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Nikon D5000 User's Guide:
Rear Controls

© 2009 KenRockwell.com. All rights reserved.
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Nikn D5000 top controls

Nikon D5000 rear. enlarge.

June 2009    Top of D5000 Users Guide    D5000 Review    More Nikon Reviews

 

NEW: Nikon D5000 Users Guide for iPhone and iPod 23 December 2009

 

Want free live phone support? In the USA, call (800) NIKON-UX, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

 

Left side, top to bottom:

 

Trash - Delete     top

With an image on the LCD, press once. You'll get an "Are you sure?" message. Press again and the shot's gone.

The D5000 ignores this button if it's not playing back.

 

Play [>] Button   top

Press it to see your pictures. Press it again to turn them off.

 

MENU    top

This gets you inside most of the hidden features of your D5000.

I'll cover what you can screw up with this in the 11 long pages that follow.

 

"(-) / Checkerboard / ?" Button     top

This button does differ net things depending on what you're doing.

 

While Playing Images, or in Live View

Press this to zoom out. This refers to the (-) symbol.

If you're playing just one image complete image, press it and the D5000 shows progressively more and more images, or a calendar of what you shot on what day. This refers to the checkerboard symbol.

 

While in Menus

If you see a gray "?" on the lower left of the color LCD, press "?" for more information about whatever you're setting.

If there's no gray "?," then there's no more help available.

 

(+) Button     top

This is the zoom-in button.

It only works in playback and Live View.

 

INFO [i] Button       top

This is the same at the INFO button on the top of the D5000. It lights up the INFO panel on the rear LCD, from which you can see and set just about anything as I explained in the introduction.

This rear INFO button also allows you to change the settings on the INFO display, which the INFO button on the top of the D5000 won't.

If the INFO panel is lit, a second press of this rear INFO button lets you change the settings, while a second press of the top INFO button turns off the INFO panel.

 


 

Eyepiece Focuser      top

D5000 eyepiece

Nikon D5000 eyepiece focus adjustment.

Twiddle the little knob, under the rubber just above the right of the eyepiece, until the finder is sharpest.

This is also called the dioptometic adjustment.

 


 

AE-L/AF-L Button     top

D5000

D5000 AE-L / AF-L and rear dial.

Hold AE-L (Auto Exposure Lock) to lock exposure settings while shooting. You may change what this button does in the Custom Setting Menu f2.

I leave set mine at AEL.

Avoid pressing this button while playing back. It locks the file so you can't delete it from the camera, even though formatting your card will erase everything. The reason you don't want to press it is because locked files become very difficult to erase from your computer. You'll probably need to select them and remove this lock in your computer, otherwise you won't be able to empty them from your trash!

The rear control dial controls just about everything depending on what other buttons you press.

 


Live View

D5000 Live View button.

Live View button [Lv]     top

Press the [Lv] button, and bingo, you're in Live View. Press it again and you're back to normal. You set the AF mode in Custom Settings Menu a3.

Want to make a movie? Just press the OK button while in Live View, and you're rolling. You set the movie parameters in the Shooting Menu.

Live View is so well designed that its easier to figure out by playing with it than for me to try to describe it. Have fun!

 

Rear Multi-Controller    top

This is used for everything: menu navigation, selecting AF areas, scrolling through playback images and a whole lot more.

 

OK Button (center of rear multi-controller)     top

While playing back at normal size

Tap it to get to the Retouch menu.

 

While playing back with any sort of zoom in or out

Tap it to return to one image at normal size.

 

While in menus

Takes action on what you've set.

 


PLUG

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Thanks for reading!

Ken


Back to Top of D5000 User's Guide or Top of Nikon D5000 Review

KNOBS and BUTTONS

     FRONT

     TOP PANEL

     BACK

MENUS

     PLAYBACK    < < NEXT

     SHOOTING MENU

     CUSTOM SETTING MENU

          a Autofocus

          b Exposure

          c Timers/AE Lock

          d Shooting/display

          e Bracketing/flash

          f Controls

     SET UP MENU

     RETOUCH MENU

     RECENT ITEMS (or MY MENU) MENU

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