DSLR Shopping? Skip The Nikon D5000 And Buy The D90

A colleague of mine recently came to me expressing his interest in moving into the world of digital photography by purchasing his first DSLR.  As a lifelong Nikon point and shoot owner, he started digging into the current line of Nikon DSLR cameras.  As a Nikon user myself, I was happy to help him out.

Quickly he narrowed his decision between the D5000 and the D90 originally leaning toward the D5000 from a price standpoint but after comparing the bodies side by side my recommendation to him was to get the D90.

Here are my four reasons that I would spend the extra $150-200 on the D90 over the D5000 and why you should too:

• The lack of a selector wheel on the front of the D5000.

This was a missing feature that drove me nuts when I first learned what I was doing on my D40x.  It prompted me to step up to the D80 within only a few months after my original purchase.

• The D5000 does not have a top mounted display.

I know that with both camera bodies you have the option of viewing this data on the LCD monitor on the back of the camera but personally, I don’t like using the LCD to display the information.

• The D90 has a built in motor for non AF-S.

Autofocus lenses that are not AF-S will only work in manual focus mode with the D5000.

• The D5000 feels cheap.

Simply put, the D90 feels much more substantial and sturdy in your hand.

These reasons may not seem as important to a buyer as saving a few bucks but if you are anything like me (I replaced a D40x for a D80 after 5 months), you will long for these features once you get to know the camera and wish you would have purchased the D90 from the start.