months before the world had seen that technology. I won’t ever forget that experience. That little camera kicked off this whole craze of photo and video convergence that we’re swimming in today.
Well…low and behold, a few months ago I got another one of those calls from Nikon. “Chase-san. We have a new camera…” I love those calls. And so today I’m again excited to share with you another new camera that will get its moment in the spotlight next week at Photokina: the Nikon D7000.
There’s a feature list a mile long after the jump below, but the only data I cared about heading into this can be summed up in 4 lines:
_16.2 Megapixels. (CMOS sensor, DX format, 6fps)
_1080p full HD video. (24fps)
_ISO up to 6400 (pushable to 25,600)
_Magnesium alloy construction (read “pro quality”)
When an automaker rolls a new car off the assembly line, the first thing they do is call in a professional driver to “road test” that car. They’re armed with the basic tech specs, but the drivers aren’t overly saddled with capturing data and providing computer-style analysis. In reality they don’t care about that stuff. The care how the car feels.
In the very same way, I got to “road test” the Nikon D7000. This behind the scenes video (above), this short film Benevolent Mischief I got to make with the new 1080p HD video (below), and the still photos I shot after the jump tell my story of getting to play with this cool new camera.
Sample photos from our shoot, images of the camera from every angle you can imagine, a full feature list, and some other links after the jump (click ‘more’ or ‘continue reading’…)
Beyond what you see herein, there was nothing formal about my road test. In fact, I carried this concept throughout my experience. There was no bloated production, no official script, not even a definitive shot list to be honest. It was absolutely back to basics. Simply making pictures. Nikon gave me several cameras, creative freedom, and a budget to rally my staff and a handful of friends out on the road to make some images for my portfolio, as well as a short film I’ve had in my mind for quite some time.
So that’s what we did. And we had a blast. I hope you dig some of the results.
Click here to see a gallery of sample images I shot with the Nikon D7000.
My “road” test revealed:
1. The camera feels great. I had fun using it. It was effortless to make great pictures.
2. It’s beefier than D90. Faster. Better. Kicks more ass.
3. Will do well for lots of markets. The photojournalist, the wedding shooter, the pro-sumer, the video crowd, backup body for pros. Pretty much everybody wins.
4. It feels great in your hand. Personally I think ergonomics are waaay underrated on cameras in general. Nikon usually does great in this department, and this is on the mark. It feels dreamy in my palm. I used it almost entirely with the optional vertical grip because it feels more pro in my hand and the extra battery life is important for video.
5. Nice Price. = It’s not confirmable yet, but it will be around $1000 USD. [UPDATED: actual price is $1199, pre-order or check it out here at B&H] Given that the top of the line flagship Nikon cameras I use everyday for my commercial work are several times that price, this is a sweet spot.
Reminder, if you’re looking for official specs or 3rd party “testing”, I’m not your guy. I’m an opinionated photographer and a filmmaker, and these are my gut responses. Nikon didn’t review this post and they didn’t tell me what to shoot. They didn’t pay me for a technical analysis. They did pay for me to go out and make pictures and make a short film – and I had a blast doing it. They were cool and generous, and I’m thankful for the opportunity. And the camera rocked.
—- UPDATE ! Tons of folks were asking for some full resolution JPEGs to take a look at. I’ve tossed them up on this page here D7000 Preview Images, for everyone to look at download. These are right off the SD cards. —-
Since I’m the only photog on the planet who’s actually shot this thing for any length of time, I’m guessing there are gonna be questions. I’m happy to answer any that I can. In fact, Scott and Dartanyon and Erik are also around to answer questions too – they’ve spent as much time as I have with the D7000 and even more time with the files. Let’s let the comment section below act as sort of a forum. Collectively we’ll try to keep up with the questions that pour in.
If you dig this sort of stuff and wanna see more behind the scenes photography/video stuff, please subscribe to this blog here. “Like” me on Facebook. Follow @chasejarvis on Twitter. I’ll surely be following up this post with more info–and other similar stuff–regularly. Hope to see you again.
