First Look: Nikon D7000 SLR is loaded with features but not too complicated

The 16-megapixel D7000 SLR ($1,500 with an 18-105mm kit lens) is targeted at consumers who want more than an entry-level SLR but don't want to pay professional-SLR prices. I recently tested this model, and here's what I found.

Video. Nikon has included video capabilities on SLRs since the D90 came out. But simply adding video wasn't the perfect solution. One problem the D90 had was that it couldn't continuously focus when capturing video, the way a camcorder can. On the D7000, as on the Nikon D3100, full-time autofocus is available, so the camera can automatically refocus instead of maintaining a locked focus the way it does when shooting still images.

In addition, you can track subjects or activate face detection so that faces remain in focus the entire time you're shooting. Both these modes work pretty well, except in very low light. But the lens takes longer to focus than a camcorder lens.

Smart design. Nikon has included some innovative tweaks to the D7000's body: For example, it has two memory-card slots. What's nice is that you can select how you want to use the slots: as overflow, as a backup, or for splitting your JPEG and RAW files on separate cards. Also, when capturing video, you can select which card to capture to; the one with the most memory, for example.

Another nicely placed control is the autofocus and manual focus selection switch at the base of the lens. If you press the button on top of this switch and move the subcontrol dial, you can scroll through various autofocus (AF) modes, from single-point to 39-point autofocus modes, as well as other AF modes. You can even see the changes in these modes listed in your viewfinder. This is very intuitive, since it avoids interrupting your workflow.

In-camera fixes and filters. Other features are pretty simple but useful nonetheless. For example, the D7000 has an auto-distortion control that you can set from the camera's menu that will straighten out barrel distortion in your photos. I found it corrected some but not all of the distortion. Also, if you want to fool around with some of the creative filters, you can enter the D7000's retouch menu and select such filters as red-eye correction, fisheye, and color sketch.

Complex but not complicated features. As I mentioned earlier, the D7000 offers a number of autofocus modes that you can scroll through depending on your shooting situation: You'd choose single AF for still lifes and 9- or 21-AF points for active subjects. If active subjects, such as with a flock of birds, are moving erratically, you can try 39-point AF.

The D7000 has other AF settings, such as 3D-tracking, which lets you track the color of your subject to keep your subject in focus. I tried many of these modes in different scenarios, and they work very well.

To get the most out of many of the modes, I'd suggest reading the manual for a more in-depth understanding of the features or visiting Nikon's websites. Although the features aren't hard to understand, there are often many facets to them. Take bracketing, which means shooting the same shot at either different exposures or white-balance settings to get the optimum shot. Like many of the more complex modes on the D7000, you have to drill down into the menu system to make these changes. And you have a plethora of choices: with flash or without, at .3EV or 1 EV, and so on.

Bottom line. It would be nice if the D7000 had a swiveling LCD, but there aren't many features this SLR doesn't have for the price: The D7000 is expensive, particularly if you buy it with the longer zoom lens. But one of the nice things about such a powerful SLR is that you can set on its simplest auto setting and let it do all the work for you. Then when you're ready to move into a highly specialized mode, the D7000 offers you lots of options without overcomplicating things.

--Terry Sullivan