Nikon D7000 DSLR Review

Nikon is heating up market again since September 2010 with the release of it's latest DX format DSLR camera, Nikon D7000. Nikon’s D7000 features a 16.2 MP DX-format CMOS sensor, 6 fps continuous shooting and breathtaking Full 1080p HD movies with full time auto-focusing feature. In terms or video recording, Nikon D7000 has surpassed the power of Nikon's first video recording DSLR, Nikon D90. It comes with the full time autofocus shooting of HD quality video which D90 lacks. This is a great improvement for Nikon lovers who enjoy shooting HD quality video with their DSLR. According to the Nikon, Nikon D7000 falls between the Nikon D90 and Nikon D300s DSLR camera range. Here are some of the key features that D7000 carries.

1. CMOS Sensor

It has a High Resolution 16.2 MP DX-format CMOS sensor to give you large prints and tight cropping facility after the shooting. The D7000 inherits the same excellent three-inch, 921k-dot monitor as D90.

2. Camera Controls and Settings

Nikon D7000 Front View

It has a Dynamic ISO range from 100 to 6400 and expandable up to 25,600 (Hi2) which lets you shoot in near darkness and it’s Active D-Lighting feature helps you to restore the picture by enhancing the details in the shadows and the highlights. D7000 has a built-in speedlight flash that comes with an i-TTL and the Wireless Commander mode so that you can light up your subjects by controlling the wireless remote flash units. Built-in HDMI connection lets you connect your camera to the HDTV and playback with the remote controls. Optional MB-D11 multi-power pack further expands your shooting time while adding a vertical shutter-release and the control dials to the camera. The D7000 has a shutter speed range of 1/8000 to 30 seconds, with a top flash synchronization speed of 1/250 second. And just like with professional models, the shutter unit is tested for 150,000 cycles in severe conditions, proving precision and durability. Nikon has made D7000 with a ground-breaking 2,016-pixel RGB (3D Color Matrix) sensor which delivers more accurate control of light metering and optimizes the Scene Recognition System for the exposure, white balance, focus tracking and i-TTL flash control. D7000 shoots with the High Speed 6 frames per second continuous shooting up to 100 shots and helps to capture the most fleeting action. It has a highly customizable 39 point AF System which includes nine center cross-type sensors that operate with every AF NIKKOR lens so that you can focus on making great images.

3. Live View mode

Live View and Recording Button

The D7000 offers smooth switching from the regular shooting to the Live View shooting with the dedicated Live View switch. Large, easy-to-view 7.5 cm (3-in.) VGA wide-viewing-angle (170°), approximately 921k-dot TFT LCD monitor with the reinforced glass realizes comfortable Live View shooting. The D7000 also allows contrast-detect AF. By selecting AF-F (full-time-servo AF), the camera automatically tracks the subject continuously even if it moves during the Live View shooting. There are selectable AF-area modes according to the subject; face-priority AF, wide-area AF, normal-area AF and subject-tracking AF.

4. U1 and U2 mode

U1 and U2

This is completely new feature to any of the DX format Nikon DSLR camera. U1 and U2 mode allow you to save your camera settings into the memory. These are two user definable settings right on the Mode Selector Dial which let you store most camera settings so that you can go back to them at anytime without the need for further adjustments on the menu settings. The U1 and U2 modes are easy to set. You just have to navigate through MENU >> SETUP >> Save user settings where you have to select U1 or U2  and then Save settings. Any changes you made in this mode can be permanently set by repeating the action above. In addition, it comes with nineteen other options of scene modes, such as Silhouette, High key and Low key, Portrait, Landscape, Child, Sports, Close-up or Night Portrait that are selectable by setting the mode dial to the SCENE mode.

5. Quiet shutter-release mode

Quiet Mode

You can reduce the sound of mirror-up and mirror-down during the shooting by selecting the "Q" on the release mode dial. This improved quiet shutter-release mode is a convenient function for scenes such as a school play or when shooting wildlife, special events which are sensitive to noise.

6. HD video

D7000 is equipped to capture Full 1080p HD Movies with the Full Time Autofocus and an external stereo microphone jack to record the cinematic-quality movies up to 20 minutes all enhanced by the Nikkor interchangeable lens quality and the versatility. You can set both the aperture and the shutter speed from the camera in movie mode, although the slowest shutter speed is limited to 1/30th second, plus exposure compensation and AE-Lock can also be set. Out of the box, the D7000 can only record mono sound via its built-in microphone with three different levels of sensitivity on offer, but stereo recording can be recorded using an optional external microphone.

7. Electronic Virtual Horizon

This feature is especially useful for landscape shooting, the virtual horizon indicated in the LCD lets you know when the camera is in level. The virtual horizon can also be displayed during the Live View shooting. This feature was available only on pro cameras like d300, D300s or D700 before D7000 was introduced.

