COMPARING THE NIKON D5000 AT HIGH ISOS WITH THE D90 AND THE D80

As I wrote when I tested other cameras, I am not a technical analyst but a professional photographer with some experience. For fans of in-depth laboratory analysis I would suggest you to consult the websites of DoX Mark and Hugo Rodríguez (in my links) that I consult frequently. I would be more in line with Ken Rockwell (another web I consults fairly often), a professional photographer who test cameras and lenses in the field with a lot of common sense and who does not care to ensure that a $ 500 camera gives better results that one of $ 3000, if that is the case.

For the test at high ISOS with the D5000 I used a still life with tomatoes (essential in the house of a Catalan to prepare pa amb tomàquet). Previously, for the D90 and D80 tests I used a still life with tangerines and tomato. The optics used in the D90 and D80 was a 28mm f: 2.8 Nikkor.
The still life I photographed with the D5000 was different but serves for comparison, because the detail is the same one for the three cameras: the tomato leaves, and in this case I used the 18-55 zoom at 28 mm position.

NIKON D80 ISO 1600

NIKON D90 ISO 1600

NIKON D5000 ISO 1600

Before the results, I had studied the comparisons made at high ISOS in DoX Mark: The Nikon D90 has a score of 977 on a theoretical maximum of 2526. The Nikon D5000 slightly less, has 867, but far beyond the Nikon D80 with a score of 524. In the photos of still life of tomatoes this difference becomes clear. There are no appreciable differences between photos taken with 1.6oo ASA D90 and D5000, and both outweigh the D80 clearly.There’s also a comparison at 3200 ASA. At such a high ISOS the Nikon D 700 is simply unbeatable

NIKON D80 ISO 1600

NIKON D 90 ISO 1600

NIKON D 5000 ISO 1600



NIKON D 5000 ISO 3200

NIKON D 700 ISO 3200

For the rest, the Nikon D5000 is an excellent camera for amateur photographers: light, with a removable screen, incorporated flash, you can shoot video ( see example), with a silent shutter, and a 12,3 megapixels sensor from the latest generation, which is the same as in the D90, all this at a very fair price. You can see the photos I made with it, at ISO 3200, at the party on the beach or at 1.600 ISO in Fotocolectania.

Disadvantages? The Nikon D5000 lacks the extra control buttons you can find in the D90 and the D80. To have access to basic functions such changing the ISO, the different options of measure the light, the type of shooting, etc., available on all the rest of professionals models you have to do it through the menu. Also, the autofocus does not work in older Nikon objectives that do not have a motor built. For the advanced amateur or professional photographer, for a few hundred Euros more, and without thinking, the D90 is much better. For someone who starts or who does not care about the inconveniences I wrote above they’ll find a great camera. In the ranking of DoX Mark, the D5000 is ranked number 14, just behind the D90, and outclassing 28 different models of Canon and Nikon digital SLR.