D90 vs D3000 vs D5000

Tea drinker

Interested in getting a new Camera body and lens kit for the missus.
Currently she has an alpha 100 with a Sony 18-70 and a (broken) Sigma 70 - 300. I have a Nikon D80, I like it a lot, but her anti shake is pretty good, even so I still think it's best we are on one brand.

I'm not too interested in movie mode, I heard auto focus does not work anyway. Just eay to use, good point and click Camera.
Live view would be good too. She loves macro for flowers

Opinions?

melekalikimaka

d90 is by far the superior camera in every way

AnimalRights

Ever hear of a Canon?
Popular is not always Satan in drag.

PopeBuckfastXVI

Noise processing on the d90 will make you weep with jealousy.

On the plus side you might be able to swap the badges and she'd never know the difference.

PopeBuckfastXVI

AnimalRights wrote: »

Ever hear of a Canon?
Popular is not always Satan in drag.

Like the OP said, they might as well consolidate on one system, no point doubling up on lenses etc. and he already uses Nikon.

AnimalRights

gOOD POINT, i READ ORIGINAL THREAD 3 TIMES IN A MINUTE BUT... ALAS i MISSED OUT ON IT..
i HATE ME BUT d90/

CasimiR

+1 D90

Tea drinker

Looking very much skewed towards the D90 then
Thanks a lot for the replies.

Kbeg3

Another vote for the D90

ianoo

in a similar situation myself can anyone piont me in the direction of the best place to buy??shops in waterford/cork area ,internet ???

thanks

ian

Thecageyone

The D3000 wouldn't be a step up from the A100. I use an A200 myself, I chose it over the D3000/Canon 400d because I got a good package used. And from what I read, there's nothing between most of the entry level dslrs. Just different gimmicks.

The D90 though, Mmmm. Want.

PopeBuckfastXVI

ianoo wrote: »

in a similar situation myself can anyone piont me in the direction of the best place to buy??shops in waterford/cork area ,internet ???

thanks

ian

Amazon was mostly the cheapest up to the fall of the Euro... not sure now though...

pixbyjohn

Calumet in Belfast will courier to your door, deal over phone

Nikon D90 12.3MP DSLR with 18-105mm Lens kit
Calumet # 355-990B Cashback Available
Mfg. Part # VBA230KU01 018208915743
ships call for availability

£689.00
£60.00 Cashback

Boucher Plaza Unit 2
4-6 Boucher Road
Belfast, BT12 6HR 02890 777770 M-F 9 to 5:30
Sat. 9 to 5

harr

i have the d5000 not a bad camera but if you have the extra few quid i would go for the d90.i would have gone for the d90 but did not have the extra 350 euro at the time and it was my first dslr so the d5000 is fine for me at the moment.got mine in argos whish was cheaper than any camera shop in dublin in some cases 250 euro cheaper.:)

maddogcollins

As with Harr, I have the D5000 and I think its a great camera, no complaints yet anyhow. If you have the extra money go with the D90 but I would have no issues with recommending the D5000 also.

I just happened to get the D5000 and 2 kit lenses for a great deal so went with that.

rowanh

You could give her your d80 and upgrade yourself?

Slidinginfinity

I've a D90. Great piece of kit but, you will want a D300 or D700 in less than year. Guaranteed!

Tea drinker

rowanh wrote: »

You could give her your d80 and upgrade yourself?

Well, should at least let her use my camera on trial to see if she likes it.
After that... who can say?
;-)

Thanks a lot for the info guys.
one last question, anyone bought camera gear in Paris - is there anywhere with good prices there?

Adriatic

Nikon D90 is my first DSLR, I am very glad I picked it over a canon which I could not decide on because most people had at least one thing to complain about on each canon model I might have picked.

ianoo

maddogcollins wrote: »

As with Harr, I have the D5000 and I think its a great camera, no complaints yet anyhow. If you have the extra money go with the D90 but I would have no issues with recommending the D5000 also.

