1) Zola70 - Click here for my experiences & pictures
2) Xad7707 - just bought yesterday.. wohoo
3) dennistan - bought last month. love the tilt screen
4) amickgs - bought it last March and it's my first DSLR camera. Love it!
5) minimalis - just bought yesterday.
6) Daoyin - bought last month
7) doch3624 - just bought mine last May. And it is my first DSLR camera.. AND I'M LOVING IT!
8)garyteo0 - bought yesterday..from prosumer to dslr...
9)vincentry - bought in Apr, spoilt in May, got it back in 2 weeks and now happily shooting!
10) Paolo (Jaliboy) - bought last may and totally in love with it!! check it out on my Flickr (
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jaliboy/ )
11) clearriver- bought in may (1st DSLR)
12) poker73 - Bought on 28th June 09. (1st DSLR)
13) RichardKua - Bought 21st June 09 (1st DSLR) in need of more tips for shooting!
14) Ronde - Just brought mine last week, newbie in shooting (have 2 more friends using D5k will ask them join cs too)
15) Erick - got mine last saturday and still exploring the camera. newbie also
16) Don - got mine in the beginning of June, bargained for $1.1k on alan photo funan, told them I don't want any freebies(i have my own bag, cards & tripods), (my 3rd dslr, d80 to d300 to d5000)
I have some good things to share about the D5000 for those contemplating:
1) Excellent ISO performance better than d300, similar to D90
2) Quiet mode shutter release to remain non obtrusive (good for street photography or candid photography style when you don't want to be noticed)
3) The small size helps as well (as compared to having a d300 or d3, you're bound to be noticed)
4) You can keep the lcd screen and knock off the bad habit of looking at your photos everytime you take one, or you can flip out the screen to the bottom(180 deg) and have it face you, both methods eliminates LCD smudge (gd for oily faces like me)
5) Auto distortion control for nikon lenses only. (really works)
6) Shoot from the hip level using live view and the swivel screen (be surprised that shots at hip levels really look pretty good)
7) Dirt cheap price, more budget for good lenses
I'm a photographer majoring in event photography and street.
These are my most commonly used lens :
1) Nikon AF-S 18-200mm DX VR (all in one versatile lens, just sold mine in wait of the new 2009 release in Sept, it's worth the wait for those whom like this lens), I got it at $800 2nd hand and sold again for $750, before the value goes further when the new 18-200 comes out.
2) Nikon AF-S 35mm 1.8 DX Prime lens (35mm equivalent of 50mm standard focal length), I'm stuck with this awesome lens while I wait for my 18-200. It's bout $350
This lens is better than 50mm as 50mm with APS-C (Crop sensors) is actually 75mm, that's a focal length useful only for headshot portraits. 35mm on crops are better, as they translate to 52.5mm. 50mm is neither wide nor telephoto, earning the title of standard focal length. It's good for almost everything with some training, most of us are too spoiled by zoom lens. Try training 2 weeks on a prime and you'll become better, i assure you.
Don't bother bout lens like 18-135, 18-105 or 16-85 (albeit sharp lens but almost same price as 18-200), go for 18-200 vr straight when it comes out in sept.
FLASH - go for Sb-600 as the camera is too small to balance to wait of the 800 or 900, personally i'm using Metz 58 AF-1($600 at AP Funan) with gary fong lightsphere universal clear ($91 at CP), It is pretty heavy but it was tog with my d300 back then but I decided not to sell it as the additional fill light that metz has is really pretty good.
All these are personal experiences or opinions after using d5000 for almost 2 months, hope that helps anyone else contemplating. I didn't get the d90 as I thought D5000 was more fun with the swivel screen and other novelty features. Even though without the focus motor, I have to get AF-S lens only, i don't find it a loss. I knew all the lens I wanted to buy are AF-S anyways, so to me, it's a D5000 instead of a D90 anyday. The only significant difference between the both is the internal focus motor.
If you like something more pro looking, wait for d400 next year, d300s is a incomplete d400 imho.
