Nikon D5000 Digital SLR Camera - Body Only

Product Information

I haven't compared the D5000 directly to the Voigtländer bodies, but since the Voigtländers are louder than LEICA, they must be louder than the D5000 in Quiet Mode. Autofocusing is not possible while you're recording a movie with the Nikon D5000, unlike the Canon T1i. Nikon has unveiled the D5000 upper-entry-level DSLR and we've prepared a full preview of the camera and its features. The overall control layout and 'philosophy' of the Nikon D5000 has more in common with the likes of the D40 and the D60 than the D90. In other respects, the Nikon D5000's movie parameters are identical to the D90's - the camera records 1280x720-pixel, 24-frame-per-second motion JPEGs in AVI format.

At any rate, the range of functions that can be accessed via the interactive info panel is impressive. The articulating LCD does have a few limitations, including difficulty while on some tripods, but it also serves to improve the usefulness of the Nikon D5000's Live view mode. The LEICA is almost as quiet as a D5000 in Quiet Mode, and by comparison, every other copy of the Leica is far noisier.

SD cards are also somewhat more robust, less prone to bent contact fingers in the camera or card reader jamming the card connector while also rendering the camera useless. The Nikon D5000 ships with an updated version of the battery used by the Nikon D40 and D60, the EN-EL9a, a 7. If you want a compact camera that produces great quality photos without the hassle of changing lenses, there are plenty of choices available for every budget.

Other Specifications and equipment are subject to change without any notice or obligation on the part of the manufacturer.It took some time for Nikon to realise that the full potential of Live View can only be exploited if it is delivered on a hinged screen, but the company has finally joined the ranks of Olympus, Panasonic and Sony in offering a model sporting this feature. The D5000 has inherited the D90’s groundbreaking HD movie capability, Nikon’s proprietary D-Movie function.

You can program one FUNC button to do your choice of many of these things, but you then lose the self timer button. Those who require dual control wheels, more dedicated buttons, a large viewfinder and greater compatibility with older AF lenses will still be better served by a D90 and are therefore advised to save up for the higher specified model. The fact that the D5000 is at least as quiet as the Leica M7 means it probably also can replace the Leica M8.Last year's big SLR news was Live View and Movie mode, and the D5000 adds an articulating screen to the mix, making both modes that much more valuable. It isn't as compact and lightweight as the D60 but neither is it quite as bulky and heavy as the D90. Quiet Mode slows down the mirrors and mechanical junk that has to fly around inside the D5000, which makes it much quieter. Note also how much the screen sticks out from the back of the Nikon D5000 near the top, making it easier to grasp from the sides.