Nikon D5000 (with 18-55mm VR Lens)

Great Camera. If you are new to the DSLR game (like myself) or you are upgrading and you can fork up the cash, it is definitely worth it. It has a very concise, simple, and easy to use interface, the buttons are very well placed, and the swivel LCD is very nice and useful in certain situations (I really like how it folds inwards to protect the screen). My main purpose for this camera is still photos so the video is a cool bonus and is surprisingly better than I thought (though if you are looking to do serious HD video, I'd go for an HD camcorder or something else instead).

The D5000 is essentially a D90 squeezed into a smaller lighter body (of course it lacks the internal AF motor, doesn't have as good a grip, and has a slightly smaller pentamirror viewfinder instead of the pentaprism in the D90 - all of this amongst a few other things, but hey it's cheaper for a reason - also it is mentionable that the D5000 has an additional live view mode, a few more in camera editing tools, and more scene modes compared to the D90 - all useful for someone new to the DSLR in the sense that you can learn from them or just use them to make your life easier and your photos look great).

So far I love it. It is simple to use and great for those new to the DSLR realm, but it also packs enough punch for those looking to upgrade and will give newcomers much room to learn and grow with it.

Out of the box, my first impression wasn't the best, as camera size and feel are more like my entry level D40 than I expected. Of course there's the movable LCD (which is more useful than I thought) and Live View button, but not too much more to separate the outer look and feel from D40 mode.
Then I spent some time setting things up and shooting - and all of a sudden I'm loving this thing.
- The menus, IMHO, are waaaay better than anything I seen on other Nikons (mostly D40 and D200 experience) ISO adjustments and AUTO decisions all in one place, the access to the Info parameters on screen is really clean, and the LCD clarity is great.
- The high ISO performance for low light is quite good for my purposes. Sure you get some noise, but you get the shot - and if you are getting material for web and simple uses - it's perfect.
- The wiggly LCD screen is helpful for reading the menus and changing settings with the camera, say, in your lap. Also helpful at odd angles to review what you just shot. I use it more for those purposes than the live view.

So what don't I like? The video isn't real useful. Zooming without autofocus isn't much fun. Moving, even a little, creates odd artifacts in the 24p video -so don't think of any zoomed hand-held shots. Tripod, basic static focal length maybe. I don't know whether video editing sw like Final Cut Pro is ready to ingest these video files.

Overall - I really enjoy shooting this camera - and the images are excellent.
I'll try to post a few.

I bought a D5000 locally ten days ago and exchanged it for another one three days ago.

The first thing I did was get out in the early morning light and take some landscape photos with the D5000 and my D40. Over the next few days I continued taking dozens of photos testing various settins on the D5000. I used my old 18-55mm non-VR zoom lens and the new 35mm f/1.8 lens.

Right away, it was obvious that the D5000's image quality greatly exceeds the D40's. First, megapixels DO matter if you want to look at your photos on a big monitor, and they add texture to the details of landscapes. Second, I don't know what processing magic Nikon has rolled into the D5000, but it handles low light with more subtlety and predictability. Caveat: While Active D-Lighting is generally desirable, it may sacrifice contrast that you want to keep in strong lighting situations.

The one problem I have experienced is that many of the photos came with a strong yellow-ochre cast suggesting that the camera was pushing too much amber into the white balance. Green grass would turn chartreuse and blue skies would become pale. This occurred unpredictably, perhaps 75% of the time. The rest of the images would have what look to me like perfect colors--much better and more subtle than the D40, which is pretty good. (I am evaluating these photos on a calibrated color-accurate monitor.)

After fiddling with white balance settings, hue, WB bracketing, turning ADL on and off, etc., etc., I returned the first camera, only to find that the second one does the same thing. Yesterday, however, I stumbled across the fact that if you select "Direct Sunlight" WB instead of "Auto White Balance" (and you actually have sunlight) the problem goes away and the colors are perfect.

A little more research on the internet indicates that the unpredictable behavior of Auto White Balance is a well known problem on many digital cameras. Essentially the camera is trying to guess what lighting conditions apply, but most of the experts who came up in my search strongly recommended manually selecting and/or adjusting white balance. Now, I didn't think that my D40 or the other cameras I owned had this problem, but maybe the other issues they did have were related. For instance, the D40 often put a faint blue cast into shadow areas that wasn't there. A D60 that I briefly owned was worse in this regard.

Like the D40 before it, the D5000's manual recommends Auto White Balance for most situations, but you may want to question that. This is a bit a disappointment, because the way Nikon has intelligently automated so many menu choices is part of the D5000's excitement, but it seems that the Auto White Balance problem is common among DSLRs.

Well, it's crunch-time in Nikonville. We get to see what Nikon management is made of. So far, I have to say, it hasn't been all that pretty. For those of you who haven't noticed, Nikon is recalling D5000s for a problem with the power control chip. On the internet, this has come to be known as "Sudden Death Syndrome" or SDS. Based on the anecdotal public evidence available, it appears that the vast majority of affected units are not showing the symptoms (at the moment, at least), but that Nikon is taking the conservative path of replacing all the power chips. So far, so good. Beyond that, things are pretty bad.

One major problem is that Nikon is being very close-lipped, and therefore not allowing customers to know the extent of the problem. Based on the publicly available information, I SPECULATE that there are about 120,000 units affected. Further, I guess that roughly 80k units have been sold to customers, and 40k units are in various stages of the inventory pipeline.

So, retailers are going to take a bath. I'm sure that those retailers with generous return policies are seeing *a lot* of D5000s bounce back. I, for one, am very curious what will happen to those units.

