Nikon D5000 Reviews

9.4 out of 10

Nikon D5000

12.3 megapixels, first seen: 6 January 2009

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User Score (516)

9.0
Expert Score (47)

8.3
Design (12)

8.8
Value for money (23)

9.2
Features (20)

9.5
Ease of use (21)

9.6
Performance (5)

9.0
Picture quality (22)

9.7

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	Check Availability	(S)	$499.00	SEE IT
Amazon Marketplace	Check Availability	(S)	$564.88	SEE IT
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	Check Availability		$609.95	SEE IT

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Pros & Cons

great user manual, not temperature sensitive, good camera weight, pro metering, easy link to pc

no other major weaknesses, nothing important, very unintuitive os, lousy user manual, and viewing options

Manufacturer's Description

Compact and powerful, the D5000 is a remarkable blend of simplicity and advanced D-SLR capabilities with breathtaking 12.3-megapixel image quality

Specifications

Format

Interchangeable lens camera, SLR
Max resolution

4288 x 2848
Low resolution

3216 x 2136, 2144 x 1424
Image ratio w:h

3:2
Effective pixels

12.3 million
Sensor photo detectors

12.9 million
Sensor size

23.6 x 15.8 mm
Pixel density

3.3 MP/cm²
Sensor type

CMOS
ISO rating

Auto, 200 - 3200 (plus 6400 with boost)

Release Date

First seen

6 January 2009

WikiFreak Description

Nikon D5000

The Nikon D5000 is an upper entry level DSLR camera. Some of its features include 12.3 MP CMOS Sensor, live view, 720p movies and a 2.7 inch, 180 degree Tilt/Swivel LCD. It also includes features such as EXPEED high speed image processing, GPS compatibility, automatic built in pop up flash. Some of its additional features include Picture Control settings, D-movie, and Live view suited for video recording. Some of its additional specifications include 12.3 million effective pixels, suppor…

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Nikon D5000

Features

The Nikon D5000 is a replacement to the D40/D60 series. The details of the Nikon D5000 include a 12.3 MP sensor, 23.6 x 15.8 mm CMOS sensor, 12.9 million total pixels, 12.3 million effective pixels, and it supports high ISO sensitivities and Nikon DX format sized CMOS sensor. The Nikon D5000 has a 2.7 inch vari-angle LCD monitor that allows the user to take pictures from mostly any angle. The screen is flexible and can be turned around to position it the way the user wants to. It has been designed based on Nikon’s ergonomic design values and has a downward opening direction of the screen that allows the users to have a strong grip on its body. The Nikon D5000 enables shooting video clips, also enables the user getting creative with changing the lenses to provide different perspective while enhancing the images and videos. It also includes the Picture Control settings that can be adjusted even before taking the movie. The Nikon D5000 also provides users with D-Movie together with audio that captures movies in HD. It can be connected to compatible television screens and HDMI for connection. The Live View function button enables the user to monitor and make edit shots or the videos whilst viewing on the LCD monitor. The camera allows four shots while in still mode, wide area, normal area, face detection and new subject tracking. Besides this, it has the EXPEED high speed image processing system, 11 point AF system, Active D-Lighting, Picture control. In addition to this it allows users to view the pictures in batches of 72 shots, calendar view to separate the shots by time and date. It also displays a histogram for avid photographers. It also has a quiet shoot mode, built in pop up flash that is automatic and GPS compatibility.

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Expert Reviews

Reviewer: DP Review
14 April 2009

Overall 8

Value for money 8

Features 9

Performance 9

Picture quality 9

The Nikon D5000 aims to be a lot of things to a lot of people - stepping in above the D60 as an offering designed to attract upgraders from older entry-level DSLRs, as well as lending a welcoming hand-up to DSLR ownership for compact camera users looking to get more involved in their hobby. And, on the whole, it performs both tasks pretty well. The features and technologies passed down from the D90 make it a very capable camera but the difference in feature set - low-res... Read more
Nikon D5000

Reviewer: infoSync World
11 June 2009

Overall 9

The Nikon D5000 proceeded to kick ass in every category we tested it in, so it was no mystery that this was the entry-level DSLR to beat for 2009 after our journey. We loved the D5000's advanced interface and external controls were plentiful. This is a DSLR that has a little something for every shooter, though the heavy artillery was there when we wanted to pull out the big guns. The flip-down LCD was a major help in tight shooting environments, though the camera was a... Read more
Nikon D5000 digital SLR

