Nikon D3000 Review

Overview

Nikon D3000 Overview

Reviewed by Shawn Barnett, Mike Tomkins,
Zig Weidelich, and Dave Etchells
Full Review Posted: 10/30/09

The Nikon D3000 is a replacement for the extremely popular Nikon D40, which for a little over two years has marked the entry point to the company's digital SLR lineup.

The Nikon D3000 features a new body with slightly more rounded shoulders and a larger 3.0-inch LCD panel on its rear face. The control layout is nearly identical to that of the D40, ensuring that owners of the previous camera will feel right at home.

Most of the Nikon D3000's other changes bring together features previously seen in the D40x, D60, and D5000 models.

The Nikon D3000 has a 10-megapixel DX-format CCD image sensor that yields images as large as 3,872 x 2,592 pixels. The D3000 also includes Nikon's Dust Reduction and Picture Control Systems, and offers a burst rate of three frames per second. The Nikon D3000 also inherits the eleven point Multi-CAM 1000 autofocus module previously seen in the Nikon D5000.

New to the Nikon digital SLR camera lineup is a Guide mode, which walks new users through a few questions to set the camera up for the type of shot they seek.

The Nikon D3000 will ship in the USA from late August 2009. Pricing for the Nikon D3000 starts at about US$600 for the kit that includes an AF-S NIKKOR 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G VR lens with optical image stabilization.

Nikon D3000 User Report

by Shawn Barnett and Mike Tomkins

Nikon's D40 digital SLR was a consistently good performer for the company since its launch in November 2006, frequently found at or near the top of monthly sales charts, according to the company. It was also one of our favorites, with a simple interface and excellent low-light performance. Now two and a half years old, the D40 is the second oldest model in the lineup, so it isn't surprising to see Nikon announce its replacement. The Nikon D3000 refreshes the D40 design with a new body and a combination of features previously seen in the D40x, D60, and D5000 models, plus a few that are entirely new.

The Nikon D3000 ships from late August 2009, priced at $599.95.

Look and feel. The Nikon D3000's body has been redesigned, but its dimensions and weight are nearly identical. The width and depth are unchanged at 5.0 and 2.5 inches respectively, while the height has increased by just a tenth of an inch to 3.8 inches. The new body will be immediately familiar to D40 owners, as the Nikon D3000 keeps all of the controls in the same locations, although the exact shape of a few buttons has changed some. The mode dial also has a new diamond-patterned knurling on its outer edges that make it a little easier to grip.

The rise on the grip side of the Nikon D3000 has been relaxed a bit, giving your fingers less room. Just inside the grip, there's a nice indented zone for your fingertips to dig into, one of my favorite features on Nikon digital SLRs.

Like most recent Nikon digital SLRs, the D3000's cut is considerate of the left hand, with a slight rounding of the edge, seen in the lower right of the picture above. This makes it just a little more comfortable to rest the Nikon D3000 in your left palm as your fingers reach out to adjust the zoom and focus rings.

Now with 13 modes on the Mode dial thanks to the addition of the GUIDE setting, the Nikon D3000's controls are otherwise unchanged from the D40.

The Nikon D3000 is now shipping with the 18-55mm VR lens, an upgrade from the D40's non-image-stabilized lens. It's important to note, though, that Nikon traded two letters to be able to put VR on there: ED. The new lens lacks the Extra-low Dispersion glass found on its predecessor's lenses, which is a shame.

Though positions have changed a bit, the controls of the Nikon D3000 are identical to the D40. Given the recent reshuffling of controls on most of the higher-end digital SLR lineup, it's good to see Nikon stick with a winning design. Most competing SLRs at this size, namely the Rebel XS and XSi, have quite a few icons and buttons back here, which probably serve to confuse more novice photographers than they help.

The new Guide mode mentioned above also gets a nod here, with the screenshot of the new Guide Menu, which is designed to simplify basic camera functions for the beginner.

The Nikon D3000 boasts a new 3.0-inch diagonal TFT LCD which is significantly larger than the 2.5-inch displays of the D40, D40x, and D60. In fact, it's even a little larger than the 2.7-inch display of the Nikon D5000, although the D3000's LCD is fixed in place and so not quite as versatile as the D5000's tilt/swivel vari-angle display. All five cameras feature an identical display resolution of 230,000 dots. Nikon is noting that the D3000's on-screen interface offers a 20% increase in font size as compared to previous cameras.

Sensor and processor. On the inside, the most significant change since the D40 is that the Nikon D3000 now sports an EXPEED image processor that works in concert with a higher-resolution DX-format image sensor. The sensor size -- roughly equivalent to that of a frame of APS-C film -- is unchanged, but where the D40 had an effective sensor resolution of 6.1 megapixels, the Nikon D3000 now offers 10.2 megapixels. That's the same resolution as offered by the now-retired, more expensive D60 and its sibling the D40x. As with both of those cameras, the total sensor resolution is 10.75 megapixels, and the maximum image dimensions possible from the Nikon D3000 are 3,872 x 2,592 pixels. Two lower-resolution modes of 2,896 x 1,944 and 1,936 x 1,296 pixels are also available.

The combination of a new image sensor and image processor has also brought an increase in both speed and sensitivity for the D3000. Nikon's entry-level DSLR is now able to shoot images at three frames per second, and offers ISO sensitivities from 100 to 1,600 equivalents in 1 EV steps, with the ability to increase this to ISO 3,200 equivalent using the Hi-1 setting. In both areas, this again matches the D40x and D60. Also new to the D3000 is the ability to shoot not only as JPEG or .NEF Raw image files, but also to simultaneously record each image in both formats. The Nikon D3000 records images on SD/SDHC cards.

Autofocusing is also significantly improved since the D40, with the Nikon D3000 sharing the same Multi-CAM 1000 phase-detection autofocus sensor module that is also used in the D5000 and D90. The Multi-CAM 1000 module offers 11 focusing points, of which the center point is a cross-type sensor. By way of comparison, the Nikon D40's Multi-CAM 530 module offered only three points, with a cross-type center point. The Nikon D3000 also adds Nikon's Scene Recognition System, 3D Tracking capability, and an auto-area AF mode while retaining the D40's single-point and dynamic area AF modes. The Multi-CAM 1000 system integrates the AF sensor data with information from the 420-pixel RGB metering sensor (shown at right), allowing the system to better track objects moving through the scene. The Multi-CAM 1000 sensor's detection range of -1 to +19 EV at ISO 100 / 68°F is unchanged from that of the Multi-CAM 530 module.

Dust control. Another important change in the Nikon D3000 as compared to the D40 is that it includes the company's three-pronged strategy for controlling dust on the image sensor. Nikon's Dust Reduction System uses vibration to shake dust off the low-pass filter, whereupon the mirror chamber design causes an air flow with each shutter release that carries dust to a capture receptacle. The final part of the approach requires the optional Nikon Capture NX 2 software, and involves creation of a reference photo that is used to identify the location of stubborn dust specks. These can then be replaced by automatically interpolating data from areas of the image adjacent to the dust.

Shutter. Yet another change carried over from the D40x design relates to the Nikon D3000's x-sync speed (flash sync, or the fastest shutter speed you can use while the flash is active) of 1/200 second, down from the D40's 1/500 flash sync speed. The reason for this difference is that the D40 had a relatively slow mechanical shutter, but "gated" the CCD for its shortest shutter speeds. This meant that the CCD itself was actually exposed to incoming light for a longer period of time (perhaps 1/100 - 1/200 second), but the camera manipulated the chip's control voltages to only allow light collection for a much shorter period of time. This made it easy to produce very brief exposures without the expense of a really high-speed mechanical shutter, and as a consequence also permitted very high x-sync speeds.

There's no such thing as a free lunch, though, and the downside was that large light overloads could cause streaking or smearing in the D40's images. The good news is that the Nikon D3000 won't suffer from these problems, unlike the D40 -- but the x-sync speed is slower as a result. See our discussion of "Shutter Control vs CCD Gating" in our D80 review for more detail on this topic.

