Nikon D7000 vs Nikon D90

It is always very interesting to follow whats going on at better-amateur camera market. Especially from Nikon point of view, because this company deliver new model line every year. :) This time they claim Nikon D7000 is not succesor of Nikon D90. Is it true? No one really care, important is a fact if its good camera to buy now days or not. Why I am thinking about? Well.. I have to upgrade my old D70! .

mid-range camera, high-end result

First of all do not be ashamed of buying these cameras. I meet some people who bought Nikon D300s just because they want to look better. From the other I remember several pros who bought Nikon D70 along to their Nikon D2x for just oposite reason: lower weight, low profile and good-enough picture quality. And especially Nikon D7000 is built very well. Well.. .Canon users have much better life here. There are just few models... every one knows that 500D is starter, 50D can be used even by pro. 5D is definitely pro and 1D or Eos 1Ds Mark III... there is nothing to talk about. However even Canon start to confuse their users by new Canon 7D (which is not direct successor of 5D) and Canon 60D which is definitely not better than Canon 50D. So at the end... they have the same. :)

The real difference between pro and non-pro cameras are just few features which are not important for average photographer:

• Megapixels for huge prints and picture quality in extreme conditions - however here it does not count at all D7000 has more Mpx than Nikon D300s
• Autofocus for extreme condition (mean fast and very accurate)... also not a case for D7000
• Anti-dust and watter proof protection
• Fast shutter speed and FPS
• Studio ready features
• fast control layout
• Metal body... shutter with warranty (at least 100 000 pictures)
• And few more...
Well... when I read this... it seems to me the ambitious of Nikon D7000 are really higher. :)

Megapixels are not a case anymore. Even with 4 Mpx you can make A3 prints. Sometimes I even thing it is worse: more Mpx better computer you need for postprocessing. Come on, i can not edit easily 20Mpx pictures on my PC! Studio is clear and most of the families are not having their own photo studio at home. Fast control layout means more levers and switch which are cool for professionals and pretty confusing for my mother. However this is not about pro cameras, it is about Nikon D7000 and D90

Real difference

As always I am gonna to disappoint everybody who expect long article about technical differences between these two cameras. When we see the price tag, D700 is 500 USD more than D90. What are we paying for here: more Mpx, metal body, faster speed, better AF, better video, more pro controls, better ISO. Well everything which most of the user consider to be a reason to buy Nikon D300s. Here it looks that everything what Nikon says about D7000 to not be direct successor of the D90 is true. However there is another fact: whenever new Nikon arrive it is always a little bit overpriced. Lets see basic facts:

	Nikon D300s	Nikon D200	Nikon D80	Nikon D90	Nikon D7000
Sensor (Megapixels)	12.3 Mpx CMOS	10 Mpx CCD	10 Mpx CCD	12.3 Mpx CMOS	16.2 Mpx CMOS
Crop factor	1.5	1.5	1.5	1.5	1.5
Shutter time max. time of shutter	1/8000	1/8000	1/4000	1/4000	1/8000
Continuous shooting machinegun mode (frames per second)	7 fps	6 fps	3 fps	4.5 fps	6 fps
Flash X-sync max. time that can be used with flash	1/250, up to 1/320 with reduced GN (flash power)	1/250	1/200	1/200	1/200
Sensitivity - ISO	100-3200 (6400)	100-1600 (3200)	100-1600 (3200)	200-3200 (6400)	200-3200 (25600)
live viewLCD as a viewfinder	Y	N	N	Y	Y
Built-in flash power speedlight, GN ISO 200	18	18	18	17	17
Storage type	SD + CF	CF	SD+SDHC	SD+SDHC	SD+SDHC
AF lock / no. focus points	Y/51	Y/11	Y/11	Y/11	Y/39
Command dials	2	2	2	2	2
Depth of field preview button	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
2. status LCD	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y
Buitt-in flash commander / no. chanels	Y	Y	Y	Y	Y

Nikon D7000 performance

when we see it from performance point of view, the only thing what D7000 shares with D90 is the design. It is not like Nikon D80 vs D90, which can be consider to be facelift. New shutter release (better, faster), new expo metering (more segments), more AF points and cross elements, better body, faster fps. In some way it is even better than Nikon D300s. Here Nikon has to reduce ambitious of D7000, so it simply make it slower in machine gun mode and reduce buffer (also important for sport photography... less pictures can be taken in high speed mode). I really belive that D7000 can be easily what I saw in the times of Nikon D70: low cost, low profile, 2nd body even for professional photographers. The ability to use also old Nikkor AI lenses just confirming this theory. The only question is if its worth of money. Well... you get "almost" Nikon D300s, you pay for "almost" D300. It seems to be fair. :)

Final result

Well... after all I am thinking of buy Nikon D90. Why? It is always better to let new model on the market and see. New firmware arrive, they sometimes recall battery to the service. After year or two it is very clear what is real value and potential. If I buy D7000 now, I get for price of Nikon D300 "just better" Nikon D90. For the price different I can buy nice second hand lens such us 12-24/4 ("FX people" now selling that lenses because of their new full frame FX camera like Nikon D3x or D700). I remember that even my Nikon D70 i bought when D70s was already on the market and I did not like the price tag. Maybe there is a question why I did not want to take Nikon D300 or D300s. Here are my thought about: Nikon D300 is cool and nice however it is heavy and I did not appreciate anything it has better than D90. Whats more, it is bigger than D90 and I do not want to buy new bag. Maybe stupid reason however I am getting old and I hate to bulky things. :) Anyway... I am going yo some discussion to let other oppose my ideas.

Well... what do you think about Nikon D90 and Nikon D7000... is the D7000 real successor or just different model as Nikon trying to convince us? :)

This entry was posted on Saturday, November 27th, 2010 at 4:58 am and is filed under Camera arena, Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.