The recent boom in DSLR sales has seen all the major manufacturers adding bulked-up or stripped-down entry level models, repositioning their offerings to make sure that anyone willing to put up with the size and weight of a DSLR will look at one of their models. The whole thing has often left existing DSLR owners a little lost - 'why isn't there a direct replacement for my camera?' - but has undoubtedly meant there are many more attractive, accessible cameras on the market just waiting to entice first-time DSLR owners.
And its into this maelstrom of DSLR proliferation that Nikon launches its latest baby DSLR, the D5000. The name will come as no surprise to anyone within earshot of the rumor mill but the camera itself may present some more surprises. Having confused many people but made huge ground with its simplified D40 and D60 range, it appears Nikon has again decided that simply replacing models isn't the best way to address the market. So here we have a camera that genuinely seems to sit above the D60 (rather than continuing in parallel until the stock runs out), and below the D90. Like the baby Nikons, the D5000 doesn't have an autofocus motor built into the body but does gain a tilt-and-swivel LCD, as a series of leaked images that have made their way around the internet would have you expect.
The idea of an upper-entry-level DSLR (for want of a better term), that sits below the 'enthusiast' grade D90 (with its twin control dials, big battery and pentaprism viewfinder), is hardly a radical one - the Canon 500D and Olympus E-620 seem to cater to a similar market. So what does this new Nikon have to offer either the tech-savvy first-time DSLR buyer, or the owner of an older entry-level model wanting newer features but unwilling to slavishly follow the manufacturer's 'upgrade path'?
Nikon D5000 Key Features
- 12.9 megapixel DX-format CMOS sensor (effective pixels: 12.3 million)
- 2.7" tilt and swivel LCD monitor (230,000 dots)
- Movie capture at up to 1280 x 720 (720p) 24 fps with mono sound
- Live View with contrast-detect AF, face detection and subject tracking
- Image sensor cleaning (sensor shake)
- 11 AF points (with 3D tracking)
- IS0 200-3200 range (100-6400 expanded)
- 4 frames per second continuous shooting (buffer: 7 RAW, 25 JPEG fine, 100 JPEG Normal)
- Expeed image processing engine
- Extensive in-camera retouching including raw development and straightening
- Connector for optional GPS unit (fits on hot shoe)
- New battery with increased capacity
- 72 thumbnail and calendar view in playback
Top of camera controls
The "top of camera controls" are located on the right side in reach of your right hand. At the front we have the typical Nikon combined power switch and shutter release, with the Info button that disappeared from the D60 making a reappearance. The exposure compensation button is beside it; this is also used in conjunction with the command dial to change the aperture in manual mode. Behind these sits the redesigned mode dial. On the rear of the camera "under your thumb" is the AE/AF lock button and command dial.
Buttons (combined with the command dial)
 | |
|---|---|
 | Exposure compensation • +/- 5 EV • 0.3 EV steps |
 | info Toggles the rear information panel on and off. It also changes the amount of information on screen in Live View mode. |
Single Press Buttons
| AE-L AF-L | Auto Exposure and Auto Focus Lock Pressing this button locks the current exposure and focus, they remain locked for as long as you hold the button even if you press or release the shutter release button. |
|---|
Mode Dial
| Icon | Mode |
|---|---|
| AUTO | Automatic Exposure Fully automatic exposure mode configures the camera to make most of the decisions for you, for example you can't set flash compensation, white balance, metering mode or image parameters. However you do still have control over some camera functions: • Sensitivity (Auto, 100 - HI 1.0) • AF Mode (AF-A, MF) • Active D-Lighting (on/off) • AF area mode (Closest subject, Dynamic area, Single area, 3D tracking) • Flash mode (Auto, Auto with Red-Eye reduction, Flash cancel) • Shooting mode (Single, Continuous, Self-timer, Remote + timer, Remote, Quiet mode) • Image quality (all options) |
| P | Programmed Auto (Flexible) In this mode the camera automatically selects aperture and shutter speed based on the current metered exposure value, exposure compensation and selected ISO sensitivity. The Program AE on the D5000 is flexible, which means that you can select one of a variety of equal exposures by turning the command dial. Example: • 1/50 F5.6 (turn left a click) P* • 1/60 F5 (turn left a click) P* • 1/80 F4.5 (metered) P • 1/100 F4 (turn right a click) P* • 1/125 F3.5 (turn right a click) P* |
| S | Shutter Priority Auto In this mode you select the shutter speed and the camera will calculate the correct aperture for the exposure (based on the reading of the current metering mode). Shutter speed is displayed on the viewfinder status bar and on information display, turn the command dial to select different shutter speeds. Available shutter speeds (1/3 EV steps): 1/4000, 1/3200, 1/2500, 1/2000, 1/1600, 1/1250, 1/1000, 1/800, 1/640, 1/500, 1/400, 1/320, 1/250, 1/200, 1/160, 1/125, 1/100, 1/80, 1/60, 1/50, 1/40, 1/30, 1/25, 1/20, 1/15, 1/13, 1/10, 1/8, 1/6, 1/5, 1/4, 1/3, 1/2.5, 1/2, 1/1.6, 1/1.3, 1, 1.3, 1.6, 2, 2.5, 3.2, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 13, 15, 20, 25, 30 sec |
