Nikon D5000

[Gianna'sPapa]

Good luck with the new baby!!. Its a good camera and as stated by a pp, the main thing is how comfortable you are with the ergonomics and controls.

Just for your info, the reason the salesperson would push the Nikon is because with the exception of a few Sony's and Olympus', Wolf/Ritz camera is unable to get any Canon or Pentax cameras. When they went bankrupt they owed a lot of money to both and that has never been settled. There is rumor that Nikon helped to bail out Wolf/Ritz.

 

[SamSam]

Good luck with the new baby!!. Its a good camera and as stated by a pp, the main thing is how comfortable you are with the ergonomics and controls.

Just for your info, the reason the salesperson would push the Nikon is because with the exception of a few Sony's and Olympus', Wolf/Ritz camera is unable to get any Canon or Pentax cameras. When they went bankrupt they owed a lot of money to both and that has never been settled. There is rumor that Nikon helped to bail out Wolf/Ritz.

That's very interesting, he was definitely pushing the Nikon, now I know why.

 

[SamSam]

I think you will enjoy the camera. I shoot Nikon and have for over 30 yrs. I have one question, however? Is the 55-2oo with or without vr. If it does not ask what it would be with vr.

Vr is vibration reduction. It helps you hold the lens at slower shutter speeds. For someone just starting out, I believe it would help.

Congrats on the new addition to the family. The best thing you can do is use it!

Thanks for asking, I checked and it is VR. Wahoo! So much to learn, but I'm really looking forward to it.

 

[blackjackdelta]

Thanks for asking, I checked and it is VR. Wahoo! So much to learn, but I'm really looking forward to it.

Read the material it came with. It is the cousin of the D90 and some of its parts come from the D300.

Have fun,

Jack

 

[NateNLogansDad]

The D5000 is a lot of fun to play with and it seems to be getting pretty popular. I went to a Nikon class/seminar this weekend and was surprised to see how many people had one with them. Also there were plenty of examples in the slide show where they were using the D5000 to show off different features. I've had it now since August and love playing with it. The more you use it, the more you'll fall in love......(and get confused, than fall in love, than curse, than love )

Just remember, there is a learning curve once you enter into the DSLR world no matter what camera you go with. And of course....there's always auto

 

[Coach81]

Fellow D5000 owner.. and fellow newbie here!!! I'm learning more and more with it everyday.. I love it!!!

 

[mrcricket]

I have shot Nikon for just the last year. I have a D60 and just recently upgraded to the D90. I've enjoyed them both and find that I can get pretty much any photo I want with them. The main thing is that once you make a choice with brand, you'll find that you'll stick with it because of all your lenses. I now have 6 lenses, which are worth more than my two bodies put together. Its an investment. So, relax and enjoy your new camera. It is a lot of fun to learn to use a dslr and the options and potential are mind boggling. If you get confused at first, you can always shoot "Auto". But take the time to learn what makes a dslr fun — shooting manually. It isn't that hard once you get the hang of it.

 

[disneyboy2003]

I normally shoot Canon, but I have read very good things about the Nikon D5000.

I don't know if you're familiar with Scott Kelby. He's a HUGE author of Photoshop and photography books, president of the National Association of Photoshop Professionals, and a big Nikon photographer. He's written several books on Photoshop, Lightroom, and a series of books called "The Digital Photography Book".

Anyway, he recently went on a vacation to Italy, and accidentally left all his camera equipment at a NY hotel *right before* leaving for Italy. So once he got to Italy, he scrambled to buy a replacement Nikon camera, intending to use it for the vacation and resell it when he returned back to the US. He ended up buying the Nikon D5000. He was very pleasantly surprised at its performance and the photos it took.

When he got back to the US, he sold his old back-up camera, and the Nikon D5000 became his new back-up camera.

Here's his story: http://www.scottkelby.com/blog/2009/archives/5202

Anyway, if Scott Kelby can give a huge thumbs up for this camera, I'll bet it must be really good.

 

[ukcatfan]

The D5000 looks like a very capable camera. I am sure you will be happy. It really is a shame that Pentax is not selling much through stores these days. They could be selling so many more of the K-x to newbies. From what I understand though is that their sales are where they want them to be and they are happy. They are not even trying to compete with C&N. You will notice that when a Pentax goes out of production, the stock online is typically gone for good in mere weeks. Some old models from the big two stick around for up to a year.

 

[SamSam]

Thanks for all the input...so much to think about!!! The battery is now charged, so tomorrow I will try to play with it a little to try and get a better feel for it.
There's so much to learn that I'm feeling a little overwhelmed, but still looking forward to all I will be able to do with this camera. I think I will keep it in automode for a couple of months as I become familiar with it...during the same time I wil be reading Understanding Exposure, as is recommended here. And of course, going through the manual to learn all I can. Wolfe also offers some free classes, which I would love to attend, but it's a 3 hour drive so I'm not sure how many I will make it to.

