Nikon 5000

[The Princess]

I am in the process of getting a new camera so I made a trip to Ritz Camera store today to get some information on a SLR camera. She feels that the Nikon 5000 is the way to go so as always I come to my "friends" on the dis for the real truth!!
Does anyone have this camera or can you recommend one that is good? My oldest dd is a swimmer and would love to get good photos of her in the pool and my youngest is a basketball player and would love to get action shots, plus with a disney trip planned this summer would love to have a good camera.
Thanks in advance.

 

[oregondaddyof2]

I personally think the D5000 is a great camera... I am wanting to upgrade my D60 to a D5000, just can't pull the trigger yet... i say go for it!

 

[aggielawyer]

There are people who know MUCH more about cameras and photography on here than me, but...what do YOU think? Did you hold the D5000? Did you look at and hold other cameras? How interested/committed are you to learning photography?

 

[disneyboy2003]

I am in the process of getting a new camera so I made a trip to Ritz Camera store today to get some information on a SLR camera. She feels that the Nikon 5000 is the way to go so as always I come to my "friends" on the dis for the real truth!!
Does anyone have this camera or can you recommend one that is good? My oldest dd is a swimmer and would love to get good photos of her in the pool and my youngest is a basketball player and would love to get action shots, plus with a disney trip planned this summer would love to have a good camera.
Thanks in advance.

Honestly, any brand's entry-level dSLR, including the Nikon D5000, will be a great camera. The equivalent entry-level Canon dSLR would be the Canon Rebel T1i (or the new Rebel T2i, which will be available very very shortly), just for your comparison. Whether one camera is "better" than another is a matter of personal preference...like choosing between Coke and Pepsi.

I wonder if some camera stores "encourage" you to look closer at a particular brand cuz of kick-backs behind the scenes. My local camera store is wonderful and stocks a whole bunch of different cameras and lenses. But every time I purchase something there, they give me a bright-yellow NIKON plastic bag. Why is Nikon supplying my camera store with plastic bags?!?!?!? Hmmm...

The other thing you'll need for basketball and swimming photography is a "fast" lens, or a lens with a large aperture (small f-number). Look for lenses like the 50mm f/1.8, 50mm f/1.4, 85mm f/1.8, 30mm f/1.4, and others. Other folks here have asked about lenses for their kids' sports photography, so you can probably do a quick search to see what's been recommended in the recent past on this message board.

 

[DVC Mike]

I have the Nikon D5000 and I love it. It has a lot of the features of the D90, while remaining very easy to use for anyone migrating from point-and-shoot cameras.

 

[Nayan]

I was at a toss-up between the D5000 and the Rebel XS. While both are excellent cameras, I ordered the XS last night. I really looked at what each had to offer, went to so many sites that did reviews my head was spinning, but it came down to video or not. While the D5000 has video (and in HD), it's something I hardly ever used on my p&s and the screen, while nice to have, making it hard to use on a tripod (especially mine) was a big turnoff. Do your research, hold them both and decide what features are most important to you then make your decision. Good luck!

 

[NateNLogansDad]

I love my D5000. There is so much built into it I'll be trying to figure it out for a long long time still. I did my research for such a long time and almost went with Cannon but couldn't do it after holding them both at the store. The 5000 felt like it was custom made just for me and the Cannon was just off. There's a thread started by TheGoofster called "This week I'm working on...." which is awesome for us new new guys in DSLR world. He recently picked up a D5000 and explores something new on it almost every week. Just as the PP stated, a fast lens is always something you'll eventually "need" no mater what camera you go with. I'd say when you go get it, look into the 35mm 1.8 for about $200.

 

[hmack]

Thanks for starting this thread. My husband shoots with Nikon and wants to buy me a 5000. I'm currently hummming and hawwwwing. So it's good to read what others think.

The idea of going from my point & shoot to a 5000 is a bit scary but exciting at the same time.

Yesterday, I borrowed his D80 (i think that's what it is) and had a great time playing with the lenses.

 

[NateNLogansDad]

And it has two auto modes! One with a flash and one without.

 

[MICKEY88]

as others have mentioned, entry level cameras from all the big manufacturers will do a good job, it does come down to which feels good in your hands and which has control layout that works best for you.

now I will address the point that disneyboy2003 brought up, if a salesperson pushes a certain brand and model hard, without showing other options, be cautious.

I worked for ritz camera back in 1993, at that time they ran contests on a regular basis, for example a certain manufacturer would run a contest, if you sold a certain camera you would get one entry in the contest, a different model might get you 2 entries, etc..at the end of a few weeks a month or maybe a few months..they would have a drawing and the winner would be chosen, the length of the contest usually reflected the size of the prize... one prize was a 7 day cruise, another contest was for a brand new jeep, so salespeople would try to sell whatever would get them contest entries.
I rarely had entries, because I never paid attention to the contests, I would tell customers straight up that I preferred Minolta, and why, then I would ask what they wanted to photograph, find out what features they wanted then show them whatever brand fit their needs/wants

I don't know if these contests still exist, but I'd guess they do since they were very productive..

 

[disneyboy2003]

now I will address the point that disneyboy2003 brought up, if a salesperson pushes a certain brand and model hard, without showing other options, be cautious.

I worked for ritz camera back in 1993, at that time they ran contests on a regular basis, for example a certain manufacturer would run a contest, if you sold a certain camera you would get one entry in the contest, a different model might get you 2 entries, etc..at the end of a few weeks a month or maybe a few months..they would have a drawing and the winner would be chosen, the length of the contest usually reflected the size of the prize... one prize was a 7 day cruise, another contest was for a brand new jeep, so salespeople would try to sell whatever would get them contest entries.
I rarely had entries, because I never paid attention to the contests, I would tell customers straight up that I preferred Minolta, and why, then I would ask what they wanted to photograph, find out what features they wanted then show them whatever brand fit their needs/wants

I don't know if these contests still exist, but I'd guess they do since they were very productive..

Ahh Ha! I knew it!

I think this happened to me...except it wasn't with cameras. My wife and I were looking for a new suitcase, and we were only looking at Samsonite. However, the salesman pushed really really hard for us to look at a different brand that was "just as good" but cheaper. The suitcase worked well for us for about 1-2 years, and then it took a real beating from the airlines. One of the wheels broke off after being handled by the airlines. Later on, one of the main zippers got caught and broke off, so we couldn't close the suitcase anymore. In the end, we bought a Samsonite for replacement.

Anyway, to the OP, even if you did end up buying the Nikon D5000, it's a great camera, and there are plenty of folks on this message board who have this camera. And this recommendation is coming from a Canon user, too! (actually, it'd be even better if you bought the Canon T1i / T2i )