>A 12 MegaPixel Sensor is much more forgiving.

Hi. It is this paragraph which makes no sense:

"...have shot nearly 4000 images since purchasing the D7000 and i must admit its doesn't seem as easy to get a critically sharp image as with say the 12mp Nikon bodies, I think this is due to the size and amount of pixels on the sensor but after some playing around with settings i have found that by using a faster shutter speed than i would normally get away with sorts the image softness and in fact many people on forums saying that they are having focus problems can be easily cured by using a higher shutter speed and refining your technique "

The writer of this is not comparing apples with apples. It appears he or she has higher expectations of the higher resolution sensor. I'm guessing they are viewing images from each camera at 100%. Expecting the same sharpness when doing this means one's acceptable degree of sharpness (e.g., as described by a circle of confusion in millimeters) has changed in between bodies. That's a methodology flaw when making a comparison. This suggests the user does not understand some fundamentals. Explained another way, 100% viewing of an image from a higher resolution sensor is viewing an object at a higher magnification. One shouldn't conclude from this that it is harder to get a sharp image from a higher resolution sensor! This is subtle but critical to understand.

Peter