138 replies to this topic

[Ferg42]

Not sure if anyone's already posted this, but the in depth D7000 review is up on dpreview:

http://www.dpreview....ews/nikond7000/

[Alex_Mustard]

Not sure if anyone's already posted this, but the in depth D7000 review is up on dpreview:

http://www.dpreview....ews/nikond7000/

Argh - don't read that - my review is almost written and has much of the same stuff - only underwater! Alex

[cdoyal]

Argh - don't read that - my review is almost written and has much of the same stuff - only underwater! Alex

And as we all know, the underwater stuff is all that matters!

[Deep6]

And as we all know, the underwater stuff is all that matters!

Right! I'm holding my breath waiting for Alex's review.
Bob

[Alex_Mustard]

Nearly there. Just had one day at home between travel and had lots of work to get out the door today. Almost there now.

Review is currently at 4800 words! And the text is about an hour from being done. Then the pictures. videos are already online and awaiting links and Adam has volunteered to help me put it together. Good chance of being online tonight or failing that sometime tomorrow - probably after my flight.

Alex

[NWDiver]

I believe Dr. Mustard is cruelly building suspense....

[PRC]

I believe Dr. Mustard is cruelly building suspense....

Maybe but he did appear a bit rattled about the alternative offering (which we all have read by now anyhow).

Argh - don't read that

Paul C

[Alex_Mustard]

Finally back on line. Been rather distracted by flying in and out of the UK over the last couple of days. We were very lucky to get into Gatwick before it closed.

Back online now - so attempting to upload it all.

Alex

[Alex_Mustard]

Review should be up now!

[loftus]

Fantastic review Alex; hard to find fault with this camera as an underwater camera. Is there anything at all that you missed on this camera compared say to your D700?

Edited by loftus, 02 December 2010 - 01:06 PM.

[bearaway]

Great article. Thanks for that detailed practical review, that's impressive work.

Minor nitpick though, as a non-nauticam user, when you're writing a lot about the controls x, y, z on the housing, without an illustrated picture it is really difficult to visualize clearly what you're talking about. Would have loved to have a picture of the housing with legends on controls.


Now, I was thinking that the D7000 would be the one that will allow me to finally ditch my D80 and this really looks like it. I'm most impressed with the sunburst.
I have the D700 as well, but no housing for it and considering the D7000 does video...

Despite some attractiveness, I doubt I will go Nauticam and think I will stay Ikelite.
3000$ for a housing to house a $1500 camera is a lot of $ if you're diving less than 2 months a year.

[PRC]

Good piece of work Alex - thanks.

Not quite so keen on you closing Gatwick though - am now on the midnight ferry to Portsmouth and the wind is making

Paul C

[Alex_Mustard]

Fantastic review Alex; hard to find fault with this camera as an underwater camera. Is there anything at all that you missed on this camera compared say to your D700?

I miss the ISO for free of the D700. As you know, the D700 allows you to turn up the ISO to 800 with no detectable loss in image quality. The D7000 is very impressive at higher ISOs, but it is a sliding scale from base ISO. The problem is really a frame of mind thing.

Minor nitpick though, as a non-nauticam user, when you're writing a lot about the controls x, y, z on the housing, without an illustrated picture it is really difficult to visualize clearly what you're talking about. Would have loved to have a picture of the housing with legends on controls.

Good point. I will add some annotations to a couple of the images when I have a decent internet connection.

Alex

[Deep6]

Alex,

Really want to thank you for an excellent review. With your location and time restrains, is truly amazing in scope and detail. I seems to be a great camera for the price with 1/320 sync, higher ISO acceptability, HD video, and my fav, 100% view finder. Analytical tests aside, an “in vita” underwater test is what I wanted. I can exhale now. I look forward to the Feb. housing shoot out. Cayman?
Bob

Edited by Deep6, 03 December 2010 - 08:25 AM.

[adamhanlon]

Hi Bob,

Probably Capernwray in the frozen Northern UK not Cayman! It will almost definitely be a cold water review!

We plan to get as many housings together as we can and get a bunch of people to try them out and give impressions.

Looking forward to it.

Adam

[acuevas]

Hi Bob,

Probably Capernwray in the frozen Northern UK not Cayman! It will almost definitely be a cold water review!

We plan to get as many housings together as we can and get a bunch of people to try them out and give impressions.

Looking forward to it.

Adam

Yes, a cold water review will put the housings in a more complicate situation. Big gloves and cold hands.
Please use at least 5mm gloves, a 3mm glove is not thick enough.

If you can use it in cold waters, you can use it everywhere.

[Deep6]

Hi Bob,

Probably Capernwray in the frozen Northern UK not Cayman! It will almost definitely be a cold water review!

We plan to get as many housings together as we can and get a bunch of people to try them out and give impressions.

Looking forward to it.

Adam

Brrr..., I look forward to your report, but I ain't volunteering for a very cold dive.
Cold water chicken in the frozen north of Illinois,
Bob

[StephenFrink]

Hi Bob,

Probably Capernwray in the frozen Northern UK not Cayman! It will almost definitely be a cold water review!

We plan to get as many housings together as we can and get a bunch of people to try them out and give impressions.

Looking forward to it.

Adam

[StephenFrink]

Hi Bob,

Probably Capernwray in the frozen Northern UK not Cayman! It will almost definitely be a cold water review!

We plan to get as many housings together as we can and get a bunch of people to try them out and give impressions.

Looking forward to it.

Adam

Hey Adam - Be sure to ask Harald for one. The SEACAM D7000 housing should be ready by the time you are.

[Alex_Mustard]

If you can use it in cold waters, you can use it everywhere.

While this is partly true - perfect ergonomics for cold water would probably be imperfect in the tropics. Oversized dials and knobs would be clumsy and the sharp edges on dials (needed to grip with numb fingers and 7mm gloves/mitts) are not comfortable when you soft fingers (without gloves) after 5-6 hours of underwater photography on a warm day in the tropics.

Alex

p.s. More controversially, the same is true of divers. I have lost count of the number of British divers who think that because they can dive in the UK - it means they don't need to learn anything to dive in the tropics.