The New Nikon In The Old Hands

on June 11, 2017
As this is the 100th anniversary year for Nikon, I was delighted when Ricky Packham pointed out that the new Nikon D7500 had reached the warehouse shelves. Wasting no time, I grabbed one and a couple of likely lenses and departed for the studio. Note: it has been 7 years since the 7000 camera series started - and I have sold them to friends who have long surpassed me in their ability to take good pictures. Bit of a tactical blunder, that... The 7000 series of Nikon DSLR cameras has been a remarkable success for them - they provide an enthusiast's camera at a moderate price...which means that as a general purpose family camera they are right up there at the top of the mark. They are not exactly intended for professional use, but I can see no reason why working pros should not carry one as a lifeboat, and then take it on holiday for their personal shots. For me, handling it was an interesting look into the Nikon range to see if it had significantly changed since my D300 outfit. To make it simple; yes, and no... APS-C sized Bayer CMOS sensor, of course. 20.9 megapixels. 100 - 51200 ISO. 51-point AF. 8fps. 4K video. As many bells and whistles as you might care to ring or blow. All this is pretty normal, and then you get to: SnapBridge. The Nikon app that lets you set up one-time for sending your images to a mobile phone or tablet. Loads your shots on the go into a safe storage space in addition to the card storage in camera. Also a mobile phone that can control the camera. Wireless connectivity to let you control suitable Nikon flashes via radio control. Back-folding LCD screen with touch control. A plastic body, over a metal frame. It does not pretend to professionalism, whatever that may mean. There is no attachment for a battery grip. They have done away with the silly removable door on the battery compartment - no-one I ever met outside of a geekshow ever attached an external power source to one of the 7000 series. There's more than enough juice in a battery for most normal purposes. The focus-mode selector is external, in a sensible place, and includes a button to shift the area you use from tiny to wide. Well thought out. The button placement is two-handed, meaning you get more space for bigger fingers and a much more intuitive entry to things you actually want to do. I can hear the screams right now from some quarters on that one, but when you need to sit there and puzzle at every button and wheel on a body to find a simple way to change ISO or review and image ( I am glaring at two other major manufacturers when I write that...) you begin to appreciate the effort that Nikon have gone to in making their standard input buttons appear in the same place every time. And you can format the blessed card with external buttons - by performing a careful ritual, mind. This is wonderful. I applaud the placement and shape of the neck strap attachments too - I think I have more confidence in this form of metal bar than if they had tried to attach conical sling swivels to the plastic body. Final note: time will tell whether this Nikon model has the sort of rubber grip covering that goes funny and detaches itself from the body after a couple of years. I replaced the grips on my D300 cameras and am now looking at the same minor flaw on my Fujifilm X-T10. No biggie, but it is a minor niggle. Brace yourselves - tomorrow it is model car day again with a Nikon macro lens.
BACK TO TOP
x