Nikon Announces the D5000

From dpreview.com:

The recent boom in DSLR sales has seen all the major manufacturers adding bulked-up or stripped-down entry level models, repositioning their offerings to make sure that anyone willing to put up with the size and weight of a DSLR will look at one of their models. The whole thing has often left existing DSLR owners a little lost - 'why isn't there a direct replacement for my camera?' - but has undoubtedly meant there are many more attractive, accessible cameras on the market just waiting to entice first-time DSLR owners.

And its into this maelstrom of DSLR proliferation that Nikon launches its latest baby DSLR, the D5000. The name will come as no surprise to anyone within earshot of the rumor mill but the camera itself may present some more surprises. Having confused many people but made huge ground with its simplified D40 and D60 range, it appears Nikon has again decided that simply replacing models isn't the best way to address the market. So here we have a camera that genuinely seems to sit above the D60 (rather than continuing in parallel until the stock runs out), and below the D90. Like the baby Nikons, the D5000 doesn't have an autofocus motor built into the body but does gain a tilt-and-swivel LCD, as a series of leaked images that have made their way around the internet would have you expect.

The idea of an upper-entry-level DSLR (for want of a better term), that sits below the 'enthusiast' grade D90 (with its twin control dials, big battery and pentaprism viewfinder), is hardly a radical one - the Canon 500D and Olympus E-620 seem to cater to a similar market. So what does this new Nikon have to offer either the tech-savvy first-time DSLR buyer, or the owner of an older entry-level model wanting newer features but unwilling to slavishly follow the manufacturer's 'upgrade path'?

Nikon D5000 Key Features

• 12.9 megapixel DX-format CMOS sensor (effective pixels: 12.3 million)
• 2.7" tilt and swivel LCD monitor (230,000 dots)
• Movie capture at up to 1280 x 720 (720p) 24 fps with mono sound
• Live View with contrast-detect AF, face detection and subject tracking
• Image sensor cleaning (sensor shake)
• 11 AF points (with 3D tracking)
• IS0 200-3200 range (100-6400 expanded)
• 4 frames per second continuous shooting (buffer: 7 RAW, 25 JPEG fine, 100 JPEG Normal)
• Expeed image processing engine
• Extensive in-camera retouching including raw development and straightening
• Connector for optional GPS unit (fits on hot shoe)
• New battery with increased capacity
• 72 thumbnail and calendar view in playback

Nikon D5000 vs D60: Key Differences

The D5000 could easily be seen as a D60 with a tilting screen added, and most of a D90 stuffed into it. As such it offers quite a few feature improvements over its little brother:

• 12.3 MP CMOS sensor (D60: 10.2 MP CCD)
• Tilt/swivel screen
• Live View with contrast detect AF
• Movie Mode
• Wider ISO range
• 11 point AF system with 3D tracking (D60: 3 point AF)
• Control of Active D-Lighting intensity
• Automatic correction of lateral chromatic aberration
• Choice of JPEG quality in RAW+JPEG shooting
• Extra retouching options
• More scene modes
• Faster continuous shooting
• Bracketing

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Funny, if you compare it to the D90 all that's different is a .5 decrease in shutter speed. Seriously.

Is the DSLR everybody's new hobby?

It seems that nowadays, sick of the too rapidly-evolving cellphone (and other gadgets) chain, people are switching to DSLRs. Everytime I go out now I see John and Jane Does (even kids) toting around DSLRs like they were 8210s back in 1999.

Is it that people got too bored with the seemingly monthly release of a new cellphone? Or maybe its because of the overwhelming number of cellular phones coming out hoping to be the next iPhone killer. Whatever it is, people have moved on from texting to photography (or T-shirt printing, LOL).

In order to analyze what caused the boom, let's get into the mindset of the average consumer (who prefer to be called prosumers, like I do.). The average technology consumer in 1999 probably owned one cellphone, a PC, and a digital camera. ISOs, shutter speeds and f stops were completely "out of the picture" then. At that time pro cameras were reserved for ACTUAL photographers and editing in Photoshop was reserved for the magazines. Until friendster, the average digital camera only served as your vacation buddy.

These days, the average consumer has at least 2 cellphones (globe and sun), a laptop or UMPC, an iPod or another mp3 player, a dock for that mp3 player, an LCD TV for a monitor, a screaming PC, and a DSLR.

