More reviews by Thom Hogan:
Nikon D5000 Review by Thom Hogan
Nikon DSLR (Digital Camera) Comparison by Thom Hogan
"Nikon's DSLR lineup is now decidedly old/new. The D3100, D7000, D3x, and D3s are definitely pushing state of the art and are (mostly) very "current" in capabilities and performance. The D5000, D300s, and D700 are now looking a bit dowdy. It seems clear to me that the D5100 will take the D3100 sensor to update the tweener camera. Given Nikon's design propensities, the D5100 will likely stay a bit oddball, with a few features of its own (positionable LCD) while stealing from its neighboring models (sensor from D3100, a few features from the D7000). The D700 has a couple of ways it can go, but the most likely to me still seems to be to grab the D3s sensor and capabilities. Nothing wrong with the D3s and 12mp, though perhaps Nikon will move that sensor design up to 16mp, too (well, okay, the video needs work, too). That leaves the D300s replacement (D400) as the big question mark. Nikon has given themselves a bit of design room (18mp, 8+fps, powered grip, etc.), but not much. A D400 needs more than the obvious to take a slot between the D7000 and the D700 replacement, as the D7000 picked up a number of things (such as working with non-CPU lenses) that were previously the domain of the Dxxx bodies. But Nikon needs something between the D7000 and D700 replacement, as the price gap would be too big, otherwise. So we all wait to see what the D4 and D400 will bring to the table."
"Both the D3100 and D7000 are important cameras for Nikon. First, the D3100 needs to establish that Nikon can produce a fully featured, relatively high performance entry DSLR. The D40 to D60 to D3000 progression basically petered out, as each new camera didn't really raise the bar. The D3100 definitely raises a number of bars, not the least of which is that it had Nikon's best video offering to date when it was introduced. The image quality looks good so far (I'll have much more to say on this soon), so it very well may be that Nikon can truly go toe to toe with Canon at the bottom of the DSLR line for the first time in some while.
The D7000 is in the anchor position of the consumer line. The D90 was Nikon's most successful consumer DSLR, and the D7000 has to go a long way to take over that mantle. Fortunately, it seems to be ready to do just that (though I haven't yet seen image quality from it yet, and that will be the final important leg for it to stand on). If the image quality holds up, even D90 users are going to be tempted to upgrade, which means the camera should do exceedingly well for Nikon."
Nikon D3100 Hands-on Preview: 1. Introduction: Digital Photography Review Rob Galbraith DPI: Nikon D3100 digital SLR includes 1080p video with continuous autofocus Rob Galbraith DPI: Nikon to ship 16.08 million image pixel D7000 in October