Upgrading from D5000 to D90?

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Burningflan

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I think I've convinced myself to uprgade from my current body, a Nikon D5000 to a D90. I just wanted to check I wasn't going mad or wasting cash, but it seems like a worthwhile upgrade to me. I realise the sensors and AF tech etc are essentially the same, but I will gain...

an additional command wheel
better viewfinder
more dedicated buttons (less menu grinding)
built-in AF motor (larger lens selection)

these sound like some nice upgrades to me, and the difference in prices 2nd hand between the D5000 and D90 seem to be roughly £100 which seems reasonable, and also affordable!
What say you TP-ers, a worthwhile investment, or is the D90 getting a bit old and outclassed now? I think I've 'outgrown' my D5000 and the D90 seems like the logical upgrade choice but should I save hard for a D7000 instead? Does the D7000 beast the D90 in every way or is it mostly stuff I'll rarely notice/use?
 
I found my d90 very usefull and a cracking camera. It is the one I recomment to enthusiasts now.

It was my back up camera however this has changed due to upgrade.

I dont think you will go far wrong. Cracking camera, good size, decent in lowish light and all round worth having.

Thats my 2p's worth. If you want a 2nd hand battery grip ive got one going! :)
 
It is worth it for all of the reasons that you mention. It also has built in flash commander too which might be useful to you and the back screen is far better.

Only real negatives that might favour the D5000 are lack of articulated screen and the D5000 has a few quirky scene modes and in camera editing options that don't appear on the D90. I think live view offers some improvements on the D5000 as well. I very much doubt that you'll care about much of this if you feel you have outgrown the D5000. I'd say go for it.
 
I went from D5000 to D7000 and I love the D7000

Whenever I go back to the D5000 (camera back up) it feels small, limited and a bit amateurish

I'm sure the D90 will be a good move too!
 
Depends if you want to use Nikon's older lenses. The D90 has a built in focus motor which open's up a large selection of nikon's older lenses, personally I think its an investment worth having. The D7000 is the D90 replacement, but its still ahead of the D5000 in my opinion, the D90 a great all rounder, but depends what you want to use it for? The D7000 has better ISO performance, but its a newer camera benefiting from the newer chips, but that not to say the D90 performance bad, perhaps in certain situation its better. Still reckon my 20D with the right lenses has less problems than the newer semi-pro camera's (40/50/60D) because it doesn't have all the bells and whistles algorithms smoothing out the noise and extra mega pixels, which I think can cause other issue in certain situations.
 
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I get to use the d3100 and d90 on a weekly basis and I really don't like the d90.

The d3100 has a better layout on screen, is clearer with information, options aren't hidden under various menus.

The d90 does have the focus motor and flash master mode and The extra buttons, but anything not in the buttons is hidden in lots of menus.

I was quicker changing multiple options today on the d3100 than the d90.

D5000 to D90 would be a backwards sideways step. The D7000 is the only option IMO.
 
Dale_d3100 said:
I get to use the d3100 and d90 on a weekly basis and I really don't like the d90.

The d3100 has a better layout on screen, is clearer with information, options aren't hidden under various menus.

The d90 does have the focus motor and flash master mode and The extra buttons, but anything not in the buttons is hidden in lots of menus.

I was quicker changing multiple options today on the d3100 than the d90.

D5000 to D90 would be a backwards sideways step. The D7000 is the only option IMO.
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I really don't agree with this I'm afraid. I've had a D5000 (well two actually) and briefly a D90, though I've used D90's a fair bit now as we have two at work for macro stuff. There maybe some things that take longer to reach (though I couldn't say what exactly) on the D90 but in my experience they are items that you're unlikely to need quick access to very often. The huge advantage is that a lot of the more frequently used settings are very quickly accessed via dedicated controls on the camera itself. Two that instantly spring to mind are a dedicated iso button and the second control wheel. There is also the shutter release mode button and AF selection. The top LCD is pretty useful too. There isn't much wrong with the D5000 in terms of results but in terms of hands on use, the D90 is leagues ahead.

The D7000 is undoubtably a better camera than both but mainly for it's sensor's low light capability, and better video. It also has a couple of extra controls that are handy. It is however getting on for twice the price of a D90 whether new or used so you really have to justify those improvements. For a £100 over the cost of a D5000, I personally think the D90 is a no brainer.

