I just bought a D7000 and was using a D300 up until last week. I was a little nervous after reading so many points of view and opinions. I know my old body wasn't the 300s, but I view them as pretty much equal and so far I'm loving the D7k. The button layout will take some getting used to, but I like how it's all customizable for the most part. I'm definitely a lot more relaxed now and feel I made a good investment for the time being. I will eventually switch to full frame, but in my opinion, you cannot go wrong with the D7000. My experience so far is it's responsive, feels good in my hand, and the most important part: the photos look fantastic!

Thanks for your input The Man From Mandrem.
Well, I always liked the feel of full magnesium canon bodies over those completely plastic ones. Yes, I'm interested in precise AF, but don't care about D lens. Will D300S AF system be much better nevertheless? (By the way having a lot of headache with shift-focus before I wonder how can I test focusing system with chart? Is it necesarry to check each point individually? Does Nikon lenses and bodies have focusing issues as frequently as non-L canon lenses and some bodies have?) The ability of using dslr in bad conditions(snow, rain) would be highly appreciaded, but I believe both D300s and D7000 weathersealed similarly and whatever nikkor 50G is not sealed(only mount) :( And I'm not really interested in video. Thanks again :)

I don't have D300S but have couple friends with that camera who really like them.

Regarding criticisms of D7000 I do think the top knobs getting shifted inadvertently by your hands and the video hot pixel (now fixed) are real. The other issues (soft focus, worse resolution, etc) I haven't experienced which makes me suspect they aren't real.

If you are looking at pro use or abusive use, layout of buttons, full magnesium alloy and the AF in D300S are probably things that make D300S at current pricing a strong choice.

If you are interested in video as well (as I am) the D7000 improved capabilities may be a selling point though it still has some jello so you have to be careful with fast panning. I think that there are many people who have upgraded their firmware and seen their hot pixels eliminated on D7000 in this forum so I suspect the comments that Nikon made are just cover your ass comments since some idiot may still want no noise when shooting images of the lense cap itself at high ISO and they don't want to end up specing that. I have had 2 D7000's (returned first one due to hot pixel in video) and both show 1 hot pixel when I review video images (first one was green, second was blue). I haven't had chance to download the firmware to my camera and test the fix but I'm expecting it will resolve the issue since it seems this is a simple thing for them to address with mapping.

Thanks again broxibear and Mike Gunter:) I have read that article some days ago and googled a lot :) Speaking about bad pixels I have heard about firmware, but I dislike the word "reduced" in description. However, I don't plan on using video a lot. Well, I think I'd go for a d7k :) Thanks everyone for input.

Hi

@Palomino and Broxibear.

I have a ton of respect for Thom Hogan (and who wouldn't), but in the article cited, he mentions bad pixels in a different content than the bad pixels than in which the D7000 has had them, and sort of misses a point.

Bad pixels have been fixed in video by a firmware update - worth pointing out - and the D7000 is one of the best DX cameras on the market now.

I'm certainly with the Broxibear on this, too. I'm not doing the D7000 only because in further reading Hogan, I feel that it isn't a _significant enough_ upgrade from the D90 to warrant the expense.

My best,

Mike

I have a D300s and a D3s and I like that the controls are virtually identical on both so that I can go between them without much thought. With the grip on the bottom of the D300s it is even more like the D3s. I thought about a 7000 but then I would have to change my process between cameras. I have all of the settings the same on both cameras, all I have to think about is the crop factor.

"I'm a bit worried about those shift-focusing, bad pixels and colour renderition issues talken about on various forums"
I think you're worried about things that you shouldn't be Palomino, have a read of "Time Heals all Internet Complaints" article on bythom.com
You could argue about the AF system and 39 v 51 blah blah blah but unless that is critical to the type of photography you do then the D7000 has far more going for it like the sensor and ISO performance.
Google "Nikon D300s v Nikon D7000" and you'll find a lot of opinions out there...mine is buy the D7000.

Thanks broxibear and Gareth. Unfortunatelly, even used d700 is rather pricey in our small country($700 more than d7k and $600 more than d300s) :) Talking about d7000 I'm a bit worried about those shift-focusing, bad pixels and colour renderition issues talken about on various forums :) And will I really get any increase in sharpness compared to d300s with 4 more MP at least on 50G's sharpest appertures? Thanks :)

NikoDoby said:
You can blame Rockwell for that ;^)

smile, well said Nikodoby

casperwb said:
so many people comment on gear that they have not used, and give their "opinion" on what they think the camera will be able to do, without ever having used it.

You can blame Rockwell for that ;^)

so many people comment on gear that they have not used, and give their "opinion" on what they think the camera will be able to do, without ever having used it.

Now that the camera is out there and is being used, I wonder if they return and read their post and see how silly it was to post that this is missing and that will not be as good.

sigh

;)

And the 50 1.4G is not really sharp until F/2, so you'll be fine. You might consider a used d700 and a used 50 1.4D which people speak highly of. You'll get far less depth of field on a full frame than you would if you framed the same shot (for you Drab) on a DX.

