Randomrants

Nikon D7000 vs Nikon D90….

Posted on September 15th, 2010 by Me

Here is the Show Down Table, comparing the D7000, to the D90.

These are the major features where the D7000 trumps the D90.

	[image title=”Nikon D7000″ size=”full” id=”1394″ align=”right” ]	[image title=”Nikon D90″ size=”full” id=”1393″ align=”right” ]
	Nikon D7000	Nikon D90
Construction	Magnesium alloy body	Polycarbonate
Sensor	• 23.1 x 15.4 mm CMOS sensor • 16.2 million effective pixels • 14-bit A/D converter	• 23.1 x 15.4 mm CMOS sensor • 12.3 million effective pixels • 12-bit A/D converter
ISO range	• ISO 100-6400 • H1 and H2 (ISO 12800 and 25600) expansion	• ISO 200 -3200 • L1 (ISO 100) and H1 (ISO 6400) expansion
Movie resolution*	• 1920 x 1080p (24fps)	• 1280 x 720p (24 fps)
AF sensor	• 39 AF points • 9 cross-type sensors	• 11 AF points • 1 cross-type sensor
Metering sensor	• TTL exposure metering using 2016-pixel RGB sensor	• TTL exposure metering using 403-pixel RGB sensor
Viewfinder	• 100% frame coverage • Dioptric adjustment: -3.0 to +1.0 diopter	• 96% (horizontal and vertical) frame coverage • Built-in diopter adjustment (-2 to +1m-1)
Continuous shooting rate	• Approx. 6 fps max	• Approx. 4.5 fps max
Max Shutter Speed	• 1/8000 second	• 1/4000 sec
Modes	• Portrait, Landscape, Child, Sports, Close up, Night portrait, Night landscape, Party/indoor, Beach/snow, Sunset, Dusk/dawn, Pet portrait, Candlelight, Blossom, Autumn colors, Food, Silhouette, High key, Low key, U1 (user settings 1), U2 (user settings 2)	• Portrait, Landscape, Close-up, Sports, Night portrait
Pixel Density	• 4.6 MP/cm²	• 3.3 MP/cm²
Video Format	• MOV, H.264 (Stereo with external mike), 20 Min Max length	• AVI M-JPEG ( Mono), 5 Min Max length
Memory format	• SD/SDHC/SDXC (dual slots)	• SD/SDHC
Dimensions	132 x 105 x 77mm (5.2 x 4.1 x 3.0in)	148 x 111 x 74 mm (5.8 x 4.3 x 2.8in)
Weight (inc battery)	780 g (1.7 lb.)	704 g (1.5 lb.)
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(Source of Table: DP Review and Nikon- if I have missed out something let me know.)

As you can see this camera leaves the D90 in the dust. Low light and fast photography have all been ramped up incredibly. And for a RRP or around the $1200 USD mark it gives the non professional shooter a great camera with many Pro and Semi Pro features at what I think is a great price.

A few other thoughts….

The extra mega pixels can ensure larger printers ( although the prints I have got from my D90 at A3 are stunning), but it also gives you a bit more crop room. You can cut that little bit more of the edges of your image that don’t quite line up and still get the same print size. Further (somewhat reduced by the D7000 having a virtual horizon) is that you can rotate your images to straighten them as well and still get a full size print.

The extra 4% in the view finder may not seem much, yet having a 100% Viewfinder means that nothing unexpected will creep into the side of your image. I’ve got used to always checking on my D90 that I’ve got the whole shot and nothing extra, but having the 100% Viewfinder is something that just makes your life in post processing much easier.

I’d love to get my hand on the camera just for the Shutter Speed as well. 1/8000th of a second will freeze just about anything. Perfect for insects in flight, water in motion e.t.c. The extra 2 FPS on the body is also fantastic as well, letting you burn through action.

The other great feature is the “weather-resistant” body. There have been times I’ve had to stop shooting with just a few drops of rain on the D90, the D7000 lets you get a bit more extreme with your shooting, without having to worry about dust and a few drops of rain.

The Video feature has been dramatically expanded as well. One thing is I am glad that Nikon have moved to H264 .mov files. This has become the standard for video these days and opens up a lot more options for cleaning editing as well over the motion jpeg format. ( But this is something for others to comment on. I’ve never really used the video feature on my D90, and I’d suspect that the same would be true for the D7000.

Overall, whilst the D90 maybe around for awhile yet, I’d have to say just on the specs and the initial reviews your better of getting the D7000.

Note sure on Australian released date… but US date is October… so should be sometime next month.

P.S

Please now buy some of my art work…. So I can afford it….

Some More from around the Web:

Nikon Rumors
Nikon D7000: Camera Road Test With Chase Jarvis
D7000 dpreview hands-on
Offical Nikon D7000 Site

And hands on video care of Engadget.

and a Nikon promo video….