Nikon D5000 - Observations, Likes and Dislikes After A Couple Weeks Of Shooting With My D5000

So I've been shooting with the Nikon D5000 for a few weeks now, and I thought I'd comment on some of the things I've noticed shooting with it as well as some of my likes and dislikes.

First of all, the D5000 is a great little DSLR. It's small, compact, and lightweight, which are more appealing features than I initially thought they would be. The size and weight is a welcome change from my Nikon D300. After a long period of shooting, my neck isn't sore and neither are my hands (something I often find after a long day of shooting a wedding).

I initially thought I'd miss the weight and size of the D300 when shooting with the D5000, but that hasn't been the case. I think a lot of us are pre-conditioned to think that heavier and beefier equals better build quality, more rugged construction, and more of a PRO camera. Frankly, I haven't found that to be true with the D5000. It's a well built, solid DSLR.

In a surprise turn of events, one of the biggest features I thought I'd like on the Nikon D5000, in fact, the D5000's most unique feature, the vari-angle LCD, isn't something I'm that crazy about. The vari-angle feature is really only useful when you're using Liveview, and I hardly ever use Live View because it's just too slow for 95% of what I shoot (i.e. people and events... stuff that moves).

The D5000's LCD is actually one of the things I like least about the camera. I find it to be too small and too low resolution, especially compared to the bigger, higher resolution LCD on the D300. Given the choice between a smaller, low resolution, vari-angle LCD like the D5000's, and a larger, higher resolution LCD like the D300's, I'll take the larger, higher resolution LCD any day. Now give me a larger, higher resolution, vari-angle LCD, and I'll keep the vari-angle feature. :-)

I still miss the front command dial that's missing on the Nikon D5000, although I've gotten used to the toggle button and using the single dial. It's not a big deal, but it's enough of a point that I thought I'd mention it. Given the choice, I'd have one on the D5000.

The batteries are a minor annoyance for me on the D5000. I like to have cameras that use the same batteries, but the D5000 takes the EN-EL9 / EN-EL9a instead of the EN-EL3e that my D300 takes. I suspect this won't be an issue for most D5000 users, as the target market for this camera is likely to own the D5000 as their only DSLR. For PRO shooters like myself, having to carry another set of different batteries and another different battery charger is a negative. That said, battery life has not been an issue with the D5000. I'm getting very good usage out of a single EN-EL9a and don't have any complaints in that department.

(On a side note, I've also picked up a Nikon D90 which does use the same EN-EL3e batteries as my Nikon D300, and it's so much nicer to be able to carry a few extra batteries that fit BOTH cameras. More on my Nikon D90 experience later!)

Another feature that I find myself missing more than I thought I would on the D5000, is the ability to use auto focus with AF and AF D lenses. As you know, the Nikon 50mm f1.8D is one of my favourite Nikon lenses. It's fast, super sharp, weighs practically nothing, BUT you can't auto focus with it on the Nikon D5000 (or the Nikon D40 or D3000 for that matter). I've played with it on the D5000 using manual focus, and I'm not really all that into it. I guess I'm just an auto focus kinda' guy.

If you like manual focusing, Thom Hogan makes an interesting point in his D5000 review. He suggests that the D5000 is the new Digital FM for those who miss that much loved Nikon classic. Thom says "[i]t's remarkable how small and convenient the combination is (D5000, 20mm, 30mm, 58mm). FM users will find it the equivalent to, say, carrying an FM2n, a 28mm, 50mm, and 85mm lens. All these lenses are optically quite good." So if you loved your Nikon FM2, perhaps the D5000 and a few primes is the DSLR for you!

I'll be posting some more photos from my D5000 as I continue to evaluate if it will be staying in my camera bag. Having recently added the Nikon D90 as well, I have to say I'm leaning towards it over the D5000, but both DSLR's are great cameras and will appeal to different users for different reasons.

The D5000's big feature, the vari-angle LCD, doesn't do much for me, and I miss having the larger, higher resolution LCD and ability to auto focus with AF and AF D lenses (i.e. non AF-S).

Image quality is virtually identical between the Nikon D300, Nikon D90, and Nikon D5000, so that's not a deciding factor.

What remains to be seen is if the small size and weight of the Nikon D5000 outweigh the missing better LCD and crippled auto focus. Time will tell, and I'll let you know what I end up deciding.

More on the Nikon D5000...

First Impressions After Shooting The D5000 For A Few Days

Shooting The D5000 At ISO 3200

Nikon D5000 - Shooting the D5000 at ISO 3200

One of the things I've been evaluating while shooting my new Nikon D5000 is the high ISO performance.

