Shooting with ISO 1000, is this normal?

I shoot at ISO 1000 on my Nikon D7000. Pictures come out perfect on a nice day outside. Is this normal? Or is there another setting I should use and lower the ISO?

Open up your aperture and boost exposure, then make iso around 100-400 for a sunny day, then you will have nice, no noise photos

Well now, you certainly can't be asked to spend a few hours reading all that tedious photographic theory. And books are so uncool aren't they? So, if you get good pictures then use that setting

The only time I use an ISO higher than 100 on a sunny day is when I'm photographing a festival using my 28-85mm f3.5-5.6 and 70-2100mm f4 zoom lenses and then I use ISO 400.

If you apply the "Sunny 16 Rule" that states: "On a sunny day set your aperture to f16 and your shutter speed to 1/ISO."

ISO 1000

f32 @ 1/250 sec.
f22 @ 1/500 sec.
f16 @ 1/1000 sec. "Sunny 16"
f11 @ 1/2000 sec.
f8.0 @ 1/4000 sec.
f5.6 @ 1/8000 sec. Maximum shutter speed on your D7000.

Even if you're using a circular polarizer that "loses" 2 full stops of light ISO 100 is sufficient on a sunny day unless you're trying to hand-hold your camera with a long focal length non-VR lens at f16.
If that's the situation then you just use a tripod unless you're also trying to stop motion and then you'll need to open up to f4 or f2.8.

ISO 100

f16 @ 1/100 sec. "Sunny 16"
f11 @ 1/200 sec.
f8.0 @ 1/400 sec.
f5.6 @ 1/800 sec.
f4.0 @ 1/1600 sec.
f2.8 @ 1/3200 sec.

ISO 100 using a circular polarizer that "loses" 2 full stops of light:

f16 @ 1/25 sec.
f11 @ 1/50 sec.
f8.0 @ 1/100 sec.
f5.5 @ 1/200 sec.
f4.0 @ 1/400 sec.
f2.8 @ 1/800 sec.

Although using ISO 1000 wouldn't be "normal" for me if you're happy with the results using ISO 1000 and accomplishing what you want to do with your photography then that's all that matters. However,
in my opinion, you might want to try shooting the same scene at ISO 100 and 1000 and see if you can tell a difference. Camera on a tripod, same lens and same f-stop.

NOTE: I so a lot of landscape photography so at ISO 100 my camera lives on my tripod.

This article has lab test results showing the increase in noise as the ISO setting goes higher.
The lower readings mean more noise.

http://aviewfinderdarkly.com.au/2011/06/05/nikon-d5100-digital-slr/

There's also a test result showing dynamic range gets less as the ISO setting gets higher.

These are the sort of reasons why photographers try use the lowest ISO that is practical.

Obviously on many low light situations it needs to be raised.

I approve of Jeroen's answer.

You won't notice much difference in noise with the sensor in the D7000 and Pentax K5 (same sensor) whether you shoot at 1000 ISO or 100, but what you might see is a greater dynamic range at lower ISO settings.

Dynamic range is the range of tones the camera can capture without burning out to white pixels or blocking out to black. You will find that the clouds in the bright sky will be as detailed as the darker foreground shadows. The dynamic range maximises at an ISO of 80 on this sensor at a huge 14.7 EV values which is more than most full frame sensors, but at that ISO is also noisier than 100 or even 200 ISO.

Every sensor has an 'optimum' ISO for noise and it rarely is the lowest setting, my Panasonic G1 (not renown for it's low light noise ability) has noticeably less noise at an ISO of 250 than it has at 100. The same applies for any digital camera.

On a bright day with plenty of light the exposure is well above the ever present sensor generated noise level, so the slight extra noise probably won't even be visible. There's some advantage in using an ISO of 80 unless you need the faster shutter speed of a higher ISO, capturing sports action for instance. Light and lots of it is the only real answer to noise in any digital image taken with any digital camera, with this sensor we do have a wider latitude and can shoot in dimmer light before noise begins to bite, it's a huge advantage. It means you can use cheaper small aperture telephoto lenses with fast shutter speeds in low light without much noise penalty for instance.

Everything changes in low light such as interior shots, then noise will be a greater consideration than dynamic range, and you may well need faster shutter speeds to avoid camera shake and/or subject movement. In these conditions an ISO of up to 1600 carries little noise penalty, but there still is some.

As you can see it's all swings and roundabouts, compromise is often necessary in photography.

Hope this helps you make a more informed choice of ISO.

Note to Jeroens, none of this info is in the manual!

Firstly, there isn't an ISO1000

it goes 800 then 1600

so are you sure of what you are reading…

use auto ISO…

anything over 400 is excessive and likely to produce noise…