Nikon D7000 review

The Nikon D7000 is a remarkable camera for the money. Features such as the large pentaprism viewfinder, dual command dials and a top-mounted passive LCD screen distinguish it from entry-level consumer models, but its magnesium alloy body and dual SDXC card slots – used for overflow, backup or splitting raw and JPEG files – also place it above other enthusiast-oriented DSLRs.

Its most surprising feature is a 39-point autofocus sensor, which is significantly more sophisticated than anything else available at this price point. While the nine-point autofocus found on rivals often means focusing and then recomposing to shoot, there’s little chance that one of the D7000’s 39 points won’t align with your subject. The central bank of nine points is cross-type, but even the standard outer points coped well with vague subjects in gloomy conditions.

Also available is 3D focus tracking, whereby the 2,016-pixel metering sensor tracks moving subjects by colour and moves the autofocus point accordingly – a feature it shares with the far pricier, full-frame Nikon D800.

The 6fps continuous mode may not seem so remarkable now that competitors are reaching 12fps, but the modest resolution and fast processor means performance is very good. In testing, the burst rate barely dipped when the buffer was full, achieving an average of 5.3fps until the camera hit its arbitrary 100-shot limit and stopped. However, this was only with the auto distortion control function for correcting lens distortions switched off in the menu; otherwise, performance dropped to 2fps after ten frames.

Autofocus in live view mode is slow, but doesn’t rule out handheld shooting using the screen rather than the viewfinder. Switching to live view in priority and manual exposure modes can be confusing, though, with unexpected changes to the shutter speed and aperture changes not being reflected in the preview.

This can also lead to confusion when recording videos. There isn’t a dedicated video mode – it’s simply a matter of switching on live view and then hitting record – however, the controls give the impression that exposure settings are being adjusted when in truth they’re in automatic mode. Manual exposure for video can be enabled in the menu, but even then there’s still no access to aperture or shutter priority modes.