Get the D7000 Palomino, it's pretty much the same price as the D300s and has newer technology aswell as higher mp, it also has a newer, and I'm assuming better, Multi-CAM 4800DX autofocus... http://imaging.nikon.com/products/imaging/lineup/digitalcamera/slr/d7000/features02.htm#f01

Hello to everybody :) I'm planning to buy my first Nikon DSLR(in past used Canons for a short periods of time) and currently choosing between D7000 and D300s with nikkor 50 1.4 G. I mainly want to shoot portraits in NEF. Which one would be best for me?
I'm not sure if more megapixels will give me any advantage.
Because of the wide apperture I'm interested in more precise focusing system. It seems that d300s is superior here.
I don't think that I'll be shooting sequences often, but I'm a bit worried about D7000 buffer.
I was comfortable with size and weight of d90 body, however I think bigger and heavier body will be fine for me also.
Thanks everybody and sorry for my english.

jonnyapple said:
I've got the cables for the D7000 and also the 10-pin one for D700-type cameras.

Is the cable for the D7000 the same as the cable for the D90? I see that the N10 cable is listed by Phottix for the D90/D5000 and looking at my D7000 it looks to be the same but I'd like to confirm it. Thanks

+1 I've got two phottix remotes—the Plato for wireless triggering and the Nikos for an intervalometer. They're both great and can be had for about $40 each. I've got the cables for the D7000 and also the 10-pin one for D700-type cameras. I also had an off-brand IR remote that I got for $5 or so but didn't use it much so I sold it with my D90.

ShutterMonkey said:
Both cameras have their annoying points. Ones that aren't especially make-or-break issues.
D300s: no cheap wireless remote. [ie. WTF Nikon? I just want a simple remote sometimes!]
WB can have its off-days
:p

i see no problem with my phottix plato that works on my d700 as well. works like a charm. depends what you call cheap i suppose.

I still don't have my D7000 and I can wait! I have a whole fleet of Nikon DSLRs. I am waiting to get my D7000 from a dealer I respect. Mine will come from B&H. They have never steered me wrong. Best Buy sure has gotten in to some strange stuff on release dates of this camera (the D7000) but that is to be expected given the attractiveness of this camera. Personally I am NOT buying the D7000 to be my primary still camera. In fact at this point I may be buying it as a walkabout and business use special. My idea of my primary camera is D300s or D700 (but I would like to have video for when I need it!). The problem is when Nikon does announce another more pro DSLR it will have the much higher price tag than it should. Maybe though Nikon is seeing what volume and popularity build from assembly on a higher volume level. A D300s or D700 upgrade with dual cards and HD video would be too me THE rig I would like. When I get a D7000 it is just to tide me over and we'll be able to use it as a utility camera for years, my guess! The more I have used my D300 and D90 and D700 side by side the more I lean away from the D90 style DSLR. My lenses balance better on the slightly more robust cameras, the two bigger cameras focus faster, and to be honest I prefer Type 1 Level ten capture cards like Sandisk.

Coming from a D90, the D7000 is everything I wanted in my D90.

Also... since I'm so use to holding a button and rotating the dial, the no dedicated AF and metering buttons don't bother me.

In fact I love that I can just hold a button and rotate the dial, prevents me from accidentally doing it.

For anyone who's shooting a D300/D300s, I can't see any advantage to getting the D7000 *as a replacement*. As a second body, maybe but it would be just as tempting to pick up a second D300s for about the same price. Depends on what you're shooting..

That said, my thoughts are in line with what DaveyJ said above, about buying a D7000 and testing it before deciding. Of course, I don't have 3 other, up-to-date bodies that DaveyJ has :p

Both cameras have their annoying points. Ones that aren't especially make-or-break issues.
D300s: no cheap wireless remote. [ie. WTF Nikon? I just want a simple remote sometimes!]
WB can have its off-days
D7000: What have you done with my AF & metering hard switches?
Seems to be missing about 6 cross-type AF points...
Hmmm 11 shots in your buffer.. ok, this one could be make/break depending on how quickly it clears. (I guess if they had gone with a 12mp sensor, the buffer would hold about as many shots as D300.. but with 16, that may not cut the mustard)

Aside from all that, I just want to test the thing out. If it sucks, it goes back and I try to claim my price guarantee on that 300s I returned :p

I totally agree about that AF mode button move, kgs. It was one of the things I noticed when I saw the pictures on the NR blog and just thought it made a lot more sense in the new location.

jbl said:
Hmm I might not have used the right words... Where's the D7000 metering mode button (I'm referring to that button under the AE-L on the D300)

Also there's a af mode button but you need to use it with a dial.. I'll get used to that for sure but I kinda like how it's "one step" with the D300 for both the Auto Focus Area Mode selector and spot metering mode.

The Metering Mode button is in the same place it is on the D90, right above the Top LCD, along with the EV button.

Also using a button with a dial, I guess I'm just use to with my D90, since you use a button dial combo for everything.

Though I love that the AF mode button is down there because I didn't use it that much but I did use the CL, CH, S, etc button a ton and would accidentally press the AF one when not looking.

The D7000 really thought of everything at least from a D90 standpoint.

krevlingoodspeed said:
What are you talking about? The D7000 has the meter mode button and the AF-Mode button.

Hmm I might not have used the right words... Where's the D7000 metering mode button (I'm referring to that button under the AE-L on the D300)

Also there's a af mode button but you need to use it with a dial.. I'll get used to that for sure but I kinda like how it's "one step" with the D300 for both the Auto Focus Area Mode selector and spot metering mode.

The good part is that the D7000 is more than a D90 in many ways.. so in the end, it's different than the D300 but still offers a lot.. I'll get used to it... now I can't wait to get my hands on it.

jbl said:
I will still miss the meter mode button and the af mode button.. but that's not too bad.

What are you talking about? The D7000 has the meter mode button and the AF-Mode button.