I've been watching a lot of threads about the D7000 as it is a fascinating camera. On one hand, it is 'just a DX' and I think the majority of people don't do the maths. Its crop sensor is 50% smaller than the D3, D700, or D3X, but it delivers more megapixels than the D700 or D3S, and if its sensor was the same size as the D3X, keeping the same pixel pitch, it would deliver much higher resolution than it, too.
I've seen a lot of images shot with the D7000 with nice 2,8 glass that at 100 or 200% don't look as sharp as it does on any other Nikon Camera. I know the D7000 won't expose the corners of the same glass, but even in the exposed portion of the frame, the D7000 may be close to outresolving Nikon's professional zoom lenses. The primes seem to be a different story, however.
My maths aren't that great either, but the D7000 translated into 35mm size but keeping the same pixel pitch should stretch to be over 32 megapixels, maybe more. That - or just a bit more - could be the limit for Nikon's current professional zooms even with live view, mirror up, and a nice tripod and release cable.
The D3X isn't even close to outresolving Nikon's lenses. I first noticed this when adapting micro 4/3 cameras with Nikon Pro zooms. They were soft. Well, some of those tiny sensors are packed even more than the D7000 - a reason the 2000$ lenses look soft. I know there's been a lot of banter about outresolving lenses, but none of it has ever focused on small sensors like the D7000 and micro 4/3.
FX is a long way from that happening, but when/if it does, how will Nikon's professional zoom glass have to improve? How much will price have to go up?
