Why shouldn't I buy a Nikon D7000

[ajohnw]

It's ordered and should arrive next Thurs / Fri. Uk holidays over Xmas might interfere. It is new so if any problems it will have to go back. On the other hand it might be a new refurb as they are a little old now. Not even sure if they are still in production.

John
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[ajohnw]

Interesting to read about focus problems. There is a mix of information available and not juts on D7000's either. I gained the impression some problems are down to using continuous AF on stationary subjects. Some seem to cure it by turning this an that off but the 2 most focused sites seem to be these 2.

Lens registration
http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/D7000/D7000A4.HTM

And various pages of this one
http://photographylife.com/nikon-dsl...focus-problems

I also got the impression from some where that Nikon are trying to focus into subjects rather than just onto them. That needs distance information.

Interestingly Olympus seem to have added individual AF point trimming to the EM-1.

John
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[GrahamS]

Interesting to read about focus problems. There is a mix of information available and not juts on D7000's either. I gained the impression some problems are down to using continuous AF on stationary subjects. Some seem to cure it by turning this an that off but the 2 most focused sites seem to be these 2.

Lens registration
http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/D7000/D7000A4.HTM

And various pages of this one
http://photographylife.com/nikon-dsl...focus-problems

I also got the impression from some where that Nikon are trying to focus into subjects rather than just onto them. That needs distance information.

Interestingly Olympus seem to have added individual AF point trimming to the EM-1.

John
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John, my experience with the D7k AF problems was that, no matter which mode the AF was in, focus was erratic. After the AF module was replaced/re-calibrated by Nikon service, I couldn't fault the AF system in any mode. There are many "theories" on the www, but none have proven correct.

[Shadowman]

Interesting to read about focus problems. There is a mix of information available and not juts on D7000's either. I gained the impression some problems are down to using continuous AF on stationary subjects. Some seem to cure it by turning this an that off but the 2 most focused sites seem to be these 2.

Lens registration
http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/D7000/D7000A4.HTM

And various pages of this one
http://photographylife.com/nikon-dsl...focus-problems

I also got the impression from some where that Nikon are trying to focus into subjects rather than just onto them. That needs distance information.

Interestingly Olympus seem to have added individual AF point trimming to the EM-1.

John
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It's important to be aware of potential issues with equipment, but those should have been researched prior to making the purchase. Don't beat yourself before you even receive your camera and had a chance to check it out for yourself. A refurbished unit will most likely have been inspected prior to shipping, as opposed to a new unit which may not have due to QA inspection criteria.

[ajohnw]

It's important to be aware of potential issues with equipment, but those should have been researched prior to making the purchase. Don't beat yourself before you even receive your camera and had a chance to check it out for yourself. A refurbished unit will most likely have been inspected prior to shipping, as opposed to a new unit which may not have due to QA inspection criteria.

Beat myself? No idea why you might think that. Rather than googling camera model problems I decided to ask on here. All it means to me really is that if the camera does have a fault like that I will find it a lot quicker than I normally would. The links will help in that respect.

The subject of perfect AF along with lens registration does need a little bit of thought.

John
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[Shadowman]

Beat myself? No idea why you might think that. Rather than googling camera model problems I decided to ask on here. All it means to me really is that if the camera does have a fault like that I will find it a lot quicker than I normally would. The links will help in that respect.

The subject of perfect AF along with lens registration does need a little bit of thought.

John
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When I wrote beat yourself, it looked like you were only searching for the potential negatives of the camera system.

[darknight]

hey guys, sorry not only to ressurect a almost dead thread but also for my absence from a great and friendly forum.
life and work got in the way a lot recently and also hospitals .
but rather than start a new thread on virtually the same subject i would like your thoughts on a similar problem.
i use a d5100, never had any probe and takes constantly good pics,.
i always wanted to upgrade but money isn’t always available with kids!!
my initial thought was the same upgrade to an older but better camera, the d7000.
main reason was for ease of use, i.e rather than press menu for example and scroll down etc etc i could just access most stuff from the rear buttons, mp is the same on both, lenses are diff, so was considering to sell my old kit and lenses and get a 7000 and maybe 1 lens to start.
but part of me don’t thinks its worth it, yes I’m in the process of wanting a 300mm for bird/wildlife etc which some say is to big for a d5100 on balance, so what do you think is it worth the upgrade, or really is the better bet to spend my cash on another lens for the d5100, as it has never let me down, my pics sell well from that camera so i know in one way i won’t benefit from the 7000, but is it worth the upgrade?
thanks all and hope to be more regular here again

