Nikon D5000
Wednesday, April 22nd, 2009
If the D5000 didn’t quite live up to some of the more outlandish rumors surrounding its hardware (no, there’s no full-frame 16 megapixel sensor…), the latest iterration in the D40/D40X/D60 series nonetheless gets a pretty substantial upgrade with the inclusion of what appears to be the same highly regarded 12.3 megapixel CMOS imager that powers the D90. Nikon EXPEED processing pulls prosumer-grade performance from this APS-C (DX format, in Nikon-speak) imager, with an expanded high-sensitivity limit of ISO 6400 and 4.0 fps continuous shooting.
ikon has opted to stick with the 720p/24fps HD video capture format that debuted in the D90 for its latest launch as well. Even without full 1080p video capture, however, the D5000 is still in a fairly exclusive club, and joins Canon’s recently announced Rebel T1i as the only squarely consumer-oriented interchangeable lens cameras to allow video capture of any kind.
Beyond this novel display, the D5000’s interface shares most of its key elements in common with previous entry-level Nikon DSLRs. Similar in styling and size to its D60 predecessor, the D5000 eschews prosumer touches like a top-deck status LCD and a front-side control wheel in favor of a single point of access using the main display and back-panel controls.