Nikon D5000 12.3 MP Digital SLR Camera - Black (Kit w/ AF-S DX VR ED G 18-55mm Lens)

i bought this DSLR as a walkabout camera. i needed a smaller body, light enough to fit on my average messenger bag.i do have a D300s as well but it is heavy and big for everyday walkabout cam.now, i do use camera quite more often since it uses the same sensor as D300/D300s plus being light and compact

pros

-compact body
-excellent noise control at high iso
-above average battery life
-sophisticated AF for an entry level dslr
-swivel LCD

cons

-no provision for vertical grip [in case you have big hands like me and extra battery compartment]
-mostly plastic built to save weight [or lowering cost]
-low resolution LCD vs.[ nikon d300s ]
-quite unbalance when used on bigger and longer lenses [ i use 16-35 VR and 70-300 VR often] though when attached to my b grip belt system i use the holster hip support to hold the camera so balance is just about right
-only one command dial
-no weather sealing

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i never bothered using the video mode of this camera. i own a sanyo xacti 2000hd which is more suitable for the job

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overall, i do love using my nikon d5000. i have more cons than pros because these are what i am missing if im not using my D300s. if nikon can only LISTEN and manufacture a dedicated vertical grip [ well canon do have one for its entry level 1000D] it may not be for everybody but some people would need this kind of accessory

would i recommend it?

if you are used of carrying heavy DSLR like the D3 family, D700 and D300, then the D5000 can be good light and compact enough to do the job.

when it came out last year...it costs an arm and a leg,,but now, if you get lucky, you can buy one for about £330 on ebay[and this includes the kit lens]

The Nikon D5000 is the company’s latest 'upper-entry-level' DSLR aimed at beginners or those wanting a step-up from a basic budget model. Announced in April 2009, it’s the successor to the popular D60 and while externally resembling its predecessor, it inherits many key aspects of the higher-end D90 including its sensor with Live View and HD movie recording. The D5000 also becomes the first Nikon DSLR to feature an articulated screen.

The D5000 swaps the 10.2 Megapixel CCD of its predecessor (and the D40x) for the same 12.3 Megapixel CMOS sensor featured on the Nikon D90. As such the D5000 also offers the same base sensitivity range of 200-3200 ISO with Lo-1 and Hi-1 options extending it to 100 and 6400 ISO respectively. A vibrating low pass filter and Nikon’s Airflow system combat dust.

The imaging pipeline is the same as the D90 too, with the D5000 employing 12-bit analogue-to-digital conversion and an EXPEED processor offering identical Active D-Lighting options and the automatic correction of lateral chromatic aberrations on in-camera JPEGs. The D5000 does add a few new processing tricks beyond the D90 though including Soft Filter, Colour Outline and Perspective Control options in the Retouch section, along with 16:9 and 1:1 trimming options.

With regards image quality, this Nikon is a vary capable performer- capable of superb results in the right hands. The "D" lighting is pretty effective for tricky high contrast situations (though of course you can shoot RAW).The colour accuracy is also very good,giving very natural results at the default setting. High iso noise control is excellent, with iso 1600 being very usable- and as I purchased this solely to photograph fell/cross country runners racing, this was invaluable to keep shutter speeds up.
Despite being primarily plastic externally,the build quality is pretty good and is nicely put together, with nothing feeling particularly vulnerable.
The vari-angle LCD is very useful and I find the screen resolution more than ample- after all,its merely a point of reference.
The 18-55VR kit lens is optically very good, if not the quickest in the AF department- and a sports shooter might want to consider upgrading to a quicker lens. For all other types of shooting (within its zoom range) it's perfectly fine- again with a nice "feel" by kit lens standards.
Battery life is superb- though it's always a good idea to have a fully charged spare on your person.
All in all a good camera- and can be had for some very reasonable prices online- I paid £269 for mine- and was mint,with only 3K on the shutter and an unused kit lens- and a spare Nikon battery...!
A good buy I think... :)

I have had Nikon cameras all my life, and I wanted a new one with good spec and one I could use my old lenses on, lenses from an old 35mm camera, I say old but they are like new, this D5000 fits the bill, It was advertised at a discounted price because it was refurbished but like new, but may not be refurbed just returned not wanted or damaged package etc, It looks like a brand new one to me and it works perfect, its a really good camera same speck as the D90 etc, really easy to use and a good manual with it, my lenses don't use the auto focus on this camera I have to manual focus but thats ok, as it saves a lot of money. It has a great viewing screen, and everything is on screen to help you, you dont have to use the screen, you can just use the view finder. The only down side to all this, they are from U States and Nikon UK don't like that and won't give you any back up. But its a very good camera, and was delivered in under two days.

I was looking for a cheap buy on a entry level dslr and this nikon d5000 ticked all the boxes!!!

I was well impressed with all features of the d5000 camera the only thing that let it down in the features is the lack of auto focus when shooting a movie.

This camera would suit a newbie to digital slr and professional photographer alike, this is due to the amount of settings that this camera has makes shooting the right picture or video child's play

Picture quality is amazing even when taking poorly lit pictures

And the battery life is astounding, I was messing around with the camera for few hours before trying out the interval timer feature I estimate about 6 hrs battery from full.

The interval timer mode is ideal if you like myself are attempting time lapse photography, this will however require a full battery on start as I discovered when my battery failed near the end of my shoot.