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Nikon D5000 In Depth Review

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Posted by Patrick on Oct 5, 2009 in Cameras, Featured Content, Reviews

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Image Quality

Image quality was largely in line with what I found with the Nikon D90, in other words, very good. Shooting in RAW, the images have a touch of softness to them, similar as I said to the D90. This isn’t to be taken as a hardware issue though, rather Nikon has taken a conservative approach to sharpening in-camera, leaving those adjustments in the photographer’s hands. Once in ViewNX, Lightroom, or the image editing application of your choice, you’ll note that the D5000 images take to sharpening quite nicely, as it turns out there’s a good deal of usable detail in its RAW files.


Out of the camera RAW files are somewhat "soft" due to little in-camera sharpening. This can be adjusted in-camera of course, or latter in post. Click to view 100% crop.	Here the RAW file has been sharpened in Photoshop, revealing lots of detail. Click to view 100% crop.

Dynamic range is generally quite good with only a slight tendency to overexpose highlights, assisted in part by a bias to underexpose scenes slightly. Aiding dynamic range is Nikon’s Active D-Lighting which goes to help preserve highlight and shadow details in high contrast compositions. The amount of Active D-Lighting can be adjusted from the Information Display with Auto, Extra High, High, Normal, Low, and off settings. Active D-Lighting does work admirably to even scenes out, though at the expense of additional noise in shadow areas, especially at the higher settings. I found the most reliable results by leaving it set to Auto.


Matrix metering does a reliable job at getting most scenes right, but in this scene the contrast was too much for the camera and highlights in the base of the waterfall were blown.	Shooting in RAW allows for these highlights to easily be "restored" using an application like Adobe's Camera RAW.

Active D-Lighting set to the off position.	Active D-Lighting on Auto. Note the added detail in the previously dark corner.

ISO performance is another area worthy of praise. The D5000 has an expanded ISO range of 100-6400, and I can honestly say that nearly all of that is usable. At ISO 1600, images are peppered with a very fine grain of noise, but details are well preserved as is color and saturation details. I find this setting to be totally usable at full size, especially in print form. At ISO 3200 the results are still impressive, but the grain pattern is beginning to get blotchier. It’s my view that this setting could still lead to some full size prints, dependent on ambient lighting at the time of exposure. ISO 6400 dramatically deteriorates noise patterns, but it is hardly a “throw away” setting, remaining good enough for smaller scale prints and certainly web use.


These are 100% crops taken using f/8 at 34mm. Click to expand for a full view. The above starts at ISO 100	This one at ISO 200. This is the D5000's lowest unexpanded ISO setting.

ISO 400	ISO 800. This would have been noticeably noisier just a generation ago, for example on Nikon's D80.

ISO 1600. The result is a completely usable file. Some mild detail lost, but otherwise fine.	ISO 3200. You could use this in normal light to help stop action, the noise isn't that bad here.

Still not awful at ISO 6400. All in all very little to complain about.


ISO 1600 in lower light. Having a truly usable ISO 1600 is a real asset in an entry level camera.	ISO 3200. Detail lost in the feathers in the lower right. In extreme low light file sizes may need to be reduced and/or noise reduction may be needed.

ISO 6400. In very low light this would be difficult to use at full size. In this light though, a reduced size would definitely work.

Color renderings are quite naturalistic, perfect platforms for further post production if desired. Colors can be tweaked in camera if desired to bring tone, saturation, and hue in line with personal tastes using Nikon’s Picture Controls. Modified Picture Controls can be saved in-camera as a Custom Picture Control and the included software allows for uploading Custom Picture Controls to the camera as well. White balance accuracy is spot on, other than the notable exception of shots taken in tungsten light with Auto White Balance, which have distinct warm shift.


Picture Controls can be used to customize the look and feel of images.	You can use the Picture Controls as is or customize each one.

Various attributes can be tweaked inside of each Picture Control.	Users can even save these adjusted Picture Controls as your own Custom Picture Control.


Auto white balance struggles with tungsten lighting, rendering this scene far too warm.	The scene as it should look (white balance corrected in Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2).

Overall I was impressed by the output of the D5000. Whatever compromises there may be in a camera at this price point, you won’t find them in the image quality department.

Support this site by purchasing the Nikon D5000 at B&H Photo Video. Check the following links for the best prices on the Nikon D5000 camera body and kit lens configurations.

Nikon D5000 Digital SLR Camera (Camera Body)
Nikon D5000 Digital SLR Camera Kit with 18-55mm VR Lens
Nikon D5000 Digital SLR Camera Kit with 18-55mm & 55-200mm VR Lens

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