Purpose

Stream HDMI video from a Nikon D7000, for usage in online meetings, video recording, etc.

Steps

1) Download firmware

IMPORTANT: download Nikon D7000 Camera Firmware A 1.02/B 1.03; newer versions can't be patched to support HDMI output.

Download: http://www.opendrivers.com/modeldriver/nikon_d7000-driver-download.html

2) Extract firmware

# Firmware has been downloaded as /tmp/F-D7000-V103M.dmg
mkdir -p /tmp/nikon
cd /tmp/nikon
7z e ../F-D7000-V103M.dmg

# If you downloaded the Win (exe) version:
unrar e ../F-D7000-V103W.exe

The file of interest is named D7000_0103.bin.

3) Patch firmware

Go to http://simeonpilgrim.com/nikon-patch/nikon-patch.html

Click Browse, select /tmp/nikon/D7000_0103.bin.

Select options for patching, for example HDMI Output 720p FullScreen.

Click Accept.

Get the patched file clicking Save Patched Firmware File, save it as /tmp/patched_D7000_0113.bin.

4) Update camera with patched firmware

# Insert SD Card into PC
sudo mount /dev/mmcblkp0 /mnt
sudo cp /tmp/patched_D7000_0103.bin /mnt/D7000_0103.bin
sudo umount /mnt
sync

Put the SD card into the camera. Select Menu > Setup > Firmware > Update.

Do not turn the camera off during update.

5) Change HDMI settings

Turn on the camera, go to Menu > Setup > HDMI.

There, select desired HDMI resolution and turn of live preview on camera.

Connect the camera to PC via HDMI, run on live preview.

The HDMI image from the camera should be visible on the PC.

Appendix: hardware

Camera: Nikon D7000 (patched firmware, see above)
PC: Linux x220 5.9.0-1-amd64 #1 SMP Debian 5.9.1-1 (2020-10-17) x86_64 GNU/Linux
HDMI USB 3.0 video capture card, for example EDUPUP on Amazon
Mini HDMI to HDMI cable

sepastian/nikon_d7000_hdmi.md