D5000
Been sustaining heavy injuries to my thighs of late as more samples land out of nowhere in my lap ^^;
The latest gadget to appear is the Nikon D5000. Today's review includes sample photos and comparison pics with the Canon Kiss 2. Today's model is Ryomo-chan.
Jumping right into the review. First up are the main controls which take a bit of getting used to after using Canon SLRs for all these years.
With the Canon, you hold down the exposure compensation button with your thumb and dial with your index finger - with Nikon its the other way around.
Automatic and Manual switch on the top, Virtual Reality switch on the bottom.
Apart from the jog dial, all other buttons are in completely different places compared to the Canon.
Love the display on the D5000 - most of the Nikons I've seen comes with a visual representation of that thingy which controls the amount of light that gets let through.
Like the Canon Kiss 2, the D5000 comes with Live View. Unlike the Kiss 2 however, the Nikon takes full HD video. Press the LV button and then hit OK to start filming.
Recording resolutions are:-
1280 x 720
640 x 424
320 x 216
You can record for only about 5 mins or so on 720p before the recording stops. Looks like its due to heat. SLR with video capabilities seems to be relatively new. There is no auto focus either meaning that you should kit yourself with a wide angle or learn how to manually focus as you record stuff. A sample below of the office taken a while back. Looking forward to SLR's having stereo video recording and auto focus. The D5000 records in mono - crap mono.
I love this flip screen - useful for taking shots with the camera on the floor.
And the flip screen can be flipped like this to protect it.
The display rotates according to how you hold the camera.
Loads of language settings.
Pressing the info button (bottom left of screen) brings up this menu enabling you to change ISO and what have you.
The photo editing menus.
Its like a mini Photoshop in there!
And for folks who prefer English. Distortion control, Fisheye, Color outline and even stop-motion movie settings.
If you are learning Japaneses then I encourage you to keep your setting on Japanese. Force yourself to read as much as you can. You will learn quicker if you are using objects often that contains Japanese.
Custom menu.
The D5000 seems to have much more menu options than the Canon Kiss 2. I don't really read the instructions and try to use equipment by fidgeting about with it. Spent a few mins trying to look for the option to turn off photo numbering reset - still cant find it ^^;
A useful Recent Settings menu.
The SD card slot and battery compartment. The SD card got stuck and wouldn't eject for a bit though...
The battery recharger is a boo boo...
...and this is the reason why - comes with a poxy wire. If I do take the Nikon with me on travels then I'd use the apple adapters to plug into the "8" socket.
The Canon Kiss 2 battery charger plugs straight into the wall.
D5000 along side the Canon Kiss 2.
Another thing the flip screen allows you to do is to take overhead shots easily.
And the best thing about the flip screen - enables you to easily take pics of yourself - useful for the video functionality too.
Now for some side by side comparison shots.
The Canon Kiss 2 has a kind of electronic bleep with a sharp crisp "kbleep!" for the shutter noise. The Nikon on the other hand is a dull "Kuroop!" From the shutter noise of the Canon alone, I can take a photo and know what settings I need to get the next best shot but for the Nikon I guess it will take some time to get used to.
I think I prefer the overall design of the D5000. The edges are sharper and the whole body feels more compact.
The D5000 comes with a bit of plastic to cover up the flash attachment which was a nice touch.
I hear some folks saying that Nikon is for Mac users and Canon is for PC users?!
The Canon Kiss has a bigger screen and the blue markings help distinguish what is what.
The Canon has a light sensor above the screen so that when you hold it close to your face, the display switches off.
The lenses screw on clockwise for the Nikon, anti-clockwise for the Canon.
Smaller flash for the Nikon. I never use flash for any of my photos - that washed out look feels terrible.
The Nikon is said to be much better in low light conditions and the ISO goes up to 3200 and then has Hi0.3, Hi0.7 and Hi1 - not sure what they are but presume even higher ISO settings?
While Nikon lenses will fit on a Canon with an adapter, Canon lenses wont fit on a Nikon which is a shame.
D5000 with one of the zoomkit lenses attached.
My current stock of lenses. From left to right:-
Nikon AF-S Nikkor 18-55mm
Nikon AF-S Nikkor 55-200mm
Sigma 18-200mm
Canon EFS 10-22mm (wide angle)
Canon EFS 60mm (macro)
And now for some sample D5000 pics. I took these without knowing how to use the camera properly which is why some of these shots may look odd. For this shot, the sharpness was turned up too high.
A shot of this mornings desk. Damn. Gave a sneak peak of...
Hector at the controls.
D5000 outdoors.
At the Apple Ginza store.
Chris at the controls - an extremely talented web dev. We is lucky to have him.
18mm.
55mm.
Another 18mm by day.
Nothing better than a cold Calpis Water on a hot Summers day in Tokyo.
Metropolis Suburbia. Suburbia...
Kuro Neko Yamato is a trusted parcel delivery service - costs a wee bit more than other companies but are reliable and don't throw parcels like Sagawa is said to do.
Bicycle stop sign.
Lot of noise on this shot - had no idea what I was doing with the settings. Wallet belongs to comrade at Kotobukiya - filled with everything apart from money.
At a German restaurant for dinner meeting.
Some night test shots at Ginza.
Taken on a low ISO setting.
I think this is where the Volks Tenshi no Sumika store is.
In front of the Apple Store.
I think this was taken on the highest ISO setting of 3200. The road was very dark but the D5000 managed to do a fair job of making out the surroundings despite the low light with no tripod.
I've only been using the Nikon for a wee bit and as I don't have decent lenses yet. I'm still using my Canon as my main SLR.
Right now I could invest in getting a 18-200mm, 10-22mm and a macro lens for the Nikon but I don't really see the added value of doing that as I already have those lenses for the Canon. I'd rather get a Canon Kiss 3 which can take videos so until some decent lenses fall into my lap, its unlikely that I would be using the Nikon much - but my waifu said that she wants to use it ^^
Folks in Japan can get the Nikon D5000 from Amazon for 102480 yen or from Amazon.com for 999 USD.