[Shadowman]

hey guys, sorry not only to ressurect a almost dead thread but also for my absence from a great and friendly forum.
life and work got in the way a lot recently and also hospitals .
but rather than start a new thread on virtually the same subject i would like your thoughts on a similar problem.
i use a d5100, never had any probe and takes constantly good pics,.
i always wanted to upgrade but money isn’t always available with kids!!
my initial thought was the same upgrade to an older but better camera, the d7000.
main reason was for ease of use, i.e rather than press menu for example and scroll down etc etc i could just access most stuff from the rear buttons, mp is the same on both, lenses are diff, so was considering to sell my old kit and lenses and get a 7000 and maybe 1 lens to start.
but part of me don’t thinks its worth it, yes I’m in the process of wanting a 300mm for bird/wildlife etc which some say is to big for a d5100 on balance, so what do you think is it worth the upgrade, or really is the better bet to spend my cash on another lens for the d5100, as it has never let me down, my pics sell well from that camera so i know in one way i won’t benefit from the 7000, but is it worth the upgrade?
thanks all and hope to be more regular here again

Mark,

Glad to have you back.

[Mike Buckley]

Mark,

I own a D5100 and a D7000 and might be able to provide helpful information.

You explained that your primary motivation to upgrade to the D7000 is ease of use pertaining to the use of menus. This makes me wonder if you are aware that you can control all of the settings initially displayed on the LCD of the D5100 without having to navigate the menu items. There are of course menu items that control settings that aren't provided in the default display and those settings may be what you are referring to. So, you might want to explicitly determine which settings you would like to access more quickly using the D7000 to be certain that your speed will in fact be quicker.

Though the D7000 is an upgrade from the D5100 and has many capabilities that the D5100 does not have, be aware that the D5100 has one capability that the D7000 does not have -- an articulating LCD. If you have gotten used to using that for any reason (I use it all the time in my makeshift studio), you will sorely miss it when using the D7000.

[JR1]

When I wanted more bodies I borrowed a 7D from my local supplier for the weekend, I always used to shoot Nikon but emigrated to Canon when my gear was stolen, I thought the 7D "ok", then I borrowed the D7000 the next weekend, the dual card slot and build quality made it for me, The 7D is good but I bought 2 D7000's, and am now getting the D4, go for it. it is a great camera and the 2 card slots are invaluable.

[Mike Buckley]

Jeremy's mention of the two card slots available in the D7000 reminds me that you (Mark) might find that especially helpful with regard to your settings. You can download all of your settings onto a card stored in slot #1. Once you have done that, you can instantaneously upload your preferred settings into the camera.

I begin each shoot that way to ensure that I'm starting with my preferred default settings even if I changed some of them during my previous shoot. The upload is nearly instantaneous and is far faster than manually returning to your default settings using either the buttons or the menus.

This also reminds me of the top dial on the left side of the D7000 that allows you to store two sets of custom settings. You might find that capability especially helpful.

[GrahamS]

Mark, graduating from a D5100 to a D7k will take your photography to another level. Buy a refurb D7k and you won't regret it.

[darknight]

Thanks for the welcome back guys, very true about the LCD screen mike it would be something I would miss especially in my macro work where I need to get in low not using the viewfinder, like i needed with a recent wasp spider,the 2 cards slots would be very handy as well but with my thoughts and I think some of your feelings I'm not sure if its the upgrade I think it would be, although with our weather recently I believe the 7k is moisture proof.thanks again for some input, what's your thoughts on size of the 5100 and a 70- 300 ?
I suppose we all want to upgrade our cameras at some point, even though the 5100 takes excellent picks.

