D7000 Goodness

September 15th, 2010

After some advance speculation yesterday on Engadget, probably a "controlled" leak on the part of Nikon, the goodies are now officially announced:

The new Nikon D7000 and a random bunch of lenses.

Let's look at the new body, a phenomenal beauty (as far as features go):

	
16MP sensor
	
25K Max ISO
	
2 SD slots
	
Full HD-Video with stereo sound recording (w/external mic), internal mono mic
	
Full-time AF and manual controls for Video (finally!)
	
Sealed body
	
150k cycle shutter

However (yuck):

	
Video sequences are limited to 20 minutes (if SONY can build an APS-C camcorder with unlimited recording time, why are you telling us that your sensor gets all hot and bothered after just 20 minutes?)
	
New rechargeable battery type
	
Mono built-in microphone (any camcorder has stereo so why not this baby?)
	
Native 100 ISO (instead of 200). It's easier to slap on a ND-filter to push ISO down lower than to pump it up higher. We LIKE native ISO 200, Nikon!

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="349" caption="Nikon D7000 body"][/caption]

So we've essentially gotten an upgraded D300s packed into a smaller body with some amateur features like scene modes for a fantastic price. The D7000 obsoletes both the D90 AND the D300s in one fell swoop, and even matches or beats the D700 in most features except in being full frame.

Holy Moly!

The model number suggests that Nikon has moved the "prosumer" range of Dxx cameras into the Dxxxx range and merged it into the entry-level bodies. So, we've got the following ranges of Nikon DSLRs now:

	
Dx - pro (sports and fast action), currently D3, D3s, D3x
	
Dxxx - full frame pro small-body no grip, currently D700
	
Dxxx - DX pro small-body no grip, currently D300s
	
Dxxxx - amateur, this baby D7000
	
Dxxxx - entry, currently D3100
	
Dxx - consumer range, now defunct, last addition: D90.

The amount of cool technology being offered to the entry-level crowd is amazing! It is fully possible to take professional-grade images in almost all situations with this body (provided you know how). It far surpasses the feature set of the pro range of just a few years ago.

HOWEVER, I think Nikon has made a mistake in choosing the model number - they should have stuck with the Dxx range and perhaps called it the D91. D90 owners wouldn't like "stepping down" into the entry Dxxxx range. And the Dxxxx range now contains the new 14MP D3100 and this 16MP D7000. So the waters are now unnecessarily muddled up. Perhaps Nikon should have come up with new model ranges to clean up their mess.

Now that Nikon has given away all it's pro features for a song, I'm  guessing that there must be something pretty huge in store for the Dx  and Dxxx series upgrade!!! I am positively drooling in anticipation of what's coming!

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