Reviewer: Electronista
17 July 2009

Overall 8

I have been shooting with Nikons for my entire professional career. This started with the advanced amateur Nikon FM while a college student back in 1977, and progressed through a succession of F series cameras as well as the N8008 and N90. In digital, I've progressed through the D1, D1h, D1X, D2h and D200, finally culminating at the D300; virtually every pro-level Nikon has passed through my hands. But now, Nikon is hoping that a person who started with a Coolpix... Read more
Nikon D5000 digital SLR

Reviewer: MacNN
29 September 2009

Overall 8

Even with the absence of a top-mounted LCD on the D5000, Nikon has done a nice job of incorporating the function menus into the one main screen, which also doubles as the image monitor. The catch is that there's an overabundance of small buttons located around the back. Some are well placed, while others tend to find themselves under our thumbs in short order. At some point, a camera with all these functions just becomes a little too small, and those used to larger DSLRs... Read more
Nikon D5000 Review

Reviewer: Digitaltrends
18 June 2009

Overall 8

We have no problems recommending the Nikon D5000. That said, if you go this route, you might consider a different lens, such as the 18-105mm bundled with D90 . We found the D5000 3x kit lens to be wanting, and really were looking for some extra reach. Nikon DSLRs have a 1.5x digital factor, so the kit glass translates to 27-82.5mm; 27-157mm would’ve been very welcome. It’ll take newbies a little time to learn the details of this camera, after all, the owner’s... Read more

Read More Nikon D5000 Expert Reviews and Problems

User Reviews

"DIWA and DXO Lab test helped me a lot"

Reviewer: CNET
8 September 2009

Overall 10

1.Picture quality excellent 2.Absolutely no noise at high ISO.Great for all type of photography. 3.Fast performance.Altough live view mode is slow,but for me its effective with this price[3-D tracking and 11-point focus like high end DSLR] 4.Easy user interface and all executions are perfect. 5.Scene modes can be used as examples for manual ,A,S,P mode for beginers.Scene modes show the specifications for different situations which helped me a lot to know advanced... Read more
Go for it!

Reviewer: GeoJoe, PhotoAlley.com
6 September 2009

Overall 10

This is my first DSLR. I casually used my parents SLR camera's when I was younger but went digital with various fujifilm fixed lense. My S5200 has lasted for years and served me well. But the step up to D5000 has been great. I haven't put it down for three weeks. I didn't bring it to a dinner the other night and my friends asked where I was hiding the camera. I compared this with Canon's on par with features. Live view focus was the most noticable difference, however I... Read more
Great Camera for the money

Reviewer: Epinions
27 December 2009

Overall 10

Great Camera. It has a very concise, simple, and easy to use interface, the buttons are very well placed, and the swivel LCD is very nice and useful in certain situations. The video is a cool bonus and is surprisingly better than I thought. The D5000 is essentially a D90 squeezed into a smaller lighter body; it has an additional live view mode, a few more in camera editing tools, and more scene modes compared to the D90 - all useful for someone new to the DSLR. So far I... Read more
Excellent upgrade from Point and Shoot

Reviewer: Todd, J&R
1 January 2010

Overall 8

This is my first DSLR camera. I have been taking pictures most my 56 years on earth.You need to know a little something about photography to use this camera to it's fullest; otherwise its just an excellent point and shoot. It is also a good camera to learn photography on.It is easy to set up and start taking pictures as soon as you open the box. If you want to start muddling about you can play with settings as long as you want. There are a million combinations. You can... Read more
Nikon D5000 D-SLR body

Reviewer: Amazon
2 weeks ago See Product at Amazon ($609.95)

Overall 10

I bought it in Dec 2009 at Best Buy as a "kit" with 2 lens & camera bag (which was good quality; however, I found this bag could not hold enough when I added a separate flash: SB-600). The 12.3 MP gives good quality. The built in flash always pops up in Auto mode; however, there is a way to turn it off (the Mode dial should be set to the "lightning bolt" icon with a slash through it). I have only used the AF-S 18-55 mm lens and have taken over a thousand photos at this... Read more or see product