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…
The D90 didn’t kick off this video craze at all. Reverie and the full frame 5D Mark II is what lit the world on fire.
I can’t believe Nikon didn’t make the D7000 a full-frame camera. They have got to catch up. Another crop-sensor 1080p DSLR is not that exciting, Canon has several. FF gets you low light amazing imagery and real 14mm and fisheye and most importantly, razor DOF with a 1.4 or 1.2 lens. C’mon Nikon, WAKE UP, you are two years behind with this new camera.
Well, you know! Not everyone wants or need a full frame camera. Some people like the 1,5*crop factor. And not everybody can afford a full frame camera.
Best regards/Daniel Skilberg
Fred, if you read their comments above, you’d have gotten that this D7000 delivers D700/D3-like low light capability. For that matter, Canon 5d Mk I is no better than the 2-yr-old D90 in terms of low-light ability. As for wide angle and fisheye, there are DX equivalents that are just as good as their FX counterparts and they are even cheaper. Also, I have yet to see Canon put out a FF in their xxxD or even xxD lines. So just HOW is Nikon 2 years behind the times with this camera?
The “advantages” you point to are not all inherent advantages of a full frame sensor over a DX sensor, but rather what Nikon and Canon have done in specific models that use FF sensors. It is true that given a specific resolution and a specific sensor technology applied to both a DX and an FX sensor, the FX sensor will yield better low light capability. But technology advances quite rapidly and the DX sensors of today are as good as and in some cases even better than the full frame sensors of yesterday.
As for DOF, for an equivalent field of view, the difference between FX and DX is about a stop in terms of aperture. As for actual results, it’s close enough that you couldn’t tell them apart unless you were looking at them side by side.
Generally, I find comments from folks such as yourself are from people with little or no experience with full frame DSLRs or film SLRs who are just repeating the myths they’ve read in other forums and discussions, not realizing that their sources are as clueless as they are.
I want to add a note of dissent at the moaners above. I thought the videos were great. You had the bright “BTS” vid and the dark feature. They both show off different aspects of the camera’s performance. Personally I’d much prefer to watch something like that than a bespectacled Mr. Bean type listing every spec and talking about his test conditions. The specs are widely available, so the videos should be there to show the potential of the camera.
fred….
did you know that canon had the CLS equivalent for the canon crop frame just last year, while nikon had it for several years already.
both company has their preference on what they like to use or develop.
im a nikon user…. but you cant go wrong with any of the 2 brands, if it fits your purpose and style of shooting.
and btw its just a tool for the photographers…. Ansel Adams got a lot of very nice pics out of his primitive camera. so stop whining just shoot.
in this case… chase jarvis and his crew made this… i bet they can still do it using canon or even with his iphone.
I have a 30/1.4 on my D90 and I can confirm that it has razor-thin DOF because it mis-focuses by a few millimeters. Stop spewing BS.
I’m not gonna kid, I won’t be able to afford that camera for at least two years, but that is still made awesome! BTW, how in the WORLD did you get that camera hooked to a helicopter, and how much did that sort of hookup cost?
Wow! Great news, and cool presentation. Thank you Chase and the team.
I will most definitely save up fpr this camera instead of the D300s.
I also linked to your D700 test on my blog. Hope it´s okey.
http://www.danielskilberg.se/fotoblogg/?p=111
Best regards/Daniel Skilberg
Stockholm/Sweden
That should be your D7000 test;-)
The video was AWESOME! Just wondering what you used in terms of lighting, and could this (D7000) be used to make a feature? Thanks!
Hi Scott,
Really impressive visuals! Compared to the D700, would you say the D7000 high iso levels( 6400+) is on par? Does FX sensor really make a difference at least till 6400 ISO? Also, will having the extended battery pack help boost frame rates beyond 6fps? Any compelling reason to buy D700 over D7000?
JT, we haven’t shot the D700 much so I can’t say exactly how it compares at 6400. I can say that the D3s which is also a FX sensor has probably 1-2 stops better high ISO performance than the D7000. The extended battery pack on the D700 will boost it’s frame rate to 8FPS while the D7000 shoots at 6FPS regardless of the battery grip. The D700 is still probably a better pure still camera with the better sensor, fps, and ISO performance, but 1080 video and the price tag make the 7000 a compelling challenger.
Thanks, Chase! You are really marvelous with the camera.
Rocco, for the short film we used one big HMI placed about 100 feet from the van in the bridge girders. All of the shots in the bar and apartment were shot with available light (and not much of it.) I think that the recent past has shown that these cameras are very capable of shooting feature productions.