I just happened to get the D5000 and 2 kit lenses for a great deal so went with that.

kinda have my mind made up on the same as yourself ,can you gtell me where you got the great deal ???;);)

ian

AnimalRights

Adriatic wrote: »

Nikon D90 is my first DSLR, I am very glad I picked it over a canon which I could not decide on because most people had at least one thing to complain about on each canon model I might have picked.

lol

Masada

You'll find the D90 very familiar and easy to use if your on a D80 yourself, (meaning you can better show her how to use it).
as the others have said though, its in a different class to the D3000 and D5000, in the same way the D40 or 50 is to the D80 you have.

craiglucas

ianoo wrote: »

in a similar situation myself can anyone piont me in the direction of the best place to buy??shops in waterford/cork area ,internet ???

thanks

ian

Sam McCauley's Chemist sells Cameras. They have Nikon and Canon SLR's. Prices are reasonable in my opinion.

dinneenp

Just curious- what features etc make the D90 get so much praise?

Thecageyone

From what I've read about it:

Some say it's as good as a D300 in a cheaper body
great low light capabilities and high ISO noise handling.
Great IQ.
Good handling and control.
Live view.

Reasons for me personally not to get one and hold on for better:

Not weather sealed
Cheaper feel Plastic body
Slightly slower FPS than my D200
Ergonomically not as nice to hold as the D200
Less on-body controls

So long as I keep that ISO down, no real reason for me to switch, I had been seriously considering it. but my current oldie will do until next year at least.

Kintarō Hattori

Tea drinker wrote: »

Thanks a lot for the info guys.
one last question, anyone bought camera gear in Paris - is there anywhere with good prices there?

I was in Paris earlier in the year and found it very expensive for camera gear. I can't recall off hand, I took a photo of the street name so will check later but there was one street in particular which was lined with at least a dozen different camera shops.

Misa-san

I have a D60, and I love it to bits. But I'm considering an upgrade - the D90 is appealing to me too but I haven't done much research into it.

Is there much a difference between the D90 and a D3000? /stupid question

Thecageyone

Snapsort isn't the most reliable source for comparison, but it's pretty blatant when you pit the D3000 against the D90 -

http://snapsort.com/compare/Nikon_D3000-vs-Nikon_D90

The only cons for opting for a D3000 are - Smaller, lighter, thinner, cheaper.

pete4130

Dont mind weather sealing.....some people just like to read off the spec sheets and rewrite them in their own words....the chances of your lenses being as weather sealed as your camera are slim to none.....and the chances of you, buying a consumer/prosumer camera and being willing to stand out in the rain for hours on end to get a photos are slim to none too (no offence).

The D90 is good because it has lots of pro/semi pro features (such as low noise at high ISO, high fps rate, high MP count, good ergonics, good image quality for a really great price. It's got a Autofocus motor built in so all modern lenses will work with it.

I rate it higher than the D300 by far. It's newer, better tech inside, has video (if you want it) and is more reasonably priced. It's probably one of the best value cameras out there at the minute.

In regards to a D200 (having owned one several years ago). It's a far superior camera. It's a totally newer generation of camera. The D200 struggles past 400 ISO where the D90 can easily produce good images at 6400 ISO. If you aren't shooting sport sequences then the fps rate doesn't matter all that much. I've got a D3 which shoots 9 FPS and doesn't always capture the "crucial moment" as opposed to me waiting to fire the shutter once, myself at the right moment. (no offense to the D200, it is a great camera and I loved using it!).
My reasoning is you can have a camera with lots of features the previous model didn't have but it means nothing if you never use them!

Get a D90. You will not be disappointed. My 2nd body is a D70 (which is a good few years old now) and is older than a D80 and D200 and I get perfect images from it.

Just get a D90!

Buceph

I've been looking at the differences between the D5000 and D90. The D90 is amazing, and has everything I want. The D5000 would be a compromise, but it's what I'd go for, as it'd mean I could put a reasonable chunk of money towards something around the 300mm range. That's weighing up all the differences such as better controls, slightly better low-light performance, second LCD, better main LCD, etc.. However, the one thing I don't understand is the in-camera auto-focus motor. I know I'd have a limited range of lenses I could buy for it that'd auto-focus, but how significant is that? Just looking around they seem slightly more expensive, but considering the most I'd be willing to pay for a lens for the foreseeable future is about €400, does it make that much of a difference?

DaireQuinlan

Buceph wrote: »

However, the one thing I don't understand is the in-camera auto-focus motor. I know I'd have a limited range of lenses I could buy for it that'd auto-focus, but how significant is that? Just looking around they seem slightly more expensive, but considering the most I'd be willing to pay for a lens for the foreseeable future is about €400, does it make that much of a difference?

The only reason Nikon is still putting the AF motor into the mid to top end bodies is for legacy reasons. All their new lenses (with one or two very expensive exceptions) are AFS, and have been for a while, so if you're only going to be buying new lenses then it doesn't make much difference. There's a wealth of old AF-D lenses on the second hand market though, and they will not AF on a body that has no AF motor.

