Questions on Nikon D7000

[Grandpaw]

I am going down to Disney World for a week at Christmas time. I have a Nikon D90 and was wondering how much better at low light shooting is the D7000. How does the D7000 perform at higher ISO's and what can I expect from this camera? Any and all information you are willing to share will be greatly appreciated, Jeff

[n8]

I would say that you could expect an extra stop of usability. 6400 to the d7000 is the d90's 3200. Having moved up from the d90 myself, it is certainly an upgrade, but definitely not like when I went from my d40 to d90. I'd say that overall it just feels and sounds more solid, I like having the weather sealing, the two sd slots, faster fps, wider native iso of 100-6400, expanded af points...which works very well, IQ is awesome, and I can meter with my non-cpu lenses.

[Grandpaw]

[QUOTE=n8]I would say that you could expect an extra stop of usability. 6400 to the d7000 is the d90's 3200. Having moved up from the d90 myself, it is certainly an upgrade, but definitely not like when I went from my d40 to d90. I'd say that overall it just feels and sounds more solid, I like having the weather sealing, the two sd slots, faster fps, wider native iso of 100-6400, expanded af points...which works very well, IQ is awesome, and I can meter with my non-cpu lenses.[/QUOTE

Have you used it enough to give me some idea what the usable ISO capabilities are. I know the range of the camera but would like some opinions of how it performs at the higher ISO's, Jeff

[n8]

I have, as I said, 6400 is usable, and the grain kicks up from there. I will do a series for 100, 400, 1600, 3200, 6400, 12800 and 26500 once the homework is done. There's a HI 0.3, but I'm not sure what that is.

[Grandpaw]

I have, as I said, 6400 is usable, and the grain kicks up from there. I will do a series for 100, 400, 1600, 3200, 6400, 12800 and 26500 once the homework is done. There's a HI 0.3, but I'm not sure what that is.

You did in deed say that. When I read it I guess my brain was somewhere else. Thanks for the reply and I would like to see those pictures with the different ISO settings. I am trying to decide if it would benefit me to move up to the D7000. Basically I am wondering if there is $1200 worth of improvement, Jeff

[n8]

Ok, I here's a few of my splendid man cave. First is at iso 100 for reference...it was also a 5 sec exposure at f8. We then have iso 1600, 3200, 6400 (1/13), 8000, 10000, 12800 and 25600 which got me a 1/25.

[n8]

...and here's the last ones. I think I was getting some camera shake as I was just adjusting and busting, hence the "phillips" being a big fuzzy in all but #1.

[Franglais]

They all look the same to me at this size, apart from the corner of the TV where it goes from bright to dark. Compare the 100 ISO shot with the 25000 ISO shot and there is some fuzziness and loss of detail.

[n8]

One really interesting thing happens between 6400 and 8000 (last two of the first post). The noise actually goes down, but you can notice a dramatic drop in the color in the curtains and wood.

[Grandpaw]

One really interesting thing happens between 6400 and 8000 (last two of the first post). The noise actually goes down, but you can notice a dramatic drop in the color in the curtains and wood.

Thanks very much for taking the time to do this. I'm pretty impressed with the results of you examples. I would have though the shutter speed would have increased more than it did with the higher ISO. Thanks again this helps with my decision, Jeff

[Franglais]

Very impressive.

I've suddenly become more interested in the D7000. I figure that what I really need is the next evolution of the D300 with the D7000 sensor. I don't need full-frame. The lenses I have (even the FX ones) are perfect with the APS-C sensor.

However - professional photographers around here are a bit snobbish. I have a feeling I'm going to have to get myself a full-frame body for my semi-pro stuff. Which means that for APS-C I could go down a step. The D7000, for example..