The Nikon D5000 was a highly anticipated camera upon release.
Coupled with the 18-55mm lens, the camera offered users a solid 18.5 megapixels of resolution and 12.3 mega pixels of sensor size. This is a great way to get started in photography and to develop great skills.
This camera received great reviews at the time of release. While newer models have knocked it out of the running, it is still a viable option.
If you have the Nikon D5000, it is obvious that you are interested in taking pictures of all sorts.
If you are a hobbyist photographer or a seasoned professional, it makes sense that you would want to improve your skills.
Having great lenses is a part of that. Photography is all about the camera and lens. You can’t just rely on great equipment to take great pictures.
While the Nikon D5000 is amazing at what it does, it needs high-quality lenses to help you capture stunning pictures.
The good news is that there are plenty of cheap and affordable lenses out there that work great on the D5000. These lenses can make your camera shine and put your images over the top.
The following lenses will make a huge difference in your photography and are completely worth the money.
| Name | Category | Product |
|---|---|---|
| Nikon AF-S Nikkor 50mm f/1.8G Lens | Best Overall |  |
| Sigma 30mm F1.4 Art DC HSM Lens | Budget Pick |  |
| Nikon 8-15mm f/3.5-4.5E EDIF AF-S Fisheye NIKKOR Lens U.S.A. Warranty | Upgrade Pick |  |
1. Nikon AF-S Nikkor 50mm f/1.8G Lens
Pros:
- Compact, lightweight, and fast
- Great for portraits
- AF-S motor for silent operation
- D5100 and D3100 compatible
- Great price
- Excellent Build Quality
- Quick and easy to use
Cons:
- No virtual horizon indicator
- No image stabilization
This little lens is a stunner. The 50mm focal length gives you an 87 degree field-of-view on DX cameras. That’s just about perfect for portraits. I find it to be a dream for head shots too.
It’s the perfect inexpensive prime lens to get to DX users off and running. It’s compact, lightweight, and has an autofocus motor in the lens. Which is highly useful if you are going to be using a camera that doesn’t have a built-in focusing motor (crop body dSLRs). The lens is also a fantastic investment if you are thinking about upgrading to a full-frame or 35mm camera.
2. Nikon AF-S FX NIKKOR 200-500mm f/5.6E ED Vibration Reduction Zoom Lens
Pros:
- Superb performance with fast, quiet, and accurate autofocus
- Excellent image stabilization that works with every lens you put on the camera
- Superb build quality, perfect for travel
- Light and portable
Cons:
- The built-in motor is pretty noisy
- As with most supertelephoto lenses, this one can be rather heavy
- Vibration reduction only extend to around 5 stops
This is a fantastic lens for Nikon D500 or Nikon D7200 owners or anyone else looking for a relatively affordable supertelephoto lens for travel or wildlife photography. This lens features image stabilization that works with every Nikkor lens, offering up to 5 stops of vibration reduction capacity. If you’re just starting out but don’t want to skimp on anything, this is a great lens to start with. It’s a little heavier and bulkier than some of its competitors, but it more than makes up for it with its relatively affordable price and fantastic image quality.
Nikon 18-140mm f/3.5-5.6G ED-IF AF-S VR
3. TOKINA ATX-i 11-16mm F2.8 Nikon F
Pros:
- Amazing price point
- Sharp from edge to edge
In a time where most companies are offering only primes, it’s refreshing to see a set of autofocus, all-purpose zooms from any company.
The 11-16mm is in the perfect range for shooting super wide, full length portraits, and everything in between. You’ll also be able to shoot a lot of environmental portraits at moderate close distances once they get older.
Speaking of environmental portraits, you’ll also be able to shoot at a much shallower depth of field than you would normally be able to do at 16mm. The sharpness of this lens is just as good as any other lens Nikon makes.
4. Nikon AF-P DX NIKKOR 70-300mm f/4.5-6.3G ED VR Lens
Pros:
- Reasonably priced for a telephoto lens
- Portable
- Very sharp
- Quick autofocus
Overview: The Nikon AF-P DX NIKKOR 70-300mm f/4.5-6.3G ED VR is a compact, lightweight telephoto zoom lens. Its tight image circle makes it useful as a companion zoom lens with a DX-format digital SLR camera.
