Nikon D7000 16.2 Megapixel Digital SLR Camera with 18-105mm Lens (Black)

This is a preliminary review. I'm a pro photographer who has been faithfully served by Nikon D200 & D300's for event and nature photography. Just before a trip to the Everglades, my D300's lcd info panel light wouldn't turn off and it kept abnormally seeking the cf card resulting in quick battery drain. Of course the fix was having lots of batteries and turning it off when not shooting. But In panic assuming that the D300 was going to completely fail, I read Ken Rockwell's review and noticed the D7000's price. With time running out and not wanting to shell out $7K for the D3x (or D700 for other reasons) I somehow found one D7000 kit, but not body, offered by Amazon and could get it quickly. It was on b/o everywhere else I looked. I didn't want or need the lens, but what can you do sometimes?I haven't had time to evaluate image quality in detail, but it's impressive at least up to ISO 1600. Without the battery attachment it's small and light, but with good ergonomics. It's got most of the feature required for my shoots and tons of goodies if you're just a camera bug. Combined with the 18-200 VR it's a dynamite, relatively affordable package. It was easy to use without consulting the unusually well written manual. However, if you're used to the D300, etc., you won't be happy with the organization of the controls. The iso button's on the back left and the exposure options are set with a dial like on the D70, so you can't change the most important settings as easily. I don't like the new control for setting the focus options. But if you've never used a D200/D300 you probably won't care. The 6 fps is cool, but I'm used to 8 fps with the D300s battery pack. Those extra 2 fps sometimes mean getting the shot or not for sports/birds.Random remarks: So far, taking movies is easy and fun. Rockwell states that the quality isn't great, but they look excellent when shown on a large led hd tv. I have had no trouble focussing with my 200-400 or any other lens. I don't like it that you can't display both iso and frame count at the same time. The lcd info display on the top of the body seems fine, in contrast to criticisms by other. What I'm really upset about is that neither Nikon or Adobe have updated Camera Raw for phototshop CS4, so you can't use the D7000's NEF files with CS4. Maybe Nikon gets a cut from Adobe for CS4 - CS5 upgrades, which I purchased reluctantly. Nikon's ViewNX2 is good software and loads and displays raw files quickly, but I need to use psd files and, of course, photoshop's + plug-in's features to do real work.At this point, nothing much to contribute until I can get that camera back from my wife. (My D300 healed itself, I did lots of trouble shooting, but don't know why it started to work again.) My recommendation is that if you can afford to shell out about $1.5 - $2K for the body/kit (this price includes battery attachment, sd cards (too easy to lose!), decent case and camera strap [Nikon should get out of the strap business or contract with Tamrac.] buying the D7000's a no-brainer regardless of your expertise and experience.Update, 7/1/11: OK, upgrading to CS5 was worth it, sorry about the conspiracy theory. This is a great camera except that it's destroying my technique because it's so easy to use. With the 18-200 VR and the D7000's low noise at hi ISOs (but keep using Define2.0), I can shed 30 lbs of photo gear and my tripod. It's really fun taking videos and as stated above, the quality's great. And Scott Kelby, notwithstanding, the built-in flash ain't so bad either.

Please read my review on the Sony HX-20V where I talk about the best point and shoot camera and also talk about saving money for the Nikon D7000 to get a little background.Well, finally bought the D7000 with the 18-105mm lens on Thanksgiving day. It was such a fantastic deal that I had to take the plunge. For a special at $997 including a 16GB Transcend SDHC class 10 and an Amazon Basic camera backpack... it was just too good a deal to pass-on.I've been using it for about a month now and can report that it is an excellant DSLR. I can even use all my old AI Nikkor lens (only in manual mode since they are all manual lenses) but now I have 28mm, 50mm, 105mm, 43-86mm, 80-200mm, 200mm and a few more.With the VR and Autofocus on the 18-105mm zoom, doubt if I will be using the old lenses. But the 50mm is a F1.4 lens..... for non-flash pictures.I've been using my Canon EOS Rebel DSLR for about 5 years and the lens gave out (internal ribbon cable in the lens failed) so I've been itching to replace it. Almost bought a Canon 60D last year but I hesitated, which was good because I ended up with usually a more expensive Nikon D7000 as compared to normally ~ $200 cheaper Canon.I've setup the D7000 with a 32 GB SD card in slot 1 and a 16GB SD card in slot 2 and setup the camera to take NEF(RAW) into Slot 1 and JPEG Fine in Slot 2 simultaneouly. This is great way to take a picture since if you just want to send or move pictures around, the JPEG is lot smaller file and don't need any processing since all the processing is already done when you take the picture in the camera. For the NEF (Raw) files, they are just very big data file that must be processed in your computer. (The Nikon software included includes the conversion software for NEF (Raw) into JPEG or other formats. The NEF (Raw) allows you to maximize your manipulation of the picture itself in photoshop and other image processing software.So straying away from Nikon and coming back to the fold.....just feels better using a Nikon body. Even though it is a DSLR, compared to my old SLR's, just feels like old times.Just a quick initial commentsBut one scary note: when the package arrived it was left at the front door without signature....was suppose to require a signature and when I opened the box it was loose in the amazon box with no air in the air filled packing bags. Must have punctured during transit. So the Nikon box was just loose in the box. So far no damage to the camera. Although on the third day, when I turned on the camera----nothing. Had to cycle the power several times before it turned on. Fortunately just this one incident. Keeping my fingers crossed.

Upgraded from d40. I was originally hesitating and thinking of waiting for the next update. Also considered the d600 but dont have any fx glass yet anyway. Glad I pulled the trigger on this black Friday deal.Loving this camera and have no regrets. Didn't realize how much I really wanted an upgrade till I had this in my hands.Pics of Christmas came out better with less effort then the d40 could pull off. Love how easy it is to change settings on the fly. Love the additional WB adjustments i didnt even know about especially just choosing a kelvin temperature.Can't wait to learn about and play with the more advanced adjustments available and kinda feel like i did when i first got my d40 and knew absolute nothing about photography. :)While I wasnt previously interested in video, it is pretty fun to play with HD video with nice lenses. Autofocus is pretty much useless though with video, and u really are better off just doing it manually.Got the kit for under 1k and thought I might sell the kit lens before I got it. So far I like it and will probably keep it too for now. At only 100$ more then the body alone, why not?Bought some fx lenses too with the combo discounts offered at black Friday and my next body upgrade will probably be to FF although really speaking this camera is probably all I really need. We all know how that itch develops as we slowly outgrow our equipment though so who knows :) In the mean time, I'm really glad I got the d7000 an would recommend it to anyone trying to make the same decision as me. For the time being, I figure I will get better results with fx glass on a dx body then the other way around.