Nikon D7000

Recently I upgraded my Nikon D80 to a Nikon D7000. I chose the D7000 because reviews say that this camera is great for action shots, panning and tracking. I suppose it does a decent job of tracking if you are into soft images. However I want the above shot and I want the hawk's face and legs to be sharp, extremely sharp. I have probably taken a couple thousand photos with the D7000 so far, some in the field like this above image but a lot of studio shots and  I have to say that not one of the images, even from a tripod are sharp. I even purchased a new Nikon Lens just to be sure that the issue wasn't down to using older lenses but even with the new lens the images look great from a distance but are soft when viewed up close. The more research Stephen and I do the more it seems that there could be a calibration issue with the D7000. Now my first thought here is that for the price of the camera the darn thing should be calibrated and shooting sharp before it goes on the shelf for sale.  As things stand I am stuck on a class assignment that needs to be done right now but can't be done until I can mail the camera back to Nikon and get it sorted.  I just have to wonder at this point what kind of reputation Nikon will have if they continue to sell equipment that has to be returned upon purchase in order to be repaired?