8. Double SD card

Double SD Slot

Twin SD Card Slots with SD, SDHC, SDXC memory card compatibility gives you options to keep on shooting and not to worry about memory being full or separate your NEF (RAW), JPEG and movie files. Or if you want, you can also program the camera to store images in the first memory slot and store a backup copy of those images in the second memory slot which gives you peace of mind while shooting important events, wedding for example. You can do that by navigating through the Shooting option in the MENU where you can define what you want to do with the card in each slot.

Many reviewers already started claiming that the Nikon D7000 is a top line DX format camera Nikon has ever built. No wonder it's already sold out in many camera stores. As of writing this post, Nikon has tagged it's price for $1,199.95 (Body only).

Manfrotto 190XPROB 3 Section Aluminum Pro Tripod

If you are looking for a good tripod for a DSLR camera, Manfrotto is one of the good brand worth researching about. Manfrotto makes varieties of tripods for different purposes but you can select what works best for you and do in-depth research about it. If you are a serious amateur photographer or even new into photography, Manfrotto 190XPROB 3 Section Aluminum Pro Tripod may meet your requirement. It is an aluminum made lightweight, sturdy, stable and flexible tripod. You can carry it around easily and take anywhere because of it's light weight. Manfrotto tripod gives you an extra feature with it's unique center column which can be adjusted vertically or horizontally both. This unique design allows the photographer to use the center column horizontally as an extending arm or vertically up and down to adjust the photographer's height. When used horizontally, the center column can be turned 360 degrees around the tripod, making it useful for macro work, low-angle shooting, extreme balance points and off-center work. Also changing the central column from vertical to horizontal position and back to the vertical is easy. When the central column is extended vertically up to its highest limit, you can bend the central column to make it horizontal without taking the camera off of the ball head. This feature saves your time and makes switching between the framing and the positioning more easier than ever before.

Manfrotto 190XPROB 3 Section Aluminum Pro Tripod with Ball head

The lock mechanism of the tripod legs works great as well. It can be locked and released in just few seconds without much effort. In addition, each of the legs can be set to different angle for more flexible, versatile positioning and allows you to balance the tripod on an uneven surface. You can set each of the legs to a different spread angle over the tripod's center of gravity which allows you to adjust the tripod to different heights.

It is 48 inches tall with the center column closed, 57.5 inches tall with the central column fully extended and a ball head may add couple more inches. If your height is around 6 feet, this is a perfect tripod for you to see a viewfinder without bending. I like the fact that we can buy the tripod legs and ball head separately. This gives you the flexibility of understanding your need and determine which ball head serves you the best. It is one of the best tripod for all kind of photographers because of it's combination of the quality and the price.

Specifications

Minimum height : 3.3 inches Maximum Height : 57.5 inches Height without extended center column : 48 inches Load capacity : 11 pounds Material : Aluminum Weight : 4 pounds

Amazon Price : $132.89 (without the ball head)

Nikon Wireless Speedlight Commander Unit, SU-800

SU-800 is a Nikon speedlight commander unit to control other Nikon wireless remote units. It is a very powerful device, easy to use and supports up to 4 Channels and 3 Groups. There is a little switch inside the battery chamber that allows you to switch between the close-up mode and the commander mode. Close-up mode is used for controlling the SB-R200's units and the commander mode is use to control one or more of the Nikon SB-600, SB-800 or SB-900 units wirelessly. Previously, we discussed about how to configure the SB-600, SB-800 and SB-900 units as wireless remote units. In this blog, we will briefly discuss on how to set the SU-800 to control these remote wireless units.

SU-800 Unit

When you turn the SU-800 unit on, it will give you the information about the available Channel groups, their settings (TTL mode and the exposure for example) and the Channel number associated with that group. When you change any of the settings, those settings will be applied to the remote units which are under the same group and the channel as this master unit is. You can use the SEL button to change the values for the Group and the Channel number. Left and right arrow of the SEL button can be used to increase or decrease the exposure compensation value (EV) or the Channel number depending up on which settings you are in. The MODE button will allow you to program the mode of the remote flash unit. Flash can be programmed in TTL (Through The Lens) mode, AA (Auto Aperture) mode, M (Manual) mode and - - (don't trigger the flash) mode. If you want to reset all the setting at once, press the MODE and the ON/OFF together for a while and it will reset the unit to factory default settings.

The Nikon SU-800 unit can only be used as a master unit unlike other speedlight units, SB-800 or SB-900 for example. Nikon SB-800 and the SB-900 can act as a both master flash unit and the remote flash unit which I already discussed in my previous blogs. The SU-800 can control the multiple flash units in four different channels and three different groups and the combination of the SU-800 and the SB-R200 units are popular for a closeup photography or also called macro photography.