Personally, I first encountered the SLR in 2003 when my brother was supposed to take a photography course but did not want to go, so I took it. Ever since then, I've been a big fan of the art.

Then Friendster and Flickr and Photobucket came along and people wanted nice pictures to post. I'm not entirely sure if this was the trend.

Suddenly, everyone wanted to dump their digicams for the next frontier: DSLRs.

Now people who have absolutely no knowledge about SLR photography are wasting at least $400 for a gadget they think is a better digicam. Some people have shown me shots from their DSLRs and it looked like they were taken off of a Canon Powershot. Not to bash people who I admit have more money to waste than me, but I think that taking at least a small course on photography would help you utilize your new gadget. It's like owning a Blackberry and simply using it for text and calls. Completely pretentious.

So here's a site I found with a crash course on using your new prized possession:
Photography On the Net: A Beginner's Guide to DSLR Photography

It THAT made your head hurt, it's about time you got a new hobby.

Silhouette Photography

I've started one type of experimental photography using silhouettes.

Atypical to the usual studio setup, the fill light is behind the background and the subject is still in front. The challenge here is to lose all the details in the subject without compromising the sharpness in the texture of the background.

Better Programming for Philippine TV

Are you sick of watching local TV?

I'm sure everyone will agree that the Big 2 of Philippine Television have shoved enough "Any-seyres" in your boob tube to make you puke. From the heckle-worthy Wowowee to the nth revision of Mari Mar to GMA's newest hyped-up remake stink bomb: Zorro, you must be asking yourself: "where has good TV gone?".

It's good to know that regular programming is slowly creeping its way back to the local airwaves. Here are some new (and not so new) channels who, if not entirely redefining your primetime tv choices, are giving back regular shows to the masses.


TV5

While not a new contender to the TV arena, TV5 (the TAFKAP of Philippine TV, also known as ABC 5) has given way to fresh, new shows (eg. Midnight DJ, et. al.) all the while entirely re-branding itself into a hip new form appealing to younger (and more scrutinizing) audiences. It also houses classic powerhouse spoof show: Wow Mali.


QTV

The sister of the exact Big 2 station making us puke, QTV has paved the way to a truckload of quality new and fresh programs namely, Hired, Day-off, Ang Pinaka, Chef to Go, Quickfire, Camera Cafe, U Women, and more. It's also the local home of my favorite show: American Idol.


CS9

This station is the merging of two channels: RPN9 and C/S. It houses all the hit American shows and movies: namely Heroes, Big Bang Theory (my personal favorite), 30 Rock, Prison Break and so much more. It's also the new home of the PBA.


If these stations have answered your long awaited prayers, just wait. Hopefully more stations will follow suit. Even the stations that make you puke.

Yes? What?

This is not as timely as it is ever since I've warded off all entertainment when I started work.

Jim Carrey stars in Yes, Man, a comedy about a man named Carl Allen (Carrey) who has been anti-social since his divorce from Stephanie (Molly Sims). Allen lives out his mundane and withdrawn existence until he attends a seminar entitled "Yes!" where he is publicly shamed by the speaker, saying "you don't even have the enthusiasm to masturbate". Allen takes the "Yes!" attitude and meets Allison (Zooey Deschamel) who injects spontaneity to his otherwise dormant life.

Watching this movie made me take a look at my life when I bummed out, which is basically a redundant blur of sex, drugs, alcohol and then some.

After a while it got depressing.

Because of all the drugs I became so paranoid I can't even interact with regular people or go to places I would regularly frequent. When I go to crowded and noisy places I'd have a panic attack and I'd immediately rush to the nearest hospital.

It made me ask myself the heavy questions. Questions like "is this all you're going to do with your life?". "Are you always going to be like this?".

All of it was the same until I went to Vigan. It was then on that beach where when I looked at that perfect sky and felt the ripples of the ocean that I realized that instead of being a pathetic pothead and drunkard, I could try getting a job and having a life, since just then I decided that anything was better than getting smashed night after night with booze and almost ODing with valium. Thanks to that beach in Vigan, I was enlightened. Now I have upgraded myself to being a normal person. Boring, maybe. But alive nonetheless.