Nikon D5000 Camera Experience
The two things I like the most about the D5000 are its small size and the wonderful high ISO image quality. It makes a great outdoor camera because it’s easy to pack and can deliver great photos in all kinds of conditions. The low noise also means you can pump up the ISO for sharp action photos without worrying about them getting all chunky-looking.

Live View isn’t appropriate for sports or action photography because you can’t frame or follow a moving subject well with an LCD. But for macro photos, product photography and tripod landscapes, it’s the best. Nikon’s new Vari-angle LCD means you don’t have to crouch down or contort yourself to see the LCD when you’re using Live View - just set your camera up on a tripod and adjust the LCD so you can comfortably see it. The Vari-angle LCD does have some quirks - you can’t use it for self-portraits on a tripod because when you flip it down and around to face you, the tripod is in the way. But it’s still great for standard Live View or video shooting. And it’s far better than an LCD that doesn’t move at all.

Overall, I really like the D5000’s physical design. It feels solid in my hands, I was never worried about dropping it, and changing settings with the Information Display screen is easy and efficient. However, nothing is perfect and I had some trouble with the placement of some controls. Intuitively, the exposure compensation button seems well-placed, right behind the shutter release. However, moving my index finger back to press it made the camera feel a little less secure in my hand and the position was a little cramped. Sometimes I even had to take the camera away from my eye to double check where the button was. This might seem nitpicky, but being a mostly manual exposure guy, I use the exposure compensation button for almost every photo. I use a lot of cameras and my favorite position for the exposure compensation button is in the back of the camera where I can press it with my right thumb.

The D5000’s AF points are selected with the 4-way multi-selector to the right of the LCD. The OK button returns the auto focus to the center point - the one I use the most. Unfortunately, the multi-selector is right where the palm of my hand presses against the back of the camera. Too many times I accidentally changed the focus point with the palm of my hand and my subject ended up out of focus. Unpredictable behavior is one of the last things you want with a camera. I learned to check the focus point regularly and press the OK button to make sure the center AF point is selected. But there’s no doubt photos have and will be missed because of the position of the multi-selector.

Standard AF behavior allows you to pre-focus in single shot auto focus mode and then recompose. As long as you keep the shutter release button depressed halfway, the focus will stay locked on your subject. So far, so good - this is exactly how the D5000 behaves. However, when I shot a sequence of photos with the D5000, the auto focus unlocked after the first shot and refocused on the background. I’ve never experienced this AF behavior before and it totally confused me. All I knew was I had a sequence of photos where all but the first frame were totally out of focus. After some trial and error I discovered that I had to hold the AE-L / AF-L button down to keep the focus locked if I wanted to shoot a sequence. That’s not quite what the manual describes and it’s also not what I’ve learned to expect from other cameras. So, heads up if you’re shooting a sequence and you’ve pre-focused in the AF-S single shot focus mode. The D5000 might not do what you expect it to do.

By no means are these control issues deal killers. But I was uncomfortable enough that they needed to be mentioned. Overall, I was very happy when I shot with the D5000. I quickly learned to be confident in the image quality regardless of conditions and the more I used it, the more I liked it. The small size makes the D5000 a great camera when space is limited and the image quality makes it even better.

Nikon D5000 Video Experience
Basic video capture with the D5000 is easy - just press the dedicated Live View button then press OK to start recording. I shot a few clips to check for the Jell-O-like rolling shutter effect reported on the D90 (Nikon D90 rolling shutter effect sample video) and I’m happy to report I couldn’t detect the problem. I also shot a box opening video, a little mountain biking and a tour of the new Photo-John world headquarters. Maybe serious videographers would find some problems with the D5000 video quality, but to this video novice, they look very good.

Since there’s no auto focus once you start recording a video clip, it’s very important to have a focus strategy before you start. You can try to focus manually, but I wouldn’t recommend it. I use the Live View auto focus to pre-focus on something I think will work for my whole clip. Since focus isn’t as critical with video as it is with still photography I don’t think it’s that big of a deal if I’m a little off. If you really need to refocus, stop recording and set up another shot.

I recommend using image-stabilized lenses for video. Handholding the camera without image stabilization makes for shaky videos - you don’t want your viewers to get seasick. Luckily the 18-55mm Nikkor kit lens that comes with the camera is equipped with Nikon’s VR (Vibration Reduction) image stabilization. Two other lenses I used didn’t have image stabilization and the difference was obvious.

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