Today I printed a 40% cropped image from my new Nikon D7000 on an Epson 3800 using luster paper (A3 or 16.5 x 11.7). The print was perfect even though cropped to 40%. This camera is accurate, light and strong. Long live DX!
One question, is there any need for a $6000 camera if you don't intend to photograph sprinting cheetahs, in low light, during a thunderstorm?
See my target print attached. A beauty with lots of curves.
It's more or less the same arguments I heard when a D5000 owner said it was better in quality than my D300, which shares the same sensor but a slightly better performance (D5000 came after).
If you shoot in manual mode, close in a studio with constant light schemes, with newer optics and no AF troubles, with everything under control... yes, sometimes the cheaper is better than or equal to the more expensive model. I call this "sensor benchmark", more than standard photography.
I shoot the most in variable conditions that need some better refinements, that's it.
The D7000 is an -amazing- camera, more or less a cropped version of the D800 (the latter should have been marketed months ago), but still an amateur model for a lot of reasons.