I do really wish I had been able to do a hands on with the Pentax, but it's just not very available in our area. If I ever run across one to try, I will definitely check it out.

 

[DVC Mike]

I bought my Nikon D5000 in December, having come down a choice of either the D90, the Canon T1i, or the D5000.

I chose the D5000 as it felt great in my hands and had all the features and capabilities I wanted.

After having it for a few months, I'm extremely satisfied!

 

[mkel34]

Good luck with the new baby!!. Its a good camera and as stated by a pp, the main thing is how comfortable you are with the ergonomics and controls.

Just for your info, the reason the salesperson would push the Nikon is because with the exception of a few Sony's and Olympus', Wolf/Ritz camera is unable to get any Canon or Pentax cameras. When they went bankrupt they owed a lot of money to both and that has never been settled. There is rumor that Nikon helped to bail out Wolf/Ritz.

The Ritz where I bought my D5000 has all the new new Canons

BTW that is a ridiculously good price...

 

[SamSam]

The Ritz where I bought my D5000 has all the new new Canons

BTW that is a ridiculously good price...

I must admit the price was what pushed DH to say 'go for it'. I'm getting more excited all the time about it. Batteries fully charged and I'm ready to start getting used to it. I'm going to spend a couple of weeks just taking shots around using auto-mode to get used to it.

"Understanding Exposure" just arrived yesterday, thanks to all of you who suggested it. I think it will give me a good basic knowledge, that I certainly don't have now.

 

[TheGoofster]

I've had my Nikon D5000 for about 8 months, and have been happily shooting away every chance I get. The one thing which I've never tried using on my camera though, was the video recording. So today I thought I'd give it a try. I video taped a few quick scenes of my dog. When I watched them back I was very pleased with both the frame rate, as well as the quality of the video.

But here's my problem, now what to do with the video. I use Corel Paint Shop Pro Photo X2 Ultimate for all of my photo editing, but Corel doesn't do anything with videos. So then I thought I'd try the photo editing software that came with my camera. It doesn't seem to do anything with video editing either. Then I remembered that I had an old copy of Pinnacle Studio 8 (which I used to use to make home movies) but it only seems to work with a firewire connection attached to a camcorder (it didn't want to recognize my SD card which the Nikon uses to record).

So I guess what I'm asking is what are some of the different programs that those of you who have used the video recording feature of your cameras (particularly with SD cards) have used to edit your videos. For example I would want to have the ability to capture (grab) a frame from the video, or use multiple videos together to put together some kind of home movie. I can watch the videos on my PC using Windows or Quick Time player, but I can't do anything more than just watch them.

Are there any free on-line / down-loadable programs that are available that anyone knows of? Or perhaps what are some of the lesser expensive programs that would give me the ability to edit video as well as making home movies using these videos. Again these would have to be compatible with SD cards, and not just fire wire connections.

I know I can (and most likely will) do research on this and probably find some different possible solutions, but I would love to hear first of all what some of you use, rather than just taking a stab at something I'm not familiar with.

As always, thanks for any help.

 

[ukcatfan]

If you have Vista or Win 7 then you can use Windows Live Movie Maker. I do not know how much it does, but it is free.

 

[ratlenhum]

I have the Corel Video Studio Pro X2 and LOVE it!

I just looked an Amazon has a good price on it!! COREL VIDEO STUDIO PRO X2

 

[TheGoofster]

@Ukcatfan - I appreciate the suggestion of Windows Live Movie Maker. I went ahead and installed it, but for some reason every time I tried to load one of my video clips, the program kept crashing.

@Ratlenhum - I'm already using Corel for my photo editing, so I would definitely be interested in using their video software as well. I was wondering if you know if it is Windows 7 compatible. I've read a couple of different reports that seem to contradict each other as to whether or not it is compatible.

Again, thanks for your responses.

 

[ukcatfan]

@Ukcatfan - I appreciate the suggestion of Windows Live Movie Maker. I went ahead and installed it, but for some reason every time I tried to load one of my video clips, the program kept crashing.

Can't help you there, but they are releasing a new version of the Live suite later this summer. You might want to try again after the upgrade.

 

[weich1001]

I know i am going to get everyones thoughts on this on which camera you my own. But i am looking in to getting a new d5000 camera and would like the pros and cons of this camera. Going to use a disney and sons football. Please help!!!

 

[ukcatfan]

It is a very nice and capable camera. I do not like that they still keep the in-body focus motor out of their entry level models like this one. It is not as big of a deal now that they have the 35mm f/1.8, but there are still many lenses that you can only use as manual focus. Also, I wish that Canon and Nikon would go ahead and put image stabilization in the body, like everyone else is doing. Lastly, you can get more for your money than the D5000. It all comes down to which brand's system will be best for you and if it will fit your budget.