Ok, so I’ll start off by saying I love this camera. I’ve used it for a little over a week and a half now, and every day I learn something new. Given, I took the jump from a Nikon D200 (which I use as my backup body now) and the D200, now, seems ancient. I guess it camera years it is, but I still use it and think it’s great.
The good: Photo quality, ergonomics, video quality, general ISO performance, build quality, dual card slot, PRICE
The bad: The body is much smaller than I am use to, SD cards (I had to buy SD cards because I only shot with CF before), shutter button (it seems a bit mushy – which other people note too)
Review:
So as you can see, I don’t have a lot of negatives to say about the camera. I think some are bothered by the 720p 1080p / 24fps vs. 30 fps, but I bought this camera for stills so I don’t have a ton to say about that. However, I’ve been using the video function for the company I work for and I think the quality is superb. I really enjoy having the ability to use all my lenses, especially the 50mm f/1.4.
The auto focus is blazing fast and lights up the points as it focuses. The facial recognition is something I didn’t think would be helpful, but it really does work. When you’re shooting in live mode, you can watch the little yellow box stick to peoples’ faces as they move within the frame. The switching from AF S to AF C threw me off because on my D200 there are three settings on the actual switch (M/A/C). You have to hold down the focus button then scroll the dial to get to AF C. In terms of video, the auto focus is pretty good. It works, however, I found using manual focus is easier and prevents the camera from “searching” while you are filming and ruining the shot. The still focusing with my old school nikon lenses works well with little arrows assisting focusing.
The internal mic is decent, if you’re going to start filming get a external microphone for sure. This is pretty standard across the board for DSLR sound…
I am going to buy a grip for the camera because it feels like a little baby with my 70-200mm f/2.8 VR on it. That’s one thing that I am trying to get used to – the size. I liked the feel of my D200 because of the wider body, but that’s something I’ll get over.
One thing that really stands out is the ISO performance (keep in mind I am coming from a D200). 100-1600 is pretty much perfect, noise starts building gradually up to ISO 25600. Even then the image is still usable just be sure to shrink that puppy down 25% or so for web.
The in camera editing system is pretty nifty – I don’t really have a use for this however I like the miniature effect.
The white balance works and I’ve been very pleased with the results.
Over all I think this is a great camera for the price. It’s weird because the camera seems to be a hybrid between the professional line and the prosumer/consumer line. Dual memory card slots, weather sealing, 6fps etc… but for the price it retails for, I think it’s a no brainer. It makes the D300s obsolete and, in my opinion, is online with the D700 for sure.
Here are some pictures I have from a shoot with KARVT. (Sorry I haven’t been able to get out and get more!)
Here’s a video from the D7000 (I didn’t shoot this)
Nikon D7000 Video
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