The new shutter mechanism included in the Nikon D3000 is rated at 100,000 cycles, just like the D5000 and D90, a first for a camera at this price range.

Guide mode. The original D40 was one of the earliest cameras to address the needs of consumers stepping up to an SLR for the first time, by offering a robust help system that functioned as a portable user guide of sorts, always available to refer to as needed. While many more experienced photographers likely never touch them, features like these can prove invaluable to the newcomers. The Nikon D3000 takes the concept from the D40, and really builds on it by presenting a new Guide Mode position on the Mode dial. When placed in this mode, the Nikon D3000 will greet users with a friendly graphical interpretation of the menu system, with icons labeled Shoot, View/Delete, and Set up. When in the Shoot menu, the photographer is asked a number of questions, and the Nikon D3000 then offers guidance on what to set -- and importantly, why each suggestion is being made.

Unfortunately in my use I found the Guide mode to be yet another layer that was unnecessary, and rather than teaching, it just got in the way. Novices might benefit from it, but I think the Shoot button will be more frustrated. Rather than letting you shoot, it takes you to a menu where you have to tell it what kind of shooting you want to do. Select Easy operation, for example, and you have to choose among Auto, No flash, Distant subjects, Close-ups, Sleeping faces, Moving subjects, Landscapes, Portraits, and Night portraits. If I'm a new user, I'm already confused, and I don't think it's "easy." It's a good first try, and I think some may like it, but more than anything, people just want to take pictures, not go into a menu to select a special mode for what they're about to shoot; and most will forget that their camera is set to Landscapes mode and mistakenly shoot the rest of the picnic in that mode.

In-camera editing. As with the D40, the Nikon D3000 offers a Retouch menu that lets users tweak images to their tastes after capture. The Nikon D3000's Retouch menu offers several new functions, including some inherited from the D60, D90, and D5000. The Soft-filter effect smooths faces and other details in an image, while Color outline creates a monochrome image, eliminating all color and converting transition areas into a kind of pencil sketch appearance. The Miniature effect simulates an exaggeratedly narrow depth of field, allowing the user to select a horizontal position in the image which should look sharp, and then progressively increasing image blurring above and below this position. The Nikon D3000 also includes the ability to process Raw files in-camera, and retains Retouch functions such as trimming and color balance that were found in the D40.

One function from the D40 has evolved rather a long way in the last couple of years. Where the D40 offers a D-Lighting function which can act provide a fill flash-like effect after image capture through the Retouch menu, the Nikon D3000 supplements this with the company's Active D-Lighting function. Active D-Lighting debuted on the D3 and D300, and is applied to images at the time of capture. The Nikon D3000 allows Active D-Lighting to be enabled or disabled, but offers no manual control over the strength of the effect.

The Nikon D3000 also includes the Picture Control System previously seen in the D300, which allows control of sharpening, contrast, brightness, saturation and hue. Picture Control presets include Standard, Neutral, Vivid, Monochrome, Portrait, and Landscape, and each can be fine-tuned to the user's preferences. The Nikon D3000 has also inherited Nikon's Scene Recognition System, which improves upon the company's Matrix metering system. Also new since the D40 are a date imprint function that can overlay the current date and time on images, and the 72-thumbnail playback mode first seen in the Nikon D5000.

Storage and battery. The Nikon D3000 stores images on an SD/SDHC memory card. It uses a 7.2V, 1080mAh EN-EL9a lithium-ion battery pack, rated for 550 shots on a charge with 50% of shots using the flash (CIPA rating). No vertical battery grip is available for the Nikon D3000.

Oversaturated. Captured on a dreary day, I'm pleased that these black-eyed Susans and the leaves behind them are so vibrant, but that's not what the scene looked like.

Shooting. Using the Nikon D3000 is similar to the Nikon D40, similar enough that I felt right at home. The D3000 has a similar soft shutter sound that reminds me of old cloth focal-plane shutters. I shot mostly in Program and Aperture priority, and the Nikon D3000 did reasonably well. But a combination of higher resolution and the non-ED lens left my images a little softer than I'm used to seeing from a camera with that Nikon badge.

While shooting, I ran across another bugaboo that I only run into with lower priced Nikon digital SLRs, and that's when I accidentally change the focus point by pressing the navigation disk on the back of the camera. This was something I cautioned against with the Nikon D40, but back then there were only three AF points to worry about. Now with 11 points, there's greater potential for confusing new users. Of course, most new users will shoot in Auto AF Area mode, but those who don't should pay attention to the rear status display, where the little box shows which AF point is selected.

As for the AF points themselves, I miss the big red dots, because it's hard to see the dim red illumination behind each black LCD AF point, especially indoors. The viewfinder is otherwise usable, if a little tight. That's common in small digital SLRs, including most of the D3000's competition.

I was also relieved to get an SLR with no Live view and no Movie mode for a change; just a straight digital SLR. Used to be that was enough!

Overall, my shooting experience with the Nikon D3000 was good. It works well, is simple to use, and is well-behaved in a quiet room. As consumer devices go, the Nikon D3000 is a pleasure to use.

Focus error. With the AF point in the center, the Nikon D3000 instead front focused by about 30 feet. Only the nearest part of the rails start to approach sharp focus.

Focus errors. Despite the addition of the MultiCam 1000 Autofocus system, we experienced quite a few unexpected focus errors. Out in the field, the camera would usually focus and give me a confirmation beep just fine. But at random, that focus confirmation would be incorrect. Most often by just a little, sometimes by a lot. I only noticed one particular case when I got back and looked at my images on the monitor. It wasn't just a little out of focus, it was way out, front-focusing by about 30 feet. I took four shots like this, refocusing each time, and they were all identically out of focus.

In the lab we encountered it as well. Shooting the INB shot (the indoor incandescent shot), the Nikon D3000 couldn't focus consistently on the small AF target we use for most digital cameras. This is after shooting four shots just fine, it suddenly can't focus on the small target. It is only about one inch by one inch, so a limitation here is understandable. We found the same problem with this target and the Olympus E-P1; the difference, though, is that the EP1 is a contrast-detect model, while the D3000 uses a phase detect sensor, which usually does better with this target.

When we re-shot the target, the camera repeatedly front-focused until we managed to coerce a sharp shot out of it. Tough to say what's going on with it, but it's not measuring up to the AF systems in the D90 and D5000. In my outdoor shooting only about seven percent of the shots had this problem.

Nice detail nonetheless. Even at ISO 400, the Nikon D3000 delivers excellent detail, and the kit lens's vibration reduction helped me get this shot at 1/20 second.

Hot pixels. We were also surprised to see so many hot pixels in the Nikon D3000's images. It wasn't the quantity as much as the intensity, even at the lowest ISO, that gave us pause. There's no way for the user to map out bad pixels, either, so if your camera comes with them, you just have to live with it or exchange it.

While the Nikon D3000 was as fun and easy to shoot with as the Nikon D40, I was disappointed with the above issues when I got home. If you can't trust a modern digital SLR to focus reasonably well, it's harder to accept its tight optical viewfinder, which gives you little sense of the state of focus. I always shoot several shots of a given image, especially when shooting galleries, and if a camera still can't get it right after four tries on a fairly simple subject, I'm not comfortable using that camera.

Printed quality. Still, the Nikon D3000's printed quality was good, producing excellent 13x19-inch prints through ISO 400. Even ISO 800 shots are usable at 13x19 inches if you can tolerate some chroma noise in the shadows.

Looking at my images, I'm pretty happy with most of them, and I like how the D3000 handled noise in the shadows up to ISO 400. I can say that using the D3000 up to ISO 400 is safe, and even ISO 800 looks good, all with the camera set to the default of having Noise Reduction turned off. I don't like the results with NR on. It's way too aggressive.

