Thanks for initiating this thread, Pa -- excellent comments so far. I certainly don't want to hijack the thread, but since we're talking about amazing aspects of the D7000, I thought this would be an appropriate place for the following observations and examples.
No doubt about it, the D7000's high-ISO performance -- particularly with so many more megapixels crammed into the same-sized sensor -- is truly remarkable.
Equally important -- if not even more so -- in my decision to upgrade from the D90, though, was the new 39-point AF system. I like to shoot aircraft and birds in flight, and the 11 AF points in the D90 (and the D80) were never really up to the task of reliably following focus on those kinds of moving subjects. Even with SWM and HSM lenses, continuous autofocus with those cameras was jumpy, slow, and unpredictable.
Well, after a short trial, I have concluded that the D7000's new AF module is nothing short of phenomenal.
Now I understand why sports, wildlife and aircraft photographers opted for the D300 (with its 51 AF points) instead of the D90 when that's all that was available. My goodness, how the D7000 has revolutionized Nikon's consumer DSLR lineup in this respect! Folks who use pro bodies will probably yawn, but this is the first consumer Nikon body that truly does well with these kinds of subjects.
Both the AF and metering modules are completely new in the D7000, and they work beautifully together. User control over the several AF parameters is better than ever. Focusing is lightning-fast with Nikon SWM lenses and my Sigma 17-70 HSM lens. Lenses with screw-driven AF mechanisms focus a bit slower, but that's to be expected. And none of my lenses exhibit any AF errors (front or back-focusing) on my camera.
How quick and accurate is autofocusing? A picture (or four of them) is worth a thousand words. :smile:
Here are four consecutive frames, taken at 6 frames per second using Ch (continuous high) mode with the Nikon 70-300 VR on my D7000. The seagulls were literally swarming over a pond in a local park, going after pieces of bread being thrown into the air by a couple next to me. The birds were flying low, fast, and very close, so I set my camera to Shutter priority at 1/1250, ISO 800, and dynamic area AF-C using the 9 center AF points. They were passing by so close that I really didn't need the telephoto lens. This sequence was taken at 75mm.
This seagull passed left to right, low and fast, less than 25 feet away from me. It was a matter of quickly raising the camera, framing the bird, and trying and keep him in the viewfinder while I panned with him and banged off 4 quick consecutive frames. This less than one-second sequence depicts just one single flap of the seagull's wings.
Frame #1
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Seagull Sequence 1 of 4 by
SoCalBob, on Flickr
Frame #2
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Seagull Sequence 2 of 4 by
SoCalBob, on Flickr
Frame #3
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Seagull Sequence 3 of 4 by
SoCalBob, on Flickr
Frame #4
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Seagull Sequence 4 of 4 by
SoCalBob, on Flickr
All the photos are slightly cropped to fill the frame with the bird and center it (they are approximately 75-80% of the full frames). Otherwise, the first two frames are SOOC with no other post processing. I had to adjust the exposure on the last two slightly to match the first two shots because the camera increased the exposure on them from f/6.3 to f/4.5. This was caused by a change in the background lighting prompted by the matrix metering. Nothing wrong with that, the camera actually got it pretty much right.
I have never had a camera react so quickly and precisely, and perform so well under such challenging conditions.
The reservations I had at first about upgrading from a D90 have been permanently put to rest.
