Review: Nikon D5000 specs

When it arrived in 2009, the Nikon D5000 became the second-ever Nikon DSLR—after the Nikon D90—to include video shooting. The Nikon D5000 also includes familiar-looking features, close to what the D90 offers. These headline specs include a 12.3-megapixel DX-format CMOS sensor, a 3D tracking eleven-point autofocus system, an Active D-Lighting system and a top ISO value of 6400 for lower light shooting.

The D5000 has a 12.3-megapixel 3:2 ratio, DX-format (APS-C) CMOS sensor, with a 1.5x crop factor. This crop factor means a 200mm lens on the camera will effectively give you a focal length of 300mm, in comparison to a full-frame DSLR, and gets you ‘closer’ to subjects. This is useful for shooting sports or nature as it effectively makes far-off subjects appear larger in the frame. Capturing action is further helped by the four frames-per-second shooting speed and a maximum shutter speed of 1/4000sec. In a single burst, you can shoot up to 63 Fine JPEGs or 11 RAW image files.

In terms of the rear LCD screen, the Nikon D5000 sacrifices a little in overall size compared to its three-inch screens, but the tilt-and-swivel monitor allows you to shoot at all sorts of creative angles for either stills or movies. It’s a 2.7-inch [6.9cm], 920K-pixel TFT articulated LCD screen, which allows you to review images and video footage playback, or to frame images or movie shoots when working in Live View mode.

The D5000’s 3D autofocus tracking is based on the subject’s predicted movement and colour. The camera’s eleven-point autofocus system works in tandem with a 420-pixel colour Matrix Metering II system with its Scene Recognition System. This autofocus and metering combination helps to deliver sharp autofocus results in your images while evaluating an in-camera database of tens of thousands of photographic scenes to help to ensure excellent exposure accuracy. If you want further control over exposure, you can choose from five ‘advanced scene modes’ (Close-up, Landscape, Night Portrait, Portrait or Sports) or select from Program Auto, Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority or full Manual options.

The camera’s standard ISO range is from 200-3,200, with an adjustable range down to ISO 100 and up to ISO 6,400. This means you can shoot in almost any light condition, but will still retain fine detail in your photographs with zero noise apparent to the naked eye. If you don't want to set ISO values, you can simply rely on the camera’s Auto ISO feature when in fully automatic exposure modes.

The Active D-Lighting system optimises high-contrast images to restore detail in shadows and highlights. These details are normally otherwise lost in strong lighting conditions that increase the contrast between bright and dark areas in an image. The Active D-Lighting system can be set to operate automatically or manually, or you can bracket exposures to get one with the system active and one without.

The Nikon D5000 also includes a Quiet Mode, which lets you work more inconspicuously with subjects, as well as automatic lens distortion correction, an in-camera RAW image processing option and a configurable ‘My Menu’ set-up. And, of course, 720p video shooting ability. Overall, it’s a pretty robust spec for its price. Plus, with a body weight of just 560g [19.8oz], it’s easy to carry. Depending on budget, and the creative shooting possibilities you want, the Nikon D5000 is a DSLR well worth considering.