Nikon D5000 - 7 Reasons to Consider This Amazing Sub-$800 DSLR
Entry level DSLRs became quite popular when both Nikon and Canon released their first sub $1000 DSLR cameras, the D40 and the Rebel 300D respectively. Since then technology has improved tremendously and price has dropped to almost half of the original offering (the Nikon D3000 sells for just over $500).Let"s take a look at what makes the Nikon D5000 such a great camera.
*It"s a DSLR - this means that you can purchase many different lenses for your camera. Thus your shooting options are limited only to your imagination (and maybe your budget, but even then, you can always rent a lens for a short time).
*12.3-megapixel CMOS sensor - this sensor is the same as the one in the higher level D90, giving excellent image quality, capable of printing wall-sized photos.
*Vari-angle LCD - 2.5" screen with 230k pixel resolution makes it possible to tilt the screen to view and focus shots in very different positions than what you can with a simple view-finder.
*19 Scene Modes - photographers who are moving up from a point and shoot digital compact may be familiar with scene modes which are in-camera settings that take the guesswork out of how to set controls to accomplish various moods of lighting.
*Live View - new to DSLRs, but quite familiar to digital compact camera owners. This feature allows the photographer to view and compose the shot using the LCD monitor. Live view includes subject tracking, face priority, wide area focus and narrow area focus. It also has a grid line feature that can be activated for composing (ie use the rule of thirds).
*Active D-Lighting - This is a feature introduced in higher level Nikon DSLRs, the D3 and D300. It is a photographers dream (author"s opinion). D-Lighting expands the dynamic range so that highlights are no longer lost while retaining shadow detail. This feature goes a long way in solving the dynamic range problem which has had photographers exposing those high range pictures with several different exposures that are then combined into one photo in post-processing.
*D-Movie - allows the photographer to shoot about 5 minutes of 1280x720 HD quality video, or, about 20 minutes of 640x424 standard digital video. While this is still not a perfect substitute for a dedicated camcorder, many photographers are drawn to this feature. The Nikon D5000 is an awesome piece of photographic equipment for a great price. Now is the time... Nikon has the camera.
Of course, as mentioned above, Nikon has two entry level DSLRs. The other is the Nikon D3000, a trimmed down model that does not have the Vari-angle LCD or D-Movie. For more about both these new Nikon models, visit http://www.digital-photographic-resources.com.