Image Quality

Most digital SLRs will produce a reasonable ISO 100 shot, so I like to push them and see what they can do at ISO 1,600. Recent advances in sensor technology have made ISO 1,600 look a lot more like ISO 100, but there are still cameras whose quality starts to fall apart at this setting. I also choose 1,600 because I like to be able to shoot at this level when indoors and at night.

Nikon D3000 versus Nikon D40 at ISO 1,600

Nikon D3000 at ISO 1,600	Nikon D40 at ISO 1,600
The Nikon D40 really is a favorite around here, and the Nikon D3000 is its replacement, so though there's a resolution difference, we still thought the comparison was interesting. The D40's pictures look cleaner, but a little more heavily processed. Shadows are cleaner, though, and you can actually make out some detail in the mosaic shot. The D3000 looks more like a photograph, with more gnarly grain and of course more detail thanks to the greater resolution. The D40's colors are also a bit too pumped, but it's easy to see why we liked its crisp rendering.

Nikon D3000 versus Canon XS at ISO 1,600

Nikon D3000 at ISO 1,600	Canon XS at ISO 1,600
Though there's a little less chroma noise in the Nikon D3000's shot compared to the Canon XS, the Canon's image has more clear detail and more realistic color. Advantage XS in this bout.

Nikon D3000 versus Nikon D60 at ISO 1,600

Nikon D3000 at ISO 1,600	Nikon D60 at ISO 1,600
Though it's older, the Nikon D60 also bests the Nikon D3000 at ISO 1,600. The D60's colors are more pumped, true, but detail is still better.

Nikon D3000 versus Sony A230 at ISO 1,600

Nikon D3000 at ISO 1,600	Sony A230 at ISO 1,600
The Nikon D3000 does give the Sony A230 a bit of a trouncing at ISO 1,600, with better detail where it matters. The A230 does a valiant attempt at sharpening the detail of the olive oil bottle's label without too much artifact, but everything else it tries comes out way too mushy.

Nikon D3000 versus Nikon D5000 at ISO 1,600

Nikon D3000 at ISO 1,600	Nikon D5000 at ISO 1,600
$250 more buys you more resolution, much more detail, and more convincing color with the Nikon D5000. There's a lot more noise suppression active on the D5000, yet it comes out much better with more realistic detail.

Detail: Nikon D3000 vs Canon XS, Nikon D60, Sony A230, and Nikon D5000

Nikon D3000 ISO 100 ISO 3,200	Canon XS ISO 100 ISO 1,600	Nikon D60 ISO 100 ISO 3,200	Sony A230 ISO 100 ISO 3,200	Nikon D5000 ISO 100 ISO 3,200
Detail comparison. An ISO 1,600 comparison is only so helpful; a camera's ISO 100 performance is also of value, as is its ISO 3,200 detail, so I've pitted the same set of cameras against each other in the high-contrast detail department (except for the D40, since the resolution difference is so great). At ISO 100, the Canon XS is significantly sharper among the 10-megapixel cameras; it also has more sharpening artifacts, with a noticeable halo around the black and red letters in this crop. Of the four, though, the Sony A230 comes closest to rendering the horizontal lines inside the large letters. Naturally the 12-megapixel D5000 does a little better at ISO 100 than the others. At ISO 3,200, the Nikon D3000's contrast is very low compared to the others, perhaps due to lens flare. The D60 does better on the black letters, but not quite as good with the red letters. The Sony A230 renders the black letters with lots of demosaicing error, which shows up as chroma noise inside those letters. The Canon seems to do better, but its highest ISO is 1,600, so it's really not in the running. Still, you have to give credit for knowing one's limitations, and we've already seen above that the XS edges out the D3000 in the detail department at ISO 1,600.

Analysis. We're sad to see the excellent Nikon D40 fade into history. Nikon has introduced what appeared to be a good quality successor when we wrote our preview. The Nikon D3000 seems to be an amalgam of most of what was great about the D40 and D60 sprinkled with most of what's useful for consumers from the Nikon D5000 and D90. However, after a closer look at its images, and some time spent with the camera, we aren't as excited about it as we were at the outset. Image noise in the shadows at higher ISOs is just a bit too much, and color saturation is too extreme. Detail is soft, and autofocus surprised us one too many times with very odd behavior, confirming focus when the camera was actually way out of focus. Printed results, though, are pretty good, allowing quality prints up to 13x19 inches between ISO 100 and 400, and also 800 with more noticeable noise in the shadows. It's the extreme color saturation that overwhelms the prints, making them look more like illustrations, especially as ISO levels rise.

The Nikon D3000 is still a decent digital SLR, but it is the first Nikon in years that didn't blow our minds with excellent value for the dollar.

In the Box

The Nikon D3000 ships with the following items in the box:

• Nikon D3000 body
• 18-55mm VR lens (if purchased as a kit)
• Body cap
• Lens caps
• Battery cap
• Lithium-ion battery
• Battery charger MH-23
• AC cable (for charger)
• USB cable
• Shoulder strap
• CD-ROM
• Instruction manual
• Warranty card

Recommended Accessories

• Extra EN-EL9a battery pack for extended outings
• Large capacity SD/SDHC memory card. These days, 4GB is a good trade-off between cost and capacity.
• Small camera case for outdoor and in-bag protection

Nikon D3000 Conclusion

While it's the least expensive digital SLR in the lineup, the Nikon D3000 has quite a few new features, including a higher resolution sensor, a revamped but still simple body, an image-stabilized kit lens, and a new Guide mode.

Despite its good printed performance, the Nikon D3000 produced quite oversaturated color, and had several very bright hot pixels across the frame, something that's very unusual among cameras we test. We were also put off by the Nikon D3000's difficult focusing system which randomly decided to front focus too often in our shooting, around ten percent of the time, off by as much as 30 feet!

Guide mode, while it's probably useful to some, is probably too slow to be used often, requiring too many decisions before taking your first shot under its influence. In a world where most people are too distracted by their subject to even use a Scene mode, this menu-driven assistant is likely to get little use.

When it worked, though, the AF system was good, and the Nikon D3000's VR lens did a good job damping vibration, enabling hand-held shots at pretty low shutter speeds. The lens itself showed some softness and chromatic aberration in the corners--certainly not unexpected in a kit lens, though.

The Nikon D3000 is not a camera we'll recommend to serve as a backup camera for most semi-pro users, though. Its lack of a mechanical link to drive older Nikon lenses is one factor for those users to consider, but the unreliable autofocus and high color saturation, plus the hot pixels, would dissatisfy the more discriminating shooter.

Overall, though, the Nikon D3000 did well enough that it would serve a consumer who would usually confine his printed output to 8x10, as they'll likely like the brightly saturated color and seldom encounter the more pronounced noise at higher ISOs. Watch your focus, though, and make sure that you don't move the AF point accidentally. Ultimately, the Nikon D3000 is a good digital SLR, but doesn't rise to the level of a Dave's Pick.

Optics

Nikon D3000 Optics

Kit Lens

The Nikon D3000 ships in kit form with the same Nikkor AF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G DX VR lens that comes with the D5000 kit. To better compete with models from brands such as Olympus, Pentax, and Sony that have built-in image-stabilization, this kit lens comes with Nikon's excellent Vibration Reduction (VR) technology to help compensate for camera shake. We tested a sample of the Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G ED AF-S DX VR on SLRgear.com. Optical performance is so-so wide open, but the lens is capable of very good sharpness if stopped down one or two f-stops, and the added image stabilization should come in handy in low-light situations. While sharpness wide-open is only average, this newer kit lens performs better overall than the original, non-VR 18-55mm, and is enormously better when it comes to flare: The previous version was subject to rather extreme veiling flare when shooting high-contrast subjects under bright conditions.

Kit lenses work well enough for most consumers, and serve their purpose, getting you started without breaking the bank; but a big part of the attraction with SLRs is that you can easily trade up to a better lens when your finances improve, and extend your reach to wider angle, telephoto, or macro photography just by adding to your lens collection. The 18-55mm VR lens that comes with the Nikon D3000 will do a fine job until such time as budget and desire lead you to start building a lens collection.