As an aside I'd say it's only a matter of time before Nikon dump both the in-camera AF motor and the aperture pickup tab on the the pro bodies. I'd say the aperture tab is going to be the first to go, forcing people to use all those old AI and AIS lenses in stop down metering only.

Thecageyone

pete4130 wrote: »

Dont mind weather sealing.....some people just like to read off the spec sheets and rewrite them in their own words....the chances of your lenses being as weather sealed as your camera are slim to none.....and the chances of you, buying a consumer/prosumer camera and being willing to stand out in the rain for hours on end to get a photos are slim to none too (no offence).

The D90 is good because it has lots of pro/semi pro features (such as low noise at high ISO, high fps rate, high MP count, good ergonics, good image quality for a really great price. It's got a Autofocus motor built in so all modern lenses will work with it.

I rate it higher than the D300 by far. It's newer, better tech inside, has video (if you want it) and is more reasonably priced. It's probably one of the best value cameras out there at the minute.

In regards to a D200 (having owned one several years ago). It's a far superior camera. It's a totally newer generation of camera. The D200 struggles past 400 ISO where the D90 can easily produce good images at 6400 ISO. If you aren't shooting sport sequences then the fps rate doesn't matter all that much. I've got a D3 which shoots 9 FPS and doesn't always capture the "crucial moment" as opposed to me waiting to fire the shutter once, myself at the right moment. (no offense to the D200, it is a great camera and I loved using it!).
My reasoning is you can have a camera with lots of features the previous model didn't have but it means nothing if you never use them!

Get a D90. You will not be disappointed. My 2nd body is a D70 (which is a good few years old now) and is older than a D80 and D200 and I get perfect images from it.

Just get a D90!

I like to know the body is weather sealed ... when you have kids, you never know when it'll get splashed with ... anything! I remember my missus' Tocco phone got a light splash of 7up after one of the kids knocked it over. Dead phone.


I've used the D200 out in the rain, and I think just knowing it's sealed, makes you not panic. So what if the lens isn't? It's a cheap 50mm or a Vivitar I paid €50 for. The camera is what I'd worry about. Obviously if I bought a classy lens I'd not use it in open heavy downpours ... that'd be silly.

I use just about every control on the D200 body too. And I do indeed use the 5fps - try kids portraits without it when they're jumping about the place - see how many shots have all of their eyes open

I'd love a D90 - but not all that much over and above what I got. High ISO noise handling means little to me. It'd be great to be able to push it more for sure, and I'll make sure the next model I get handles it much better but I can live with staying low for the time being. I never do go over 400/500

Ergonomically the D200 beats the D90 IMO, it feels so much nicer to hold and control.

None of the above is to sway anyone's opinion ... just know there are cheaper alternatives out there. I paid less than half the price of a used D90 for the d200

In the end it'll be down to the glass you stick on and , well, your eye

Modern, shmoderm.

dinneenp

See this for cameras and rain...
interesting,funny-durability of dslrs(or tyring to destroy cameras) http://www.digidiversity.co.uk/2010/08/durability-of-entry-level-dslrs/

pete4130

Even with weather sealing, I got half a can of beer thrown over me & my camera from a mosh pit (purely accidental) and my Pro body stopped reading apertures on a D ring Nikon lens. I dried it as much as I could and cleaned the contacts with cleaning alcohol and left it to the following morning. Everything was working as normal again......6 weeks later the camera stopped reading aperture settings automatically from D type lenses, Live View wouldn't work with D type lenses and I had a choice of Manual or Aperture modes to use (which is what I always use anyway) and I had to manually stop down my D type lenses on the lens itself (which didn't 100% work as when I set the lens to f/11 it reads f/8 and shoots at f/8....and thats on all my D type lenses). G type lenses were totally unaffected.

Turns out liquid did make its way inside the lens mount (probably due to the D type lens not being as weather sealed as a G type?) and eventually burnt out the circuit that reads the aperture on D type lenses.

Sent it off to Nikon, got it repaired and all was working well again for a few months until the same problem re-occurred again. It's been like that for the past 10 months now and works as good as I need it to work for now.

It does need repairing though and re-gripping (which is a problem with all Nikon cameras unfortunately).

My point being, D3 or D3000 probably would have suffered the same fate under the same circumstances?