Review: With the Nikon AF-P DX NIKKOR 70-300mm f/4.5-6.3G ED VR Lens, Nikon has made a lens which is tough to fault. It’s the first affordable 70-300mm telephoto zoom lens with VR (Vibration Reduction) technology Nikon has produced, and we’re sure it won’t be the last.
Nikon has been making DX-format lenses like crazy lately, all of them good, and the 70-300mm is no exception.
5. Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 24-120mm f/4G ED VR Lens Base Bundle
Pros:
- Crisp and clear photos every time
- Excellent VR and light weight
- Great for close up, sports and portrait photo shoots
- Work with most nikon cameras
- Good quality and affordable at the same time
- zoom lens
Cons:
- Does not work with auto focus on full and sometimes not a fast focus
- After 3-6 months, tab that locks lens in place broke off
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Nowadays a standard SLR lens will have a zoom lens of 18-55 MM and up to 70-300MM. These are the most general-purpose lenses that suit almost all photography needs. This lens comes as a mid-level option that gives you versatility, portability and power in one professional package. The 40.5mm filter thread is great for getting more use out of your filters and effects. If you’re looking for a high quality camera body with a mid-level price, this lens will help you get the job done. The 24-120MM is an excellent tool for everyday photography.
6. Sigma 18-35mm F1.8 Art DC HSM Lens
Pros:
- Value for money
- High quality
- Great wide angle lens
If you are looking for a wide angle lens for your Nikon D5000, the Sigma 18-35mm lens will do the trick. It is a bit hefty so you need to make sure you have room in your camera bag.
There are so many camera options available that choosing one can be difficult. You know your budget, you know your style, you know where you are headed, and your nikon d5000 is waiting.
Only Nikon currently produces DSLR's and they have a great choice of cameras available in the entry level to semi-professional sector. If you are new to the world of DSLRs then I would recommend you start out with a cheaper (and still great quality) model that may not work with all the lenses in their range.
7. Sigma 30mm F1.4 Art DC HSM Lens
Pros:
- The fast f1.4 speed gives it a greater range of functionality, from stunning outdoor landscapes to low light portraits and interiors
- The resilient DMC lens is designed to minimize the appearance of lens flare while sharpening your scene as much as possible
- Internal focusing, and smooth manual focus override permits you to change your focus quickly.
- It is a compact, lightweight lens that will fit perfectly on most of the Nikon cameras.
Cons:
- The mid-price range of the lens could be a little higher.
Having a 1.4 maximum aperture, this is one of the best Nikon lenses in its segment. It is one of the best lenses you can buy for a Nikon 70-200mm. It comes in a very affordable price range. If you are a Nikon person, this is one of the best you can buy for your budget.
Many of the most impressive lenses on the market can be costly. But not this one. This lens is affordable while covering a wide range of needs. One of the greatest weaknesses of Nikon is that they do not have a large range of lenses. But this lens completely makes up for that. This lens is a great companion when you are shooting indoors and in low light.
8. Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 50mm f/1.4G Lens
Pros:
- Ultra slim form factor
- Fast focusing
- Excellent image quality
- Compact, lightweight, and easy to use
Cons:
- Lacks weather sealing
- The minimum focus distance is pretty long
This lens is an impressive example of modern lens design and technology. The lens features a 9 blade curved aperture for exceptional bokeh. You can expect excellent image quality from this lens no matter the distance or size of the subject.
The lens maintains a uniform level of sharpness throughout the frame. Photographers love this lens because of its close focusing ability, allowing for dramatic images that would not have been possible in the past. The minimum focus distance on the lens is 25 centimeters, which is rather long.
9. Nikon AF-S VR Micro-NIKKOR 105mm f/2.8G IF-ED Lens
Pros:
- 85mm on a DX format body
- Very expensive quality glass with a focus on performance
- Extremely sharp images with rich color
Cons:
- Subject isolation can be challenging for a 1.5ft working distance
- Requires support for extreme close-up shots
- A little more expensive than camera body alone
This fast prime lens can produce incredible close-up portraits with limited depth of field. Its extensive focusing range provides a size-multiplication factor of 0.25x at its closest focus distance (1.5 ft. / 0.45 m from the front of the lens), down to a maximum of 0.088x at the telephoto end. At the wide angle setting, this translates into an ultra-short working distance of just over one inch at a full 6.3x magnification, which can be useful for working with small subjects.