In the mean time, here’s a more complete spec list:
_16.2 megapixels with new Nikon DX-format CMOS sensor (4,928 x 3,264 pixels)
_ISO sensitivity range from 100 to 6400 at normal setting; can be raised to ISO 25600
_Full HD (1080p) D-Movie
_H.264/mpeg-4 video compression
_Makes .mov files at 24fps in 1080 (30fps at 720HD)
_Movie has built in mono, but stereo sound recording capability with optional external mic via stereo mini jack
_20 minute movie recording times
_High durability magnesium alloy body (dust and water resistant)
_6 frames per second still image capture
_9, 21, 39 point AF systems
_Double SD card slots
_12 or 14 bit color depth
_HDMI out display port
_Nikon Creative Lighting System (CLS) capabilities onboard
and if you really need more info than that, I can’t be of much help, but the Nikon site here might be…
Lastly, the music we use in all our vids is a big part of the fun for us. And we always get a boatload of people who want to check out the bands in greater depth, so here are iTunes links to everyone. All are highly recommended:
The Black Angels
Sera Cahoone
Head Like A Kite
Viva Voce
Victor Shade (RA Scion and MTK)
Joshua Roman
Thanks to everyone who helped out on this fun project. More fun yet to come…
My god, you shoot like a photographer––in other words, you make every image count. Thanks for your dedication to the craft. Nikon is going to sell these babies by the boat-load thanks to you.
You’re a super talented dude.
I was saving for a d300s but now I don’t know what to do. How does this compare and would I be wrong to go
With the d7k over the d300s? I am
Really looking for decent low light low noise performance.
hi chase and company,
would like to ask about AF motor performace using non-AFS lenses like the older primes… how does AF speed compare to the D90 and the higher bodies like lets say, D300/300s, D700? this might be a dealbreaker for most of us. thanks!
JM, I’d say that this camera comes in with quicker focusing than the D90. The D700 is likely to be a faster focusing body than this one, as it is essentially a baby D3, but it can’t compete on price with the D7000.
Chad, we’re having a debate in house here. Some votes for the D300s, some for the D7000. They are really in the same ballpark with low light performance. Our debate is hinging on still speeds )6 vs. 7 FPS), and video resolution (720 vs. 1080). It really has to come to your priorities to make this call. Enjoy!
Hi guys, thank you for sharing your thoughts with us with what seems to be another big Nikon hit. I remember how the D90 announcement maybe me jump and spin around my house.
As you already responded positively to the ISO performance question, I was wondering about the RAW file quality of the D7000 in terms of information and dynamic range for post-processing.
See, I was able to recover a lot of detail from the D90 RAW files.
(see
here for the comparison
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=15164677&l=12632411d6&id=623250297
here for the whole album
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=502532&id=623250297&l=2bac9a9b13
)
So far, I was able to stretch (i.e. modify in lightroom3) D700 files farther than I could with the D90. I was wondering if the RAW file quality of the D7000 has improved or stayed the same regardless of the megapixel and ISO boost or worst, lost some quality due to the transition to higher pixel count.
Thank you so much for your feedback again. I hope I make sense. =)
As of right now the only thing that can read the RAW files is a VERY beta version of Nikon software that we have, and is mostly in Japanese. So it’s hard to say. However even looking at them in that software you’ll always find a lot more detail in the RAW files
Thank you so much for your answer Dartanyon.
I forgot RAW files from cameras as new as the D7000 can be aren’t supported yet by Adobe Camera RAW. my bad, I’ll just go get a hands on experience when I’ll get the chance when it arrives at the store 😛
I read your feedback on JPG rendering and from what I’ve seen from the sample images on the Nikon, they were able to pull out some great dynamic range stunts in the JPG engine.
One very last thing and I promise to wait till I get my hands on one.
I just went through the dpreview article too and noticed that the D7000 can be set to produce 14-bit RAW files (which I find is much more stretchable in post-processing than 12-bit). Last time I tried shooting 14-bit RAW files on a DX body (on the D300/D300s), I experienced a bit of shutter lag compared to shooting 12-bit RAW files. Did anything similar occurred to you guys when shooting in 14-bit RAW?
I didn’t notice any longer shutter lag, but they certainly slowed down the writing to the card, and therefore shortened up the buffer.
Nikon Capture NX2 is a great software, much better than Aperture in terms of output quality. It’s meant for the Nikon ecosystem, I don’t know why you have not been using it before..
Even the current version of capture doesn’t support the D7000.