I don't think you need to apologize if you don't share in the d7000 love. Generally, I think the choice of one's camera is personal and subjective. Almost like choosing a spouse!

I think my feelings towards the d7000 are fairly easy to discern from my posts, I think Nikon hit a home run with this camera. It hit my market sweet spot anyway, an experienced enthusiast with a passion to learn and grow but no plans at all of turning pro. The D7000 provides me with most of the advantages of Nikon cameras much bigger and heavier (and expensive) while adding a few new tricks.

I can list a number of reasons why I love the d7000:

1. D700 like ISO noise control in a DX body with even more megapixels.

2. It remained small and light enough to carry around all day despite adding better build a number of additional features.

3. A matrix meter that is intuitive as it tries to balance a scene rather than put (often) unnecessary weight on the area under the focus point.

4. Full HD video with continuous AF.

5. A great AF system that in testing has been found to be at least on par with the CAM3500DX.

6. Outstanding low ISO dynamic range.

7. FPS rate that doesn't drop depending on on whether you choose to shoot RAW or not.

8. More accurate (from my use) Auto WB, and some of the most natural skin tones a Nikon camera has produced.

I read your post (perhaps wrongly) to say that you are frustrated by your inability to reproduce the results a number of users here are getting.

With sharpness are you comparing images at 100%? If so you might be misleading yourself into believing your shots are not as sharp as your 12 MP cameras. Peter (PAStime) here said is best in another thread :

"As an example, I notice some are viewing images at 100% and comparing what they see with 100% views of smaller pixel count sensors, such as that found in the D90. Many don't realize this is an apples and oranges comparison (because the magnification is different in between the two views). This is leading to nonsense conclusions such as the D7000 being softer or less forgiving to user error. One should zoom in to an amount necessary to meet the circle of confusion required for the end application (screen, print, other)!"

As for colour balance, the d7000 (maybe even more than the d90) is quite contrasty. I have been shooting in Neutral with -1 contrast (per Hogan's suggestion) and really liking the results. That being said, I was shooting in standard with +1 contrast and the results were still good.

Ultimately, maybe the d7000 is just not your camera, and there is nothing wrong with that. I would use the camera that produces the results that you are happy with.

Jason

Visit my Nikonians gallery.

Visit my Nikonians gallery.