Gone for a D7000 - any advice?

<p>Today I paid up for a D7000. Some eBay sales, a small bonus and temptation go the better of me.</p>

<p>Whilst there is plenty of info out there (a swamping amount) I was hoping that existing users could impart a few 'pearls of wisdom' and tell me about what they thought was important or should be taken note of.<br>

I know it is only a camera and part of the process, but I would appreciate your input.</p>

Enjoy!

 

And sell some of those old junk; you won't need them any more. :-)

Just kidding.

<p>FIRST thing, change the option that resets the shutter count every time you replace the card. That is so annoying. SECOND thing, turn off the darn beep. It makes you look like an amateur.</p>

<p>If the manual doesn't help you much, and you like to read really long books, check out Thom Hogan's guides.</p>

<p>And, Shun is going to blast me for this, but Ken Rockwell is good for getting a handle on functions. He has a guide in a very short space free on the web (google it), BUT... do NOT be too quick to use any settings he recommends. They're good for him, but not for most anybody else. That said, it is a quick way to understand how the actual camera physically functions.</p>

<p>But, honestly Ian, you'll be able to use it right away, as you have already been around the Nikon DSLR universe a little. Congrats.</p>

<p>'pearls of wisdom' !?:<br>

<em>Question : What's The Difference between a boy and a grown man ???</em><br>

Answer : The price of their toys :-)))<br>

Enjoy your new ...camera; I'm sure you-re more than capable to domesticate the beast (D7000)</p>

<p>Use good glass! The D7000 makes you pay for cheap glass. Learn the focus system - it can be a bit tricky. Get a good SD card with fast write times for continuous shooting.<br>

Mostly, have fun! It's an awesome camera!</p>

<p>Ian, you are now way out there on the slippery slope - first the D50 and now the D7000; soon film will be a distant memory. Follow Shun's sage advice ;-)</p>

<p>John has a good point. The D7000 will exaggerate the difference between excellent and merely decent lenses, as well as good and mediocre techniques.</p>

<p>Concerning film and digital I want to keep them seperate and going for DX was partly fueled by wanting to keep film for the wider shots and for use with my older primes. I really do want to keep using film as I enjoy it so much but my D50 is missing some important features for what I want so the D7000 called.</p>

<p>Shun, I fear my 'camera operation' techniques are at present mediocre so I need to work on those.</p>

<p>I second John's advice about good SD cards, but you need two of them in the camera to make use of the D7000's ability to provide a little extra safety in redundancy. And they should be really good, for example this one, <a href="http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/757925-REG/SanDisk_SDSDRX3_032G_A21_Extreme_SDHC_Class_10.html">the type that Hogan recommends after testing</a>, to give you the best chance of avoiding having to wait with continuous shooting. Perhaps most important, get used to checking the top mode dial on the left side of the body. It's easy to inadvertently change its setting when you are changing the ring dial below it. Oh, and ignore Peter's advice about using Rockwell's instructions except the recommendations, that are wrong. For a quick read, these <a href="http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/nikond7000/page6.asp">pages by dpreview</a> are useful, but the manual and Hogan's book are your best sources.</p>

<p>Ian, using a tripod as much as possible is a good starting point. Of course, a tripod is not practical in plenty of situations.</p>

<p>P.S. A few months ago, I paid like $100 for the same 32G Sandisk SD card Hector mentioned (also from B&H). These prices have dropped very quickly.</p>

<p>Ian: Really hope you enjoy it! From what I've read you have a wide variety of lenses and I'd be really interested in how you find them on this camera.</p>

<p>Ian: You didn't say about glass, but if "in for a penny, in for a pound" you could consider Nikon 17-55 2.8 to go with your D7000 ... the combo will make you VERY happy. Also, you might want to scroll thu PNET history relating to the D7000, as many, many issues have been raised and covered ... it will make you an excellent "reverse engineer", should issues arise.</p>

<p>Don't loan it to your daughter, you may not get it back!</p>

<p>Ian, you will love this new camera. A couple of things I like (and could not do on my old D80)...6 6ps which is great when I shoot birds in flight. I can also shoot in a high ISO in low light conditions. Enjoy and I look forward to seeing your photos on PNet. </p>

<p>I have found that all AF focus modes on my Nikon D7000 work infinitely better with my fast lenses, and/or, in bright light. AF results using slow lenses in dim lighting are abysmal, in my opinion. However if you must use f4.5 or narrower maximum aperture lenses in low light situations, try using one of the central 9 cross shaped autofocus points as a single AF point, along with AF-S Priority mode. Focus, recompose, and shoot.</p>

<p>Moving to the D7000 from a D70 was a lot like moving from a basic trainer to a high performance aircraft. The D7000 is much more than a piece of equipment -- it is a photographic system. The "soft" content of the camera is substantial. Even though I have been using digital Nikons since the D-1 and taking photographs since the '50s, this was a big leap. The manual is of little use, but look at it. I ended up buying two guides and doing a lot of online reading. Some of the things that you will want to explore is the incredible low light capabilities and the tremendous EV range.<br>

This is not your "mother's camera" any more.</p>

<p>Enjoy it. </p>

<p>I have purchased a lot of material in an effort to master the Nikon D7000, but the best tutorial I have found thus far is the Blue Crane Digital, <a href="http://bluecranedigital.com/ProductDetail.aspx?ProductID=1178">Introduction to the D7000.</a></p>

<p>Thank you for the thoughts and help - this was a tough decision. I will share a result or two here of course and hope I can improve and have some fun doing it too.</p>