Lens Compatibility

Like the Nikon D40, D40x, D60, and D5000 before it, the Nikon D3000 drops autofocus support for the older AF lenses whose focus mechanisms were driven from the camera. These lenses have what looks like a little screwdriver slot on their mounting flange that couples with a protruding, screwdriver-looking shaft on the camera body. A motor in the camera body is thus required to drive the lens mechanics to adjust focus.

More recent Nikkor lenses have motors built into the lens body, which tend to be both faster and quieter than the old-style drive system, as well as allowing the camera body to be lighter, smaller and cheaper. These newer lenses carry an AF-S or AF-I designation in their name, and are the only types of lenses the D3000 can autofocus with. CPU-equipped lenses lacking built-in focus motors can be used in manual focus mode, and type G or D lens types will also support full 3D color matrix metering for more accurate exposures, particularly when flash is being used. (You can tell CPU-equipped lenses by the set of five electrical contacts arrayed on the side of the lens flange.)

The tables below (courtesy Nikon Inc.) tell the full story of lens compatibility for the Nikon D3000.

Focusing Options

The Nikon D3000 inherits the same Multi-CAM 1000 AF sensor module used in the D5000, so many of its basic specs mirror those of the D5000 quite closely. As shown in the review section covering the viewfinder, the D3000 has a total of 11 autofocus regions, arranged with 9 in an almost square matrix in the central area of the frame, plus two additional points positioned to the right and left of the others. Each of the 11 focus areas can be directly selected, or an Auto-area AF mode can measure all 11 focus areas, then automatically determine which of them are on the primary subject and activates only those areas. As with the D5000, only the center sensor is cross-type, able to respond to subject detail oriented either horizontally or vertically.

The Nikon D3000 lets you choose either auto or manual focus, but it doesn't have the small AF mode dial on the front of the camera as found on higher-end Nikon DSLRs. Instead, the switch on the lens must be used. Setting the switch to "M" puts the lens into manual focus mode, while "A" places it in autofocus mode. Single-servo AF (AF-S), Continuous-servo AF (AF-C), Auto-servo AF (AF-A), and Manual focus (MF) options can be selected via the menu system. Single-servo AF is best for stationary objects, as the camera sets focus only once when the Shutter button is first pressed halfway (or if the AF-ON function is set, when the AE-L / AF-L button is pressed). Continuous-servo AF means that the camera continuously adjusts the focus, as long as the Shutter button is halfway pressed, suitable for moving objects. In Auto-servo AF mode, the camera begins focus operations in Single-servo mode, but switches to Continuous-servo AF if it detects motion within the active AF area.

There's an important difference between Single and Continuous Servo modes: In Single-servo mode, the shutter won't release unless the lens is focused, or the lens itself is set to manual focus -- what's known as Focus Priority. In Continuous-servo mode however, the camera operates in Release Priority -- the shutter will fire regardless of the state of focus. If you want to be sure that the camera is focused when you snap the picture, use Single Servo mode. Use Continuous Servo for moving subjects, and/or times when the instant of shutter release is more important to you than sharp focus.

The AF Area Mode option on page two of the Shooting Menu, and duplicated in the information display (see right) lets you select between Single Area, Dynamic Area, and Auto AF modes, and includes the new 3D Tracking mode, brought over from Nikon's recent pro-level SLRs. Single Area AF simply means that the camera judges focus based on one part of the subject, and the user can manually select the AF point by pressing the arrow keys. Dynamic Area AF employs all of the autofocus points, though you can still manually select the main point. When Dynamic Area focusing is enabled, the camera first focuses on the subject in the primary focus area. When the subject moves to a different AF area, the camera shifts the focus to "follow" the subject. This is great for irregularly moving subjects. (Sports and kids come to mind.) The Auto-area AF option means that the camera first focuses on the subject in whatever single AF area is selected, but will switch to Dynamic Area AF if it detects subject motion. The new 3D Tracking mode uses the 420-element RGB exposure/white balance sensor to aid in subject tracking.

In any of the AF modes other than Auto Area, you can select the focus area by using the up, down, right, or left arrow directions on the control rocker. There are two methods by which you can lock focus on the Nikon D3000. The first is to half-press the Shutter button to lock the focus, placing your subject in the selected focus area, halfway pressing the Shutter button, then realigning the composition and firing the shutter. (This is the default behavior of the Shutter button, but if the AE-L/AF-L button is set to AF Lock, it will override the shutter button as long as it's held down.) Alternatively, when using Single Servo AF, you can press the AF-L/AE-L button to lock focus (and exposure, unless that button is set for focus only in Custom Settings menu f2). Keeping this button pressed will lock focus and/or exposure, even if the Shutter button is released. This lets you recompose the photograph without keeping your finger on the Shutter button, but on the AE-L/AF-L button instead. (Reducing the chance that you'll accidentally trip the shutter when you don't intend to.)

There are several options available for the AE-L/AF-L button, which can be set via Custom Settings Menu f2. You can program it to lock either focus or exposure separately, or both together (the default). You can also change its operation so a single press locks and holds the exposure setting. (No need to keep the button pressed down.) Finally, you can set the AE/AF lock button so it alone controls the autofocus system, meaning the autofocus won't actuate when the shutter button is half-pressed, only when the AE/AF lock button is pressed instead.

AF Assist

Like past Nikon DSLRs with built-in flashes, the D3000's AF-assist light is a bright incandescent bulb that emits from the body near the handgrip. We thought to call particular attention to it, because some DSLRs use the flash as an AF-assist light. This would be fine, but some models also require that the flash be used in the exposure, so there's no way to have AF assist for available-light shots. The Nikon D3000 doesn't have this limitation.

Anti-Dust Technology

The Nikon D3000 includes a two-pronged approach to fighting dust. The dust reduction system previously seen on the D5000 digital SLR has been adopted for the D3000, where the optical low pass filter over the sensor is vibrated to shake off dust. In addition, Nikon has coupled this with what it is calling the "Airflow Control System". In essence, the camera's internals have been designed so as to control the flow of air -- along with the dust the air is carrying -- when the shutter is triggered, channelling dust particles away from the sensor.

The Nikon D3000 lets you choose when the sensor is ultrasonically cleaned. Selections available in the Setup Menu are Clean at Startup, Clean at Shutdown, Clean at Startup & Shutdown, or Cleaning Off. You can also lock-up the mirror for manual cleaning (see below). It's important to check that you have sufficient power available while cleaning the sensor though. When the camera is switched off or the power runs out, the mirror and shutter will return to their normal positions- potentially causing damage if there's something blocking their path. Helpfully, the Nikon D3000 will attempt to give a warning roughly two minutes before the power runs out, by flashing the self-timer lamp and emitting a beeping sound -- a good warning to get your cleaning supplies out of the camera pronto!

Despite the new dust cleaning features, we haven't seen an automatic system yet that's capable of removing all dust. So while this is a nice feature to have, don't be fooled into thinking that you won't have to either learn how to clean your sensor or send the camera in for cleaning.

Everyone understands that lenses sometimes get dust on them and need to be cleaned, and there are a lot of lens-cleaning cloths, solutions and other accessories on the market that work well. BUT, what do you do when your sensor gets dusty? Dust specks on the sensor tend to show up when shooting at very small apertures, appearing as dark blobs on your images. They're distracting at best, a terrible nuisance at worst, if you end up having to retouch every image to rid of them.

Most of us are naturally leery about the idea of poking around inside the delicate innards of our DSLRs to wrestle with recalcitrant dust specks. Gently blowing the sensor surface (actually, the surface of the anti-aliasing filter) with compressed air gets rid of some dust, but there's invariably a lot that just stays stuck, no matter what. So what do you do?

If you've got dust specks on your sensor (and sooner or later you will), you're going to need to clean it. There are a lot of products out there intended to address this need, but a distressing number of them work poorly (if at all), and many are grossly overpriced. Advertising hype is rampant, with bogus pseudo-scientific jargon and absurd product claims run rampant. And prices -- Did I mention prices? How about $100 for a simple synthetic-bristle brush?

