Nikon D5000 Digital SLR Camera - Body Only

Product Information

Though it stands out as an oddity in naming terms when compared to the other Nikon digital SLRs in the line, the Nikon D5000 is best described as a lower-cost D90 in a D60 body, with a smaller set of available autofocus lenses. As easy to use as any entry-level DSLR in auto modes, the D5000 provides greater speed, reliability and versatility plus advanced amenities. Still, the Nikon D5000 is a top-notch shooter that should please all but the most finicky of photographers, and stands out as one of our 10 best digital cameras.

When in manual focus (MF) mode, you can magnify into this rectangle in a number of steps by repeatedly pressing the button marked with a loupe icon, but this magnification seems to be at least partially interpolated. The D5000 in Quiet Mode is even a tiny little bit quieter than a Leica M7, which is the cloth-shuttered rangefinder camera used by modern journalists when they need a quiet camera.

In Exposure Delay Mode, the mirror is flipped up when you tip the shutter release button, but the shutter itself only opens a second later, when the vibration caused by the mirror has more or less subsided. Nikon discovered that some D5000s are defective because they won't turn on, and they are working on a free fix.

The onscreen image is also sharp enough that you can usually see the plane of focus as you make your adjustments, so long as your subject has sufficient detail. Press it and the mirror flips up, the shutter opens and the rear screen displays the scene as seen through the lens. Getting great pictures comes from knowing how to "play" your camera's settings and paying attention to the lighting. You can program one FUNC button to do your choice of many of these things, but you then lose the self timer button. Auto modes (auto, auto [flash off]), Advanced Scene Modes (Portrait, Landscape, Sports, Close-up, Night Portrait), programmed auto with flexible program (P), shutter-priority auto (S), aperture-priority auto (A), manual (M), (Q) quiet mode.Though the Nikon D5000's phase-detect autofocus speed tested very well in our lab tests, turning in 0. Hold down this button with your right forefinger and spin the control wheel on the top-rear of the camera with your thumb to adjust its settings - simple and intuitive. Consumers should know up front that the Nikon D5000 focuses much slower in Live view than the all-in-one digicam that they're used to.