Nikon D5000 Samples

First published on: Tuesday, 14 April 2009

Last update (Aug 31, 2009): Portraits of a female Japanese model.

This page is a collection of photo samples taken with the Nikon D5000 Digital SLR camera, plus related image galleries, user pictures and other examples that I’ve come across in forums, online communities, blogs and related websites.

This should help in determining if the image quality of the D5000 meets your expectations.

Bear in mind that the majority of these photos are re-sized, and may have gone through post-processing, retouching or other edits. I just thought that it would be interesting to see, at a glance, what Nikon D5000 owners and users are shooting with their camera.

Full-sized images, where available, will assist with judging the image quality.

Attribution is given by linking to the source and where available, the author’s homepage or photo gallery.

Recent additions

Portraits of a female Japanese model — The “Photogenic Weekend” series on DC.Watch features photos of a Japanese female model taken with a D5000 and Nikkor 35mm f/1.8G and Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8G lenses.

Nikon D5000 plus Nikkor 35mm f/1.8G plus Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8G portraits at DC.Watch

The RAW images were converted in Nikon ViewNX, and they look sharp, crisp and detailed, with great background bokeh. Here’s the list of galleries — equipment used is noted at the end of each article:
Series 1Google’s English translation
Series 2Google’s English translation
Series 3Google’s English translation
Series 4Google’s English translation

Full-sized D5000 plus Sigma 150-500mm DG OS HSM Sample Photos at DC.Watch (Google’s English translation) — There are sample images from the D5000 plus Sigma 150-500mm lens, as well as from the Nikon D300 and D700 with the same lens.

The D5000 samples are right at the bottom of the article.

Nikon D5000 Photo Gallery at Digital Camera Resource Page — Lens used for the photos was the Nikon 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G AF-S DX VR Nikkor Zoom Lens.

Sample Images at Photozone.de — “… images were RAW-converted using ACR 5.4RC with default settings.”

Night scene photos at the Marina Barrage, Singapore

Bernard Tan has shared some impressive photos, which did not go through any post-processing, save for resizing for the web and inclusion of a copyright stamp and major EXIF data.

The full EXIF is retained in the images, so you’ll only need to download them and open the files up in Nikon ViewNX or Nikon Capture NX2 (a free trial is available) to see what settings Bernard used for the shots (hint: Manual mode, Active D-Lighting On (Auto), [SD] Standard picture control, Saturation +1).

The re-sized ISO1600 and ISO 3200 (handheld) shots look great too.

The pictures were taken with a Nikon 16-85mm f/3.5-5.6G AF-S DX ED VR Nikkor Wide Angle Telephoto Zoom lens mounted on the D5000.

You might want to look up further information on the Marina Barrage.

Nikon D5000 sample photos by Kadath

Nikon D5000 sample photos by Kadath

Kadath aka Sam Posten was one of the first owners of the Nkon D5000, and he has generously made available many test pictures in his D5000 Flickr gallery set.

All images were shot with the Nikon 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 G ED-IF AF-S VR DX Zoom-Nikkor lens.

Also note that most, if not all of the photos taken by Kadath were shot in the Adobe RGB space, and the images will look washed-out and dull if you’re not viewing them on a color space-aware browser. You could download the images and open them up in a color space-aware application such as Adobe Photoshop.

Some of my favorites are:


  1. Ford 1 (full resolution).

  2. Ford 2 (full resolution).

  3. Dusk / Sunset.

  4. Baseball (Sports Action) 1.

  5. Baseball (Sports Action) 2.

  6. Lion Statue (full resolution).

  7. Flowers on a Tree (full resolution).

The JPEGs are straight from the camera without any editing.

Additionally, Sam has hosted two NEF / RAW files from the D5000 for the images titled “Needlepoint” and “Onyx” — the links to those RAW files can be found in this post (or just right-click and download to your hard drive — Needlepoint, Onyx).

Bob Foringer‘s photos at the zoo

Nikon D5000 plus 70-300mm VR photos by Bob Foringer

Bob mounted a Nikon 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6G ED-IF AF-S VR Zoom Nikkor lens on his new D5000, and shared 4 images from his trip to the zoo.

Click on the “O” link found on each pic to access the full-sized, unedited JPG.

I have to say that the quality of the pictures is remarkable.

Four flower photos, and an ISO6400 full-resolution image

Jeff Klofft shared four flower macros / close-ups, and one ISO 6400 image in this forum post.

Lens used was the Nikon 18-105mm f/3.5-5.6 AF-S DX VR ED Nikkor.

This is the link to the full-sized version of the ISO 6400 test photo.

Nikon D5000 Test Photos at LetsGoDigital

This is an initial set of six test images taken by Dennis Hissink in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

EXIF data for the images are given below. Click on the thumbnails below to open up the full-resolution image in a new browser window, or just right-click to save to your hard drive.