So how do you know what product to use?

We don't pretend to have used everything currently on the market, but can tell you about one solution that worked very well for us. The "Copper Hill" cleaning method is straightforward and safe, and in our routine usage here at Imaging Resource, highly effective. Better yet, the products sold by Copper Hill Imaging are very reasonably priced. Best of all, Nicholas R (proprietor of Copper Hill) has put together an amazingly detailed tutorial on sensor cleaning, free for all.

Sensor cleaning is one of the last things people think about when buying a d-SLR, but it's vital to capturing the best possible images. Take our advice and order a cleaning kit from Copper Hill right along with your d-SLR, so you'll have it close at hand when you need it: You'll be glad you did!

(While they've advertised on our sister site SLRgear.com from time to time, we receive no promotional consideration from Copper Hill for this note. We just think their sensor cleaning products are among the best on the market, and like their way of doing business. -- We think you will too. Check them out.)

Kit Lens Test Results

Zoom
Good performance with the 18-55mm VR kit lens.

The Nikon D3000 comes with a Nikkor AF-S DX 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G VR (Vibration Reduction) kit lens, which has a typical optical zoom ratio of about 3x. Details are pretty good across the frame at full wide-angle, with minimal corner blurring. There are low levels of coma distortion in the leaves at the corners, but chromatic aberration is more visible. Results at full telephoto are also good, with very little corner softness or chromatic aberration, but the whole frame is just slightly soft. (These shots were both taken at f/8. See below for how the lens performs at maximum aperture.) Overall good performance for a kit lens, and the built-in Vibration Reduction (Nikon's term for optical image stabilization) will come in handy for hand-held shots in low light.

Macro
A slightly large macro area with the kit lens, with somewhat soft detail overall. Flash throttles down pretty well.

The Nikon D3000 captured a slightly larger macro area than average with the standard 18-55mm kit lens, measuring 2.40 x 1.60 inches (61 x 41 millimeters). Detail was a little soft overall, with some additional softening in the corners. (Most lenses have some softening in the corners at macro distances.) The D3000's flash throttled down for the macro area pretty well, though the resulting image is a bit dim (easily fixed by applying some positive flash exposure compensation).

Geometric Distortion
High barrel distortion at wide-angle with the 18-55mm kit lens, though hardly any distortion at telephoto.

Barrel distortion at 18mm is 1.0 percent

Almost no distortion at 55mm

The Nikon D3000's 18-55mm kit lens produced about one percent barrel distortion at wide-angle, which is higher than average and noticeable in its images. At the telephoto end, there was only about one pixel of pincushion distortion which is practically nonexistent. This is the tendency for the lens to bend straight lines outward (like a barrel -- usually at wide-angle) or inward (like a pincushion -- usually at telephoto).

Chromatic Aberration
Moderate at wide-angle, but low at telephoto with the 18-55mm kit lens.

Chromatic aberration is moderate at the full wide-angle setting of the Nikon D3000's 18-55mm VR kit lens, showing about 6-8 pixels of bright coloration on either side of the target lines, and it extends pretty far into the frame. At telephoto, chromatic aberration is much lower and hardly noticeable. (This distortion is visible as a slight colored fringe around the objects at the edges of the field of view on the resolution target.) Note that the D3000 doesn't appear to do any CA reduction to JPEGs, as do its more expensive brethren.

Corner Sharpness
Some blurring in the corners of the frame at wide-angle and telephoto with the kit lens.

The Nikon D3000's 18-55mm VR kit lens produced soft corners of the frame at full wide-angle, noticeable in a few shots. The lower right corner was a little softer than the others, but the softness didn't extend very far into the frame. At telephoto, corners were also soft, but the lens is softer overall at telephoto than at wide-angle. There's also a little bit of vignetting (corner shading) at full wide-angle. These are typical results for a kit lens, considering the aperture was wide-open for these shots. (Corner sharpness and vignetting typically improve as the lens is stopped-down from maximum aperture.)

The images above were taken from our standardized test shots. For a collection of more pictorial photos, see our Nikon D3000 Photo Gallery .

Exposure

Nikon D3000 Exposure

Exposure Modes. The Nikon D3000 gives you all the exposure options you'd expect in a consumer SLR. Available exposure modes include Full Auto, Program AE, Manual, Aperture Priority, and Shutter Priority modes with shutter speeds from 1/4,000 to 30 seconds available in 1/3 EV steps, as well as a Bulb setting for longer exposures. Also provided are the six standard Scene modes found on most consumer Nikon SLRs (Portrait, Landscape, Child, Sports, Macro, and Night Portrait), and a Flash-Off Auto mode. New for the Nikon D3000 is a GUIDE mode designed to help users through complicated settings by letting them select what kind of photo they want to take and the camera makes the settings from there. Refer to the Modes and Menus tab for more details on each exposure mode.

A very nice touch that's common to other Nikon DSLRs is that, while in Program AE mode, you can rotate the Command dial to select different combinations of aperture and shutter speed settings than those normally chosen by the autoexposure system. (That is, if the automatic program would have chosen 1/125 second and f/5.6, you could instead direct the camera to use 1/60 at f/8 or 1/30 at f/11, to get greater depth of field.) This is a very handy option for those times when you need some measure of increased control, but still want the camera to do most of the work for you. We personally use this capability more than Aperture- or Shutter-priority metering in our own shooting.

An interesting feature when using Manual exposure mode is the electronic analog exposure display visible in the optical viewfinder data readout. This shows the amount the camera thinks an image will be over- or underexposed, based on the settings you have selected, and helps you find the best exposure for the subject.

Exposure Metering. Nikon has one of the most sophisticated and flexible metering systems on the market today. Like most SLRs, there are three main metering modes on the Nikon D3000: Matrix, Center-Weighted, and Spot metering. Where Nikon's system differs is in the capability of these modes. Nikon's matrix metering is called 3D Color Matrix II, as it takes color as well as distance into account. (Distance requires the use of CPU-equipped lenses.) It covers a wide area of the frame with a 420-pixel RGB sensor. The Nikon D3000's Center-Weighted metering mode gives a weight of 75% to an 8mm diameter circle in center of frame. Spot meters a 3.5mm diameter circle (about 2.5% of the frame) centered on the active focus area. (Most DSLRs only meter the very center of the frame in Spot metering mode.) The 420-pixel RGB sensor also serves to ascertain automatic white-balance, and provides assistance for focus tracking when the subject leaves the AF sensor area. Metering range is specified at 0 to 20EVin Matrix or Center-Weighted, and 2 to 20 EVin Spot metering mode.

Exposure Lock. The AE-L/AF-L button locks the exposure and/or autofocus, useful for off-center subjects in tricky lighting. It can be programmed for AE lock, AF lock, AE + AF lock, or various other functions via the custom menu. You can also program the button to toggle instead of requiring the button to be held.

Exposure Compensation. Exposure compensation on the Nikon D3000 is adjustable from -5 to +5 exposure equivalents (EV) in 1/3 EV step increments, and is controllable in Program, Aperture-priority, or Shutter-priority modes. Note that in Manual exposure mode, the EV button becomes a shift button that changes the function of the Command dial from controlling the shutter speed to changing the Aperture. The Nikon D3000 does not support exposure bracketing.

ISO Sensitivity. ISO ranges from 100 to 1,600 and can be extended up to ISO 3,200 (Hi 1). ISO can only be adjusted in single EV steps (100, 200, 400, 800, etc.). Nikon's excellent Auto ISO feature is carried over as well, which allows you to set both the upper ISO limit (up to ISO 3,200) as well as the minimum shutter speed (selectable from 1s to 1/2,000s) required before ISO is increased automatically.

