Nikon D5000

	Controls Summary
• Auto mode effective for point-and-shooters • Live View is a one-button choice, unlike previous Nikons • Contrast-only autofocus in Live View very slow
	Hardware	Page 10 of 21	Design & Handling

Shooting Modes (10.00)

The shooting mode selection is straightforward. The extra mode dial setting for auto without flash is a quick way to avoid inappropriate firing without working through the menu system, a nice touch if you're in a hurry to catch a baby's fleeting expression without blasting a flash in his or her delicate peepers.

Shooting Modes
	Auto Exposure is set by the camera, and most settings are locked out. Users can adjust image quality, ISO, drive mode, autofocus mode (AF-A or manual) and autofocus area. Unlike auto mode on many cameras, exposure compensation is unavailable. Flash pops up if required for lighting conditions.
	Auto (flash off) Same as standard Auto mode, but flash is unavailable.
	Program The camera sets aperture and shutter speed. Turning the command dial shifts the two parameters in sync, maintaining the same overall exposure but allowing control over depth of field and action photography.
	Shutter-priority The user sets the shutter speed, the camera sets the aperture.
	Aperture-priority The user sets the aperture, the camera sets the shutter speed.
	Manual The user sets both aperture and shutter speed. Turning the control dial alone changes shutter speed. Holding down the exposure compensation button while turning the control dial changes the aperture setting. An exposure meter is displayed on the LCD and in the viewfinder in manual mode.

Live View (2.75)

Starting Live View mode is perfectly simple — there's a dedicated LV button above and to the left of the four-way controller. Nikon has improved this feature since we tried it out on the D90. This time out the on-screen image was able to keep up as we moved the camera, with no significant stuttering during panning.

By default, there are four Live View displays available, chosen by pressing the Info button in sequence.

Live View Displays
Show Indicators Across the top of the screen is information on shooting mode, flash status, drive mode, autofocus setting, D-Lighting status, image size and quality, white balance setting, movie recording time remaining and audio recording status. At the bottom of the screen are battery status, metering mode, aperture and shutter speed, ISO and pictures remaining.	Hide Indicators The top information display is removed.	Framing Grid Overlays the Hide Indicators display with a 4 x 3 gridline display.
	Show Shooting Info The Live View display becomes smaller to make room for the full shooting information display along the bottom and right side.

 If you never use a particular Live View display, suppressing it is as simple as unchecking a box in the Custom Settings menu.

Live View supports four autofocus modes, as shown below.

Live View Focus Modes
	Wide Area Focuses on an area that encompasses approximately 4% of the screen. The four-way controller can be used to position the focus area, except in certain scene modes.
	Normal Area Focuses on a small area, approximately 1% of the screen. The four-way controller can be used to position the focus area, except in certain scene modes.
	Subject Tracking Camera attempts to track moving subjects around the screen. The D5000 did a reasonably good job here, particularly in reacquiring a subject that had disappeared off the screen edge and then returned.
	Face Priority Identifies up to 5 faces in the frame and focuses on the closest one.

Unlike many Live View systems (including those on higher-end Nikon cameras), the autofocus system here relies exclusively on contrast detection based on data from the image sensor, instead of offering a choice between contrast detection and the faster phase detection system used when shooting with the viewfinder. Shooting with phase detect autofocus in Live View is a bit clumsy, since the mirror has to flip down briefly and blanks out the on-screen image, but it's also fast. And with every Live View SLR we've tested, speed is a major stumbling block for contrast detect autofocus. Moving from a subject focused at infinity to one located a few feet away took roughly three seconds with the Nikon D5000, an agonizing interval compared to the near-instantaneous focus the camera achieved when shooting with the viewfinder.

Given the slow focus speed, we're not huge fans of Live View shooting in most situations. However, when you want to shoot with manual focus, Live View is a tremendous help, since you can zoom the LCD display up to 6.7x to allow precise control. If you have an HDTV handy, you can even connect it via HDMI and use it as an enormous Live View screen, making manual focus that much easier.

