Nikon D7000 18-105 VR Kit review

The Nikon D90 was – and still is – one of our favourite SLRs, with sublime ergonomics and equally alluring photo quality. It was the first SLR to record video, but two years on, its 720p resolution and five-minute maximum recording time look old-fashioned.

We were looking forward to a successor, but the D7000 reviewed here is something of a surprise. It addresses the D90’s main weakness, recording video at 1080p in up to 20-minute bursts with full manual control. Other expected improvements include a move from 12 to 16 megapixels and an expanded ISO range, now at 100 to 25,600 equivalent. What we weren’t expecting was a magnesium alloy body, dual SDXC card slots, a 2,016-pixel metering sensor and 39-point autofocus. These improvements shift the D7000 into a different class to the D90, aligning it with semi-professional cameras such as the Canon 7D rather than the enthusiast-oriented 550D. The price reflects this shift, too; the D90 Kit is still available for around £800 but the D7000 costs £380 more.

The autofocus system is seriously sophisticated, even at this price. With 39 points, there’s little chance that the subject will fall between the gaps, and the centre nine points are cross type for improved accuracy. The 3D Tracking mode tracks moving subjects to keep them in focus – something that’s incredibly useful for continuous shooting. In practice, autofocus was extremely accurate but the kit lens’s focus motor sometimes struggled to keep up with fast-moving subjects.

The D7000 inherits some excellent features from the D90. The viewfinder is significantly bigger than on more modestly priced SLRs, which makes manual focus much easier and is generally far more pleasant to use. Dual command dials give direct access to exposure settings. When used in conjunction with various buttons dotted around the camera, the dials control white balance, JPEG quality, exposure compensation, AE bracketing, flash mode, metering mode and focus options. There’s also a dial to select the drive mode – a new feature over the D90. The passive LCD screen on the top of the camera means that the main 3in, 921,000-pixel LCD screen can just get on with image review duties, and there’s rarely any need to visit the menus during normal operation.

The fly in the ointment is that some buttons have alternate functions during image playback, so pressing them while the previous shot is shown on the screen changes playback rather than shooting settings. The Auto ISO settings are clumsy, too. We love the ability to define the behaviour of the Auto ISO function but hate how it’s easy to think you’re adjusting the ISO speed manually when it’s set to Auto elsewhere.

The camera also behaves unpredictably when switching from the viewfinder to live view. In manual exposure mode, the shutter speed jumps to 1/30s if it’s previously set to a slower speed, and the aperture becomes locked. In aperture priority mode, the aperture can be adjusted in live view but the on-screen image doesn’t give a depth-of-field preview.

The video mode is a vast improvement on the D90. Recordings are at 1,920×1,080 at 24fps, and the 21Mbit/s AVC files are largely free of compression artefacts. The full complement of exposure and image-processing controls used for photos are available for videos too. Details were pin-sharp, automatic exposures reacted smoothly to changing light and the narrow depth of field produced sumptuous, film-like footage. Noise levels were extremely low, too. Shooting at ISO 3200, there was a gentle shimmer of noise but details and colours remained crisp and vibrant. Our only criticism with video picture quality is that repeating patterns sometimes resulted in moiré interference.

Continuous autofocus is available for videos, but because it relies on contrast detection rather than the 39-point phase-detection system, it was slow and clumsy. It also obliterated the soundtrack with clicks and whirrs, which were just as loud as people speaking in the room. Thankfully, there’s a microphone input to avoid this problem. The microphone level can be set manually, but with no level meter or headphone output, there’s no way to know if the microphone is distorting or if its battery has run out. The built-in mono microphone is fantastic, with rich high frequencies and warm, detailed bass. Unlike on the D90, the HDMI output is only active during playback and not while recording.

The improvements for photography aren’t as dramatic as for video, but they build on an already superb foundation. Continuous shooting is now a claimed 6fps – and we measured 5.7fps in our tests. We’ve seen faster cameras costing half as much, but the D7000’s large buffer and fast processor meant it kept going at 5.7fps for 100 shots. Raw continuous performance was less impressive, slowing to 1.4fps after 10 shots. Otherwise, the camera was extremely responsive, and never kept us waiting – except for the autofocus issues described above.

Automatic exposures were excellent, with digital processing handling shadows well and Nikon’s subtle tendency towards warmer tones flattering most subjects. Noise barely registered at ISO 1600 and remained reasonably unobtrusive at ISO 6400, allowing handheld shooting in low light with the kit lens. The much cheaper Canon EOS 550D matches it for noise levels, though.

The 16-megapixel sensor and 18-105mm lens captured stunning details, and in-camera chromatic aberration correction worked wonders (see the trees in our sample gallery). However, we found that shutter speeds below 1/100s often resulted in small amounts of camera shake. Tests using a tripod suggested that the lens’s optical stabilisation actually added some shake, particularly at 1/30s. That’s annoying, but this is still a worthwhile kit lens that’s in a different class to the 18-55mm lenses bundled with cheaper SLRs.

If photography is a hobby rather than a profession, £1,200 is a lot to spend, especially when the Canon 550D offers comparable photo and video quality. There are plenty of reasons to consider the D7000, though: faster performance, more tactile controls, a bigger viewfinder, more sophisticated autofocus. The Canon 60D offers similar features, though – we’ll have our full review up shortly. As an upgrade to the D90, the D7000 is both extremely tempting and unnervingly expensive in exactly equal measure.