Just to confuse matters slightly though, when I moved on from the D5000 I ended up with a D300. I considered the D7000 and D90. The sensor is not really any different to the D90 or D5000 and of course worse than the D7000 but the handling is just superb. Once I'd held all of the options together, there was no doubt which one I wanted. There is a button for everything so menus rarely come into the equation and the size and weight are just right. They seem cheap right now at £500 ish but I guess that is still a fair chunk more than a D90 so maybe hard to justify.
 
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Shutter release mode?

The d3100 has a function button you can assign to ISO, they didn't do this on the d5000 for some reason?!
 
Dale_d3100 said:
Shutter release mode?

The d3100 has a function button you can assign to ISO, they didn't do this on the d5000 for some reason?!
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Shutter release as in, single shot, burst, remote fired etc... It's on the top of the camera from memory. I assigned the D5000's flash button to set the iso which sort of worked ok but it really should have a dedicated button as to me, it's one of the three most fundamental controls. That is also the reason why the lack of a second control wheel was a gripe.
 
I have a slider for selecting shutter mode on the d3100.

Why do you need 2 control wheels?
 
Dale_d3100 said:
I get to use the d3100 and d90 on a weekly basis and I really don't like the d90.

The d3100 has a better layout on screen, is clearer with information, options aren't hidden under various menus.

The d90 does have the focus motor and flash master mode and The extra buttons, but anything not in the buttons is hidden in lots of menus.

I was quicker changing multiple options today on the d3100 than the d90.

D5000 to D90 would be a backwards sideways step. The D7000 is the only option IMO.
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D3100 still very much a entry level camera, ok its looks nice and flash and they improved the layout, but does it take better images, I doubt it, the D90 an intermediate / semi-pro camera and no its not a backward step, its still a very good camera. Its the person using it and knowing how to get the best from the camera that achieves the best results, having a new menu system does take good images.
 
The d3100 is labelled as beginner and the d90 the intermediate, but there is 2 years difference in technology and user interface. If they arrived at the same time and reviewed by the same people, they would complain about the lack of direct controls on the d3100, but most comments in using the camera would be about the d90 should have the features from the d3100, image quality is about the same. The d7000 is the marriage between the 2, the improved tech and usability and the controls, flash master thing and focus motor.
 
Dale_d3100 said:
I have a slider for selecting shutter mode on the d3100.

Why do you need 2 control wheels?
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I was comparing the D90 to the D5000 which is what the OP is asking about...

Two wheels are not always as useful as is made out but if you use manual mode with auto iso they're a godsend as you have full access to both shutter and aperture settings without relegating exposure compensation to a menu option. It's pretty handy in other modes too but manual is where it makes most sense. Either way it's far more intuitive to change aperture with one wheel and shutter speed with another whatever mode you're using.
 
Dale_d3100 said:
Shutter release mode?

The d3100 has a function button you can assign to ISO, they didn't do this on the d5000 for some reason?!
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Yes they did..I had the function button on my d5000 set to adjust iso.:cool:
 
for what it's worth, here's my 2p worth ;)

I've had the D5000 and have upgraded to a D7000. I've never had or used a D90...

However, a college friend of mine has a D90 (for the last 3 years we've been in the same class) and the IQ of the D7000 far outweighs the D90. It also has more megapixels (better enlarging capabilities) and a better performance in low light.

It also feels better than the D90 and has newer technology which is always a bonus!

another friend has a D300 & D700... he also thinks the D7000 is a fantastic camera and has said the performance and quality is better than the D300!

Save hard, haggle hard, and become a very very happy D7000 owner :thumbs:
 
HopefulM said:
for what it's worth, here's my 2p worth ;)

I've had the D5000 and have upgraded to a D7000. I've never had or used a D90...

However, a college friend of mine has a D90 (for the last 3 years we've been in the same class) and the IQ of the D7000 far outweighs the D90. It also has more megapixels (better enlarging capabilities) and a better performance in low light.

It also feels better than the D90 and has newer technology which is always a bonus!

another friend has a D300 & D700... he also thinks the D7000 is a fantastic camera and has said the performance and quality is better than the D300!

Save hard, haggle hard, and become a very very happy D7000 owner :thumbs:
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The D7000 out performs the D90, D5000 and D300 in certain situations undoubtably but unless light is particularly poor or you're blowing your images up to poster size and beyond, you'll struggle to see any difference at all. And I can't say that I notice the slightest difference between a D90 and a D7000 to hold. They both feel the same to me.