White Balance. The Nikon D3000 offers the usual white balance settings: Auto, six presets consisting of Incandescent, Fluorescent, Direct Sunlight, Flash, Cloudy, Shade, and a manual mode where white-balance is determined from a white or grey card. The Fluorescent preset has seven sub-settings consisting of Sodium Vapor (2,700K), Warm-white (3,000K), White (3,700K), Cool (4,200K), Day White (5,000K), and High Temperature Mercury Vapor (7,200K), and the manual setting allows one custom white-balance measurements to be stored. All the presets and manual settings are tweakable via a 2D fine-tuning grid display.

Active D-Lighting. D-Lighting has proven a popular post-processing feature in Nikon's consumer digital SLRs, as well as some of the company's point & shoot models. It's a quick software process that attempts to overcome underexposed images, and bring detail out of shadows. Active D-Lighting on the D3000 doesn't have the many options found on higher-end models, though, just Off and On. See the Image Quality tab to see how well it performs.

Picture Control. Nikon has standardized its Picture Control system so that camera settings for sharpening, contrast, brightness, saturation, and hue can be finely adjusted and ported to other Nikon digital SLRs that support the system. The D3 was the first camera compatible with the option, and all Nikon SLRs since, including the D3000 follow the standard. The Nikon D3000 has six presets called Standard, Neutral, Vivid, Monochrome, Portrait, and Landscape.

Sharpness can be adjusted in ten steps, along with an Auto setting; contrast, saturation, and hue can be adjusted in seven steps, while hue is adjustable in three steps. There is also a five-step "Quick Adjust" setting which exaggerates or mutes the effect without having to adjust each slider individually. When Monochrome Picture Control is selected, Hue and Saturation are replaced by Filter Effects and Toning respectively. Filter Effects offers Off, Yellow, Orange, Red, and Green settings, while Toning offers B&W, Sepia, Cyanotype, Red, Yellow, Green, Blue Green, Blue, Purple Blue and Red Purple settings. Note that Picture Controls are only active in Program, Aperture-priority or Shutter-priority and Manual exposure modes, as the Scene modes already apply preset image adjustments. Of course, the Nikon D3000 also offers sRGB and Adobe RGB settings, in a separate Color Space menu.

Noise Reduction. The Nikon D3000 offers high ISO noise reduction, but only one level: Off and On. Noise reduction is performed at ISO 400 and higher. When set to Off, minimal noise reduction is performed at ISOs above 800.

Release Modes. The Nikon D3000's release modes are selected via the menu system. Release modes consist of Single Frame, Continuous, Self-timer, Delayed Remote (two second delay), and Quick-response Remote. The Nikon D3000's Continuous mode is rated by Nikon for up to 3 frames per second (we got 2.99 frames per second in our testing), for a total of 16 Large/Fine JPEGs before the buffer fills and the camera slows. Also, when shooting JPEGs of a very complex scene with a lot of sharp, fine detail may also compress less and result in lower buffer capacities.

Self-Timer mode opens the shutter by a delay of 2 seconds) after the shutter button is pressed. The Remote release modes are for use with the optional ML-L3 wireless remote. The 2-second delay option is useful for hiding the remote when taking photos that include the operator.

Retouch Menu. The Nikon D3000 has an extensive Retouch menu, though not as extensive as the D5000's. The amount of image alteration that can be performed in-camera is starting to rival what basic image editing software packages can do on a computer, so much so that many users may not feel the need to use a computer for Nikon D3000 image editing at all. Retouch options include adjusting D-Lighting, red-eye correction, image cropping (trim), converting to monochrome, applying up to seven filter effects, adjusting color balance, resizing to small images (for TV, Web or email), image overlay for combining two RAW images into one JPEG, NEF (RAW) processing, "Quick Retouch" for fast adjustments to saturation and contrast, color outline, miniature effect, and stop-motion movies. The D5000 adds: straighten for fixing slanted horizons, distortion control for fixing lens distortion, fisheye effect, and perspective control.

The images above were taken from our standardized test shots. For a collection of more pictorial photos, see our Nikon D3000 Photo Gallery .

Not sure which camera to buy? Let your eyes be the ultimate judge! Visit our Comparometer(tm) to compare images from the Nikon D3000 with those from other cameras you may be considering. The proof is in the pictures, so let your own eyes decide which you like best!

Imaging

Nikon D3000 Image Quality

Color

Saturation & Hue Accuracy
Vibrant color with moderate oversaturation of strong reds, blues and some greens.

In the diagram above, the squares show the original color, and the circles show the color that the camera captured. More saturated colors are located toward the periphery of the graph. Hue changes as you travel around the center. Thus, hue-accurate, highly saturated colors appear as lines radiating from the center. Click for a larger image.

Saturation. The Nikon D3000 pushes reds, blues and some greens by quite a bit, but actually slightly undersaturates bright yellows and some cyans. Thus, its color is more saturated than that of most SLRs, but similar to the previous D60 model. The D3000's fine-grained saturation adjustment (see below) also makes it easy to customize its color to match your personal preference. Most consumer digital cameras produce color that's more highly saturated (more intense) than found in the original subjects. This is simply because most people like their color a bit brighter than life.

Skin tones. Here, with the color balanced properly for the light source, the Nikon D3000's skin tones looked just about right. There were some slight red tints in places, but overall skin tone looked pretty natural. Where oversaturation is most problematic is on Caucasian skin tones, as it's very easy for these "memory colors" to be seen as too bright, too pink, too yellow, etc.

Hue. The Nikon D3000 showed only a few small color shifts relative to the correct mathematical translation of colors in its subjects, but had overall pretty good accuracy. Most noticeable was a shift in reds toward orange, and cyans toward blue. Still, color accuracy was quite good. Hue is "what color" the color is.

Saturation Adjustment
The Nikon D3000 has a total of seven saturation settings available, three above and three below the default saturation. This covers a pretty wide range of saturation levels, about as wide a range as you're likely to find photographically relevant, apart from special effects that are arguably better achieved in software. The fine steps between settings mean it's easy to program the camera to just the level of saturation you prefer.

Saturation Adjustment Examples
-3	-1	0	+1	+3

The table above shows results with several saturation settings, see the Thumbnails index page for more (look for the files named D3000OUTBSATx.JPG). Click on any thumbnail above to see the full-sized image.

Sensor

Exposure and White Balance

Indoors, incandescent lighting
Good color with the Manual white balance setting, but overly-warm results with Auto and Incandescent. About average positive exposure compensation required.

Indoors, under normal incandescent lighting, color balance was very warm with the Auto white balance setting. (We'd say unacceptably so.) The Incandescent setting was a bit better, but also a bit too warm for our tastes. (Some users may prefer this look, though, as being more representative of the original lighting.) The Manual setting produced the most accurate results, if just a touch cool. The Nikon D3000 required an average amount of positive exposure compensation here, at +0.3 EV. Despite the (very) slight cool cast, overall color with the Manual white balance setting looks quite good, though the blue flowers appear a touch purple. (Many digital cameras reproduce these flowers with a dark, purplish tint, so the Nikon D3000 actually performs a little better than average here.) Our test lighting for this shot is a mixture of 60 and 100 watt household incandescent bulbs, a pretty yellow light source, but a very common one in typical home settings here in the U.S.

Outdoors, daylight
Very good results under harsh lighting, with good handling of contrast, detail, and color.

Outdoors, the Nikon D3000 performed well, but required slightly higher than average exposure compensation of +1.0 EV for our "sunlit" portrait shot to keep the face bright. The average among the cameras we've tested is +0.7 EV. Contrast is a little high, as you might expect under such harsh lighting, but the camera did a very good job of holding onto detail in the deep shadows although it clipped highlights somewhat in the models shirt and the flowers. The highlights were also blown out just a bit in the Far Field House shot, but not too badly. Color balance is good as well, with good saturation considering the bright lighting. The camera's contrast adjustment did a nice job of toning down the exposure, though skin tone does change slightly in very bright areas. (See the contrast adjustment series in the Extremes section below.) Overall, a very good performance.

See full set of test images with explanations
See thumbnails of all test and gallery images

Resolution
High resolution, 1,500 ~ 1,600 lines of strong detail.