Scene Modes (5.50)

Nikon provides an unusually generous selection of scene modes on the D5000, with the most common included on the mode dial and the rest available under the Scene setting on the dial (turning the control dial lets you browse through the available scene modes with the dial in this position). Unlike too many manufacturers, Nikon actually explains how each of these modes works in the manual, complete with a sample photo. Pressing the Help key in scene mode also brings up a quick on-screen text description.

Scene Modes
	Portrait Favors pleasing skin tone reproduction, with background focus softened. On mode dial.
	Landscape For vivid landscape shots; flash and AF-assist lamp turned off. On mode dial.
	Child Clothing and background details heightened, skin tones natural. On mode dial.
	Sports Fast shutter speeds; flash and AF-assist lamp turned off. On mode dial.
	Close Up For close-up photos of small objects; tripod recommended. On mode dial.
	Night portrait Balances foreground subject and background setting in low-light situations. Tripod recommended. On mode dial.
	Night Landscape Adjusts for noise and color shift in low-light landscape shooting; flash and AF-assist lamp turned off. Tripod recommended.
	Party/Indoor Reproduces indoor background lighting accurately.
	Beach/Snow For capturing high-contrast scenes; flash and AF-assist lamp turned off
	Sunset Favors color palette of sunsets and sunrises; flash and AF-assist lamp turned off.
	Dusk/Dawn Maintains colors in weak light before dawn or after sunset; flash and AF-assist lamp turned off.
	Pet Portrait For portraits of active pets; AF-assist lamp turned off.
	Candlelight Preserves colors of candlelight without flash; tripod recommended.
	Blossom For reproducing floral colors and maintaining depth of field for fields, orchards, etc.; flash turned off.
	Autumn Colors Favors reds and yellows of autumn leaves; flash turned off.
	Food For vivid food photography.
	Silhouette To create silhouette effect against bright background; flash turned off.
	High Key Tailored to shooting bright scenes.
	Low Key Tailored to dark images, emphasizing highlights.

Picture Effects (4.50)

The camera uses the standard Nikon Picture Control system, which is handy if you've created a custom setting on one Nikon camera and want to import it into your shiny new D5000. A Picture Control incorporates settings for color reproduction plus additional image adjustments, as detailed below.

There are six preset Picture Controls, as shown in this table of crops from our still life photos taken in each Picture Control mode. The descriptions are Nikon's own.

Picture Controls
Standard Standard processing for balanced results. Recommended for most situations.	Neutral Minimal processing for natural results. Choose for photographs that will later be extensively processed or retouched.	Vivid Pictures are enhanced for a vivid, photoprint effect. Choose for photographs that emphasize primary colors.
Monochrome Take monochrome photographs	Portrait Process portraits for skin with natural texture and a rounded feel.	Landscape Produces vibrant landscapes and cityscapes.

Any of these Picture Controls can be fine-tuned in several ways:

Altered Picture Controls can be renamed and saved as new Custom Picture Controls. Up to nine custom versions can be added to the Picture Control menu at a time, and up to 99 can be stored on a memory card to be swapped in and out of the menu. Picture Controls can also be customized and saved using the ViewNX software supplied with the camera, or the optional Capture NX 2 program.

While it probably won't be used frequently, we like the option to have the date and/or time imprinted on your photos. This could come in handy in a business environment, where photos are used not just for art but for recordkeeping, and seeing the date and time at a glance is helpful.

Focus (16.50)

When shooting with the viewfinder, we found the autofocus system quite speedy and accurate in bright light. The camera struggled a bit with dimmer  indoor illumination, but always managed to lock on after a slight delay.

The Nikon D5000 uses an 11-point autofocus system with one cross-type sensor. The camera offers four focus modes:

Focus Modes
	Single-servo AF Focuses when shutter pressed halfway; maintains that focus setting
	Continuous-servo AF Focuses and continuously updates as subject moves
	Auto-servo AF Camera automatically selects between single-servo and continuous-servo autofocus depending on the subject's behavior
	Manual Focus Focus manually, selected with switch on lens

When using manual focus, the viewfinder focus indicator lights up when focus is achieved. The exposure indicator in the viewfinder can also be used as a focus indicator, by turning Rangefinder on in the custom settings. The rangefinder will indicate whether the focus point is behind or in front of the subject as you turn the lens ring.

