The D7000 question?

[dan_brown4]

<p>Well, I just read the entire dpreview test review, and looked around here on the D7000.</p>

<p>I realize I am NAS'ing for it, but, I just pulled my 16-85 DX VR of the market. Even though I sold my D200, that D7000 looks like a really, really fine little DSLR.</p>

<p>Do want!</p>

<p> </p>

[alex_zepeda]

<p>Johannes: The next time you pop your head into a group of car nuts, you'll see people whinging about the plastic intake manifolds. Ford had many problems with their plastic intake manifolds deteriorating prematurely. BMW had major problems with the plastic water pump impellers exploding at inopportune times, plastic valve covers cracking(!), plastic DISA valves (and diesel equivalent) wearing and sending plastic pebbles through the engine, the plastic radiator expansion tanks exploding[1]. That plastic is not really a welcome sight to most.</p>

<p>Leigh: Would you rather a lens made in Japan? 'Cause all of Sigma's lenses are built in Japan… and I don't think anyone would even begin to compare their QC to that of Nikon.</p>

<p>1: This one I'm disinclined to believe happens without warning. Lots of the other items are much more difficult to check however.</p>

[leighb]

<p>There are thousands of different "industrial plastics". You can't generalize any characteristics under that broad category.</p>

<p>Also, you can't infer the reliability of any plastic used in a camera body by expounding on how various plastics perform in an automobile engine. Two totally different operating environments and stress levels.</p>

<p>There are many plastics used for high-wear applications, like nylon and delrin gears, and polycarbonates in high-impact products.</p>

<p>I have a personal preference for metal v. plastic in any product that's subject to stress of any kind, but there's no getting away from the fact that plastic is cheaper, lighter, and easier to fabricate.</p>

<p>- Leigh</p>

 

[photo5]

<p>Plastic cracks, metal dents. Metal wins every time in my book. For me, the D7000 image quality looks good, but I am still not convinced. Fine detail still seems to be better with the D300 according to tests done at dpreview.com. Higher megapixel count does not always equal better image quality. Only time will tell. Going from a D300 to a D7000 seems too much of a downgrade in many areas to me. If I were the OP, I'd wait for the successor to the D300s to be announced. I believe it is worth the wait. The D300 is too good of a camera to give up on.</p>

[jameshoadley]

<p>OP:</p>

<blockquote>

<p>I'm concerned about the D7000's plastic mirror box. I realize the cameras exterior is metal, but the idea of the portion of the body that supports the lens being "engineering plastic" is somewhat off putting to me.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>OP's justification for this "plastic mirror box" claim</p>

<blockquote>

<p>I am fairly certain though that I did see a picture of the D7000's mirror box, and although the exterior body was clearly metal covered by plastic the afore mentioned mirror box structure appeared to be black plastic</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Could you tell the difference between black "engineering" plastic and, say, anodized steel from a picture? A picture is not good enough evidence.</p>

[fotolopithecus]

<p>No I can't be sure its plastic, that's part of the point of my post in the first place. Is it plastic, and if it is, how strong is it. Frankly, if it were anodized steel I would think that would be a strong selling point worthy of noting. Bruce</p>

[jameshoadley]

<p>Ok then. I found a construction picture somewhere, a front view, there was a lot of what looked like black plastic around. (It's here http://www.richardpeters.co.uk/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/D7000_skeleton.jpg from this page http://www.richardpeters.co.uk/blog/2010/09/15/nikon-d7000-announced-impressive-very/ ).<br>

Maybe the screws on the mount go into solid metal--maybe not. It seems unlikely they'd anodize internal steel.</p>

[jameshoadley]

<p>Actually I just took out one of the mount screws from a beaten-up F55 I have, it's a good 10mm long, and doesn't actually thread in until about 5mm deep, so it could be that all that black stuff we see on the D7000 is not weight bearing, and the structural photo gives us no idea of what is taking the weight of the lens.</p>

[dan_brown4]

<p>This discussion hurts my head. </p>

<p>I trust Nikon and its selection of materials. It'll be a tough little Nokon body, just like all the rest.</p>

<p>I used to sling my N50 with an 80-200/2.8 on it over my solder for the better part of the day, many, many times. That was about a "plastic" as a camera could get. Never had an issue. Also used it with a 180/2.8 on a tripod using the socket on the camera body. Never an issue.</p>

[bmm]

<p>I'm with Dan.</p>

<p>Within reason this discussion seems a bit strange and 'worst case'. My little D80 - certainly consumer grade and certainly plastic - has bounced around light aircraft and boats, been smashed around crowded markets, and been probably 8 or times around the world with most time spent exposed over my shoulder rather than in a bag or any other protection.</p>

<p>There's plastic and there's plastic. Nikon seems to use the latter kind... the kind you'd have to take a hammer to in order to damage.</p>

<p>For me the real issues in a body are sealing, and ergonomics. The kind of things that matter in a product that, after all, is only designed to last 3-5 years.</p>

[alex_zepeda]

<p>Leigh: Well, I can generalize and I just did. Is it a good idea? Perhaps not, but it's certainly no worse than making generalizations based upon the country of origin. Plastic is, at least in DSLRs, generally a cost saving move not a quality improvement move.</p>

[randyhargraves]

<p>One difference that nobody is mentioning between the D300/s and the D7000 is the Mode selection. On the 7000 it is a rotary dial on the top plate, versus a button and thumb dial tandem on the 300. This is a big deal to me, since it was a major factor in my decision to move from a Canon 5D to a Nikon D300s. I missed some important shots because the mode dial was "bumped" from A to S without my knowledge. That is virtually impossible to do with the D300/s setup. The 7000 body may be just as durable, but has more consumer-type design than the semi-pro DSLRs above it. </p>

[steven_moseley1]

<p>This thread has been REALLY amusing...like the Leica boys arguing in their sandpit over whether the MK3 'cron' is better than the MK1 cron....</p>