Nikon’s closest competitor to Canon’s 60D and Olympus’ E-5 comes in the shape of this moisture- and dust-sealed 16.2-megapixel behemoth with an equally hefty £1,100 price tag, or £1,300 if opting for the body plus all-encompassing 18-105mm zoom with Vibration Reduction. It’s heavy when gripped, so we would have appreciated a slightly wider and finger-moulded handgrip.

The D7000 has two slots for SD/SDHC/SDXC cards, so you’re unlikely to run out of storage. Its basic light sensitivity range of ISO100-6400 is manually expandable to a see-in-the-dark ISO25600. The rear 3in, 920k-dot resolution LCD is fixed, while the optical viewfinder above is large and clear with a 100 per cent field of view. There’s a Live View mode and a dedicated ‘LV’ button, encircling a red record button for fast filming of video clips – the first time Full HD capacity has appeared on one of Nikon’s enthusiast models. Like the D3100, the format is MPEG-4 and the frame rate is 24fps, with HDMI output hidden under a side flap.

Shooting video requires first switching to Live View mode and then pressing the red record button – so, though you have a brief wait while the mirror adjusts before you can begin shooting, it’s a fairly smooth process. Black bands crop the screen to ape a 16:9 aspect ratio.

For still photos, a chunky shooting mode dial provides access to auto shooting mode, scene modes, a couple of user-customisable settings, and program, shutter priority, aperture priority and manual. So Nikon hasn’t over-laden the D7000 with pre-optimised settings. This dial is, in turn, encircled by a second one that features the drive modes; it remains ‘locked off’ once a selection is made, so all the essentials fall within finger or thumb reach. There’s nothing fiddly about the D7000.

The D7000 in playback mode is impressive. There’s a comprehensive array of retouching options, including fun digital effects filters, so you can, for example, add warmth to an image in-camera. This is useful because on dull days results can look a little muddy and flat. To nitpick, they could perhaps do with being a little sharper, while the camera tends to overexpose highlight detail. We have to admit to searching for holes, however, as in general the camera is very much on the money.