Nikon D5000

[Boz]

Hello! I am new to the forum!
I was browsing around and I saw that this forum is quiet active and friendly so I decided to join!

I read a few other posts that talked about the Nikon D5000 but I wanted to start my own thread and ask questions myself.

So a little background. I am new to the whole DSLR. I have a old film one but I barely use it because, well it's film! I'm a more digital type of person.

Types of pictures I tend to take are the super close-up ones of bugs or flowers (macro, right?), pet photos (dogs, rabbits, gerbils, etc), sports and sometimes I like to do other random photos like night lights (light painting is sooo fun!) or scenery.

The nice (or totally devastating) thing about having a film slr is already having lenses! Unfortunately I can see them not working with the D5000. Which is a huge bummer because one is a nice 75-300mm lens!

Today I went to Best Buy and played around with the D5000 to see (in person) if I liked it, and I did! Of course, I didn't really have time to spend checking out everything but I got the feel for it.

So after all my babbling I guess I just wanted some opinions about the D5000 and what anyone though about it.

Also, about filters- is there some sort of converter you can use if you have filters that are smaller/larger to make them work? I have a few of them that are 49mm and some other lenses/filters that are 46mm but the D5000 lens is 55mm.

Thanks!

[Dave Humphries]

Hi Boz,

Hello! I am new to the forum!
I was browsing around and I saw that this forum is quiet active and friendly so I decided to join!

I read a few other posts that talked about the Nikon D5000 but I wanted to start my own thread and ask questions myself.

So a little background. I am new to the whole DSLR. I have a old film one but I barely use it because, well it's film! I'm a more digital type of person.

Types of pictures I tend to take are the super close-up ones of bugs or flowers (macro, right?), pet photos (dogs, rabbits, gerbils, etc), sports and sometimes I like to do other random photos like night lights (light painting is sooo fun!) or scenery.

Welcome to the CiC forums, good to have another potential D5000 owner.

The nice (or totally devastating) thing about having a film slr is already having lenses! Unfortunately I can see them not working with the D5000. Which is a huge bummer because one is a nice 75-300mm lens!

I assume therefore it is a Nikon SLR(?), if not, the following doesn't apply and you cannot use it.
Almost certainly the Nikon lens will physically fit the D5000, as my 50/1.8 does, but you will only be able to use it when the camera in Manual mode (i.e. not Auto, Shutter or Aperture priority or any of the other scene modes). This is because, I (strongly) suspect, the older film lens will lack a CPU; so the camera cannot light meter the scene - meaning exposure is down to trial and error. It will also lack a focus motor, meaning you have to manually focus.

What these two things will mean in practice is that you need to get used to the camera with the supplied/kit* lens first and be confident shooting in Manual exposure mode.

Then, for almost every shot, you will need to
1) Manually focus (easier at wide open aperture)
2) Manually stop down using lens' aperture ring to the desired aperture
3) Take the shot
4) Review the Histogram and Highlights on LCD to ensure exposure was OK
5) If it wasn't, manually try a different shutter speed and/or aperture
6) Check focus on magnified LCD image although be warned that what looks ok here can be disappointing at 100% in PP on a computer

So, unless you have the unstinting ability to follow procedure, plus superhuman dexterity and patience, it will really only be practical to do this for static subjects under unchanging lighting conditions (so you don't need to do the whole lot above for every single shot)

So, first look up the lens to ensure it will fit without damaging anything.
Even take the 75-300 lens to the dealer and ask to try it on the camera.

Also, about filters- is there some sort of converter you can use if you have filters that are smaller/larger to make them work? I have a few of them that are 49mm and some other lenses/filters that are 46mm but the D5000 lens is 55mm.

Forget them, sure you can use bigger filters on a smaller lens front thread, but the other way round, as you suggest, will give severe vignetting (black corners) at most focal lengths in every picture you take. Too big a compromise. Plus you may have trouble finding step rings that way round for this reason.

Buy a decent UV filter to protect the front element - I bought and use Hoya Pro-1 Digital and would recommend them as being a good performance for the price.

++++++++++++++++

In summary, I like my D5000 (for me, I'd score it 85-90%), I accept it is a little pricey compared to other models, but the flip/twist screen is what I was after and I got it.
The biggest shortcoming I have found is that the Live View AF is very slow and prone to giving up, but you can 'magnify' the Live view screen to manually focus. The normal AF is 'wizard' on the other hand

The other thing I learnt was to stick with Nikon lenses.
* If at all possible, consider finding an alternative to the limited zoom range kit lens, especially if you find it won't focus as close as you'd like for flower and bug shots (be sure to try this) to get the image size you want.

I went for an 18 - 200 range, matching the previous range I was used to on my Fuji 10:1 superzoom.
I wouldn't be happy with a tighter starting point than 18mm (=28mm in 35mm terms).
I wouldn't go without IS either, but then I'm not a 'tripod person'.
In close up terms, at 200mm, my lens focuses to 18 inches and this gives about 1:4 (quarter life size), so nowhere near true macro (1:1) for bugs, but for me acceptable with PP cropping, have a look at my PBase Insect gallery, the last four are my current Nikon lens.

Hope that helps,

[Boz]

Thank you so much! Unfortunately the lenses are not nikon. So I assumed they wouldn't work. I went to Best Buy and asked if I could try it. The guy said we could but he couldn't get this plate that was covering the button to take the lenses off with. I figured that the auto-everything wouldn't work on them either.

There is this deal (for black friday) with a Nikon D3000, 18-55mm lens and a 55-200mm lens for $599. So I looked at the D3000 too but I really didn't like it and would much prefer the D5000.

And I figured that with the filters as well. But I though I'd ask also! :P

I did get a cheap UV one at Best Buy (I don't even have the camera yet!). The packaged had been open so it was only $5.99 compared to $10.99. I took a look and the filter seems fine.

Thanks for your reply! It's very helpful!

ETA:
I love those insect pictures! They look awesome! Great Job!