As already mentioned in my previous post, the D7000  finally arrived!

The four contestants: Top D300 and D700, bottom D7000 and D90. Notice the size differences

So before I send off my D90 and  D300 to Ebay’s chopping  block, I took a bunch of unscientific comparison shots at the full range of ISO settings with the D700, D7000, D90 and D300 – see the full-resolution pics below.

The subject is a heap of Lego, which provides recognizable color, sharp edges and a dark area for noise-comparison.

The glorious subject

Settings and Setup

I used the 24-70mm/f2.8, arguably Nikon’s best general-purpose lens, always at f2.8 and 70mm. I used the shallow depth of field on purpose to compare the noise in bokeh areas.

I used the NL (neutral) setting, Auto White Balance, and camera on manual. For the D700 I needed to move the tripod nearer to the Lego to compensate for full-frame and left the lens at 70mm.

All the files are JPEG LARGE, optimized for quality, straight out of the camera (all EXIF is intact), and file sizes are around 3-6MB each.

Exposure varied from 1/8s (ISO 100) to 1/2000s (ISO 25600).

D90 Pictures

• ISO 100 (L 1,0)
• ISO 200
• ISO400
• ISO800
• ISO1600
• ISO3200
• ISO6400 (H 1.0)

D300 Pictures

• ISO 100 (L 1.0)
• ISO 200
• ISO400
• ISO800
• ISO1600
• ISO3200
• ISO6400 (H 1.0)

D700 Pictures

• ISO 100 (L 1.0)
• ISO 200
• ISO400
• ISO800
• ISO1600
• ISO3200
• ISO6400
• ISO12800 (H 1.0)
• ISO25600 (H 2.0)

D7000 Pictures

• ISO 100
• ISO 200
• ISO400
• ISO800
• ISO1600
• ISO3200
• ISO6400
• ISO12800 (H 1.0)
• ISO25600 (H 2.0)

Bottom Line

The images at low ISOs from all bodies are comparable, with the D7000 providing 16MP and the others 12MP.

In regard to ISO performance the four bodies fall into two classes, with the D90 and D300 being roughly equivalent in one and the D7000 and D700 in the higher-performing class.

The D7000 is definitely compares to the high-ISO performance of the D700, and that by a crop sensor and at a higher pixel count!

It is remarkable to me that Nikon has integrated so much of it’s high-end technology and performance into the consumer-grade D7000.

A Note to the Critics

Some may bicker that the images are not shot in “low light” conditions. This is irrelevant. A sensor will need a certain number of photons to produce a correct exposure and will not care how they arrived to it, whether through a longer exposure or through a larger aperture.

So a sensor will produce an identical image at for example 1/1000s @ f/1.4 or 1/15s @f/11 all other things being identical and ignoring DOF.

Lower the light by 6 stops and open the aperture to f/1.4 and you’ll have the same image once again at 1/15s.

For time exposures starting at 8 seconds (Nikon applies long-exposure noise reduction at this value) this statement is not valid, but 8 seconds is  way beyond the 1/8s slowest exposure used in this series.

So this comparison IS absolutely valid for the low light found in common situations like events and weddings.

Someone noted that the images were “blurry”. Yup, that’s known as Bokeh . There is always a focus point in each image of course.

Yay, so I finally got my D7000 body today! (the kit version has been shipping since weeks but that’s not what I wanted)

In short, this camera blows the D900 and D300s out of the water and will even give the higher-end models a run for their money. There is a difference in speed to the D700 and D300s, for example, but if you’ve never owned a D700 there won’t be anything you’ll miss.

First off, this body oozes quality, and all the controls feel just that much ever-so-slightly more upscale than the older models. The battery is new (yuck) and so is the charger (yuck again), but since the charger is larger I assumed that charge times will be shorter and this is true. A full charge took about 1-1/4 hour which is faster than the old charger. The new EN EL15 battery’s capacity has risen from the 11,1 Wh of the old model to 13.3 Wh; this is good.

SO where are the goodies?

• Nikon has finally addressed their loud shutter-click issue: the D7000 is quieter than the previous quietest models, the D90 and D80.
• The Quiet Shutter mode (set the dial on the top left of camera to Q) tones down the sound much further and this alone would be a reason for me to buy this camera (the D300s has this too).
• All the scene modes – a number of new ones have been added – have been banned away from the top dial (great! who uses these anyway?)
• The button layout at back left is identical to the pro bodies (finally!!)
• Movie mode seems to work well but this isn’t my first priority so I’ll delve in this later.
• Two SD card slots on the side with various modes as to how they are deployed.
• A virtual horizon (same as the pro bodies), configurable to the front function button.
• A dial top left to select Single shot, Continuous Low, Continuous High, Quiet, Mirror Up etc (same as the pro bodies),
• ISO way up to 25k if you need it and up to 12k for pretty darn good images.
• 16 Megapixels vs. 12 MP of all the old bodies (yes, megapixels DO matter).

WOW!!!!

Summed up: I shall not miss my D90 one bit, it’s been fully and totally obsoleted by the D7000.

I’ll be using the D7000 as a general purpose and travel body, so the smaller size comparing to the Dx00 series will definitely be an advantage. For commercial work I’ll still prefer the feel of the larger Dx00 bodies. It’ll be 2011 till those are replaced by Nikon and I’m sure they will be blockbusters!

I put my SONY NEX VG10 onto a tripod and shot a bunch of shots from ISO 200 to 12800. Mode on Manual, WB on shade, Aperture open fully on the 18-200mm kit lens.

In a nutshell, NOT BAD pretty darn good till ISO 6400 and acceptable at ISO 12800!

Click on a picture to see the straight-out-of-the-camera high resolution image. This means these haven’t been passed through any image processor like Photoshop whatsoever.

I’m wondering what the limitations of the 18-200mm kit lens are and am DYING to try out the VG10 with my *nice* pro Nikon lenses. Unfortunately the NEX to Nikon adapter I’d ordered from China hasn’t arrived yet, I’m pretty pissed.

Careful: The images are large at 3-7MB apeiece. All the EXIF-Info is intact of course.

ISO 200

ISO 400

ISO 800

ISO 1600

ISO 3200

ISO 6400

ISO 12800

Shot @ISO 200 showing Bokeh of 18-200mm kit lens

And here’s a couple more for good measure:

I took my Sony VG10E, plunked it on my Steadicam Merlin and spun it through a quick test chasing my son running around and up and down some steps. The VG10 was set to program mode and had the 18-200mm kit lens set to 18mm. White balance on Auto. The sound is original and from the built in microphone.

Watch the Merlin performing (this was a no-rehearsal, unplanned, see-what-happens take), see how the VG10 handles back light, full frontal sun and sudden transitions to shade.

The artifacts seen at times is due to the Youtube compression and is not present in the original footage. Around 0.18 you’ll see my reflection in the glass. I didn’t set the video to be played in HD on purpose. Feel free to view at a higher resolution than shown here.