Autofocus Area Modes
	Single Point User selects a single focus point using the four-way controller.
	Dynamic Area User selects a single focus point, but in AF-C and AF-A mode, camera will use adjacent focus points if subjects moves while shutter is pressed halfway.
	Auto-Area Camera detects subject and selects focus point.
	3D-Tracking User selects a single focus point, but in AF-C and AF-A modes, camera uses color information to select new focus point anywhere in the frame if subject moves while shutter is pressed halfway.

The D5000 has a particularly bright autofocus assist lamp located on the front of the camera, below the mode dial, which we found very helpful when shooting in dark rooms. Nikon gives its effective range as 1 ft. 8 inches to 9 feet 10 inches (0.5 to 3.0m).

Exposure (6.00)

Exposure compensation is available in the ±5 EV range. Exposure bracketing is also available, in a three-shot sequence, with increments from 0.3 EV to 2.0 EV, an unusually broad range.

Nikon's handling of dynamic range adjustment is more elaborate than most manufacturers. The 'D-Lighting' system can be employed while shooting (called Active D-Lighting) and as an in-camera editing adjustment. For Active D-Lighting there are six settings: Auto, Extra High, High, Normal, Low and Off. The trade-off for choosing more aggressive dynamic range adjustment is higher image noise, particularly at high ISO settings. Active D-Lighting can also be bracketed, in a two-shot sequence, first with Active D-Lighting off, the second with the current Active D-Lighting setting (if it's set to Off, the camera uses Auto).

Speed and Timing

Shot to Shot (4.00)
In our testing, the Nikon D5000 exactly matched the company's claim of four shots per second, making it faster than both Canon Rebels, lagging only the D90 in this category.

Shot to Shot Time Comparison

With a Class 6 SDHC card, we could shoot about 20 photos in Large Fine JPEG mode before the buffer filled and the camera slowed down.

Drive/Burst Mode (5.25)
There is only one burst mode, at 4 frames per second, with no option to adjust to a slower speed. A readout on the right side of the viewfinder, and the bottom right of the Live View screen, indicates how many more shots can be taken in continuous shooting mode before the buffer is full.

An interesting additional feature is interval timer shooting. The D5000 can be set to automatically take a photo at a user-specified interval (as long as 24 hours between shots), starting at a specified time and running for a specified number of shots (up to 999).

Depth of Field Preview (0.00)

There is no depth of field preview capability at all, either in viewfinder shooting or Live View mode. We consider this a significant shortcoming in a camera that otherwise provides a level of control suitable for serious shooters. It shouldn't be necessary to take test shots, review them and then adjust your settings to figure out what will or won't be in focus when shooting at current aperture settings.

Metering (8.50)

The D5000 uses a 420-pixel RGB sensor with Nikon's 3D Color Matrix Metering II system, which employs scene recognition to compare the current subject to an internal database and arrive at the best possible setting.

Metering Modes
	Matrix Metering is based on a wide area of the frame. Depending on the type of lens, color, composition, tone distribution and range information are factored in.
	Center-Weighted The entire frame is metered but the exposure value is skewed toward the middle of the frame.
	Spot Metering is based on the current autofocus point.

Shutter Speed (10.00)

Available shutter speeds range from 1/4000 second to 1/30 second plus bulb for extended shooting.

Self-Timer (9.50)

The D5000 self-timer offers good flexibility in setting the time delay, but has to be turned on again after every shot, which is annoying.

Self-Timer Modes
	Self-Timer By default, the self-timer is set to 2 seconds. This can be changed to 5, 10 or 20 seconds in the custom menu.
	2-second Delayed Remote Shutter releases after a 2-second delay when using the optional ML-L3 wireless remote.
	Quick-Response Remote Shutter releases immediately when using the ML-L3 remote.
	Quiet Shutter-Release Camera doesn't make a sound after shooting as long as shutter button is kept depressed. Focus confirmation beep is also turned off.

There is also an exposure delay mode, available through the custom menu, that inserts a delay of about one second after the mirror is raised before taking the photo. This will prove useful in especially demanding situations like astronomical or microscopic photography.