D7000 - first impressions...questions?

Ok...it's finally here ! :smile-new: My D7000, lenses and battery grip arrived on Friday and I've spent some 'quality' time with it over the weekend...

First impressions:

1. Wow!
2. Focusing is pretty easy, even in lower-light situations once you get everything 'set-up' (I've been soooo ready for this!)
3. This thing is massive, even without the battery grip...positive and negative...mostly positive.
4. I like the menu control system...fairly quick to learn...also like the dedicated buttons.
5. The playback/review functions are some of the most efficient I've seen in a DSLR.

My biggest gripe...no shake/vibration reduction built into the body. My last two DSLRs had this function and it will take a while to get used to not having it.

The biggest questions I have is regarding auto ISO and noise reduction.

I can't seem to get auto ISO to work properly. It always defaults to the highest value set...no matter what ISO is set (manual/auto), even in different lighting situations (unless it takes a significant change in light to change the setting). I've read and re-read the posts regarding this on the forum and either I'm doing something wrong or am at a loss of understanding.

Regarding noise reduction...generally where are people starting its use and at what level? I know up to a point noise isn't really an issue...but if you go to say Hi01 it becomes a different story.

Are there any books or ebooks available for the D7000? I've seen some DVDs but sometimes a hands-on reference is best.

thanks!

Check out Grandpa's 365 thread on here, he has lots of great tips for the D7000, helped me a lot, congrats on your new camera.

How are you setting auto iso? I turn it on, make sure the base is set at 100. Then set a minimum shutter speed that is safe for the lens and shoot in aperture priority. Check that you have the starting point at 100 and a reasonable minimum shutter speed set. If you are shooting indoors, the iso could easily go up to max, so start testing in a bright situation and move to darker locations . Also note that auto iso might not behave as expected when used with the onboard flash. It likes to crank up the iso based on a ambient light exposure, then adds flash. You would think the camera would wait until the flash power maxes out, then raise the iso, but it does not work that way.

I keep high iso NR On and long exp nr on Normal.

Congratulations on your purchase. For a book, consider David Busch's Nikon D7000.