[darknight]

Sorry graham posted between your post, can you give me some good reasons why, cmon sell it to me lol. Where is the best place UK, to get a Nikon re curb?

[Mike Buckley]

graduating from a D5100 to a D7k will take your photography to another level.

I disagree, Graham, at least to the extent that making such a blanket statement with no qualifications implies that it would be true for most everyone. As an example, I am having a very difficult time thinking of a type of image that I would make using my D7000 that I could not make using my D5100. In fact, I can think of certain images that would be impossible for me to make in my makeshift studio using my D7000 that I can make quite easily using my D5100 thanks to the articulating LCD screen.

Please provide capabilities of the D7000 that you believe takes photography to a level not possible using the D5100.

[Mike Buckley]

I believe the 7k is moisture proof.

The D7000 has weather sealing only on the top and rear panels, not the other two panels. Even so, weather sealing is only resistant to weather and is not moisture-proof. In fact, I hope to receive my repaired D7000 any day now that did not survive the effects of a single rogue wave hitting it.

[Mike Buckley]

what's your thoughts on size of the 5100 and a 70- 300 ?

My wife recently used that combination handheld every day for two weeks and loved it. Half the time she used it to photograph wildlife though no birds in flight. I have never used it.

[ajohnw]

It arrived a few days ago but haven't been able to do much with it down to the UK weather. I'm just about to build something to check the AF but it seems to be ok from silly snaps through the window with the usual multi AF point problems. Those do seem to behave sensibly via multi shutter 1/2 presses even going out to the extreme edge eventually. I have always thought that DSLR's could make a much better job of focusing when sufficient af areas are available. Fat chance.

Seems like going back to the stone age compared with the EM-5 but I did buy it to obtain more pixels on a camera with a real viewfinder and any DSLR would give me that impression. I think it will take a couple of more releases of the OMD E-M1 before the need for a viewfinder at times disappears.

Initial impressions - a real need to spend some time reading the manual. There are a lot of options. Contrast AF compared with the EM-5 in low light is what I would call poor about the same as an E-PL1. Phase contrast in the same conditions fine. I am rather surprised that there doesn't seem to be a histogram display. Nice clean live view probably thanks to an excellent screen. After Canon I find the visible absence of all of the AF points in the view finder a bit odd.

The other problem at the moment is that the longer VR zoom is on back order.

My main reason for buying the D7000 over the 5100 was the screw focus. I have a Tamron 200-500mm being repaired at the moment. The other was comments about ISO and noise behaviour. Tilt screen? Useful,convenient yes but the ordinary ones don't have to be looked at straight on. Having had a lot of experience of manual focusing via a magnified view I can't see myself wanting to do that. A 1x/2x right angle finder makes more sense. Not when the camera is on a microscope though as the strange situation give the optics in them a rather hard time.

John
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[Mike Buckley]

I am rather surprised that there doesn't seem to be a histogram display.

If you're referring to displaying a histogram before the image has been captured, you're correct. If you're referring to displaying a histogram of the captured image, it not only displays one but it also displays the histogram of the area being viewed if you're not viewing the entire image.

It was surprising to me that the histogram being displayed is considerably smaller than the histogram displayed on the D80, which is two generations earlier. That's especially true considering that the LCD on the D7000 is larger.

[ajohnw]

Yes it was before the shot is taken. Really indicating over and under exposed areas directly in the preview instantly after the shot is taken a la EM-5 would be better but the histogram does give a clue.

One aspect that bugs me is a manual focus switch on the camera and on the lens plus warnings about damaging the camera if miss set. I assume that applies to certain lenses? Any one know? I suspect it just applies to screw focus lenses and the camera one disengages that.

Forgot to mention 2 thumbs wheels. A good point in my view and an added bonus over the screw focus. One does swing P mode round and I assume the other can be set up to add exposure compensation. There does seem to be an option to use it for ISO - more manual to read 200++ pages. Having to read a manual is a bit unusual for me.

The focus indicators are nice too. Looks like there may be near and far indicators as well as the usual dot.

Screw focus - I'm afraid I believe there is plenty of very good used glass about. In fact I am happier about buying used lenses than used cameras.

John
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