| A | Aperture Priority Auto |
| M | Full Manual Exposure |
 | Vari-program: Flash off The built-in flash turns off. Use where flash photography is prohibited, to photograph infants without using the flash, or to capture natural lighting under low light. The camera selects the focus area containing the closest subject; the AF-assist illuminator will light to assist the focus operation when lighting is poor. |
 | Vari-program: Portrait Use for portraits with soft, natural-looking skin tones. The camera selects the focus area containing the closest subject. If the subject is far from the background or a telephoto lens is used, background details will be softened to lend the composition a sense of depth. |
 | Vari-program: Landscape Use for vivid landscape shots. The camera selects the focus area containing the closest subject; the built-in flash and AF-assist illuminator turn off automatically. |
 | Vari-program: Child Use for snapshots of children. Clothing and background details are vividly rendered while skin tones are given a soft, natural finish. The camera selects the focus area containing the closest subject. |
 | Vari-program: Sports High shutter speeds freeze motion for dynamic sports shots in which the main subject stands out clearly. The camera focuses continuously while the shutter-release button is pressed halfway, tracking the subject in the center focus area. If the subject leaves the center focus area, the camera will continue to focus based on information from the other focus areas. The starting focus area can be selected with the multi selector. The built-in flash and AF-assist illuminator turn off automatically. |
 | Vari-program: Close up Use for close-up shots of flowers, insects, and other small objects. The camera automatically focuses on the subject in the center focus area; other focus areas can be selected using the multi selector. Use of a tripod is recommended to prevent blur. |
 | Vari-program: Night Portrait Use for a natural balance between the main subject and the background in portraits taken under low light. The camera selects the focus area containing the closest subject. Use of a tripod is recommended to prevent blur. |
| SCENE | Vari-program: SCENE modes • Night landscape |
Rear of Camera Controls
The rear of the D5000 is dominated by the large multi-function LCD monitor. Down the left side of the monitor are the five large buttons; play, menu, thumbnails, magnify and [i]. To the right are the four way controller and OK button and a direct-access Live view button. Delete and AE-L/AF-L lurk around the top edge of the camera.
The four way controller is used directly to select the desired AF point, and a side-effect of this is that there aren't as many direct access buttons on the D5000 as on some other competing cameras. Instead you have the [i] button that activates and navigates around the information display to change a setting (see the next page for details on how exactly this works), it's considerably slower than having a dedicated hard button (though easy enough to do).
Single press buttons (Shooting mode)
| Button | Description |
|---|---|
 | Playback mode Enters or exits from Playback mode, pressing this button displays the last image taken (or the last image on the card) in the last used display mode. |
| MENU | Camera menu Display or cancel the camera menu (detailed later in this preview). |
 | Help |
 | Setting Press this button to enter 'setting' mode which activates the information display and enables you to change any displayed setting, such as image quality, white balance, ISO sensitivity etc. (detailed on the next page). |
 | Live view Enters and exits the live view mode. |
 | 4-way controller In shooting mode where AF point selection is enabled, the 4-way controller is used to choose AF points. In playback mode this control reverts to image navigation / menu movement. |
Single press buttons (Playback mode)
| Button | Description |
|---|---|
 | Protect (AE-L/AF-L button) Protects or un-protects the current image. This places a read-only flag on the image file and stops it from being accidentally deleted or deleted using a 'delete all images' option. It does not protect the image from a card format. |
| MENU | Camera menu Display or cancel the camera menu (detailed later in this review). |
 | Zoom out / Thumbnail view |
 | Zoom in |
 | Delete When an image is displayed pressing delete will display a "Delete?" prompt, press this button once more to delete the image, a simple but elegant solution to the delete confirmation. |
| 4-way controller Press left or right to browse through images, up or down to change display mode. There are up to seven different playback screens available, which can be engaged from the custom settings menu. |
| OK | Retouching menu Pressing the OK button in Playback mode displays a pop-up version of the retouching menu. |
Front controls
On the front right side of the camera are two buttons, the flash release / flash mode button and the self-timer / Fn button which can be reprogrammed. Wannabe HDRists will delight that one of the functions that can be assigned to the Fn button is auto bracketing.
