Nikon D5000

	White Balance Summary
• Less accurate than others in our test group, but acceptable • Auto WB produced noticeably warm images under typical household illumination • Wide selection of white balance presets includes extensive fluorescent bulb variety
	Resolution	Page 6 of 21	Sample Photos

White Balance (9.37)

We test two facets of white balance performance, shooting under three types of illumination using the camera's auto white balance system, then taking custom white balance readings and shooting under the same three conditions. The combined scores for the Nikon D5000 were nearly identical to those for the Nikon D90, a middling result that nevertheless surpasses the Canon T1i by a small margin.

We test white balance using the X-Rite Judge II, which produces consistent illumination at a variety of color temperatures, shooting the ColorChecker chart and measuring color error in the test shots using with Imatest. Click here for more on how we test white balance.

Automatic White Balance (10.35)
As with most cameras, the auto white balance system had a difficult time with incandescent lighting, producing the kind of overly orange images you're used to seeing in shots taken with standard household bulbs. The shots taken under fluorescent lights were a bit warm but not bad, and shooting under daylight illumination produced reasonably accurate results. In the charts below, the bars indicate color error, so shorter is better.

Auto White Balance

The D5000 photos under daylight illumination were cooler than most, but not by very much amount, and significantly more accurate than the Canon T1i.

Auto Daylight White Balance Performance Comparison

With incandescent lighting the D5000 couldn't match the results from the D90, but still stands up well to the competition.

Auto Incandescent White Balance Performance Comparison

Both Nikons delivered warmer than expected images when shooting under fluorescent lighting in auto WB mode.

Auto Fluorescent White Balance Performance Comparison

Custom White Balance (8.39)
Switching to custom white balance setting didn't affect the D5000 results in daylight, though incandescent and fluorescent results were far superior to the auto white balance images. We expect a very high level of color accuracy after taking a custom white balance reading, though, and the D5000 result is only fair compared to the other cameras in our lineup.

Nikon D5000 Custom White Balance

The chart below shows the relative overall white balance scores for our comparison cameras. While the D5000 did outscore the Canon Rebel T1i slightly, it still falls behind both the Canon Rebel XS and the surprisingly strong Pentax K2000 here.

White Balance Score Comparison

NOTE: We updated our testing and scoring procedures in January 2009. For comparison purposes, we re-tested several cameras we'd reviewed in 2008, producing the scores shown in the chart above for the Canon Rebel XS and Nikon D90. However, the scores in the original reviews for these re-tested cameras remain unchanged, for consistency's sake.

White Balance Settings (9.00)

In addition to automatic and manual white balance, the D5000 offers the following twelve presets:

White Balance Types
Display	Mode	Color Temperature
	Shade	8000K
	High-Temperature Mercury-Vapor	7200K
	Daylight Fluorescent	6500K
	Cloudy	6000K
	Flash	5400K
	Direct sunlight	5200K
	Day-White Fluorescent	5000K
	Cool-White Fluorescent	4200K
	White Fluorescent	3700K
	Warm-White Fluorescent	3000K
	Incandescent	3000K
	Sodium-Vapor Lamps	2700K

The wide range of fluorescent presets is welcome, though only one at a time is available through the LCD information display menu; to get at the others, you have to go through the conventional menu system. Setting a manual white balance also requires a trip through the menu system by default, though if you assign the programmable Fn button to white balance control, you can use the control dial to cycle through white balance modes and hold down the Fn button to enter custom white balance setting mode.

If there's a photo on the current memory card with a white balance setting you'd like to replicate, choosing Preset Manual from the white balance menu and then "Use photo" lets you choose the appropriate shot and set the camera to the same white balance value.

Any of the preset white balance values can be fine-tuned along the blue-amber and green-magenta axes, for greater accuracy or a particular effect you're after (manual white balance settings can't be adjusted). Unfortunately, the display used to make these adjustments is an on-screen color grid rather than an actual photo that shows the effects of the adjustments interactively.

Unlike higher-end Nikon models, there is no option to enter a white balance setting directly in degrees Kelvin.

White balance bracketing is available. A single shot is taken, but it's stored with three different white balance values, one with increased amber, the other with increased blue. Bracketing isn't available on the cyan-magenta axis. The bracketing increment can be set to three levels.


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