This is my review for the Nikon D7000 SLR

So I am a typical family photographer…. I have had a D40 x for a long while and have been happily add lenses to my arsenal for the last few years. I worked with film photography in high school and college so my  transition into dSLR was a little easier than those coming from say a Polaroid experience. But I don’t intend to imply that I am a professional.

That being said, I can see how this Nikon D7000 camera could easily be marketed to one. There are a million buttons and menus and dials and knobs that could be intimidating. So I am writing to say, this camera can be used by a pro but offers excellent options for someone who will leave it on Auto Mode for the majority of the time.

Highlights I have learned about since I got mine yesterday.

-Bracketing. This feature let’s you take a series of 2 to 3 shots quickly while the computer resets your lighting settings to be slightly more exposed and slightly less composed to what it thinks is perfect. Nice!

-There is a physical knob that can be adjusted to set the camera for single, continuous shooting, remote or timer shooting. I hated going into the menu to do this.

-Scene modes are now In a menu rather than on the dial on the Nikon D7000 SLR. I’m okay with this. They added many many more scene settings so moving it “Indoors” seems logical.

-while a little bigger, the camera does seem much heavier than my D40. -white balance is offering better descriptions of variations offered (vice the + or – numbers previously used) if not flat out more options there

-very easy method, via a small button, to watch not through the viewfinder but on the back screen.

-video was astoundingly good… was very sorry my first video was of my office chair. There is a mic and it looks like there is an input for an external mic. HDMI Jack outlet too on the body.

I’m sure there are a million more things to talk about. Ultimately, my point is that the many new buttons are very logical and impressive. For the average family photographer, they offer great features. Considering that my spouse paid about this much for my d40x back in the day (+-200$ I suspect) this Nikon D7000 SLR camera is absolutely worth the money.

You can go here and watch a video on this camera at: Nikon D7000 SLR Video Review

You might be looking for something smaller and less expensive here is a high quality compact point and shoot at a very affordable price at: Canon Sd780iS