Nikon D5000

[tiger95]

Here is a preview from dpreview.

Looks nice, but not quite on the D90 level. Like the D40 and D60, it doesn't have an in-body focus motor.

Thoughts?

 

[fitzperry]

This seems strange to me--positioned between the D60 and the D90. Not sure why they thought this was a gap that needed filling.

Does this mean all those people anticipating a D400 will have to wait awhile longer?

 

[Quicklabs]

I've been waiting for the D400 as well (or whatever they're going to call it). Maybe by summer? (In which case, I would probably wait another six months after the announcement so they can get the early production "bugs" out).

This seems strange to me--positioned between the D60 and the D90. Not sure why they thought this was a gap that needed filling.

Does this mean all those people anticipating a D400 will have to wait awhile longer?

 

[ajwomic]

I currently have a canon s3 and like it, but am ready to get a DLSR. I mainly do family pics of 3 wiggly children, but did my brother engagement pics and would like to more stuff like that, but have no intention of going pro. I love taking pics, but want them to look good, sharp and like the brokah that Dlsr's produce. I really do not do landscapes or much macro, but definitely want to do fireworks at disney and vacation pics. So here is the dilemma. I had originally planned to get a d90. When the d5000's came out, I went to Best Buy and really like it as well. It felt smaller and lighter and since I am a petite 5 foot on a tall day mom, I am concerned about getting anything too big.

Should I do the d5000 with the 18-55 kit lens and get a 55-200 for about $1100 or the d5000 body only and get the 18-200?
OR Get the d90 with 10-105 kit lens and additional zoom lens for about $1800 or d90 with 18-200?

Or Body only with a sigma or Tameron lens?

Are the kit lenses decent? is the 18-200 as good as the 2 separate? I guess I do not want to spend that much $ and not have sharp lenses. I do not want to spend an arm and leg either.

I know that the d90 is a better camera, but maynot be better for me. I am interested in your opinions. Thanks!!!
Alicia

http://www.flickr.com/photos/14636642@N00/502048719/

 

[ukcatfan]

brokah

No offense, but I believe the word you are looking for is bokeh.

As for the choice, considering that both have very similar specs when it comes down to it, think about how they each feel in your hands and if there is some feature that you simply cannot live without on the cheaper model. As for the lens, I personally do not like the one lens to do it all idea b/c you end up with a very small aperture on the long end. I could be wrong, but I do not think that there is a 10-105mm lens for any brand. Is it 18-105mm possibly? I am not that familiar with Nikon, but it looks nicer than the other ones you listed.

 

[handicap18]

I haven't heard much at all about the D5000. It hasn't even appeared on the nikonians web site. There are a few reviews for it on amazon. I'm not sure how much of an upgrade it is over the D60 other than the video and the D60 can be had for a much lower price. The D90 will support auto focus on all Nikkor AF/AF-S lenses. The D5000 will only auto focus with AF-S. Other than that I don't know much about it at all. Its very new.

As for lenses. The 18-200mm is a very good all purpose lens. Its bokeh is ok. If your looking for specificaly that type of thing then you'll have to pay a lot more or go with a prime lens. The 50mm f/1.8 is very inexpensive as far as lenses go and has good bokeh. The f/2.8 zoom lenses are better, but also more expensive.

Kit lenses are ok. You get what you pay for. I've been using the 18-135mm lens for close to 2 years now and it has done well for me. I'm ready to switch to a 24-70mm f/2.8 lens for better image quality. That may not be till the end of the year or next year. Need to save up for that.

As for what to start off with, I had always used a 2 lens system incuding a standard zoom and a telephoto zoom. So thats what I'm used to. When I started shooting with an SLR, there weren't a lot of "all-purpose" zooms.

 

[ajwomic]

Sorry for the mispelling, it was late. I did mean 18-105 with the d90. The d5000 has the same sensor as the 90 and looking at the specs is more similar to the d90 than the d60. Some of the main differences is a cheaper casing, lack of 2 dial controls, focus in the lens. It is just hard to know whether these would bother me or not since I have not had a dslr. Thanks for the advice on the prime lenses. It is just so much to decide.
Alicia

 

[fitzperry]

FWIW, I'm also very petite, and I lug around a D300, so it can be done. It's good for the biceps.

Kyle is right--I know it's difficult since you're new to the dslr world--but you really need to consider whether the D90 has features the D5000 doesn't that you need or want. The lack of a second command dial on the D5000 would bother me because it makes it harder to change certain settings (though from the looks of it, I wouldn't mind having a D5000 as a backup). Many people would consider the lack of an internal focus motor to be a deal breaker as well. For instance, the 50mm 1.8 that someone else mentioned, which is a very inexpensive but fast lens, is one of many older lenses that will not autofocus on the D5000. There are plenty of lenses that will, so I don't get as worked up about that issue as some, but it is something to consider.

As for the 18-200, as others have mentioned you sacrifice a fair amount of image quality as well as speed (in terms of maximum aperture) in order to get that range. You simply have to decide which is worth more to you. I was tempted to buy the 18-200 when it came out, but now I'm glad I didn't. I replaced my kit lens with a Tamron 28-75 f/2.8, which I'm pretty happy with. Much sharper and the constant 2.8 is a great thing.

Good luck with your decision!

 

[wenrob]

I don't know much about the D5000 but from what I have read I'd choose the D90. However I'm a D90 owner so I'm biased. I would miss the second command dial deeply but then I guess you can't miss what you never had.

As far a lenses go, I do own the 18-200VR and the 18-105VR. I'd take the 18-105 any day, it's much sharper IMO and I don't miss the distance. Great lens for every day shooting. However I favor my 28-75 f/2.8 Tamron over it. So I'm no help to you, lol.