Most importantly, it currently *appears* that Nikon is Stonewalling, refusing to publish the range of serial numbers affected. Instead, at least thusfar, Nikon appears to be trying to force this flawed inventory to be sold as "new" (which it is) and "good" (which it is not) and then shipped by the customer back to repair centers for chip replacement when the customer discovers that he bought a lemon. Whatever the ethical arguments, I consider this to be very poor customer relations strategy, in that Nikon is attempting to dupe the customer into becoming an unpaid member of their value delivery system, taking on at least some liability for a product which is bad enough to have provoked a recall.

Beyond that, this process will produce an enormous number of units which are for all practical purposes "refurbs", i.e. customer returns which have been reworked. It is one thing for a customer to buy a unit and then suffer a random failure. In such case, a warranty repair loads the majority of the burden on the manufacturer. But, the customer is still left with a reworked and repaired unit, and the quality and life expectancy of such a unit is simply not as high as that of a good, "factory fresh" unit. In the case of a random failure, this is the luck of the draw. So be it.

In the current case, the wave of returns will result in a huge number of "gray" units, which will either be sold (correctly) as refurbs, or palmed off as new units.

I have some (fairly small) amount of sympathy for Nikon. I personally have been in the business of chip design and vertically integrated electronics manufacturing for 35 years. This problem is probably a subtle one generated either in a subcontracting design house or an Asian wafer fab. If you're Nikon, you've just been screwed. But, of all the people NOT to blame, the customer is highest on the list. I, the customer, didn't do anything wrong, other than the (apparent) mistake of buying a Nikon.

In the long run, such behavior will only erode a leadership image that has taken decades to create. Such behavior will cost Nikon in the long run, compared to taking the path of shielding the customer from Nikon's internal mistakes. In the long run, the only beneficiary of the decisions will be Canon.

***Update Aug 31, 2009. It appears that the to-do regarding the recall is over, and that defect-free product is hitting the shelves. Personally, I would make very sure that any D5000 I bought is over ser # 3168***, but that's just me. Assuming you're just now starting to shop, I think the D5000 is an excellent entry-level dSLR. Having owned both a D5000 and now a Canon T1i, I can say that they both take excellent pix. Nikon strengths: the kit lens is a bit better optical quality than the Canon, I think. Reviewers claim the D5000's low light performance is better. The digital signal processing feature set is richer (more options on exposure bracketing, for example...) I have the impression that the Nikon is aimed at a younger crowd with less SLR history and more inclination to text. The Nikon is laid out to have both thumbs pounding away at the menu choices. Nikon weaknesses: the articulating LCD is a mixed blessing. It is good for taking that odd shot with camera held over your head or between your legs, but, seriously, how often do you want to do that? With the hinge on the bottom, you can't use it tripod-mounted for self-portraits. And I fear that the LCD electrical connection through the hinge is one more delicate piece to quickly break. I also thought the mini-usb connector was delicate. Canon strengths: again excellent pix. Canon has "dumbed-down" the interface and tried to make it more like a classical SLR. You can still do almost all the "gee-whiz" stuff, but it is segregated into a "creative zone" setting. The Canon LCD is much nicer looking. No hinge. To me, this is a plus. The usb and battery connector and covers seem more robust. The Canon bundled software is much, much better. The Nikon requires you to spend $130 extra to buy these features a la carte.

In the end, discounting the whole recall fiasco, I could be very happy with either model. One last word to old SLR geezers like myself who think they're upgrading. Both cameras have fairly dim "penta-mirror" viewfinders. Manual focus is a chore at best. To me this is the strongest argument to toss another $300 and get the D90. Also, both cameras have approx 16mmx24mm sensors, meaning you're throwing away half the image compared to 35mm slide film. Both kits lenses are a serious compromise. Both sensors are much better than the kit lenses. If you're upgrading from point and shoot, you will be deliriously happy. If you've ever owned a real SLR or a Hasselblad, you'll still be happy, but you will constantly be aware that these are "entry-level" cameras.

I decided to upgrade to a DSLR a few months ago because I wanted to learn to take the fabulous pictures that I had come to associate with DSLRs. After I made the decision, the next choice was Cannon or Nikon. My current point and shoot camera was a Cannon PowerShot, so I thought I would stick with Cannon until I saw the specs on the D5000. It had everything that I liked about my Cannon and was worried about giving up--video, a rotating screen with Live View--all in an affordable DSLR package, so I decided to take the plunge and go Nikon.

After a month of using the camera in different situations--a trip to New York, a wedding, a bridal shower, a kid's birthday party--I couldn't be happier. I'm very much a beginner when it comes to operating a DSLR, but all of the pictures I've taken with the D5000 have been excellent. The camera was easy to pick up and start using, but it is also easy enough to learn to start customizing your shots for different situations. I'm impressed by the camera's ability to help a beginner by auto-selecting some settings while allowing the photographer to manually select other things. The kit lens is a good starter lens, and works for most of the situations I've shot in so far. I'm still learning what this camera can do, and I'm excited to know that the D5000, with its advanced features, can grow along with me as I develop as a photographer.

In terms of size, I have small hands and I feel like I can comfortably carry around the D5000. Yes it is bigger and heavier than a point and shoot, but it's not so big that its cumbersome for me to carry. Which is a good thing, because I've started carrying this camera everywhere because I always want to be able to capture that perfect shot!

If you're transitioning from a point and shoot to a DSLR and you want something with great features that still is easy to use, this is the camera for you. I couldn't be happier with my D5000--when you get that crisp shot of a kid opening presents or a beautiful bride coming down the aisle, it's so worth it to have made this investment!