This accessory lens is for all Nikon DX format digital SLR’s and is ideal for creative purposes, such as photographing products, clothes, food, jewelry, flowers, insects, and more.
The ultrafast f/2.8 aperture allows for beautiful background blur and shallow depth of field. The lens autofocuses internally and can focus as close as 4 inches.
10. Nikon 8-15mm f/3.5-4.5E EDIF AF-S Fisheye NIKKOR Lens U.S.A. Warranty
Pros:
- Ultrawide-angle lens
- Easily capture large groups of people
- Water and dust proof
- Easy to use (so you can focus on taking pictures)
- Sturdy and well built (so it lasts a long time)
- Highly recommended by professionals
- Great for landscape, architectural, or astrophotography
- Allows you to take impressive wide-angle shots
- All lens surfaces are scratch resistant
Cons:
- Some users complain that it is too expensive for the quality of the pictures it produces
- Some users complain that it must be hand-held because it does not have a mounting system
- Some users complain that the lens needs cleaning within the first few months of purchasing it
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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
What is the best all around Nikon lens?
The best all around lens for the Nikon D5000, in my opinion, is the Nikkor 18-200mm VR II. The versatility of this lens is hard to beat. On one end, you have an ultra wide angle lens and on the other end, you have a super telephoto lens that will allow you to take good close-up shots of objects that are far away. You have the reach of a telephoto lens without the weight.
It is worth mentioning that, for those with the budget, the Nikon 18-200mm VR can be a little risky. The design is kind of outdated when compared to newer lenses from Nikon. It doesn’t allow for as much uninterrupted zooming as you would want and only offers up to 4.3x zoom. You can also find better 18-200mm lenses from other manufacturers such as Sigma.
What is Nikon's sharpest lens?
Despite having a solid reputation in the camcorder market, Nikon has never really garnered the same respect in the camera industry. In fact, Nikon has garnered a reputation for producing average or below-average glass. While this was once a reasonable characterization, Nikon has reinvented itself over the years and has finally earned the respect of professional photographers and cinematographers.
It may still be true that Nikon is lacking in its Full Frame lens selection, but on APS-C, they have many lenses that compete with the best lenses on the market. In this guide, we will be discussing the 10 best Nikon lenses on the market. You might be familiar with the term kit lens, this refers to a lens that often comes packaged with an entry-level DSLR. The following lenses are better than the kit lenses in almost every way.
Is the Nikon d5000 still a good camera?
The D5000 was the second DSLR in Nikon’s line of entry-level models, coming after the D40. They both shared a similar 24 megapixel APS-C sensor, but the D5000 was significantly better than the D40 in nearly every other area.
Let’s look at a few stats to see why this was so: reviewers found images to be more detailed and clearer, the autofocus system was faster and more accurate, white balance was much better, images had more pop thanks to the built-in flash, the LCD screen was higher resolution, battery life was about 30% better, and video recording had more features. Like other Nikon models in this age range, the D5000 got high marks for its ease of use. The image quality was great and the only real flaw was that the photos seemed to have a bit of softness.
Are Nikon VR lenses worth it?
One of the biggest objections, after the price, to getting Nikon lenses is that they are said to be heavy and expensive. Top quality VR lenses, however, are not significantly heavier than their non-VR counterparts. And in my opinion, the benefits of proper camera stabilization far outweigh the additional weight.
When it comes to image quality, most Nikon lenses are a great investment. I’d say that yes, they are worth the money.
Conclusion
A camera is incomplete without the right lens to support it. Therefore, before you choose a DSLR, look at what lenses are available for that camera so that you can make your selection with ample support.
You will discover some lenses better than others, and we will help you find the best Nikon D5000 lenses that complement your camera well.
D5000 lenses represent a great investment because you will use them for all sorts of photography. From shooting birds and sports to photographing people and landscapes, you will be glad you got these top Nikon D5000 lenses.
Our Recommendation
| Name | Category | Product |
|---|---|---|
| Nikon AF-S Nikkor 50mm f/1.8G Lens | Best Overall | |
| Sigma 30mm F1.4 Art DC HSM Lens | Budget Pick | |
| Nikon 8-15mm f/3.5-4.5E EDIF AF-S Fisheye NIKKOR Lens U.S.A. Warranty | Upgrade Pick | |