I recently purchased the d7000 as a back up to my d700. This short hands on review is being written during a break in the camera’s first outing to a wedding!
First things - the camera feels lovely, not as tank like as the d700 but still hardier than any other crop sensor camera I have shot with.
Secondly having shot with the drum like d700 shutter, the d7000 is sublimely quiet and unobtrusive. This was especially appreciated while shooting candid portraits during the wedding breakfast. Obviously the d700 has to shift larger shutter blades and mirrors but being able to shoot during quiet periods without alerting people to the fact you were there was wonderful.
Downsides - must point out this is with no prior reading of the manual!
Spot metering - unlike the d700 this doesn’t seem tied to the selected focus point, a feature I use a lot on the d700.
Also, the outer focus points seem more susceptible to not achieving focus. The center point is great but the performance overall is not on par with the d700 for fast paced wedding work!
ISO (or rather, high iso) - the ISO is great, don’t get me wrong but it is about a stop lower than the full frame d700. Of course the good to take from this is that once similar tech makes its way into full frame sensors people will be able to shoot in complete darkness!
It is damned impressive for a crop sensor and certainly the best I have used but again I am spoiled by having the d700 as my main camera!
So there we have it a quick five minute review of the camera while it is in use capturing a great wedding.
More to follow soon!
