Nikon D5000

	Design & Handling Summary
• Very comfortable for large- and small-handed users • Limited direct-access buttons; multiselector instead of separate 4-way control button group • Interactive quick access menu via LCD plus standard Nikon menu system
	Controls	Page 11 of 21	Video: Color & Noise

Handling (7.00)

---

We found the Nikon D5000 an exceptionally comfortable camera to shoot with. At 5.0 x 4.1 x 3.1 inches (127 x 104 x 80 mm) and 1 lb. 4 oz. (560 g) without lens and battery, it's significantly smaller than the Nikon D90, but has the same solid feel in your hands, well-balanced and easy to maneuver. The righthand grip could be a little deeper, and the textured plastic would benefit from a rubberized coating — the surface has an uncomfortable plastic feel, and is inclined to slip if your hands perspire. The one spot where Nikon did spring for a patch of rubberized material is the back thumb rest, which is well positioned and does help keep the camera steady when you're moving fast.

Nikon also gets extra points for adopting a feature we like very much on Sony SLRs. When you rotate the camera to portrait view, the rear screen display rotates with you, taking on an appropriate vertical orientation no matter which end you hold at the top. Considering how much we rely on that display both for reading information and changing settings, this feature is most welcome.

The Nikon D5000 is compact but comfortable, whether your hands are large or small.

Controls (8.50)

---

Nikon chose to keep the number of dedicated buttons and dials to a minimum in the D5000 design. Often we see a four-way controller consisting of a group of separate buttons that let you access white balance, ISO settings or other functions when not used for navigation purposes, but Nikon gave us a round pivoting multi-selector instead (it doesn't rotate, by the way, just pushes in four directions). Given the relatively small camera size, there really isn't a lot of real estate for a plethora of dedicated button controls, but this sparse system does mean you'd better get comfortable quickly with using the LCD information display to control shooting settings, because there aren't a lot of shortcuts available elsewhere.

In fact, the flash button and programmable function button have both been shoved off the camera back entirely and onto the left side. We're fine with that arrangement for the flash control, but the function button feels out of the way and inconvenient in its lefty location.

Back Controls
	Delete Erase single photos with two pushes
	Playback Switch to playback mode
	Menu Call up menu system, back out of menu screens without changes within menu system
	Zoom Out/Thumbnail Playback/Help Lowers magnification playback view when zoomed in, accesses thumbnail and calendar views when viewing at full size. While shooting, brings up on-screen help text
	Zoom In Magnifies playback view
	Information Edit Toggles the rear screen display to provide direct access to settings
	AE-L / AF-L This button can be programmed to lock both exposure and focus, just exposure or just focus when pressed. It can also be set to lock in the autoexposure reading without holding the button down, until it's pressed again (useful when shooting video). Finally, the AE-L / AF-L button can be used to initiate autofocus, replacing the shutter button.
	Control Dial Used to adjust shutter speed and/or aperture and exposure compensation settings
	Live View One-button access to Live View mode.
	Multi-selector Moves cursor in menu systems.
	OK Confirms selections

 

Top Controls
	Mode Dial Turns to access main shooting modes and scene modes
	Info Turns the quick access shooting menu on and off
	Exposure compensation Hold and turn the control dial to set exposure compensation values
	Power Rotates to turn camera on and off

 

Left Side Controls
	Flash Raises the pop-up flash if it isn't already deployed; accesses flash mode settings if it is
	Fn The programmable function button can be set to toggle the self-timer on and off; select the release mode, image quality, ISO, white balance, Active D-Lighting settings and auto bracketing increment (by holding the button down and turning the control dial) or make a one-image choice to shoot in RAW,

Menu (7.25)

---

As with most SLRs today, Nikon provides two different ways to get at settings adjustments while shooting: a single-screen menu that provides quick access to all the key settings, and the traditional in-depth menu system accessed by pressing the MENU button.

 

The single-screen system takes the LCD information display and makes it interactive by pressing the Information edit button (at the bottom left on the back of the camera). The color scheme changes and a cursor appears, which is maneuvered using the four-way controller. Whether you've chosen the default Graphic version of the LCD display or the more traditional Classic version, the menu system uses the Classic layout, as shown below.

 

Unlike other cameras we've tested, the command dial isn't an option when navigating the D5000 menu system, requiring multiple presses of the four-way controller to get where you want to go. There's no way to change settings directly from the quick menu either.  Instead, you have to find the setting you want, then press OK to reach a submenu of relevant choices. It's certainly better than no quick-access menu at all, but it could be streamlined further.

As for the main menu system, Nikon hasn't strayed from its tried-and-true design. That's mostly fine: it will be instantly familiar to experienced Nikon users, and the text is perfectly legible and well organized. Our only beef here is the fact that several menus are too long for a single screen, meaning choices are hidden until you've scrolled down to reveal them.

Menus
	Overview The menu system is organized into seven sections. To navigate between them, you move the cursor into the leftmost column and scroll up or down.
	Playback The standard options for playback mode, including single or group file deletion, turning playback screen options (highlights, RGB histogram, detailed data) on or off, and turning image review on or off (though the length of time images stay on-screen is controlled in the custom menu). There's also a rudimentary slide show and the option to create a DPOF file for service-bureau printing.
	Shooting Most of these settings are accessed more easily and in the same depth via the quick access menu. The shooting menu adds auto distortion control and color space selection, noise reduction settings, movie mode settings and interval timer shooting.
	Custom Setting This is the place for setting autofocus, exposure and timing parameters, customizing button and dial functions, selecting display options and setting bracketing procedures.
	Setup Mostly for housekeeping chores you're likely to set once and leave alone, plus memory card formatting.
	Retouch Home to an extensive array of image retouch utilities as detailed in the In-Camera Editing section, plus in-camera RAW image file processing.
	My Menu This menu can be used in two different ways. By default it lists your most recent menu selections. As shown here, though, you choose which menu items you'd like to have at your fingertips and populate My Menu accordingly.

Manual & Learning (9.00)

---

The D5000 user's manual is a substantial document in every way, a 236-page book with unusually large 8.25 x 5.75-inch pages — great for legibility, less great for portability. The introductory section is particularly well done, catering to users who have never shot with an SLR before. Most camera manuals just toss in a list of scene modes, for example, while this one devotes five pages to explaining how each scene mode works, with an accompanying photo sample. The pages aren't crammed too full of information, and well stocked with images and diagrams, making it very browsable. That's good, because the one significant failing we found is the mediocre index. which often left us trying to come up with synonyms for the feature we were attempting to find, when the apparently logical term wasn't listed. The other problem, again per standard industry practice, is the lack of documentation for the included software, requiring users to rely on the always inconvenient program help system to figure out how the programs work.

You can download a PDF copy of the Nikon D5000 from the company's web site by clicking here.

In addition to the manual (in both English and Spanish), the camera come with a decent one-page Quick Start Guide that offers just the right amount of handholding for new owners. Even better, it points you to a nicely produced set of online audio-video presentations covering everything from initial setup to shooting settings for stills and movies, image editing and playback options, with nice coverage of potentially confusing topics like D-Lighting and Picture Controls. If we were Nikon we'd toss a separate sheet promoting this feature into the camera box instead of merely mentioning it in the manuals, because it's genuinely useful and very well done. You can check it out by clicking here.

Nikon D5000 Manual

Controls Page 11 of 21 Video Color & Noise Nikon D5000 Digital Camera Review Navigation