Our laboratory resolution chart revealed sharp, distinct line patterns down to about 1,600 lines per picture height in the horizontal direction, and about 1,500 in the vertical direction. Extinction of the pattern didn't occur until around 2,400 lines in the vertical direction, and 2,200 lines in the horizontal. We weren't able to do much better in terms of absolute resolution with RAW files processed through Adobe Camera RAW, though the resulting images were noticeably crisper. Use these numbers to compare with other cameras of similar resolution, or use them to see just what higher resolution can mean in terms of potential detail.

See full set of test images with explanations
See thumbnails of all test and gallery images

Sharpness & Detail
Slightly soft images overall, though minor edge-enhancement artifacts visible on high-contrast subjects. Only relatively minor noise suppression visible.

Sharpness. The Nikon D3000 produced good detail overall, but its images were slightly soft straight from the camera, even with a sharp Nikkor 35mm f1.8 prime lens stopped down to f/8 as used for the crop above left. Some minor edge enhancement artifacts are visible on high-contrast subjects such as the crop above left, but overall results are still good. Edge enhancement creates the illusion of sharpness by enhancing colors and tones right at the edge of a rapid transition in color or tone.

Detail. The crop above right shows some minor noise suppression, as the darker areas of the model's hair show a lot of detail. Individual strands are still distinguishable even in the lighter shadows, though they begin to merge as shadows deepen. Still, pretty good performance here. Noise-suppression systems in digital cameras tend to flatten-out detail in areas of subtle contrast. The effects can often be seen in shots of human hair, where the individual strands are lost and an almost "watercolor" look appears.

RAW vs In-Camera JPEGs
As noted above, the Nikon D3000 delivers slightly soft JPEGs with some visible sharpening artifacts. More detail can be obtained from carefully processing RAW files though, without additional artifacts. Take a look below, to see what we mean:

Camera JPEG (Fine)	RAW via Nikon ViewNX	RAW via ACR

In the table above, mousing over a link at the bottom will load the corresponding crop in the area above. Examples include in-camera Fine JPEG, RAW file processed through Nikon's ViewNX 1.4 software, and RAW file processed through Adobe Camera Raw version 5.5, then sharpened in Photoshop. For the Nikon D3000's images, we found best results with strong but tight 250% unsharp masking in Photoshop with an 0.3 pixel radius. As you can see ViewNX was able to extract a bit more detail than the in-camera JPEG, and ACR managed to find even more.

Note: The Nikon D3000 can only shoot Basic JPEGs together with RAW, so the RAW crops above were taken from a NEF file that was shot a few minutes after the Fine JPEG (using the same Nikkor 35mm f/1.8G lens and exposure settings, of course).

ISO & Noise Performance
Low noise at normal sensitivity settings, with very good results up to ISO 400. Noise and noise reduction artifacts are much stronger at higher ISOs, though.

Noise Reduction = Off (Default)
ISO 100	ISO 200	ISO 400
ISO 800	ISO 1,600	ISO 3,200

The Nikon D3000 produced fairly low noise at its lower sensitivity settings, and even at ISO 400, noise is well controlled, with plenty of detail left intact. Some chroma noise is visible in the shadows however, starting at ISO 200. At ISO 800, noise and the effects of noise reduction cause fine detail to suffer, with more obvious chroma noise as well. At the higher ISO settings of 1,600 and 3,200 noise levels are much higher, with heavier blurring and stronger chroma noise blotches, especially at ISO 3,200. There are also a few clusters of hot pixels found at all ISOs (inside the crease of the sleeve at her left elbow, for instance), something we're not used to seeing at these light levels. Note that some noise reduction is performed above ISO 800 even when NR is set to "Off", though it's less than when set to "On". See the Print Quality section below for recommended maximum print sizes at each ISO.

Extremes: Sunlit and low light tests
High resolution and good exposure at the default setting. Very good shadow detail. Good low-light performance, capable of capturing bright images in near darkness.

Sunlight:
The Nikon D3000 handled the deliberately harsh lighting in the test above pretty well. Though contrast is a little high, shadow and highlight detail are both very good. The camera's contrast adjustment also did a good job of decreasing overall contrast without also affecting color saturation (see below, but also note the odd color break on the model's nose). The +1.0 EV exposure did the best job here, as the model's face was a bit too dim at +0.7 EV and +1.3 EV produced very strong highlights. Be sure to use fill flash in situations like the one shown above; it's better to shoot in the shade when possible.

Because digital cameras are more like slide film than negative film (in that they tend to have a more limited tonal range), we test them in the harshest situations to see how they handle scenes with bright highlights and dark shadows, as well as what kind of sensitivity they have in low light. The shot above is designed to mimic the very harsh, contrasty effect of direct noonday sunlight, a very tough challenge for most digital cameras. (You can read details of this test here.)

Contrast Adjustment
We really like it when a camera gives us the ability to adjust contrast and saturation to our liking. It's even better when those adjustments cover a useful range, in steps small enough to allow for precise tweaks. Just as with its saturation adjustment, the Nikon D3000's contrast setting meets both challenges.

Minimum Contrast
Contrast set to lowest, +1.0 EV	Contrast set to lowest, Auto Exposure

At its lowest contrast setting, the D3000 did a pretty good job of preserving highlight detail and bringing out shadow detail, though it did struggle a bit with maintaining natural-looking skin tones in highlights as the contrast was reduced: The model's nose has some odd coloration, in the form of what appear to be some odd saturation jumps as the skin tone moves into the highlights. The D3000 captures good color outdoors, though just slightly on the cool side in our Far Field shot. The lower contrast setting really helped to retain highlights and open-up shadows, without making the image too flat looking. Overall, good results here.

Contrast Adjustment Examples
-3	-1	0	+1	+3

The series of shots above shows results with several different contrast adjustment settings, showing the minimum step size around the default, as well as both extremes. While you can see the extremes, it's hard to really evaluate contrast on small thumbnails like these, click on any thumbnail to go to the full-size image.

Nikon's contrast adjustment is that it has very little effect on saturation. Contrast and saturation are actually fairly closely coupled, it's a good trick to be able to vary one with out the other changing as well. As usual, Nikon did a very good job here.

Active D-Lighting
Off (default)	On
Highlight Retention
Shadow Detail & Noise

Nikon's Active D-Lighting
The two shots above show the results with Active D-Lighting Off and On (like the D60, the D3000 only has these two settings, while Nikon's more advanced models let you choose from a range of strengths of the effect). This is different than the touch-up menu's D-Lighting, as it is performed during image capture instead of after. (It does affect only JPEG images though, Nikon very properly leaves RAW file data strictly as it comes from the sensor.) As you can see from the crops, enabling Active D-Lighting results in fewer highlights in the shirt being clipped, while at the same time, shadow detail is improved as well. Note that the left side of the shadow crops above have had their levels adjusted equally (by sliding the highlight slider down to 75 in Photoshop) to better reveal noise and deeper detail. Noise is a bit higher with Active D-Lighting on, but not by much.

The effect of Active D-Lighting will vary quite a bit with the subject and lighting: The camera decides what needs adjusting, and by how much, so the effect can be quite a bit greater or lesser depending on what the camera sees. We almost always found ourselves pleased with the changes Active D-Lighting made, the main trade-off to using it being the longer time it takes the camera to process each photo. Automatic contrast-adjustment systems like this don't always produce natural-looking images, but Active D-Lighting seems to deliver consistently pleasing results.