As I mentioned in my article and video, First Impressions After Shooting The D5000 For A Few Days, most online sources have indicated that the Nikon D5000 has about a stop better high ISO performance than the Nikon D300. In addition, the consensus also seems to be that the D5000 has better detail at higher ISO settings than the D300.

To get a feel for how the D5000 handles at high ISO, I decided to set it to ISO 3200 and shoot a series of photos of my daughter and various things around the house using available light. The light is mixed lighting, part sunlight and part compact flourescent bulbs, fairly typical of what you would find indoors.

Here's some of the ISO 3200 images I shot. All are shot with the new Nikon 35mm f1.8G on the D5000, in RAW, and processed in Lightroom. I've processed them the way I normally process any photos in Lightroom, so a lot of them have had vignetting applied... i.e. don't be thinking that's the how the Nikon 35mm f1.8G vignettes. :-)

I haven't done any side by side comparisons with my Nikon D300 yet. I just wanted to see what my impressions were of how the D5000 does at high ISO before I started doing a lot of pixel peeping and comparisons against other DSLR cameras.

Overall, I'm quite impressed with the high ISO performance of the D5000. From what I've seen so far, I'd have to agree that the Nikon D5000 is about a stop better than the Nikon D300, maybe more. Perhaps more importantly, the D5000 does look like it retains more detail at higher ISO settings than the D300.

Have a look for yourself. Click on any of the D5000 photos below to see a larger image. You can also view the full resolution files at my Nikon D5000 - Shooting the D5000 at ISO 3200 Flickr page.














































More on the Nikon D5000...

First Impressions After Shooting The D5000 For A Few Days

Observations, Likes, and Dis-Likes After A Couple Weeks Of Shooting With My D5000

Nikon D5000 - First Impressions After Shooting The D5000 For A Few Days

After much contemplation, I picked up a Nikon D5000 a few days ago. I also bought a Nikon 35mm f1.8 G AF-S to go along with it.

The D5000 with the new Nikon 35mm on it make a killer combo. It's light, small, fast to focus, tack sharp, and capable of incredible image quality. I wasn't sure I was going to like the D5000 as I normally shoot with the larger, more professional size bodies like my Nikon D300 DSLRs, but I've been pleasantly surprised.

The D5000 is a joy to shoot with. It has an intuitive design and well thought out controls that make working with it a real pleasure. Paired up with the new Nikon 35mm f1.8 G, the Nikon D5000 makes for a great little DSLR setup.

So far, the D5000 seems to have about a stop better high ISO than my Nikon D300 DSLRs, and the D5000 seems to resolve more detail at high ISO as well. I shot a series of photos of my daughter at 3200 ISO that looked great (I'll post them soon). Normally I don't go over 1600 ISO on my D300, so I'll be interested to see the results of further comparisons I'll be doing.

Auto focus on the D5000 is quick and responsive, especially with the fast 35mm f1.8G on it. It doesn't seem quite as fast as the D300, particularly in dim lighting, but then I didn't expect the D5000's 11 point AF system to be the equal of the 51 point industry leading AF that's in the D300, D3, D3X, D700, and the coming D700X.

At first I thought I was going to miss the aperture command dial under the trigger button like my Nikon D300 has. Turns out, I don't really miss it. The D5000 ergonomics and controls are well laid out and quite intuitive. Although the D5000 is significantly different than my D300, I still found it really easy to use and work with.

I'll be doing plenty more shooting with the D5000 in the coming weeks, and I'll be comparing the Nikon D5000 to the Nikon D300 to see how it measures up. Initially, I didn't think I'd want to use the D5000 professionally, but I'm already starting to re-think that.

The best price on a D5000 is usually at Amazon.



If you don't have a mid-range zoom, get this D5000 Kit with the 18-55mm lens at Amazon.



If you have a zoom, or just want to add the 35mm anyways because it's so awesome :-) get it below at Amazon.



More on the Nikon D5000...

Shooting The D5000 At ISO 3200

Observations, Likes, and Dis-Likes After A Couple Weeks Of Shooting With My D5000

Nikon D5000

Well, the rumours were right! Nikon did announce a new DSLR today.

The Nikon D5000 hit the internet, and perhaps the most notable feature is the "vari-angle" LCD screen as Nikon calls it, making it a lot easier to shoot from a whole variety of angles and perspectives that weren't all that easy before.

The other big notable feature is the D-Movie Mode with sound, allowing the user to shoot video at 720p HD. The D90 is the only other Nikon DSLR to do this at the moment. At only $729 USD suggested retail, that makes the Nikon D5000 an interesting little beast.

Check out all the specs at Nikon here.

More on the Nikon D5000...

First Impressions After Shooting The D5000 For A Few Days

Shooting The D5000 At ISO 3200

Observations, Likes, and Dis-Likes After A Couple Weeks Of Shooting With My D5000