Buttons (combined with the command dial)
| |
|---|---|
 | Flash mode / flash compensation Press this button and turn the command dial to change flash mode, do the same with the exposure compensation button held to adjust flash power output (flash compensation. In P, A, S or M modes: • Flash on • Red-eye reduction • Red-eye reduction with slow sync • Slow sync • Rear-curtain sync In Auto / Vari-Program mode: • Auto flash • Auto with red-eye reduction • Flash off |
 Fn | Self-timer / Fn In its default mode this button enables or disables the self-timer, via custom setting f1 however you can re-program this button to allow you to set; self-timer, shooting mode (drive), image quality / size, ISO sensitivity, white balance, Active D-Lighting, RAW shooting or Auto Bracketing. |
Displays
As we've mentioned the D5000 doesn't feature the high resolution LCD screen that is built into every Nikon from the D90 upwards (and, perhaps more pertinently, into the Canon EOS 500D/T1i). Instead its 230,000 dot (2.7") unit is mounted on a hinge, to allow the use of the camera at different angles. Like the majority of DSLRs with Live View, the camera isn't responsive enough when using the LCD as a viewfinder to make this a universally useful feature - it'll be useful to a small subset of users, in quite specific situations, but probably shouldn't be a decisive factor for many buyers.
Shooting information
The D5000 offers two styles of information panel (and you can specify a different one for the auto and manual modes, if you wish), either offering a diagram of the aperture and a rather nice serif typeface, or an imitation of a mono LCD top panel.
 |  |
| Graphic Info display format | Classic info display format |
|---|
Changing settings
The information panel, like most contemporary cameras in this class, is interactive. A press of the 'i' button allows you to highlight and alter all the major shooting parameters. Many of the settings also bring up a guide panel that tries to provide an idea of what effect changing that setting will have. In the example given here, the panel demonstrates the effect of changing flash exposure compensation.
 |  |
| The interactive control panel | A guide panel appears when you edit a setting |
|---|
Record Review
You can choose for the D5000 to display a review of the image taken immediately after shutter release. The type of display used will be the same as the last mode used in playback (histogram, thumbnail index, details etc.). Record review has all of the functionality of playback mode, this means its easy to delete, magnify, protect etc. The image will remain on the screen for the 'Monitor off delay' CSM c2 or until you half-press the shutter release.
Playback
Press the Playback button to enter playback mode, press the multi selector up or down to change display mode, up to seven different pages of display detail are available. The 'Display mode' option in the playback menu allows you to add RGB histograms, blinking highlights and data screens to the available playback displays, depending on which you think you'll use.
 |  |
| Basic photo display: folder, file number, quality & size, date & time, quality, size. | RGB histograms (optional) |
|---|---|
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Highlights (optional) | Data screen 1 (optional). Contains all the major shooting parameters. |
 |  |
| Data screen 2 (optional). Contains image processing settings | Data screen 3 (optional). Includes those settings that don't fit on screen 2 such as image comment. |
 | |
| Shooting details screen. Contains most shooting data and a histogram. |
Playback Zoom
The D5000's playback zoom is implemented in the same manner as the D90 and D300's (and therefore different to the D3 and D3X's). You use the zoom button to select zoom amount from the eight available levels (on the D3 you use the combined zoom / thumbnail button with the rear command dial), and can use the multi-selector to move around the magnified image.
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Playback thumbnail views
The D5000 has three levels of thumbnail view, either 2 x 2, 3 x 3 or 9x7 (72 per page) - plus a new calendar view. Press the thumbnail index button to enter thumbnail mode with 4 images (2 x 2), press again to switch to the 9 image (3 x 3) view and so on. If you leave the camera in this view mode it will use it for record review. Note that if you have the 'Rotate Tall' option enabled images taken in the portrait orientation are displayed vertically.
 |  |
| One push for a 2 x 2 thumbnail view | Two pushes for a 3 x 3 thumbnail view |
|---|---|
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| Three pushes for a 72 (9x8) thumbnail view | Four pushes for a calendar view |
 | |
| In calendar view you can 'zoom' the selected image by holding the + zoom button. |
Playback retouching
The D5000 gets the largest number of retouching and image correction options we've yet seen. There are a wide range of processing options and distortion correction/addition options. There's also the ability to reprocess RAW files with different processing parameters. It's a feature that Nikon debuted on the D60 (and that also crops up in Pentax and Olympus cameras) which can be really handy, particularly if you tend to shoot only in RAW. The full list of retouch options appears on the menu page.
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| The retouch menu in Playback mode | Raw processing |
|---|---|
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| D-Lighting | Fisheye Filter |
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The Fisheye option | The color outline tool is new and attempts to identify |
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