Nikon D5000 test photos at LetsGoDigital
  1. File size: 6.30 MB
  2. Shutter speed: 1/320 sec
  3. Aperture: f/11
  4. ISO: ISO 200
  5. Focal length: 12mm
  6. Picture control: Landscape
  7. White balance: AWB (Automatic White Balance)
  8. Exposure mode: Aperture-Priority Auto
  9. Exposure metering: 3D Color Matrix Metering II
Nikon D5000 test photos at LetsGoDigital
  1. File size: 6.33 MB
  2. Shutter speed: 1/60 sec
  3. Aperture: f/8
  4. ISO: ISO 250
  5. Focal length: 12mm
  6. Picture control: Landscape
  7. White balance: AWB (Automatic White Balance)
  8. Exposure mode: Aperture-Priority Auto (+0.7 EV)
  9. Exposure metering: 3D Color Matrix Metering II
Nikon D5000 test photos at LetsGoDigital
  1. File size: 6.39 MB
  2. Shutter speed: 1/400 sec
  3. Aperture: f/8
  4. ISO: ISO 640
  5. Focal length: 24mm
  6. Picture control: Landscape
  7. White balance: AWB (Automatic White Balance)
  8. Exposure mode: Aperture-Priority Auto
  9. Exposure metering: 3D Color Matrix Metering II
Nikon D5000 test photos at LetsGoDigital
  1. File size: 6.26 MB
  2. Shutter speed: 1/640 sec
  3. Aperture: f/8
  4. ISO: ISO 400
  5. Focal length: 19mm
  6. Picture control: Landscape
  7. White balance: AWB (Automatic White Balance)
  8. Exposure mode: Aperture-Priority Auto
  9. Exposure metering: 3D Color Matrix Metering II
Nikon D5000 test photos at LetsGoDigital
  1. File size: 5.54 MB
  2. Shutter speed: 1/50 sec
  3. Aperture: f/11
  4. ISO: ISO 3200
  5. Focal length: 12mm
  6. Picture control: Landscape
  7. White balance: AWB (Automatic White Balance)
  8. Exposure mode: Aperture-Priority Auto
  9. Exposure metering: 3D Color Matrix Metering II
Nikon D5000 test photos at LetsGoDigital
  1. File size: 2.85 MB
  2. Shutter speed: 1/320 sec
  3. Aperture: f/4
  4. ISO: 1EV under 200 (ISO 100)
  5. Focal length: 17mm
  6. Picture control: Landscape
  7. White balance: AWB (Automatic White Balance)
  8. Exposure mode: Aperture-Priority Auto
  9. Exposure metering: Spot

Web-sized Nikon D5000 sample images at DemystifyingDigital.com

Web-sized Nikon D5000 sample images at DemystifyingDigital.com

Five D5000 photos can be found here. My favorites are the first two.

Official D5000 Image Gallery

Click on the thumbnails below to open up the full-resolution image in a new browser window, or just right-click to save to your hard drive.

Portrait of a female model -- Nikon D5000 official sample photo
Portrait of a female model, shot details:
  1. File size: 3.35 MB
  2. Shutter speed: 1/4000 sec
  3. Aperture: f/1.8
  4. ISO: ISO 200
  5. Focal length: 35mm
  6. Lens: Nikon 35mm f/1.8G AF-S DX Nikkor
  7. Picture control: Portrait
  8. White balance: AWB (Automatic White Balance)
  9. Exposure mode: Aperture-Priority Auto
  10. Exposure metering: 3D Color Matrix Metering II
Couple on a bicyle -- Nikon D5000 official sample photo
Couple on a bicycle, shot details:
  1. File size: 5.92 MB
  2. Shutter speed: 1/3200 sec
  3. Aperture: f/5.6
  4. ISO: ISO 400
  5. Focal length: 18mm
  6. Lens: Nikon 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G VR Nikkor
  7. Picture control: Vivid
  8. White balance: AWB (Automatic White Balance)
  9. Exposure mode: Aperture-Priority Auto
  10. Exposure metering: 3D Color Matrix Metering II
Chillies -- Nikon D5000 official sample photo
Chillies, shot details:
  1. File size: 6.16 MB
  2. Shutter speed: 1/80 sec
  3. Aperture: f/3.2
  4. ISO: ISO 800
  5. Focal length: 60mm
  6. Lens: Nikon 60mm f/2.8G ED AF-S Micro-Nikkor Macro
  7. Picture control: Vivid
  8. White balance: AWB (Automatic White Balance)
  9. Exposure mode: Aperture-Priority Auto (-1/3 EV)
  10. Exposure metering: 3D Color Matrix Metering II
Tram -- Nikon D5000 official sample photo
Tram, shot details:
  1. File size: 6.03 MB
  2. Shutter speed: 1/250 sec
  3. Aperture: f/10
  4. ISO: ISO 200
  5. Focal length: 86mm
  6. Lens: Nikon 55-200mm f/4-5.6G IF-ED VR Zoom-Nikkor
  7. Picture control: Vivid
  8. White balance: AWB (Automatic White Balance)
  9. Exposure mode: Shutter-Priority Auto
  10. Exposure metering: 3D Color Matrix Metering II
Windmill -- Nikon D5000 official sample photo
Windmill, shot details:
  1. File size: 4.30 MB
  2. Shutter speed: 1/200 sec
  3. Aperture: f/7.1
  4. ISO: ISO 200
  5. Focal length: 92mm
  6. Lens: Nikon 55-200mm f/4-5.6G IF-ED VR Zoom-Nikkor
  7. Picture control: Landscape
  8. White balance: AWB (Automatic White Balance)
  9. Exposure mode: Shutter-Priority Auto
  10. Exposure metering: 3D Color Matrix Metering II
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