Would be interested to hear what your friend meant by 'performance and quality is better than the D300'. IQ is hard to argue as there are no circumstance where the D300 would offer an advantage but to handle, hold and use the D300 is so much more satisfying and all the controls are right there on the body. It of course depends where your priorities lie but I'd always pick a D300 over a D7000 unless I absolutely needed that stop or two of iso.

Sorry, just realised this is all getting a bit OT. I stand by the notion that for a £100 or so, the D5000 to D90 upgrade is well worth it.
 
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gad-westy said:
I was comparing the D90 to the D5000 which is what the OP is asking about...

Two wheels are not always as useful as is made out but if you use manual mode with auto iso they're a godsend as you have full access to both shutter and aperture settings without relegating exposure compensation to a menu option. It's pretty handy in other modes too but manual is where it makes most sense. Either way it's far more intuitive to change aperture with one wheel and shutter speed with another whatever mode you're using.
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In addition (on the D7000) the two wheels are also useful in either aperture or shutter priority mode. For example you could assign easy ISO to is such that you can instantly manage two elements out of the triangle.

Further more, someone said about the difficulty to change settings by having to go into the menus. Don't forget there is the user menu where you can place those functions you use. I got to admit except for changing my non CPU lenses I can't really understand what there is to change so much.
 
If on the d5000 you can set a button for ISO, then in full manual, the command wheel controls shutter speed, hold down the exposure compensation button and turn wheel to adjust aperture and hold down the function button and turn dial. All can be done quickly and easily looking through the viewfinder.

Those are the controls you really need. AF type and AF mode are the only 2 controls I would generally need shooting on raw as event etc. can be changed on the pc.

As I said I personally feel d5000 to d90 would be a mistake.
 
Dale_d3100 said:
If on the d5000 you can set a button for ISO, then in full manual, the command wheel controls shutter speed, hold down the exposure compensation button and turn wheel to adjust aperture and hold down the function button and turn dial. All can be done quickly and easily looking through the viewfinder.

Those are the controls you really need. AF type and AF mode are the only 2 controls I would generally need shooting on raw as event etc. can be changed on the pc.

As I said I personally feel d5000 to d90 would be a mistake.
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If, like me, you ever shoot in manual with auto iso, the fact that you have to hold down the +/- button to adjust aperture means that you can't dial any exposure compensation in on the fly, it becomes menu driven. I used to find that totally infuriating.

The second wheel also opens up a whole host of options that may not be immediately obvious without prolonged use. For example, on the D700 and D300 (and maybe the D90) if I hold down the flash control button, the front wheel cycles the flash modes whilst the back wheel cycles the flash exposure compensation. If I hold down the the fn button which I have dedicated to bracketing, the front dial dictates how many frames I'd like to bracket whilst the back dictates how many stops I'd like each frame to vary by. It makes everything you want lightning fast to access.

To be honest though, I wouldn't say that is the only reason to change. My reason for ditching the D5000 was mainly for the extra external controls, flash commander and built in focus motor. The bigger viewfinder is nice too though you don't realise how much better they are until you go back to the old one. The rest is a bonus.
 
Some good conversation going on and some good points to think about, thank you for that. I don't think that the D7000 offers enough value for money right now to warrant me finding the extra cash, the D300 has given me something to think about though as it has been pointed out, they don't seem to be a huge amount more than a D90 at the moment.
 
Same for the additional functionality of the control wheels on the d7000. I really only go into the menu system to change non CPU lenses.

Talking about which, I found that with the d7000s ability to meter properly with some of the absolutely classic very good old lenses you win back the difference in money very rapidly. I mean two of my favourite gems are the 105/f2.5 and 75-150. Absolutely razor sharp, and great contrast. At £60 an absolute bargain and work very well with the D7000 upwards where otherwise you'd have to spend a lot more on the lens to make it work.
 
I went from a D5000 to a D90 a year ago and haven't looked back, I find it easier to use, the larger size suits me, it's AF suits my style better and with easy ISO and easy Exp Comp set is a dream and very quick to set up and use (even if you are changing environments / lighting a lot which I do). Go for it, you won't regret it.
 
I'm in a similar posistion with my D3100. Its is my first DSLR and I just walked in the shop and purchased it because it suited my budget. I love the camera and all the things that come when starting out in photography. However since meeting a lad who had a D90 I am wanting one. It feels better to hold and the lcd display is loads better. These two things alone swing it for me. The top screen is handy but not a dealbreaker. I'm not ready for a D7000 yet.
 
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