One thing I'd like to mention is not to go nuts buying your lenses all at once. Get to know your camera and your shooting style, do your research and go from there. There's nothing like being stuck with an expensive lens you never use. (You can sell it sure but that in itself is a pain in the patootie.)

 

[ajwomic]

So what do you like better about the Tamron? I am wondering if I should go body only and skip the kit lens altogether. Hmmm. Decisions, Decisions! This is why I posted, I caretainly do not want to make that kind of investment and have less sharp pics than I get now.
Alicia

 

[YesDear]

When I got my D200 I got it with the 18-200 as a kit. I had that lens alone for about a year and never missed anything I wanted. Except real low light etc. If you are new to DSLR, I would get the D90 and the best kit lens you can. The D90 will give you more growth room and while a kit lens may not be the best glass in the world, to learn on you will get a better price on that lens than if you bought it.

Once you get some experience then you can get a real case of NAS and go glass crazy as the need for a fix arises.

Those of us that are really into this stuff begin to see the difference in good glass and great glass. For someone just starting you will be impressed with the DSLR and what ever glass you get. I would suggest you invest in the 50mm 1.8 as a second lens and a faster lens.

 

[wenrob]

So what do you like better about the Tamron? I am wondering if I should go body only and skip the kit lens altogether. Hmmm. Decisions, Decisions! This is why I posted, I caretainly do not want to make that kind of investment and have less sharp pics than I get now.
Alicia

The Tamron is f/2.8 throughout the range and is a sharp little sucker. That being said, I agree with Yes Dear, you will be happy with the kit lens for now. The 18-105 is the kit lens for the D90 and it's a nice lens, IMHO, the perfect range and it puts out beautiful pics. While I have my own preferences if I was going to say go to my niece's bday party the 18-105 is the lens I'd choose to take without hesitation.

 

[oregondaddyof2]

I currently have a Nikon D60 with 4 lenses (18-55mm, 55-200mm, 18-135mm, 35mm f/1.8). 2 of my biggest complaints with the D60 is that it only have 3 focal points, and that there is no live view. I am really looking at upgrading to the D5000 but not sure if it is worth the money. I really like the fact that the screen moves and it has live view, not to mention 11 focal points. I also like the HD movie mode on it. I would like to get a few opinions from you out there if it is an upgrade you would consider. I was looking into getting a D90 a few months ago, but I think I like this D5000. I was also looking at getting into a D300, but that is too much money for me right now. I could wait until next year and just get a D300 though (My Dream Camera ).

 

[annnewjerz]

I don't know anything about the D5000 (not sure of how many 0s go here), but that being said I do have the D90 and can tell you that IMHO, the live view and HD movie are two (almost) completely useless features.

The movie does not AF, so you have to manually focus while you shoot, which is a bit of a pain. For me, if I want to take a short movie clip (i.e. some fireworks or the drop on Splash Mountain---I think it's easier to just carry my p&s that shoots video and use that).

There aren't many (if any) situations that I can think of that I would use the live view for. Maybe while shooting movies it would come in handy and maybe if I had the camera mounted on a tripod at a weird angle, live view would help because I couldn't crouch at a certain height to see through the viewfinder. Those are not features that I upgraded to the D90 for and am glad they aren't because otherwise I might be disappointed.

If you think those are two things that you would enjoy, I would definitely say that the D5000 is a consideration---but for me, they would be way down on the list of things that I would find desirable about an upgraded camera body.

 

[Evad]

Here's a link to a chart that compares the two cameras. For the little extra money I would go for the D90 mainly for the fact that it has the focus motor built into the body as the D5000 does not.

Other then that most of the specs you will find are almost identical.

Hope this helps.....

 

[kaffinito]

I agree with Anne. The D90 has live view and video recording, but I didn't get into shooting with a DSLR for that. I have a point and shoot that does well in those categories.

I got the D90 for it's other features, like the grid feature, the custom shooting menus, and the ability to stretch my photography techniques further than what I could with the D60. And I love having multiple focus points! You wouldn't believe what a difference a grid overlay and those multiple focus points will make in your photography. No more need to straighten!

If it were me, I'd wait and get the D300, if that's the one you really want. On another board they were saying that the newest version of the D300 is coming in September, so if you can hold out that long you might see the prices drop on the D300 and snatch one up then.

 

[Quicklabs]

It would be so nice to save my DH the trouble of thinking, "What should I buy my lovely wife for her birthday!!!" (I'm just so darned thoughtful that way!)

If it were me, I'd wait and get the D300, if that's the one you really want. On another board they were saying that the newest version of the D300 is coming in September, so if you can hold out that long you might see the prices drop on the D300 and snatch one up then.

 

[DisneyGrampa]

I've just joined the DSLR world. Can someone help me with light levels to expect on some of the dark rides? Right now, I'm looking for "memory" shots, so I'll be using 1600 or 3200 ISO. I've played around with the camera at those levels, and the noise doesn't look too bad. Any suggestions?

 

[GoofyontheHiSeas]

I've just joined the DSLR world. Can someone help me with light levels to expect on some of the dark rides? Right now, I'm looking for "memory" shots, so I'll be using 1600 or 3200 ISO. I've played around with the camera at those levels, and the noise doesn't look too bad. Any suggestions?

As far as I know the D5000 has the same processor as the D90. I have a D90 and with a Sigma 30mm f/1.4 you can get the following.

All were shot at 3200 ISO.

 

[ukcatfan]

I think you will need a better lens than the kit in case you do not have another yet. The 35mm f/1.8 (I think? I use Pentax) seems like it is a good lens at a decent price and will AF on your camera. With that, you will still need ISO 1600 at a minimum.