Nikon D7000

It's been years since I posted anything on this forum. A lot has happened in my life since 2008. For one thing I retired six months ago from Intel Corp.

Gear wise I've moved from the D40X to the D90 and now the new D7000. What a difference a camera upgrade can make! The most significant advantage to the D7000 is its performance in low light situations. I've shot sharp portraits in nearly complete darkness at 4200 ISO with no noticeable grain. That opens huge doors for me with available light photography. The addition of my 18-200mm F/3.5-5.6 VRII Nikkor lens allows me hand held shots at 1/15th sec. The D7000 is fast, especially with two 8 gig class 10 memory cards aboard. I've added the MB-D11 grip to the setup to get a better feel in my extra large hands as well as better control over portrait shots. I love this camera.

The d7000 is an incredible piece of equipment, isn't it? I recently took the plunge from a Nikon d70s and the difference is amazing.


Splash_girl_01 by damarkee, on Flickr

Hey Bob,

It is amazing what has happened with digital SLRs in just a short time. I still remember photographing with my Canon D30 when it first came out. The autofocus was soooooo horrid. I remember focusing on contrast points on tuxedos and whatever I could find in order to get a focus lock. Anything over ISO 400 was a complete dog, and of course, if you wanted to print a 16x20, you needed some sort of divine intervention. :P

Anyway, welcome back to the forum, Bob. May I ask what you did with Intel?

Cheers
James

I "downgraded" from the D2X to the D300. In the next few months after my large order is fulfilled, I intend to "Downgrade" again and get the D7000.

I am that impressed. Plus I find it kinda fun to give the Full Frame crowd fits as they see me competing competently with a "lesser" camera in the landscape arena. An arena I think the d7000 will absolutely shine in.

Grats on the new camera and welcome back!

Roman

I thought you looked familiar Bob. I'm pretty sure you're name is still on an ipage distro list =P.

It is indeed Tyler. That's why I looked up the site once again after receiving the latest newsletter.

Here's a sample of what the camera can do at higher ISO settings.

1/20" F/5.6 ISO 4500



1/30" F/5 ISO 4500

Hey Bob,

That is pretty impressive. Thanks for sharing.

James

For over 4 years I worked in a clean room fab making their computer chips. The fab I worked at was obsolete so in August of 2010 I was laid off after the fab stopped the production line. They gave us 18 months worth of notice so I came out of it set for retirement at 61.5 years old. Intel is a great employer that has great benefits and super pay.

Just wondering...did they build the new production line in the US or in Asia?

They had multiple fabs in the US making 200mm 8" wafers. They decided to keep just one open in Boston. We were closed because we were surrounded by 3-4 other Intel fabs to which we could transfer. The Boston fab was a stand alone entity. Intel does have 2 fabs in China which make more modern products and cpu chips.

Also, an announcement was made that Intel was going to break ground on a new fab within 5 miles of the one that shut down here in Oregon.