D90 or D5000? Advice please.

Mars

Mars

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Makro is running a couple of bundles on some Nikon SLR's

D90 Bundle - R14999.

D90 Camera
Comes with two lenses;
18-55 lens (NOT VR)
55-200 VR lens
SB-600 Flash
Camera Bag

D5000 Bundle R8999
Comes with two lenses:
18 - 55 VR lens
55 - 200 VR lens
R1200 Nikon Training.

To both I will have to add R399 for a 16 GB sd card

To the second I will have to add about R599 for a Lowepro bag, (If the Nikon bag is crappy I might do this anyway a little later on the first option).

My question is, is the first bundle really worth it for a beginner like me?
Is the D90 that much better than the D5000?
Also, has anyone been on the Nikon Training?

I see from SAcamera that the SB600 flash is more than R3k, it that an accurate reflection of its normal price? Or are they expensive?

R6k is a big difference, but I would rather pay the difference if its worth it, that wish I did later.
 
Tough question. Both cameras have the same sensor and focus system. D90 image quality is slightly better. D5000 has tilt LCD. That D90 deal is good.

I'd say that the D5000 has everything a beginner needs with great image quality. A D5000 with a better lens than a D90 will take better pics in most cases, i.e. your money is better spent on lenses. But after a couple months of use, you might very well end up wanting to upgrade to a prosumer camera like the D90. I certainly want to upgrade to the D90 from my D40. The D90 and other prosumer cameras have advantages over entry-level cameras; in the D90's case better image quality, more buttons to make shooting easier, internal focus motors that allow you to use non-DX lenses that don't auto focus, etc.

The D90's replacement is said to be coming out somewhere around 3/4 of this year. Have you considered rather going for the D3000, learning on that, and then upgrading? The D3000 has an incredibly intuitive menu system with a help button that teaches beginners a lot about photography. If I had the money before I started I would start with a D3000 then upgrade to a D90 after a couple of months. ;)

I wouldn't worry too much about the Nikon course. Nothing that you can't learn in an hour of YouTube or reading up on photography sites. I have the Nikon course .pdfs.
 
Tough decision at the moment. If you think you will need something better than the d5000 later, rather buy the d90 now because the lenses are not fully compatible between the d5000 and the d90. On the other hand, the d90 is rumoured to be replaced later this year (maybe september/october), so there will probably be more specials in the future. Both, I believe are good cameras. The flash is a nice to have, though.
 
Thanks for the reply's..
I think I'm going to bite the bullet and get the D90.

Would a 16gig be enough?
 
Mier said:
Tough decision at the moment. If you think you will need something better than the d5000 later, rather buy the d90 now because the lenses are not fully compatible between the d5000 and the d90. On the other hand, the d90 is rumoured to be replaced later this year (maybe september/october), so there will probably be more specials in the future. Both, I believe are good cameras. The flash is a nice to have, though.
Click to expand...

The "lens compatibility" between the D90 and D5000 is minor. The D90 has a focus motor in the body, the "lesser" models don't i.e. you only get AF on the D5000 if the lens has a AF motor.

I'm not sure that the D90 replacement will have a focus motor in the body. Pretty much every lens announced recently has been AF-S.

The value on the D90 bundle is spectacular.
 
That D90 bundle is pretty damn good. The sb600 usually 3-3.6. I'd suggest 2 8gb cards or even 4 4gb cards rather than 1 16gb... All your eggs in one basket sort of thing.
 
rorz0r said:
That D90 bundle is pretty damn good. The sb600 usually 3-3.6. I'd suggest 2 8gb cards or even 4 4gb cards rather than 1 16gb... All your eggs in one basket sort of thing.
Click to expand...
How many SD cards have failed on you?
 
noxibox said:
Correct, any lens that works on the D5000 will work on the D90.
Click to expand...

Really ? I always wondered about that. I know the D90 lenses (non motorised) won't AF on my D3000, but I assumed the same was true in the other direction as well (my D3000 lens won't AF on the D90). But if the D3000/D5000 motorised lenses are fully compatible on bigger bodies (D90+), then it really changes things for me. I have a D3000 and would like to upgrade to the D90, mainly because I want to invest in a few lenses, but I don't want to invest on a platform that won't be future proof as my needs change.
 
bwana said:
How many SD cards have failed on you?
Click to expand...

None. But sometimes I'll forget my sd card in my laptop and take my camera somewhere and it will be exactly 0% useful then... If you have multiple cards and get another camera then you already have some cards to go round.
Do you find it annoying having to change the cards in your camera every 4gb or something? Do you regularly take 16gb of photos without looking at them on a pc?
 
rorz0r said:
Do you find it annoying having to change the cards in your camera every 4gb or something? Do you regularly take 16gb of photos without looking at them on a pc?
Click to expand...
I expect I have a very different workflow because unless there is a specific reason to swap cards mid shoot I wont. My philosophy is not to shoot with the biggest cards that are available - my biggest CF card now is 16GB. Anything larger and I'd probably feel uncomfortable.

Video, which is fast becoming a required skill for anyone interested in shooting professionally, also requires a lot of space. My 7D takes up about 330MB per minute.
 
I've just seen the ads, and must agree - if you're looking to get into Nikon, that D90 bundle is a super deal.
 
bwana said:
I expect I have a very different workflow because unless there is a specific reason to swap cards mid shoot I wont. My philosophy is not to shoot with the biggest cards that are available - my biggest CF card now is 16GB. Anything larger and I'd probably feel uncomfortable.

Video, which is fast becoming a required skill for anyone interested in shooting professionally, also requires a lot of space. My 7D takes up about 330MB per minute.
Click to expand...

You shoot everything in RAW though (and a 7D) so you being uncomfortable with 32gb is probably equivalent of me being uncomfortable with about 4-8gb...
 
Mier said:
Really ? I always wondered about that. I know the D90 lenses (non motorised) won't AF on my D3000, but I assumed the same was true in the other direction as well (my D3000 lens won't AF on the D90). But if the D3000/D5000 motorised lenses are fully compatible on bigger bodies (D90+), then it really changes things for me. I have a D3000 and would like to upgrade to the D90, mainly because I want to invest in a few lenses, but I don't want to invest on a platform that won't be future proof as my needs change.
Click to expand...
You can safely buy lenses for the D3000 and later use them on a D90 or equivalent.
 
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