	1 fc 11 lux	1/2 fc 5.5 lux	1/4 fc 2.7 lux	1/8 fc 1.3 lux	1/16 fc 0.67 lux	1/16fc No NR
ISO 100	1.3 sec f2.8	3 sec f2.8	8 sec f2.8	15 sec f2.8	30 sec f2.8	30 sec f2.8
ISO 200	0.6 sec f2.8	1.6 sec f2.8	4 sec f2.8	8 sec f2.8	15 sec f2.8	15 sec f2.8
ISO 400	0.3 sec f2.8	0.8 sec f2.8	2 sec f2.8	4 sec f2.8	8 sec f2.8	8 sec f2.8
ISO 800	1/6 sec f2.8	0.4 sec f2.8	1 sec f2.8	2 sec f2.8	4 sec f2.8	4 sec f2.8
ISO 1600	1/13 sec f2.8	1/5 sec f2.8	0.5 sec f2.8	1 sec f2.8	2 sec f2.8	2 sec f2.8
ISO 3200	1/25 sec f2.8	1/10 sec f2.8	1/4 sec f2.8	0.5 sec f2.8	1 sec f2.8	1 sec f2.8

Low light. The Nikon D3000 performed very well on the low-light test, capturing usable images at the lowest light level (1/16 foot-candle) with the lowest sensitivity setting (ISO 100). As you'd expect, noise increases as ISO goes up and light levels go down, but remains well controlled, even at higher sensitivities. There's no sign of any banding issues but there are a few uncorrected hot pixels visible even at low ISOs. Color balance looked pretty good with the Auto white balance setting, though a touch on the cool side. The camera's autofocus system was able to focus on the subject down past the 1/8 foot-candle light level unassisted, and in complete darkness with the AF assist enabled. Keep in mind that the longer shutter speeds here demand the use of a tripod to prevent any blurring from camera movement. (A useful trick is to just prop the camera on a convenient surface, and use its self-timer to release the shutter. This avoids any jiggling from your finger pressing the shutter button, and can work quite well when you don't have a tripod handy.)

How bright is this? The one foot-candle light level that this test begins at roughly corresponds to the brightness of typical city street-lighting at night. Cameras performing well at that level should be able to snap good-looking photos of street-lit scenes.

NOTE: This low light test is conducted with a stationary subject, and the camera mounted on a sturdy tripod. Most digital cameras will fail miserably when faced with a moving subject in dim lighting. (For example, a child's ballet recital or a holiday pageant in a gymnasium.) Digital SLRs like the Nikon D3000 do much better than point & shoots, but you still shouldn't expect a quick autofocus lock with moving subjects.

Output Quality

Print Quality
Great print quality, oversaturated color, good 13 x 19-inch prints.

The Nikon D3000's print quality is actually good over quite a range of ISO settings, producing excellent 13x19-inch prints at ISO 100. That run continues out to ISO 800, where more shadow noise appears and blacks start to deteriorate, but it's an impressive performance nonetheless. Oversaturation of too many colors is problematic, regardless of ISO setting, unfortunately, removing detail from very bright colors in some cases, especially reds.

ISO 1,600 shots start to show weakness in the shadows, where an almost static appearance starts to take over. Detail is still pretty good at 11x14, though. Shadow noise becomes less noticeable at 8x10. ISO 3,200 shots are usable at 8x10, though with pronounced shadow noise and dramatically pumped color, to the point that the normally subdued Macbeth chart looks like a backlit LCD. Noise is better at 5x7, though the color is still so exaggerated that our Still Life target looks more like an illustration than a photograph.

Testing hundreds of digital cameras, we've found that you can only tell just so much about a camera's image quality by viewing its images on-screen. Ultimately, there's no substitute for printing a lot of images and examining them closely. For this reason, we now routinely print sample images from the cameras we test on our Canon Pro9000 Mark II studio printer, and on the Canon Pixma MP610 here in the office. (See the Canon Pixma Pro9000 Mark II review for details on that model.)

Shooting Modes

Nikon D3000 Modes and Menus

Nikon D3000 Capture Modes

The mode dial on the right side of the Nikon D3000's top panel provides access to its various exposure modes, the same arrangement of Auto, three semi-auto, and one Manual as found on all Nikon digital SLRs, plus a total of seven Scene modes (which Nikon calls "Vari-Programs"), plus a Guide setting that offers a user-friendly interface that guides beginners through the capture and review process, with the Nikon D3000 explaining the various options on offer. Here's a list of what's available:

• Auto: The camera sets everything. Used for snapshots or users who just don't want to be bothered with the details of how the camera will do its work. The AF-assist light will come on if needed, and the camera selects the AF point covering the closest subject.
• Guide: Provides access to the camera's Record, Playback, and Setup options through one user-friendly, graphically rich menu system. The user is prompted to select the type of photo they're looking to achieve, and then the camera provides a recommended setup. These can then be further customized by the user, with the camera explaining the effect of each individual setting. Fully manual shooting isn't possible in this mode, but manual aperture or shutter adjustment can be made for certain types of photos.
• Program: Puts the camera in charge of aperture and shutter speed, though all remaining camera settings are available. You can vary the combination of aperture and shutter speed the camera has selected by rotating the Command Dial.
• Shutter Priority: The user controls shutter speed, from 1/4,000 to 30 seconds, while the camera sets the aperture value.
• Aperture Priority: The opposite of Shutter Priority mode, this mode lets the user control the aperture, while the camera sets the shutter speed. Available apertures depend on which lens is mounted on the camera.
• Manual: Gives the user complete control over the exposure (both shutter and aperture settings), and provides access to the camera's Bulb shutter setting for exposures longer than 30 seconds.
• Night Portrait: Uses slow shutter speed with flash, balancing the two so that night portraits look natural even with flash. Closest-subject AF is used. Use a tripod to avoid blurring.
• Close up: Reds and greens are pumped up, camera selects center focus point, but other points can be chosen with the Multi-Selector. The built-in flash will pop up and fire if the lighting is too dim; tripod use is recommended.
• Sports: Uses higher shutter speeds, camera switches to continuous focus while the shutter button is held down halfway, tracking the subject in the center focus area. If the subject leaves the central AF area, the camera will follow it and judge focus from the other focus areas. The beginning AF area can be chosen with the Multi-selector. Both flash and AF illuminator are turned off and will not fire.
• Child: This mode boosts sharpness and saturation for clothing and background details, but renders skin tones soft and natural-looking. The built-in flash will pop up and fire if the lighting is too dim.
• Landscape: Boosts color saturation, contrast, and sharpening for city and forest landscape shots. Closest-focus AF is used, and the flash and AF-assist light are turned off in this mode. Use of a tripod is recommended in low light conditions.
• Portrait: Adjusts the lens aperture to soften background details to help the main subject stand out more clearly. Sharpness and color saturation are moderated somewhat, to give softer, more natural-looking skin tones. The built-in flash will pop up and fire if the lighting is too dim.
• Auto (Flash Off): In this mode, exposure is automatic but the flash is disabled, and the camera will vary the ISO up to a maximum of 3,200, to capture images using available light. The AF-assist light will come on if needed, and the camera selects the AF point with the closest subject. This mode is great for museums and other places where flash isn't permitted, more natural-looking indoor shots, etc.

Nikon D3000 Menus

The menu system on the Nikon D3000 follows that of the D40 fairly closely, but expands some areas greatly - most notably the Retouch menu. The D3000 also drops the Custom settings menu, and adds a new Guide menu that aims to make the camera more approachable. See the tables below for details.

Playback Menu:

Shooting Menu:

Setup Menu:

Retouch Menu:

Nikon D3000 Guide Menu:

Brand new for the Nikon D3000 is the Guide Menu. Accessed via its own position on the mode dial, this menu aims to make more approachable the various complexities of a digital SLR. The photographer is guided through a series of options that ascertain the type of photo needed, and then advise on the relevant setup. It's clever, if rather deeply nested and hence difficult to display logically on a web page. Rather than attempting to list the entire Guide menu (which duplicates functions accessible through the camera's other menus), we've listed the main sections and summarized the rest.

Recent Settings Menu:

The Recent Settings menu consists of the twenty most recently used settings, which are automatically added to the menu during operation. It's also possible for individual options to be removed from the menu by highlighting them and pressing the delete button twice. Hence, the structure of this menu changes with the usage patterns of the photographer, and its contents can't be mapped out. The screenshot below shows one possible permutation of options you could see in the Recent Settings menu.